Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Brush deer rifle under $400 what should I look at besides 30-30

Pert near wet myself when I read this one.

The 30-30 will work fine.If you can't afford a good 1-4 or 2-7 Leupold get a Williams peep sight.I never could line up iron sights on a fast shot as fast as a low powered scope or a peep sight.I missed a bunch of running deer with a 30-30 and irons untill I switched to a 2X scope.

Very true. I love iron sights, but my eyes are crap now. My first year with a scope on my muzzleloader. I have a 1.5x5x32 scope on it, but just leave it on 1.5x. Very fast to get on target.

the whole 'brush gun ' thing is a joke. every thought for years a big round fat bullet would do better in brush,not even close to being true. study after study has prove pointed bullet against flat bullet makes little differents in the thickets. my 270 kills better than a 30-30 in the brush when the bullet is put in the right place.brush is no different than open country,you never try to knock trees or limbs out of the way with any bullet. a low power scope may make it easier for you to stay on target in the brush or in the open at close range. i hunt both places at times and i still like a 4x12 scope on all my deer and bear guns.

I thought we were talking about brush guns? Not bullets.

I didn't see anybody claim bullets go through brush without being deflected.

A brush gun to me is light, short, and shoots a bullet that will shoot flat to my distance without destroying a lot of meat.

A lever 30-30 fits that description perfectly.

The OP didn't ask for a do it all gun. He wants a short range brush gun.

To me a brush gun is this.

Quick shouldering in a chambering capable of large wound channels, through and through, via large bullets. And I find my 760 easier to hold minute of deer out to 300ish than a Lever. JMHO.

We have a different definition of brush. Lets see you take a 300yd shot in this.

Obviously, no 300 yard shots in brush. That's pretty open compared to NW Pennsylvania. Most of the time, seeing 50 yards is a LOOONG ways in the woods. Most of it is scrub trees, briar thickets, or beach tree stands.

I also hunt a field or two, I want that capability.

Love hunting those kinda wooods MH.Also find that my 20" barreled M700ADL Carbine in 30-06 will get 'er done there with the factory irons or Weaver bases and rings holding an old M8 4x Leupold or remove the scope in < than 20 seconds and pop in the staff of my Lyman rec sight staff all pre zeroed.I paid 220 for it so it comes under the $400 line or just pick up a used Marlin XL-7 in 06 or XS -7 in 308 for under $300 can't lose. Lot of options here and can't go wrong on most of them. Magnum Man

As others have stated, a 35 Rem lever gun would do nicely. That said, I have a 444 Marlin that I absolutely love. Every time I think I am ready to buy another 45-70, or the 35 rem for that matter, I remind myself of how well the 444 performs. I am testing 240gn Speer Deepcurls at the moment but have run 270gn & 300gn with fantastic results.

EDIT: Under $400 is tough on any gun worth your time but you should be able to get a used lever gun close to that. Good thing you don't need to spend extra on a scope......

Here is your Huckleberry, a nice old 760 with a Bushnell scopechief 4X scope. Ready to roll for a mere $399.00.

Sounds to me like the OP needs to take his $400 to a Gun Show and see what he can walk out with, getting the best bang for his buck!

It'd really suck to have only $400 to spend on a rifle. I think I'd just ask a friend to borrow one. LOL

Brush:



Iron sights, shotguns, bows....spears...rocks..

Brush: Alaska coastal area, full of Brown Bears.

Rifle: 30-378, Scope; Schmidt and Bender 4-16X50...

Pre-season "Deer Claiming" Paintballs and a slingshot!

For my money I'd be after a good used Marlin 336. A good peep sight, or maybe a low power variable. For a good scope that won't break the bank the Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5 has served me well on a few different 45/70s and a 30-30 as well. Decent optically, tracks true and hold zero all for about $80.

I like talley mounts but to save money there isn't a thing in the world wrong with a weaver base and low weaver rings. The weaver base is part number 63B. I've used that before too.


If you don't want to go lever action the used 760 or 7600 would be great too, but will run you more money that the 280 for a used Marlin 336.

This is fast target aquisition:



And I agree with you on going to scope, or any sight, where you are not trying to line up two objects with the target.

As far as moving targets, the Burris FastFire II is very good at that. Field of view is wider than with a scope, too, but long range accuracy will suffer, though reasonable distances aren't a problem.

The only problem is that the sight would bust his budget.

I agree strongly with the .30-30 fans, and about as strong with the M760 guys, with the 760 being a far more versatile and generally more accurate rifle.

Matt, you musta been posting whilst I wuz typing.

30-30, 35 Rem or 44 Mag in a lever gun. I also saw a CVA Scout (single shot rifle) in 44 Mag, 444 Marlin and 35 Whelen.

Good luck

Yup, btw I still drool everytime I see your 45/70.