Deer season will be upon us before we know it. If you’re looking for a new rifle to take down this year’s venison, here are some to consider. When it comes to deer hunting, I’m not one of those hunters who prides himself on long-range shots. A typical deer shot for me is around 50 to 60 yards, and I normally drop my deer with one shot.
Some of my deer rifles are open-sighted, others have scopes. It would be very unusual for me to take a shot at a deer more than 100 yards away. While there are numerous calibers available for deer hunting, I rely on guns chambered in the time-proven cartridges .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .30-30, .308, .30-06, and .300 WSM along with pistol caliber cartridges .327 Federal Magnum, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum to make this list.
The first two deer rifles on this list are universal favorites. I don’t own either but have had the opportunity to use both on sponsored hunts. Most of the other rifles on this list I currently own. All the rifles on this list are capable of taking a good-size whitetail.
Remington 700/783 Series
The Remington Model 700 has been in continuous production since the 1960s. The Model 783 was introduced in 2013 to compete against competitors such as the Savage Axis, Tikka T3, and Ruger American Rifle. Remington wanted to keep features that were important to hunters such as a superb trigger, pillar-embedded stock, and free-floating barrel inclusive of a target crown.
The Model 700 is a top-loading gun. The 783 is magazine fed which creates a smaller ejection port. The frame is therefore more rigid. The detachable box magazine is metal, not plastic, and is less costly to manufacture.
The Model 783 does not sacrifice accuracy for price. It has a one-piece cylindrical receiver and small injection port. The accuracy is improved due to more mass and rigidity passing through the receiver. The 783 has a new crossfire trigger system. It is factory set at 3.5 pounds, but is also user-adjustable from 2.5 to 5 pounds. It has a carbon steel magnum contour button rifled barrel (standard at 22 inches and 24 inches on magnums). It has a pillar-bedded stock and free-floated barrel with a SuperCell recoil pad. The Model 783 accepts two Model 700 front bases. It is available in 270 Win., 308 Win., .30-06, and 7mm Rem. Mag. with MSRPs starting at $439.
Winchester Model 70 / XPR
Winchester’s Model 70 is currently available in nine different variations. Pre-1964 models have almost a cult following among bolt-action rifle enthusiasts. Winchester made a few cost-saving mods to the post-64 models, but they are still very popular. Today’s Model 70 has one of the most accurate trigger systems available on a hunting rifle. A beautiful, wooden stock Model 70 in a caliber such as .243, .270, .30-30, .308, or .30-06 can run a little over $1,000, however, there are still some Model 70s available in the $500 range.
Winchester’s XPR Sporter rifles add modern materials and manufacturing techniques to the traditional look and feel of the classic hunting rifle. Available with camo, composite, laminate, or wood stocks with Cerakote or Permacote finishes. Button rifling and a free-floated barrel with a recessed target crown provide all the accuracy you could desire. The MOA trigger system with zero take-up, zero creep, and zero overtravel provides you with outstanding accuracy. All these features combine to provide an exceptional rifle at an extraordinary value. Prices range from just under $400 to over $800.
Bushmaster Carbon 15 SuperLight — 5.56mm
This is my one Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR). It’s a Bushmaster with a 16-inch contour barrel with A2 flash hider and a Burris red dot optical sight with rings and riser blocks. It has a 6-position stock and a black carbon-fiber receiver. It is spec’d for 5.56 ammo. I have both 15- and 30-round magazines for it. I include this here just as an example of the many Modern Sporting Rifles there are to choose from. This just happens to be my choice.
Marlin 336 — .30-30
The Marlin 336 chambered in .30-30 has been in continuous production since 1948. With its solid, flat-top receiver and side ejection, the Marlin 336 is a prime candidate for use with a rifle scope. However, mine is topped with a Skinner Sights peep sight. I find it to be extremely accurate out to 50 yards and beyond.
