Wow! I have a great wife! But now, I need help with a deer rifle..

[priv8ter]

30-30

A 30-30 would be fine for what we are doing this year. We are going to the Tahuya State Forest, 23,000 acres of trees and rolling hills. But...as much as I want to, I'm not sure I can afford a new rifle each year. Which means, that anything I get this year, I want to be able to bring out to Eastern Washington next year, and use on a 300 yard sage-brush shot.

When we gothis year, my wife will be carrying this new rifle. I will be carrying my Marlin 1894C. I'm going to order some Georgia Arms 'Deer Stopper' loads for it. I know .357 is not ideal, but, if we run into a 90-100 pound blacktail at under 75 yards...I'm confident this little carbine can get the job done.

only1asterik, I'll have to look into the Remington reduced recoil loads. Never heard of those before.

ksnecktieman, I am trying to get together with a friend of mine at the range. He has a .30-06 he bought with the BOSS system, which seems to cut down on recoil. But, man...let's talk about the noise It's the kind of gun that gets you evil looks at the range.

greg

 

[SteveS]

I would also try to "try before you buy." I don't notice too much of a difference between my .270 and my 7mm-08, granted the 7 is a much lighter gun. The recoil is certainly tolerable, though I wouldn't want to shoot off a bench for any great length of time. I like the 7mm-08, mostly because I could get it in a compact, light package (Rem Model 7).

As for ammo choice, I get most from mail order and buy a lot at once. OTOH, there is a Cabelas that is an hour away that usually has an excellent selection.

 

[WYO]

It cost us under $50 to get the stock cut for the correct length of pull and a Pachmayr Decelerator pad installed on my wife's rifle. You mentioned recoil as an issue, and correct fit and a good pad are essential to dealing with recoil. Unless you can find a rifle on the shelf that has the correct fit and a good pad, I view the money spent as essential.