Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles All around budget rifle elk included for young man

I ain’t young or a newbie and a T3 30-06 works for me...

Tikka T3 / 270 Win / Burris 3-9x40 w/dots / Talley Lwts / Butler Creek Mtn. Sling (or 308. 7-08, 6.5 CM).

Can't see any wisdom starting a young guy with a 300 or 7mm Mag as an only rifle... those are something you get "in addition" to a standard chambering like the 270 when you've mastered it.

I like the idea of taking him used gun shopping and find something that feels good. It is hard to go wrong with any of the standard deer calibers. I really like the 7mm08. It is hard to go wrong with a 270 or 06. Any of these will kill an6 deer or elk at reasonable range.

Anybody on a budget should probably stick with 270, 30-06, or 308, for the ammo. If they want to shoot it quite a bit. Having had all three, I'd likely choose the 270....or whichever I found a good deal on in a rifle I liked.

Remington 700 ADL, Tikka T3x or Savage Model 10/110 for a lightweight. Ruger 77/Hawkeye, 700 BDL, Howa or Vangaurd if an extra pound is alright. These would be my first choices. Although I don't love the safety on the Mark II, it is a very classic looking riflle with CRF if that's a draw.

Never been a Salvage fan, but recently picked up a used model 10 243 with centerfeed blind mag and polished blueing. It's not too shabby. Three position tang safety. Accutrigger. Action is super slick and the plastic stock is better than the econo models.
It's still ugly, but function and ergonomics are excellent. Well balanced, lightweight, shoulders very naturally for me, and the price was right. I put a VX-1 3-9x40 in low Burris Zee rings and a Mountain sling on it.

Thanks for the responses, it is a great situation compared to the choices available when I bought my first rifle, I got a 7mm because the Dr I knew who had lots of guns & could afford anything used it for everything including elk. I’ve never been sorry on the choice of caliber or the Ruger 77.

He got his first turkey at my place last weekend & is excited for deer season. I’m not at all recoil shy so maybe that influences my preferred choices but this isn’t a teenager we are talking about and he wants to hunt elk next year so limiting calibers to 270 recoil level seems overly cautious to me. I’d like one rifle to be all he needs even if elk at 400 yards is a likely shot.

No magnums for newbs.
So many good rifles and keep your eye open as there might some major fire sales going on with this pandemic.
T3 06 with a quality 2-10 or 3-12 will serve him well

How many elk have you shot with the 270?

Well, you've just described a 270 AND a 308, 7/08, 280 and 30-06 (and anything that fits in between those). I think starting a new hunter, irrespective of size or age, with a magnum is just setting them up for failure/problems. Choosing to shoot a lighter recoiling rifle does not make one less of a man/woman. Arguably, it displays one may even be smart. Good luck in your quest and kudos to you for helping another prospective hunter.

For an adult, new hunter: Tikka T3 in either 270Win or 7mm-08. The Tikka will provide good accuracy out of the box. Those cartridges will provide recoil appropriate for a physically mature, but new, shooter, and will be good for deer, antelope, and elk to reasonable ranges.

If the guy gets more serious about hunting, and wants to be shooting animals at longer ranges, or wants a dedicated elk rifle, then he can upgrade to a more potent caliber such as the 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag.

Tell him to look for a lightly used Colt Light Rifle in 7mm RM.

Not perfect, but light, accurate, and usually can be found if you're patient for around $500.

My primary elk hunting rifles are both 270s, a CLR for most things and a Remington 760 for black timber.

I think a lot of us agree totally with your post. I, personally, would never start a new hunter/shooter off with a 300WM. i dont care how old, big, strong, small or "manly" said shooter is. It's just asking for trouble, as the new shooter is likely to develop a bad flinch and bad habits and probably not even enjoy shooting. Like Brad asked the op, how many elk has he killed with a 270? The 270 is an excellent all around cartridge choice, assuming you use the proper bullets for the job.

0 I always considered it inferior to my 7mm and to the 300 Weatheby I use today. I still feel that way although I’ve killed elk with a 30-06 and bought one for my grandson at 12. He started with downloaded 110 grain bullets over minimum loads to start off.

I prefer a heavier monolithic bullet moving fast when they smack those big animals.

This^

If buying today for my adult sons, I would definitely start them off with something in the .270 class (7-08/6.5 CM) and let them buy something bigger if/when they decide they want it..... they will shoot better while not being abused by recoil.....

Starting out I would go with either the 06 or the .270.. I have only killed one elk with the .270 .. I would opt for a good bullet like Accubond , Partition, or something similar..

I love my 7’s and .300, but I fired thousands of rounds though my other rifles, especially my old 06... Before I bought the bigger rifles...

I would say the 270win with partitions just like many others have said. It will do it all for him, no need for anything else.

I remember a "new guy", back in the early 80s who stopped by my friends house this was a guy he worked with, I didn't know him. My friend was single then ( we were all around 30yrs old though) and he and I had a good 200yd range set up in his back yard, with a solid, well built bench. I had scrounged up some sand bags to use too. The guy had a brand new Smith & Wesson Mod 1500. ( Howa/Vanguard, same action) It had a good Leupold 3x9 on it, rifle was 30-06. We looked it over, it had a nice wood stock, no recoil pad, hard plastic buttplate. The GS (Carter's Country then off I10, Houston) had set it up, boresighted it. I told him I felt the scope was a bit too far back, but he said "its just right" in a tone that really meant " I didn't ask you!", so OK then. He wanted my friend to help him get it "zeroed in" at 100yds. I watched that guy get a cookie cutter first shot! That thing was kicking him something fierce. He kept shooting though, I'll give the hard head that, ha. five shots later, when he was in "the paper pie plate" homemade target, he said "thats good enough", ha. So, it looked like the guy had never shot any big rifle off the bench, and his form was crap, so that hard butt kicked his "hard headed butt", ha. So, I try to emphasize shooting form too if anyone asks me what I recommend. The young man probably has a cartridge "in mind", and I would tell him to do some research. Shoot something you have just to see. Golf, Archery, Wing Shooting, Fly Fishing.....its all about "form & function", ha. Let us know what he decides on though...?

Personally, I think a common caliber like .30-06 or .270 is the best answer for a new hunter. I'm assuming this guy isn't a reloader, so a common caliber will be less expensive to feed for training purposes.

Agree that's too much gun for a guy who has to ask someone else what to buy. The biggest baddest elk alive can easily be killed with much less. 6.5cm/7-08

I would suggest a .308 or a .270 as they are usually much easier to find ammo for than 7mm08, which is a good round too, but can cost more than .308 also. To me, it always seemed like the 243/6mm Remington was outclassed by the 240Wby. The 7mm08 I had was outclssed by a .280, for sure 7mm Mag. But the 308 was "so close" to the 30-06 with 150-165s that it was just as good as a 30-06. This is with Factory loads, mind you.

Let the rifle pick him. Whatever feels best in his hands, and shoulders quickly & true. All of 'em are probably available in .270, '06, or .308, and it won't matter which cartridge he chooses.

Burris FFII w/ Ballistic Plex seems to be the best choice for a cheap but dependable scope these days. He will need good binos, though. I'm sure we can fight about that choice in the optics forum.

His success will depend far less on what setup he chooses, than on how much quality practice shooting he does with it prior to the hunt. Field positions are the key.

Good on you for bringing a new hunter into the fold.

FC