My rifle has a 20-inch barrel, micro-groove rifling, blued-steel barrel band, swivel studs, 6-shot tube mag., hammer block safety, and gold-plated trigger. It has the blond, curly maple pistol grip stock, cut checkering, rubber rifle butt pad, and hammer block safety. It weighs in at 7 pounds. Ruger is now shipping the Model 336 Classic with a beautifully finished American black walnut stock and forend.
The crisp, clean checkering on both the stock and forend enhances the appearance and grip of the rifle. The stock’s black pistol grip cap is inset with a Marlin Horse and Rider medallion. The forend is attached using a barrel band.
The alloy steel rifle is richly blued, features a standard-sized finger lever, and a six-round magazine capacity. The 20.25-inch barrel is cold hammer-forged which improves longevity and yields ultra-precise rifling for exceptional accuracy. Like the classic 336, this rifle features the gold-colored trigger.
Heritage 92
Taurus now owns two producers of lever-action rifles. Rossi has been manufacturing Winchester and Marlin clones in Brazil since 1997. The latest producer of lever-action rifles is Heritage. Heritage joined the Taurus family in 2012. It has been known primarily for its rimfire single-action cowboy guns, but all of that changed with a new line of lever-action rifles being rolled out this year. The Heritage 92 series is designed to replicate the iconic lever-action rifles of yesteryear, but with the precision and performance demanded by today’s firearms enthusiasts. These rifles are being produced in the Taurus manufacturing facility in Bainbridge, Georgia.
The Heritage 92 line features a diverse range of calibers including .357 Magnum, .45 Long Colt, and .44 Magnum. Each rifle in the Heritage 92 line is available in three distinctive finishes allowing shooters to choose between stainless with hardwood, PVD gold finish with hardwood, or polished black with hardwood. This gives shooters options to fit their particular style of ownership or perceived use for the gun.
I’ve owned several of the Rossi rifles but had someone interested in my El Jefe, which is essentially the same rifle as the Heritage 92. After arranging a new home for El Jefe, I asked Heritage to send me a 92 in .357 Magnum with black finish, octagonal barrel, and hardwood furniture.
Deer season is still in the future, but I’ve put the Heritage 92 through its paces during several trips to an outdoor range. I am confident that should it make it to a deer hunt this year, it’s capable of bagging a deer.
Mossberg Patriot
Mossberg’s Patriot .308 with a Vortex Crossfire II 3–9×40 premium optic is everything a lowland hunter needs in an affordable package. The Patriot’s button-rifled fluted barrels are free-floated and have a recessed crown for maximum accuracy. At 22 inches in length, the barrels are built to achieve full velocity from every caliber, yet they are short enough for quick handling in the woods. The Patriot’s spiral-fluted bolt looks really cool and is at just the right angle for quick follow-up shots (without banging up your hands). It’s easy to load cartridges into the box magazine and the magazine into the gun.
The Mossberg Patriot features the Lightning Bolt-Action Adjustable Trigger that is user-adjustable from 2–7 pounds. The stock design is streamlined and checkered for easy, efficient operation. The walnut and laminate stock has a stippled pistol grip and forend that provide a steady grip during wet weather.
Mossberg has a long-standing relationship with Vortex that results in an excellent scope match for the Patriot rifle. The scope that was in my package. The scope offered in the popular scoped hunting rifle package, is the Crossfire II 3-9×40 riflescope with Dead-Hold bullet drop compensator reticle. Once your rifle is zeroed in at 100 yards, the BDC allows you to compensate for other distances using hash marks on the reticle. This rifle weighs right at 8 pounds and is 43 inches long. It balances beautifully. With its 22-inch barrel, it is easily maneuvered in the brush and well-balanced.
Savage Axis II P
I was most attracted to the Savage Axis II XP lineup and picked one in .243 Win. Why .243? I have rifles in .30-30, .30-06, and .308, and I have a MSR .223/5.56, but nothing in between. The deer around here are small, and the coyotes are big. The .243 Win. seemed to be just the right caliber for taking down either.
