Posted: 12/2/2007 5:09:33 AM EDT
| I'm interested in a new deer rifle, non AR/AK, you can't hunt with them in Pa. I'm thinking Marlin lever action, in either 30/30 or 35 Remington.Any opinions or experience? No Rickrolling, please! |
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How far is the farthest shot where you are planning on hunting? I have taken many deer with a 30-30 they are great little brush guns, lightweight and shorter barrel, but they don't reach out there all that well. Now since I said that someone will post a reply that says "I shot a deer at 500 yards with my 30-30".  If you keep it under 150 yards a 30-30 will do anything you ask of it. |
It's a rare shot over 100 yards, most of PA is thick woods and deer like the brush and thick cover.
Why did you use the word "FUDD" instead of the more accurate and descriptive "Deer Hunting"? Do you think it wise to alienate hunters by insulting them as a group? Do you think we EBR owners have so many friends that we can afford to insult and anger large segments of the firearms community? Or did you think at all? |
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bolt action 30-06 with a 3-9x scope...any of the major brands will do for the rifle. Spend at least $250 on the scope and then take the time to find the ammo it likes (165gr slug or heavier) you can pretty much use that gun to hunt anything on the planet (within reason) |
+1 ETA: I took down a moose with the same setup. |
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Quoted: I'm interested in a new deer rifle, non AR/AK, you can't hunt with them in Pa. I'm thinking Marlin lever action, in either 30/30 or 35 Remington.Any opinions or experience? No Rickrolling, please! Why did you use the word "FUDD" instead of the more accurate and descriptive "Deer Hunting"? Do you think it wise to alienate hunters by insulting them as a group? Do you think we EBR owners have so many friends that we can afford to insult and anger large segments of the firearms community? Or did you think at all? You don't climb down off your high horse and develop a sense of humor? "Or did you think at all" Yeah, I did, if you read the post I said "a new deer rifle" and I am a fudd. Excuse me for stepping on your sensitive feelings! BAN ME,TOUGH GUY! |
The point is that the term "Fudd" is pretty fucking stupid, regardless of who's using it. |
Here is your answer. 30-06 is IMO the best all around hunting rifle cartridge. You can take anything you'll find in my state with it....easily. In fact, my father just killed two deer with his Remington semi-auto 30-06 (I can't remember the model name off the top of my head) last weekend. We grilled some of the tenderloin. It was delicious.  That rifle has put a lot of meat on the grill and I won a lot of bets with it. Hell of a accurate rifle. I will be buying one of my own soon so I don't have to keep borrowing his. 
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It's hard for me to hunt with just one gun The real question is the terrain you'll be hunting and whether you stand or still hunt. Most of the PA hunters I know carry a 30-30 lever or a 760 pump (the Mennonite machine gun!). That Marlin lever is a fine gun. If you're hunting woods you'll probably never have a shot to long for it. Either round is plenty for deer and adequate for bear. My first deer rifle was a Rem 700 in 30-06. I've never needed a quick second shot, but that gun is big and heavy. I carried it this week for the first time in years, as I thought I might get a shot at a bear. (there's been a big one at camp). My conclusion - our woods have too much brush for that gun. Also, it's heavy and bulky to carry at "low ready". The 3-9 is to much scope for our brushy woods. My cousin has a 700 "mountain rifle" in 30-06 that feels like a feather. I'd happily use that in the brush, he does. My replacement for the 700 was a Thompson Encore with a 24" 7mm-08 barrel. The action is short enough that this gun is pretty compact. I use a bushnell 3200 2-7 on it. It's light, it's a tack driver, it's easy to carry at "ready" throught the brush (due to the weird looking stock), and for me it "points" really well. I have a lot of confidence snap-shooting with it, every deer I've shot at with it has dropped in it's tracks. This gun is fussy about ammo - the only factory ammo that groups well is Remington and black Box (Combined technology?) winchester. I shoot handloads and 130 grain speers make one ragged hole at 100 yards. I do have a shorter rifle barrel (always trying to be quicker!), but I'm not confident snap shooting with it. The longer parrel "points" better. I don't get to use my Encore anymore because my 15 year old carries it. I've been carrying my Marlin 1894 in .44 mag. It's light and handy in the brush and plenty accurate to 100 yards. I haven't shot at anything yet, but I expect the .44 will kill a deer just fine. The marlin 30-30 is a little heavier and I don't like theer "pistol grip" stock, but that's just me. The 336's are nearly as smooth as a Winchester, the action on the 1894 is "notchier". If I was starting over knowing what I know now, I'd either buy an Encore or a very light bolt gun in .308. That will easily kill any big game in the PA woods at any range you're likely to hunt. If you're going to use a scope I have developed a real preference for low power, bright, long eye relief scopes. More often than not you only have a couple of seconds to shoot that deer (especially the bigger, smarter bucks), high powered scopes are harder to find the animal in. All this goes out the window if you're hunting from fixed blinds with long sight-lines (well over 100 yards). I've used the 30-06 out to 250 yards and I thought it was perfect for that. On the other hand, I'd be just as confident with the Encore at that distance. How's that for a ramble that goes nowhere?
