Thread: First rifle

Originally Posted by Walker

If you want a inexpensive accurate rifle consider a savage.

+1 personally I would buy (and have bought) Savage (not an Axis though, one of the better ones) over Howa, Tikka etc. Accurate, reliable, one of the best factory triggers around, nice 3-stage tang safety etc.

But as others have said its very much a personal choice about what fits you best and what you like the feel of so handle all the options, just because someone else likes a rifle or a salesman says its 'better' doesn't mean it will be a better choice for you.

Calibre choice isn't that big a deal, any common deer cartridge will make animals equally dead. 308 and 7mm08 are very similar and popular for a reason as good all-rounders, I wouldn't suggest 270 for a beginner though because it does have a fair bit more noise and recoil (which can cause a new shooter to develop a flinch and miss things) without really having a performance advantage to make that worthwhile.

Well so the sales man told you to get a Howa or a Steyr in 7-08 , but he had no 308 to sell you? Or was he trying to move on old stock?
As said above , when the nice Steyr will be all bashed up it will have lost half of its value or more. And for the price of a Steyr with an ok scope you can have a good basic rifle with a very nice scope.

It would be good if you could go hunting with a few mates and carry and hunt with their rifles and shoot them on targets as well.
When you will have struggled in supplejacks with a fishing rod of a barrel or climbed the urchin track with a truck axcel and a pack you might have a better understanding of what your needs are.

Howa, Savage or Tikka would be my pick, plenty of others out there but pretty much can't go wrong with any of those three.

Personally I like the 6.5 calibre for sub 300m hunting but you can't go wrong with a 308.

I went through the same process last year . Ended up with a steyr 308 and zeiss scope 2nd hand off trade me for a sharp price. 2nd hands well worth a look

Originally Posted by Friwi

Well so the sales man told you to get a Howa or a Steyr in 7-08 , but he had no 308 to sell you? Or was he trying to move on old stock?
As said above , when the nice Steyr will be all bashed up it will have lost half of its value or more. And for the price of a Steyr with an ok scope you can have a good basic rifle with a very nice scope.

It would be good if you could go hunting with a few mates and carry and hunt with their rifles and shoot them on targets as well.
When you will have struggled in supplejacks with a fishing rod of a barrel or climbed the urchin track with a truck axcel and a pack you might have a better understanding of what your needs are.

The idea of going with mates would be great. If I had mates with similar interest my friend circle remains the same from high school. Only one other friend with his firearms license and he only owns a shotgun for duck shooting. No family have an interest either.
So I'm essentially going in blind seeking advice.

As for scratching and using a rifle. Well my dirtbike was 7k when I brought it all shiny and pretty now it's a few years later and it's done some work all scratched bent something etc. I'd rather buy a good tool than it become a display piece

Takes Greg's advice and find a cheap 308 and a second hand suppressor. I bought a good one for 400 bucks. And about half that for the suppressor.

And I bought Belmont ammo for 1.20 per round.

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Originally Posted by gadgetman

Main thing would be to find a rifle you like, that feels good, that fits you, that's in your budget and buy it.

what he said...
i personally didnt like the feel and fit of the howa but many do ...and they are good .....bare and add your own optics set up
from your posts i m guessing a budget of 1k to 1.4k? ish...
there are some good s/h with decent glass in that range most brands are extremely capable and the deer dont care
also think about action left or right hand? bolt action best for beginner but if your a lefty maybe consider a lever action?
oh and if i was buying a first rifle it would be 308... ammos always available and reasonable price...
and im not biased i dont actually have a 308 ...

To be fair though to the Howa package deals, they are only a hundy more than the bare rifle.

I was going to buy one bare but for a hundy you get way more than that so just took the package. I ended up selling the Nikko Stirling Gameking for $180.

Just the leupold bases that come with the package are a hundy to buy so there is your value there.
While the scope (normally Nikko Stirling Panamax) is not great, it is certainly good enough to go on the rim fire that I would highly recommend you buy next for fun and cheap practice, and it will get you started until you get a replacement.
Effectively you get the scope for free for a rimfire.
The rings however are throw away and I would replace those immediately.

As has been said, savage (not axis), tikka, Howa, Winchester M70, rem M7 or 700, ruger 77, browning, etc. will all be perfectly fine, just buy the one you like.


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I have a budget of 2.5k (set by the boss) knowing too well that' optics will take up a good portion of this.
What I've learnt. Such a wide range of calibers, if you can aim well you've got it. Brands are much the same in terms of quality but shot grouping worsens the cheaper you go. Calibre size Will be a preference learned based on distance animal size economy. rather than a preference told.

Will window shop again tomorrow, soley for feel.

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2.5 k is a solid budget . I'd be looking at something like your tikka or Brownings and then a leupold vx3

Ok
Take out 878$ for a leupy VX3i
Spend the rest on your rifle.

Originally Posted by Jrm234

Brands are much the same in terms of quality but shot grouping worsens the cheaper you go.

Thats probably the opposite really IMO. Cheaper rifles will often group just as well but not be as nicely finished and might not feel as good to use - there are always exceptions too though so you can't rely on a price tag to tell you too much apart from whether or not you can afford it.

Sometimes its just a difference between manufacture quality (everything is within design tolerances and does its job) and perceived quality (everything feels more nicely made and finished whether it actually performs better or not). How much money that extra perceived quality is worth is down to personal taste - some people are happy with a rough clunky rifle that gets the job done on a budget, some prefer to spend many thousands on a beatifully crafted custom rifle that makes them smile just to look at it, most of us are somewhere in between.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Ok
Take out 878$ And the rest on a scope.
Spend the rest on your rifle.

+1
with my edit.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Ok
Take out 878$ for a leupy VX3i
Spend the rest on your rifle.

And another $600 for a CZ455, spent the rest on a rifle!


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If that s your budget don't go with the cheapest scope mounts either. And buy a descent cleaning rod ( a $100 ish in one piece carbon fibre) and some good copper solvent and patches.