An XP package is one that has extra accessories added. For the Axis II XP rifle, those extras include a user-adjustable AccuTrigger and a bore-sighted Bushnell Banner 3–9x40mm scope. Accuracy potential is aided by the inclusion of a headspace gauge threaded into the receiver with a lock nut securing the barrel against the recoil lug for perfect head spacing. The Axis II XP combo features a floating bolt head design where the head and body of the bolt are two separate pieces. The resulting float allows for perfect lug and cartridge engagement.
The .243 barrel is 22 inches long with a 1-in-9.25-inch twist rate. The overall length of the rifle is 44 inches, and it weighs 6.5 pounds. This is a lot of rifle for the package price that was less than $400.
Ruger American
The Ruger American Rifle has a receiver made from 4140 chrome-moly bar stock and a hammer-forged, free-floated barrel with a blued black oxide finish mounted onto a polymer composite stock. The rifle feeds cartridges into the chamber from a detachable rotary magazine via a push-feed mechanism employing dual cocking cams on the stainless steel bolt, which has three locking lugs allowing for a smaller 70-degree throw-angle of the bolt handle.
Rather than using a traditional flat lug to transmit recoil, the rifle’s barreled action is secured into the stock via a proprietary bedding system known as Power Bedding.
The Ruger American Rifle uses the Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger. The trigger is similar in design to the Savage AccuTrigger and allows the user to adjust the weight of pull between 3–5 pounds by means of turning a set screw on the trigger housing. The trigger mechanism is a single-stage design, but an integrated safety blade (similar to those on Glock pistols) must be fully depressed first before the main trigger can be unlocked and pulled thus preventing accidental discharges. The spring tension of the safety blade functionally creates a pre-travel feel that mimics a two-stage trigger allowing the shooter to exercise a much smoother and comfortable trigger pull.
Generation I has the following models:
- Standard
- Compact
- Magnum
- Predator
- Ranch
- Hunter
- Go Wild
Generation II has the following models:
- Standard
- Ranch
S&W 1854
The S&W 1854 is currently available in either .357 Magnum or .44 Remington Magnum. I got the .44 knowing I would shoot .44 Special more than the magnum cartridge. The rifle is 36 inches long and weighs 6.8 pounds. The barrel is 19.5 inches long and threaded for a silencer. It is made from forged 410 stainless steel and has 1:20-inch RH twist 8-groove rifling. The receiver is forged from 416 stainless steel. Both the barrel and receiver have a flat silver finish. The stock is black synthetic with textured grip panels and a M-Lok forend with textured grip panels.
The lever, hammer, and trigger are in a contrasting black color. The trigger is flat with a serrated face. The lever is a large, loop style to accommodate shooting with gloves. This goes with the entire all-weather design of the gun.
Unique to this lever-action, at least as far as my experience goes, was the removable magazine tube which makes unloading the gun simple. Simply push in and twist the tube (from the muzzle end) and remove the tube from the rifle. Then, turn the rifle muzzle-end down to unload any remaining cartridges. The S&W 1854 features a 9-round capacity.
A Picatinny rail is mounted on the receiver. The rail makes for a simple process to add a scope or red dot optic. The Model 1854 sports XS Sights consisting of a ghost ring rear sight and a brass bead front.
The bolt is round. A crossbolt safety is found below the hammer that had both half-cock and full-cock positions. Trigger pull is advertised at a 5-pound pull weight, but mine is coming in a little under that, typically 4.5 to 4.7 pounds on my Lyman Trigger Pull Gauge.
