Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Help finding a new deer rifle

Absolutely!

^^^ THIS^^^

Have killed deer with both, DRT. 7mm-08 120 TTSXs 6.5 Creed 130gr ELD-M's The Tikka is an excellent choice. It will not disappoint.

A quick look and a lot of the recommended rounds with TTSX or Accubonds are pretty expensive and scattered availability. Although I’d lean toward the 7-08 if I ever wanted to hunt anything bigger than deer, I don’t reload so the factory ammo a lot of folks recommend could get pricey to shoot quick. Maybe I’m overthinking and not looking in the right place.

I have a 6mm CM that might interest you.

I get the idea Blooze don't reload and can't find a gun local, more than likely have to order it and it's allready hunting season. 7-08 pimps here keep ignoring the fact that local supply of factory 7-08 ammo sucks, just hit and miss to find it even on the internet. When you do you need to be smart enough to buy a case. Ammo availibility points to cartridges his shoulder won't handle and the 6.5 Creed. Seems like a no brainer to me. My Browning HC has a 27.5" barrel with the brake or 25.5" without, you looking at a compact short stocked gun ? OR WHAT?..MB

6.5 Creedmoor and 7-08 are fantastic choices with the nod going to the 6.5 Creedmoor due to factory ammo availability (assuming you're buying and not reloading).

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/7mm-08-remington

Took me all of 30 seconds to find 74 available options online?

https://ammoseek.com/ammo/6.5mm-creedmoor

Yes....but in comparison, doing the same for 6.5 CM shows:

"Search Showing 1-100 of hundreds"

How many of those are accurate, consistent, reliable hunting loads from 50-300 yards? No being a Smart@@s, rifle hunting for deer is relatively new for me personally so I'm not familiar with hunting ammo.



I do not reload. I live in a small town of 600 people, with 20 towns all around me of 600 people. There is no choice out here on the shelves for ammo and guns, unless you consider Walmart a real choice (which is 25 miles away).

So Ammo will most likely be online as I do for my pistol rounds. I won't order a rifle online unless I've at least picked it up first. That means I drive 3 hours to Wichita, or 5 1/2 to Kansas City for any real selection.

I'm looking for a 22-24" barrel, not too expensive ammo ($30-40/Bx would be good), threaded muzzle for a brake as I'd like to target shoot with it occasionally without suffering for a week afterwards, and obviously low recoil as I'm old and broken. This will be a one and done purchase. I have other hobbies that suck more of my money. Hunting season for rifle isn't until Nov 30th here.

Agree completely, but that wasn't my point. Others have said that 7-08 is difficult to find and I simply wanted to show options.

That's a difficult question to answer because a lot will depend on the particular rifle/ammo combination. Whatever rifle and cartridge you decide on, I would recommend buying several varieties of ammo to try in your gun of choice. Some will stand out above the rest in most cases.

Blooze,

It can be really easy to get lost in the weeds on this forum when debating cartridges and rifles. In my opinion, fretting over the choice between 6.5 Creed and 7-08 is largely mental masturbation for your intended purposes. I can't imagine a scenario where one would outshine the other in a meaningful way on Kansas whitetails. I've killed Missouri whitetails with my 7-08 and .260 Remington (not a Creed, but veeeeeery similar). The 7-08 seems to hit a little harder, but the end results have been exactly the same for both. You can't go wrong either way, so I'd pick a rifle first and then choose an available cartridge from there.

If you have a good rifle then the ammunition would have to be pretty bad not to make the grade for the stated purpose.

Since you're probably not a hand loader I'd pick the 6.5 CM. You'll be able to buy ammo anywhere and it's not a hard recoiling rifle at all.

I sure as hell wouldn't rule out the .243 though.

Saturday I zeroed my 243 for a 95 grain Partition on top of a crisp load of IMR4451. I'd like to see the deer I wouldn't pop with that combination.

I agree. It seems like most ammo made these days is up to the task and rifles being made now are more accurate than ever. My suggestion was for a Tikka, as those seem to be very accurate right out of the box, without much fooling with them. The op says he's new to deer hunting, doesn't want to pay very much for ammo and doesn't want a sore shoulder after shooting. He's also mentioned that he's old. Well, not to discourage anyone, but if you are new to the sport it's going to take some practice. You are going to need to burn up some ammo to familiarize yourself with the rifle. I highly suggest not putting a brake on an otherwise excellent rifle: The reason I suggest a 6.5 CM or 7mm08. No need for a loud azzed brake on either of those. Starting out this late in the game may be a challenge. Join a club where you can get some practice in under your belt before you take said rifle out in the field. YOU (the OP) owe that to the animal you are hunting. For most of us here, we can take most any off the shelf rifle out in the field with factory ammo of our choosing and make a 300 yard money shot. A beginner? Probably not.. Good luck with it, but remember practice is what makes perfect and that practice is going to cost a little money. Don't be a tight wad..

I wouldn't overlook a 243. Great suggestion there.. Very easy on the shoulder and all of the ones I've had were extremely accurate. I used to load 95gr partitions in mine.. Shot a lot of ballistic tips for practice too.

I'm not new to deer hunting (bow hunted for 30+ years, mostly with trad equipment), just hunting with a rifle. I've shot plenty of rifles over the years, just not deer hunting. Used to hunt coyotes all the time with a .270 when I could borrow my Dad's because I lived nearby. I've only ever had the 8mm Mauser as my own because I enjoyed bowhunting more. I used the 8mm several years ago to deer hunt and decided it grouped lousy at this point in it's career and kicked too dang hard. All the people I hunt with all use a 30-06, .270, .338, etc. during rifle season while I just tag along for moral support. Other than the .243 I just wasn't sure about anything else out there that was low recoil. I don't even know anyone that has a .308 or 7-08, other than my uncle who strictly punches paper. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the days of bowhunting out in this part of the country has become too expensive and I'm forced to go rifle if I want to hunt family ground. I know all about hobbies costing money though(guitars, hi-fi, etc...).

The only gun club(s) around me are for clays. No rifle ranges anymore within at least an hours drive. Easier just to go practice on some of our pasture ground.

We’re fortunate to have some family ground, but most folks I know have stopped deer hunting due to the cost. Locals can’t compete with out of state folks and outfitters on leases.

It's a forty mile trip to my rifle range.

An hours drive here is 70 miles. We have some pasture ground with a fairly deep draw and a pond dam for a backstop that I can shoot to at least 250 yards about 20 minutes from home.