Advice

Ok guys, I'm looking for some advice. Remington Model 770 .30-06. What's your opinion? I've seen some people praise them and others say they are trash. Looking to get it for my young boy. It's going to be for hunting. Also I have my eyes on a Rossi .243

The biggest question(s) relate to your son, his size, age , and experience.

Further discussion is on .243 vs .30-06 , single shot vs bolt actions , and Rem770 vs other bolts.

As FYI , the Comments and Sugguestions catagory is for c & s about the mechanics and administration of the website itself. The topics of your thread would be suitable equally in the Rifle or Hunting catagories , and receive more views and probably more responses there.

I love the 243

I am not knowledgeable on the Rem 770.

243 is a great deer cartridge. I don't know anything about the 770 but I've good things about the Ruger American and I think they are about the same price.

Another .243 fan.

Browning A-Bolt II.

All are good choices. We're talking deer here right?

I like lever gun in .357 or 30-30. Or bolt .243 or .270. Also semi 300BLK.

I don't hunt, disregard my post.

I have never used a Remington 770. I've used a Savage 110 in .30-06 on deer and it does just fine. Also used a Remington 700 in .270 Win and a Ruger M77MKII in .300 Win Mag. The Ruger in .300 Win Mag is the rifle I mainly use and the one I like the best out of the three. The Remington 700 would be the one I like the 2nd best.

I mainly used a .300 Win Mag because the farm I hunted on had shots that could go 400+ yards easily. Could probably go to 800 yards, but my ability is at about 300 yards, 400 yards on a really, really, really calm day. .25-06, .270 Win, .30-06 would all work if the shooter does his part.

If I was stuck on Remington, or looking to buy something with a lot of aftermarket options, I would buy a Remington 700. The amount of parts available for the 700 is just utterly incredible. So much so, that I am going to build a rifle based upon the Remington 700 action, but with a custom action.

What is the right gun and cartridge really depends on the circumstances of what the hunt will be like. Brush hunting versus long range hunting. Small bodied deer in Texas, monsters in Canada, or just the run of the mill deer in Maryland. How much recoil can the shooter handle without developing a flinch.

OP, check this out: http://www.chuckhawks.com/bad_deer_cartridges.htm

Chuck Hawks is rock solid advice, and seems to be complimenting the advice you are receiving here from our fellow MDShooters members.

"Young boy".....

Biggfoot 44 is all over the questions here. Just how young? How big? How experienced?

I LOVE a good .243 Winchester! It's a cartridge I'd always want to have a rifle chambered for. I love it's versatility as a heavy and less wind averse varmint cartridge. I love that, in capable hands with sufficient knowledge and the skills to make selective and well placed shots, it's indeed enough rifle for deer. The .243 fills a niche between the .22 centerfires and "traditional" "deer" chamberings, and it fills it well. I love the fact that any country gas station that might have ammo on the shelf will most likely have a box of .243 Winchester.

That being said, I'll suggest that there are better dedicated deer cartridges. So now you have to do some thinking. To me, that thinking follows these lines.

The MAIN considerations with a "young boy" are 2 fold in my opinion. One, get the boy a rifle that fits. Two, get your boy behind that rifle. ALOT! And get him behind it a lot before he ever sets foot in the woods with it. Which means the boy needs a rifle that he'll enjoy shooting, and not one where he's thinking it will be fun to go shooting today because it'll feel so good when he stops.

Think balance between adequate deer cartridge and tolerable recoil. Recoil tolerance is in many ways a learned trait. Repetition and proper mechanics are key to perceived recoil. So is having a rifle that has sufficient weight without being too much of a burden to carry. Lots of different types of deer hunting. That said, the difference between .243 and .30-06 recoil is substantial. Even more the case with extended bench time, which is where you want to see a boy spending significant time to begin with. Lots of proper mechanics to learn. Lots of familiarity to gain. Truth be told, and the usual machismo aside, .30-06 represents intolerable recoil for many an adult, much less a "young boy". Truth also be told, the lighter the cartridge, the more important shot placement becomes with deer hunting. And you learn to place shots through experience. And the only way to gain said experience with placing shots where they belong is to.....shoot. The more shooting the merrier.

How young? How big? How experienced? BF44 has it spot on. Good questions all. Now just me, I'd ideally like to see your boy grow comfortable with a 7mm-08 class rifle if deer hunting capability is the primary driver for owning the rifle. Not to say .243 won't work. It damned sure will. But you ideally want to be good with it. Better than many kind of good. And no I don't presently own one, but 7mm-08 or 7mm Mauser or .257 Roberts are all nice compromises between good terminal ballistics performance, and keeping the fillings in your teeth for the kind of range time a boy needs. Or an adult for that matter. So is a .260 Remington, or any of the 6.5's. But with all of these to differing degrees, don't expect Joe's Gas and Corner Store to have ammo on the shelf.

Tradeoffs and compromises...

Good luck!

Minuteman said:

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Ok Minuteman......

I find the recoil of a 300BLK about the same as a 5.56 (in an AR platform), nearly nothing.

The .243 and .260 are also soft shooters, as demonstrated in this very short clip.

Any of these calibers can easily dispatch a deer at hunting distances.

Stay away from the Remington 770 platform. The bolt is really loose in the receiver, while cycling the action and will hang up, unless you know how to keep it in a specific attitude.

For the price get a Ruger American.

Minuteman said:

I find the recoil of a 300BLK about the same as a 5.56 (in an AR platform), nearly nothing.

The .243 and .260 are also soft shooters, as demonstrated in this very short clip.

Any of these calibers can easily dispatch a deer at hunting distances.

Click to expand...

A rock in a catapult can easily dispatch a deer at "hunting distances".

Some of the guys I have hunted with had hunting distances of 800 yards. They would actually record the shot and they were using .300 RUM and .338 RUM.

Which cartridge is right, depends on all the variables specific to the hunt.

For a starter rifle for someone I like .308. .243 if much more mild but it can be light on bigger game. A .308 will do anything reasonably well except big bears. It's not hard on the shoulder. Easy ammo. Is avoid -06 cause of recoil on youth. If your hellbent between the two, go .243.

.243 will work, I would go with 7mm-08, .270, or .308. I would also skip the Rem 770 and go with a Tikka T3 Lite, Savage, Howa, or A-Bolt.

As an alternative you could go with a 20 g Mossberg 500 or an inline ML. There are more places to hunt with those two over a rifle.