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High horse or no, the point remains that using the term FUDD is often intended as an insult, and as such, angers people needlessly. People we should be trying to persuade over to OUR side of things instead of pissing them off for no good reason. The fact that you're angry about my pointing it out to you shows me that my remarks hit home and you perhaps feel a bit embarassed. As for banning you, well, with an attitude like yours I suspect that you will get your wish sooner or later. |
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I have a similar thread over in the Armory for a short range deer rifle. The vast majority of recommendations is a Marlin/Winchester in 30-30, 35 Rem, or .44 Magnum. The other recommendation is a Remington 7600 in your caliber of choice. The 7600 would be great since you can't use a semi-auto in PA. <Hijack> You don't need a large caliber to kill a deer. Forget the 45-70, 300WinMag, 7MM Mag etc. A .243Win is plenty to kill a deer, and 30-06 is the absolute biggest caliber I can see to kill a whitetail deer. A poster here from Sweden mentioned he uses 6.5Swede to kill 500lb+ elks. Of course, YMMV </hijack> |
I gotta agree. 30-06 is actually kinda big unless you're shooting really far. My dad made clean kills for years with a .243. Lately I've been leaning toward faster handling guns - if I can learn to be quick with a 16.5" barrel on my Encore, that's what I'll be carrying. It looks kinda dumb, but lighter is better in the brush all day. I stumbled on 7mm-08 almost by mistake - (between .243 and 308) - I can't imagine needing more "power" on a whitetail. I've broken both shoulders and gotten a complete pass-through. My brother sent a 100 grain Hornady through both shoulders of a 6 point last year with his .243. I'm convinced that a lot of deer hunters carry more gun than they can shoot well. I certainly don't see enough who can consistently make a killing, offhand shot at 100 yards. More guys than will admit it have a horrible flinch with even a 30-06. |
+1000 Glad someone else feels the way i do. I hate the word "Fudd". I never ran into the word before i became a member of this site and i'll tell you what, i'm 100% sick of it. |
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I am thinking of getting a .45-70 Marling Guide Gun. If you hand load the .45-70 can be loaded up or down to hunt about anything from Whitetail Deer to a Grizzly Bear. From what others have said on here and in gun rags the .45-70 is good to a about 200 yd with standard loads and close to 300 with the ballistic tip Hornaday Leverrevoultion rounds. And the fact that the rounds move slower they do less damage to the meat. I am not a hunter yet, nor do I own a .45-70. I am just sharing the information I have collected. |
Quoted for posterity. You should stick to cap-guns until you grow up some more. 
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I shot one of these for the first time the other day at the range...OUCH! I didn't expect that much recoil.. Just a dumb braud I guess!! 
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Fudds are Fudds. If they continue to believe "I got Bess, my hunting rifle. Take those man killers off the streets." I'm going to continue to call them Fudds. That said, I differentiate between hunters and Fudds. But if a Fudd is upset at being called a Fudd, FUCK HIM. The Bastard should know the 2nd doesn't say anything about hunting with "Bess". |
Fudd are traitors. Fuck what they think. |
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Marlin 30-30. Anything over 100 yards go 30-06. I really dont like the Winchester 30-30 because it ejects the casing up where the Marlin ejects casing to the side.. My friend hunts with the Winchester and we always have argued which is the better gun. Easier to mount a scope on the Marlin.. |
Maybe in your area, but we've got lots of fields in this area, leaving lots of opportunities for "boulevard shooting," as my father called it. Looking one way gets me a shot of 40 yards, max, while turning the other direction puts 400+ yards of open field in front of me. So I need a rifle that can do both equally well. His 7600 .30'06 is a rifle, not a carbine, and has a 2x7 Leopold on it, not a 3x9. Since I'm a lefty, my .30-'06 is a Remington lefty bolt gun. That said, the .30-'06 is hard to beat as an all-around game round, particularly in PA. It's big enough for Black Bear and Elk and can be loaded with 110 grain hollow points that make excellent groundhog medicine. It's also the single most common caliber in the USA, meaning you'll ALWAYS be able to find ammo for it. If a store only has one box of rifle ammo, it will be .30-'06 Springfield. |