i was lookin to buy a new rifle for deer elk and bear. i was lookin at remingtons and weatherbys in 30-06 and 300. any input on what brands or calibers, synthetic or wood stocks. i dont want to spend more than 700 bucks on a rifle. what kind of scopes should i put on it? i will mostly be shootin bear and elk with it and some deer.

I did the "one rifle for everything" deal. About ten years ago I got a Rem 700 BDL 30.06. I love the gun and there are lots of factory loads the work great. My fav is the Hornady Light Magnum in 165gr. The balistics are great and my gun likes that load. I've shot many deer, 3 elk and 2 caribou with it. Love the gun.
I bought wood and blued. If I had the whole thing to do over I'd buy the same gun with composite stock and a stainless barrel.
The 300 win mag guns don't suck either.

Your caliber selection is perfect. Any of the .30 caliber loads will do and there is a lot of choices for loads. Just remeber choose your caliber based on range and size of your quary. As far as stock you cant beat synthetic for weather protection. I like the look of wood myself and I am ordering a new laminated thumbhole for my Ruger MKII .30-06 in a couple of weeks. Put good glass on your rifle. Burris, Leupold, Nikkon are the best for the money. Zeiss and Swarovski have the best glass but the price is way too high. The cheapies like Bushnell and Tasco have lesser quality glass but in order to compete they have accepted the lifetime warranty concept like other companies. You can score a nice rifle for under $700 easily. Nice glass and nice rifle might be pushn' it.

Of all the rifles I have, the one that would probably "get 'er done" for just about any animal is my Browning A-Bolt II (with Boss) in .300 WinMag. Pretty much one shot, one kill for any deer, elk, or bear. It's a very tight shooting rifle, sighted in for 200 yards.

The Boss reduces the amount of recoil, that's it's almost silly. Shoot the .300 next to my Rem Model 700 in 7mm Mag and it's a night/day difference! The Boss really works to reduce recoil.

The synthetic stock is tough. Not too sure what the stainless does, other than looks really cool with a black synthetic stock.

The matching 12X stainless / matte silverish scope doesn't look too bad, either.

Gotta go with the .300. i have the .300 weatherby mag ultralite. This gun can load up for elk and even moose as well as down for deer. Some bear of the tan to brown color concern me though. Think the 375 would come along on that hunt if I ever get to go. The .300 win mag is similar and a bit more cost effective. I would finish with spending as much on the optics as the gun as they seem more important in the long run.

Parker the stainless is for less maintenance. Hunting in the rain with a blued and wood gun is a pain when you get back to camp...but you already knew that.

remington sps's are nice rifles

I never get tired of Big Stick.

Any .30 cal from .308 on up will not disappoint from 10 yards to 300. Bullet placement is always key, and if you shop around you shouldn't have any issues finding a good used shooter, plus a scope, for under your $700 limit.

The Savage 110's are Very accurate, considering the price, and a medium priced Bushnell or Leupold VX2 scope will put the rounds where you need them. With these choices you shouldn't have an issue putting a brand new budget rifle/scope package together.

I prefer stainless barrels and synthetic stocks, as I hunt in the rain, a lot. However, your mileage may vary. A few of my FUDD guns wear wood and blue, but those were either early purchases, or left to me. Everything in the past 5 years has either stainless barrels (or a high tech coating resistant to bad weather), synthetic stocks, or both.

.300 WinMag or .338 Lapua Mag...if you can afford/find one.


My favorite is the 7.62x54R fired from a SVD, but that's just my personal taste.

338 RUM, 325 WSM, 300 RUM are all good rifles and will put the hammer down on any animal.

thanks for all the input. i will let you know what i decide to get.

7.62x54R is an old school round that hammers them. Get an old Mosin Nagant for under $200 and you'll be surprised at how well it shoots.

Make sure you get the longer 91/30 and not the shorter M38 or M44....And carefully inspect the barrel and bolt for corrosion & pitting.

They hunt tigers in Siberia with that round.

I fixed that up for ya Irie

I gott a say if you shop around you can find a great deal on a Rem. 700. I would go with the 300 WSM. I really like that round!!!! my wife has one and a 165 grn bullet shoots really flat and hits hard. I hand load it but you can buy rounds in many configurations.

I personally would stay away from anything that is weatherbee. They want to much for stuff with their name on it. Go price shells for a weatherbeee anything and compare the same in any other and you will be shocked at the price difference. yes they can be a little hotter but not worth 2x the price. thats my 2 bits.

Gotta clarify what dcrz said, just a little. I've had a Vanguard by Weatherby in 30.06 for 15 years, very accurate with Remington factory loads in 165gr.
If it's a Weatherby load, it IS going to be expensive for ammo.

Bought a Browning A-Bolt in .300 Win Mag two years ago, stainless/composite, Leupold VX III 3x9 X 50. Defintely cost more than $700, but it's all the rifle I will ever need for deer/elk/bear/cougar, with better ballistics for the long poke. Also shoot 165's with that.

That being said, a guy named Ralph Flowers from here on Grays Harbor killed over 1100 bear in the '50s and 60's as a damage control hunter for the timber industry. His favorite rifle (he snared them too) was a .270, and he shot 130gr bronze tips. It's all about placement.

Remington 700 in the 300 Ultra Mag synthetic/stainless. There's not a finer shooting "all around" round on the market for the money. If you want to get really stupid with the money buy the Leupold Mark 4 4.5x-14x x 50 tactical tower scope. A friend of mine has this exact setup and has a laminated 3x5 card that has all his elevation and windage clicks on it. Last summer we were shooting the gun out to 820 yards and were doing 10" 3 shot groups... 600 yards is a walk in the park for this gun.

Keith

I'll be sure to hang some pics of the results my Wby Sub-MOA .270 generates on any or all of the species listed above. If the heavy caliber types want to enjoy any sort of "toldya so" they better sign up for it now, and be prepared to deal with being wrong when the time comes.

FWIW BS recommended the .277 TTSX 110 gr. @ 3400 fps for anything, elk included. break a shoulder, trash the boiler room, leave a big hole on the far side.... What's not to like?

No argument here......Bought a .270 Mark V synthetic (about $800) and then upgraded to the Monte Carlo stock (about another $300). Last time I took it out at 100 yards 2 rounds where touching with the 3rd about a 1/4 inch up. The guy next to me at the range shooting a mag was perplexed why I waited for 20 minutes for a cease fire just to hang a target and go bang, bang, bang and then put my gun away. I just shrugged and pointed at my target.

well after lookin around and finding something in my price range i landed on the howa legacy with synthetic stock and blued barrel in a .300 win mag.