Taurus Expedition
I struggled with what to put in this 10th slot. There are a lot of excellent rifles from which to choose. I had my short list down to Tikka TX3, CZ 600, Browning X-Bolt, and two or three others. However, the fact that Taurus now has a bolt-action hunting rifle in its lineup is something I just can’t let pass. I get something to test from Taurus or one of their subsidiary companies often, but never has it been a bolt-action rifle. This rifle really is something worth noting. Taurus is big on offering value products. It likes to give customers a lot of gun for not a lot of money, so much so it is sometimes accused of making cheap products. That’s simply not the case. Taurus makes affordable products it can stand behind with a lifetime warranty and what has become in recent years, excellent customer service.
So, what is this Expedition? Taurus CEO Bret Vorhees is an avid hunter, and it’s apparent he’s putting a lot of his own likes and dislikes into this new product which is a sub-$1,000 rifle with the most desirable features in a hunting rifle. Barrel length is 18 inches on the .308 Winchester, so the twist rate is 1-in-10 inches. The muzzle is threaded and includes a thread protector.
The stainless steel, spiral-fluted bolt has three locking lugs reducing bolt lift to just 60 degrees. The lugs ride at nearly the 3-, 9- and 12 o’clock positions with the external extractor positioned between the top and right lugs. A plunger-type, spring-powered ejector extends through the recessed bolt face. The bolt handle is machined flat and slotted, while the bolt body is fluted. At the rear of the bolt, a stainless steel cocking indicator extends through the bolt shroud.
The single-stage trigger is curved and adjustable and comes set at about four pounds. The rifle uses a five-round detachable magazine. Overall weight of the rifle is seven pounds. Overall length is just under 38 inches. From the reviews I’ve read, stock ergonomics are excellent. Accuracy is right up there where it needs to be as well. I’m looking forward to getting one of these for personal review.
While the Remington 700 is legendary in action design, it has one VERY dangerous flaw, which ended up putting Remington on a down-hill slide to bankruptcy. That is the law suit over the design flaw in the safety. To unload a Rem 700, the safety has to be flipped to the off position (which kind of negates the reason for a safety). On some Rem 700 (and 660) rifles, when the safety is flipped OFF, the gun MAY discharge. Which was the reason for the law suit.
That said, there are aftermarket safeties, easily changeable, which allows the safety to be in the ON position, while working the bolt to unload. So basically if you have a Remington 700, or 660, that REQUIRES the safety to be in the OFF position to unload, you should SERIOUSLY consider making the expenditure for an upgraded trigger assembly from a reputable manufacture, and WELL WORTH the piece of mind to be able to use such a legendary action, SAFELY, with the SAFETY ON, while unloading.
The one thing that has always bugged me about the Rem 700, is the blind magazine. While aftermarket magazine options exist for detachable magazines, as many buy a NEW 700, then spend more money to set it up for detachable magazines. Why is it Remington never converted to a detachable system, like Remington has on their 7600 series?
While the Remington 700 is legendary in action design, it has one VERY dangerous flaw, which ended up putting Remington on a down-hill slide to bankruptcy. That is the law suit over the design flaw in the safety. To unload a Rem 700, the safety has to be flipped to the off position (which kind of negates the reason for a safety). On some Rem 700 (and 660) rifles, when the safety is flipped OFF, the gun MAY discharge. Which was the reason for the law suit.
That said, there are aftermarket safeties, easily changeable, which allows the safety to be in the ON position, while working the bolt to unload. So basically if you have a Remington 700, or 660, that REQUIRES the safety to be in the OFF position to unload, you should SERIOUSLY consider making the expenditure for an upgraded trigger assembly from a reputable manufacture, and WELL WORTH the piece of mind to be able to use such a legendary action, SAFELY, with the SAFETY ON, while unloading.
The one thing that has always bugged me about the Rem 700, is the blind magazine. While aftermarket magazine options exist for detachable magazines, as many buy a NEW 700, then spend more money to set it up for detachable magazines. Why is it Remington never converted to a detachable system, like Remington has on their 7600 series?
