Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles $1,000 deer rifle?

There is no need for a magnum in Alabama or in 99% of other hunting situations outside Alabama. All of our discussion all the time isn't based on need though. I just assumed the OP knew what he wanted,but of coarse this is the 24 hour campfire.

I'd nab a Model 700 CDL (stainless or blued) and put a Leopold VX 3 on it.
You'd have a good-looking, good-shooting rifle with a dependable scope that will still work fine when your grandchildren are retirement age.

The first 150 big game animals I shot were predominately shot with a 7mmRemMagnificent, then as I got older I started disliking recoil. Out of the last 75 or so I've shot, the 7mm08 has been the weapon of choice.

That being said, if a guy wants a 7RM then by all means he should get one.

I LOVE 7mm magnums.


They work great on deer !

Interesting,never noticed recoil while shooting at animals. Also been using a .375 RUM on jackrabbits for an upcoming hunt.



Practice,practice,practice,no matter the cartridge. If there's more recoil,start slow and work up to more rounds per session. Don't shoot more than you can take i.e. if 10 rounds is all,start at 5 and work up to more. Get away from the bench,shoot at varmints,water jugs,watermelons,cantaloupe etc.. make it fun.

Used mine on deer,antelope and elk. All with a 160 gr NP.

The OP never stated that he wanted to use the rifle in Alabama, necessarily. Out-of-state hunts can be fun.

Last time I checked, Alabama had roads with at least two lanes, so he can leave the state as well as enter it.

I'd second the Tikka/Leupold 3.5x10, or 4x12, whichever one looks best when he puts his eyeball to it.

Spend the rest of the budget for ammo and gas, and go kill stuff. He stated he wanted a 7mm Mag, so anything suggestion other than that doesn't matter.

Not my choice, but if that's what he wants.........

Hey Elk, all those pics you have shared over the years of bunnies and Big Berthas, were they killed from concussion and shell shock? LOL

Thanks guys!
I have a couple of 7mm-08s a 280, 25-06, 308, and 300 Win Mag.
I'm probably going to have another 7mm Rem Mag built. I gave my custom 7mm Rem Mag to my son a couple of weeks ago.
I'm wanting a 270 also.
Alabama deer are finicky so you can't just shoot them with the same caliber all the time!

Actually,I tell the rabbits what I'm using,cartridge,bullet,BC,SD,COAL etc... and they just keel over.

I'd go the campfire elite route...

$1650 Nightforce with a $349 Ruger American Underneath it.

That's what all the campfire elite would highly approve of.

now we're talking some sense. of course i beat that, i bought my RAR at clearance prices.. just trying to even the odds, and keep meat-hunting an economical enterprise.

but the cost of killing animals does seem to be increasing on an annual basis.

Tikka T3 stainless lite in 308.

SWFA SS 6x MQ in Sako Optilok rings.

All done for just over a grand.

Use the remaining $1,000 for three cases of Hornady 168 AMAX match.


Which you'll find shoots three shots into one hole with that rifle.

Done and done.

+1

As far as I'm concerned you have to spend over $3000 if you want to top this setup.



Shod

Contrary to popular opinion a 7mm rem mag isn't "too big" for whitetails and a 7mm-08 isn't "better". A few hundred mississippi whitetails dead at my hands with a 7mm rem mag will attest to that. It works just fine. So does the .375 H&H magnum, 45-70, 35 Whelen, 338 win mag, etc. all of which I've killed whitetails with and are supposedly "too big" according to the experts here.

What people are really saying when they recommend against a larger round for whitetails is that I don't like shooting them because they kick them too much, which has nothing to do with what the OP asked. He's not you, and assuming he's an adult means that he's entitled to make his own decision regarding how big of a rifle he wants to shoot. Imagine the howls of protest on here if half the members were greenies and every time some asked a question about diesel pickups someone chimed in and said you need to be driving a prius, that diesel pickup is too big. Same theory and it really boils down to someone wanting to project their own biases and desires onto the questioner. If someone says they want a 7mm rem mag for deer hunting then I take them at their word that they are OK with shooting it. I can assure you that it works just fine on deer, as well as any 7mm-08 ever invented. Maybe not better, but certainly no worse.

I'm a rifle loonie and my current deer rifle is a 6.5x47 Lapua. I might use it a few times this year then pull out the 7mm rem mag. I might also pull out the 7mm-08, 375 H&H, or a half dozen others. It's all good, they all shoot well and any of them will kill a deer. Use what you want and have confidence in.

I'd scrounge up some extra cash and get a Nosler custom, or maybe a Hill Country Rifles.

I'd top it with Swarovski.




Dave

Missed anyone posting that 7RM is "too big".

why not a Ruger no. 1 they can be had in blue or stanless wood or lamated you can go new or used