Thread: First Rifle Choice for the Novice Hunter. Some more Notes From an Old Fudd

A new hunter will read this thread and pick a suppressed Tikka T3 in 308

He will then live a happy and fulfilled life, the end.

my daughters (teenager at the time) first shots at the range was with a 8x57 loved it never flinched and was a better shot than me.....screwed her nose up at the 22 after that.
my first centerfire was a 30/30 trapper (had less recoil than the marlin i had in recent years , put it down to the straight stock absorbing energy better , my opinion only)then moved to the 8x57 i inherited (otherwise i would probably never have bought one) in the years between then and now i have had a 6,5x55 loved it but found ailmost all the deer i saw were within 50m . a 7.62x39 enjoyed it but might as well be using a 30/30 . and only just recently after 44years i bought my first 308........maybe im a slow learner.......
and yes i still have the 8x57 .......

Just recently bought a 22" .308 with the suppressor it has sygnificantly less recoil than the 18" one it's replaced and is hardly anymore than my 20" 22-250. The .308 is still one of the cheapest to feed out there.

Greetings all,
Some useful stuff here. To be honest the 7.62x39 and it's descendent the 6.5 Grendel had not crossed my mind but either would be great and light recoil especially when suppressed. The 7.62 should have some inexpensive ammo available. A .22 RF for cheap practise is hard to go past as well.
The point that younger people are different to us when we were young is also well made so a .22RF together with something more exotic may fill the need for them.
GPM.

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

A new hunter will read this thread and pick a suppressed Tikka T3 in 308

He will then live a happy and fulfilled life, the end.

Yes, the suppressor makes a 308 quite tolerable.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings,
So that is three votes from the seniors (counting mine) for much the same thing but what do the younger generations think?

6.5x55

Originally Posted by blip

6.5x55

Another all time favourite of mine but a better calibre for a handloader rather than a novice. The US ammo used to be weak shite and the continental expensive.
GPM.

Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Just recently bought a 22" .308 with the suppressor it has sygnificantly less recoil than the 18" one it's replaced and is hardly anymore than my 20" 22-250. The .308 is still one of the cheapest to feed out there.

My 18 inch b14 308 suppressed shooting factory 150's recoils more than my 270 22 inch with suppressor, also has a lam stock but it's a noticeably less.

243 for my young fella shooting 95 sst. Works. He's 12.

To cover kiwi conditions - .22, 223, and 308 (or similar), and 12 guage.

There are of course other centrefire calibers just as effective as 308, but advantage with 308 is you always have a ready range of ammos available at reasonable prices.

Originally Posted by mudgripz

To cover kiwi conditions - .22, 223, and 308 (or similar), and 12 guage.

There are of course other centrefire calibers just as effective as 308, but advantage with 308 is you always have a ready range of ammos available at reasonable prices.

and thats it in a nutshell done and dusted

A .22lr and a 6.5 CM ( .243 would be my second choice)

I’d much prefer to own and use a Rifle that I love shooting but at times struggle to buy ammo for , than a Rifle I hate to shoot but can afford to feed .
If you love shooting the thing because you aren’t scared of it , you will achieve good results and I've yet to encounter a 6.5CM that doesn’t shoot well with Factory ammo .
You will always find a way to get more ammo …….. if you enjoy shooting it .

If it can't be dealt with by a 10/22, mossberg 500 or a marlin 336 then it's further away than I'm willing to carry it!

708 is the new 308, much nicer to shoot for a newbie and ammo is readily available again....

Insert anti 708 hate ------>HERE<------

Way back in the day it would of been an old single shot 22 a 12g and a 303

As someone who had bad recoil flinch when I first started some moons ago on centrefires I'll add to that aspect of the question. That being put aside a .22 and a .223 are no brainers, for shotguns do not over look the humble 20Ga as it kills just as well as the 12ga.

However for centrefire rifles the one that feels the best in the hand is a must, doesn't matter what I or anyone thinks that's the best one for said shooter as most factory rifles are capable of shooting more accurately than the nut behind the butt can.

Calibres for a younger shooter and this is obviously depending on where you are located etc:243, 6 ARC, 6.5 Grendel, 25-06, 6.5x55,260,6.5 creed, 7mm08, 308 albeit with more recoil.