Iam 71, been hunting sinceI was 10 with my Father I’ve had many fire arms of various calibers, I’ve found out that they work well but every fire arm that I own now is a a Remington 870 pump shot gun 12ga 700.243 bolt bolt action & .50cal ml , , other than my.22s are a marlin.
“The Model 700 is a top-loading gun.”
It is, but there are a few drop in kits that are easy to install and reasonably priced, to add a detachable magazine. One should never discount the “old reliable” 700. I used one for many years, in .308, and never once lost a deer. It was accurate, hit hard and was affordable to buy and maintain. I would take it over a Model 783 any day of the week, and twice on Sunday (I know, I’m aging myself).
BTW – I know Lever actions are more expensive, but to me, $1000+ is not “affordable”.
@HW STONE: You state that “223/5.56 is really good at wounding, and still is more likely to produce a wounded run-off that dies further away than he is willing to track it, so I include it with the .30 Carbine and 7.62×39 as “marginal” at best.” Very interesting. I would love to see data to back up that statement. You see, I have heard that same FUDD statement said about the .30-30 and that for well more than 50 years, also given without data other than vague anecdotes about Kevin Bacon and six degrees of separation like, “My cousin’s brother-in-law’s great uncle’s third cousin by marriage reported this to be true…” kind of anecdote. (Oops, that is only four degrees of Separation, MY BAD!)
It would appear that since you don’t like those cartridges, you will choose to ignore any success stories of your targeted round and rely on urban myth to decry its use in states that it is legal. I know too many hunters in Oklahoma who have taken deer with a .223 and I have taken several deer with the 7.62 x 39. None of them ran beyond my ability to find them, in fact, none of them ran as far as some deer I shot with a .270 at a closer distance than I did with that .30. Using your argument, you would seem to consider the .270 inadequate for deer.
Your most telling statement is “Somehow I just have not warmed up to muzzleloaders or airguns or bow and arrow (either long bow or crossbow)…” Somehow I just have not warmed up to your premise; to me it would appear that you are somehow a FUDD because you do not like it, so you seem to want to keep others from using it. But, unlike you, I can look at data, analyze it, and even change my mind about the efficacy of some rounds I initially had doubts about for deer. And I have been hunting, starting with small game for well more than sixty years, and more than fifty years ago, I was hunting men. I have seen more people with GSWs than anyone I know. I have seen firsthand what the 5.56 and the 7.62 x 39 will do. You call those calibers marginal for deer, but I would call your assessment of those calibers and your supporting statements to be sub-marginal.
It would seem the term Cognitive Dissonance is appropriate here. A definition I found online is “Cognitive dissonance or cognitive dissociation is a term in social psychology that describes a feeling of unease and internal conflict that occurs when someone deals with information contradictory to one’s beliefs. Cognitive dissonance involves how the mind tries to make inconsistent information consistent.”
It focuses on beliefs without data support the conclusion arrived at. You demonstrate unease and internal conflict when information about those methods of hunting and certain caliber cartridges are brought up, even though, they have been shown to be efficacious and are LEGAL to use in a number of states. Add to that you bring up an overused/abused statement that has been directed at the .30-30 for more than 50 years and modify it to fit your bias. You do not like it and even in the face of evidence in a number of states, you state that it does not work. You have not presented data to support your premise other than it is “really good at wounding.” Not exactly exact, is it?
I began bow hunting back in the early-mid 80’s. I have put a number of deer in my freezer after poking them with an arrow or bolt. I know more people who have lost deer with accepted “deer rifle” calibers than I have with my bow or any of my guns.
I would submit that your statements are biased by personal beliefs, are not based on the reality experienced by many hunters in a number of states, and therefore, do not merit serious consideration in this discussion.
I guess I’m old school, Remington 1187 auto loader. 20 to 100 yds. No problem. No 3 inch either! 2 3/4 Remington accutip.
I have a savage axis 2 308.man its true straight on the mark.last year I shot 3 deer that dropped dead in their tracks at 100 yrds.I use to have a rifle 30-06 that I killed a lot of deer with shooting Winchester 150 grain ballistic tip.my buddy had a 308 and I got one and I wouldn’t trade it because that thing is deadly.I have been shooting the Winchester 308 150 grain power point but this year I am going to try hornady superproformance 150 grain sst bullets.they are 3000 muzzle and the Winchester are 2820 so I’m gonna try them after I sight my rifle in with them.are the hornady sst super performance bullets good hunting ballistic tips?will they leave a great blood trail or do they travel thru too fast to leave a good exit wound?thanks
Still Love my tried and true Ruger M77 in 30-06 with iron sights! I’ve killed everything that I have pulled the trigger on…
Seems like too many are choosing a semi-auto to hunt any kind of game anymore. IMHO, in many cases those who hunt with a semi are not really interested in making a one-shot kill on a game animal. Their attitude is if one shot doesn’t do the trick then ” I can make a number of shots real quick so, hopefully, the animal doesn’t get away ” . Poor hunters all.
I like my Remington 700, 7mm Mag. I inherited from my dad. Still a great gun.
I own many rifles ranging from 243. 30/06. 308 338 and 45/70. Due to having triple bypass I decided to go with my AR platform 223/5.56. I switched out the upper went with 300 blackout. The 300blk worked great on Maine whitetail at appx 110 yards.
A 55gr. Barnes TTSX fired from a 16″ MSR will change a few opinions on the .223/5.56 round used for whitetail. As the TTSX thrives on speed give it 20″ or so of barrel and the TTSX bullets can really deliver. Nothing will overcome poor shot placement. A lightweight bolt action .243 Win using 80gr TTSX pills works great for those wanting something more.
I give credit where credit is due. Every Mossberg Patriot I’ve shot has been surprisingly accurate and reliable. Hard to demand more from a $300-$350 rifle.
Sorry, BO, but while scopes on the AR platform have helped a lot, .223/5.56 is really good at wounding, and still is more likely to produce a wounded run-off that dies further away than he is willing to track it, so I include it with the .30 Carbine and 7.62×39 as “marginal” at best.
We are doing a lot better now teaching marksmanship, and some states even allow airgun use– of size, kind, not just anything. Somehow I just have not warmed up to muzzleloaders or airguns or bow and arrow (either long bow or crossbow) but this is not fifty years ago and my opinion is the same as fifty years ago– I prefer to stay away from marginal rounds for hunting, but when the target shoots back the 5.56 does do its job right properly. It has been a bit over fifty years, but the 16 family fills that job very, very well.
.
While not necessarily using an AR, .223 is just fine for the little whitetail in our area, along with the coyote of opportunity. I load up with barnes TTSX in a Ruger american 2nd gen.
@davidfreemen, it does NOT have a rotary magazine.
The predecessor to the Mossberg Patriot is my main hunting rifle though. The MVP in .308 is a versatile and handy rifle. An excellent meat gun for deer and elk utilizing loads from 165grn to 180grn.
@CHRISL, @HW STONE, & @DEDEYE: I have been hunting deer for multiple decades and that was after hunting men overseas some 50 years ago, so I would ask if it’s the 5.56 NATO cartridge you three are opposed to or is it anything fired from an AR style gun, be it 5.56 or .223? I say that because I have a buttload of 5.56 ammo. Everything I have in that caliber is FMJ, which is not even legal to hunt deer in Oklahoma. I have not really looked for that caliber in anything other than FMJ because, for me, it is just a practice/target round. I have barrels in both 5.56 and .223 for my AR. So, if you are talking about FMJ ammo, then I am in complete agreement. I am not a fan of using FMJ as a hunting round and I have never hunted in any state in the US where it was legal to use it.
However, in Oklahoma, .223 is now a legal deer cartridge, and has been for probably 20 years. I realize that there are still Fudds out there who would deny hunters the right to choose a LEGAL cartridge because they don’t like it and since they don’t like it, they don’t believe it should ever be used for that pursuit. If it is a legal cartridge for deer in your state, how can anyone deny them the right to carry that cartridge, especially if it is a humane kill?
I will admit I was initially unconvinced of the efficacy of that round for deer and was surprised when I began hearing from multiple hunters who were using it effectively to secure humane kills. Most of those hunters reported using .223 to take their deer down with one shot. I have several hundred rounds of .223 as hunting ammo and the numbers indicate that they should work well for deer. The .223 is not a round that I would use to take any deer beyond 100-150 yards, but I feel the same way about the 7.62 x 39 or the .30-30, and I have had guns in both. They are both more than adequate for deer at ranges out to 150-200 yards.
For me, I have found the 7.62 x 39 to be more than adequate for deer at those limited distances more than a few times. I would not try for anything beyond that with either of those .30s. If I am going to be shooting beyond, say 200 yard, I will carry my Remington 721 (the precursor to the 700) in .270 or my 6.5 Swedish, which is good past 300 yards. I have killed elk and more deer than I can count with my .270, some at distances over 400 yards. Killing a deer is more about one’s marksmanship than it is the gun in many cases. A bad hit is a bad hit… and a bad hit, even with a magnum is not the fault of the round used. That is on the one who pulled the trigger. I have seen people shoot a .300 Win Mag and lose their deer, because they could not shoot worth anything with that gun.
I have known too many “hunters” who took shots at deer with a .30-30 at distances greater than 200 yards and never recovered the animal. That is a problem with the shooter, not the cartridge. There are too many shooters who think they are hunters and do not see the difference.
Now, on a personal note, I have mentioned that some 50 years ago, I knew a large number of guys who used the 5.56 NATO cartridge to hunt certain bipedal types of critters that were sometimes larger than the average Oklahoma whitetail. They were also critters who were carrying weapons, mostly of 7.62 x 39 persuasion, and most of the time, at ranges less than, say 100-200 yards, a solid hit center of mass with the 5.56 NATO proved to be very effective. I did not carry a weapon in that caliber; I carried a 1911 in .45 ACP and it was effective as well. Since I came home, I have stuck to hunting 4 legged critters.
40 – 50 years ago, needed a special gunsmith to get a rifle “tuned” to shoot 1MOA. Modern tech means firearms that don’t potentially shoot ~1 MOA are a rarity. As to caliber/action, what a hunter in the West Texas open plains needs is different versus hunting the East Texas Piney Woods. Only issue now is – How does one stop with only one rifle??? A nice Lever action for brushy/wooded areas, Bolt gun for those wide-open crop fields, and a Semi Auto for everything else. One for deer, one for varmints, maybe a Hog gun? And please don’t forget the wife and kids! As for me, don’t have any room left in my safe, so may have to trade something…
Old school, but still my favorite; Remington 700 in 30-06
I guess I’ll stick with my Remington 700 270W I’ve had for 60 some odd years.
No mention of the Ruger M77 Hawkeye? Mine is .300 Win Mag and the best all around rifle I’ve ever owned. I’ve taken Moose, Elk, whitetail, mule deer and Caribou with one load (200 grain trophy bonded bear claw, at 2700fps). One round means no guessing or rezeroing for different game. A shot through the ribs results in no meat loss. I achieve sub MoA accuracy with that load. When I want to go after coyote, I simply load a 105 grain at 3606 fps, for a super flat trajectory. Your not going to get one for ~$500, but when one rifle can replace 3 who cares.
I agree %100 with CHRISL.
The AR in 458 SOCOM is a good deer rifle, but I agree with CHRISL in saying stay away from 5.56mm for deer hunting.
Please don’t encourage the yahoos to hunt deer with their AR15s in 5.56 NATO. By yahoo, I mean people who aren’t hunters but like to kill stuff.