Economical Deer Rifle

A friend wants to buy a deer rifle for his 16 year old son. He does not have a lot to spend (~$300 to $350) but wants something his son can have and use the rest of his life. What make, model and caliber do you recommend?

Marlin 336 in 30-30 or 35 Remington

The single shots from H&R and others are good guns. .243 or 7mm-08 are good choices. I have friends that hunt with these calibers. With $350 he can buy the rifle and a decent scope and some ammo!

Id say maybe a H&R Handi Rifle or maybe a used Savage bolt action.

TLS wrote:Id say maybe a H&R Handi Rifle or maybe a used Savage bolt action.

I second the Handi Rifles. They are great little rifles and you can exchange the barrels on them as well. but a nice used Savage will be hard to beat when you can find them.

marlin lever action or handi rifle...

A used bolt gun. Savage,rem700.

I 4TH the Handi Rifle.. Great guns and shoot pretty good too.

My uncle has one in 270 with a short barrel and the fartherest we have shot is 200yds and it grouped great with regular ole corelokts.


For a beginner id suggest a .243 or 7-08 like said above.

Bought a Stevens Model 200 for my nephew in 243.. More than adequate for MS deer hunting..

7mm-08 Handi Rifle. Other barrels from H&R are $92
or get it in .308 and you could load him some bullets.LOL

there was a remington 700 at charlies pawn shop the other day for 395 and the guy said hed probably go 295. had a tasco world class scope on it... 7mm rem mag...

Wal-Mart! Remington Model 700 ADL in .243 Win or 7mm-08. Waynesboro had them for $350 w/ a $50.00 mail in rebate. The action alone is worth $350! Hard to beat that.

300 ATLAS wrote:Wal-Mart! Remington Model 700 ADL in .243 Win or 7mm-08. Waynesboro had them for $350 w/ a $50.00 mail in rebate. The action alone is worth $350! Hard to beat that.

Dang, i wish i was closer. Another gun never hurts.

well ya'll can say this and that.....but dollar for dollar the BEST values are a Marlin XL7(or) XS7 model...
Or any Savage,or better yet Stevens 200 either in short action or long action.....
All of these have one thing in common a barrel nut,which means you can change the caliber up or down the scale for fairly CHEAP.
When I bought my Marlin XL7 30-06 I payed $325 out the door including tax,this rifle was/is still all the rave according to all the gun writers/rags.The XS 7(short action has pretty much followed in it's big brothers footsteps).
I bought a Stevens 200 recently from Academy Sports in 7mm-08 on sale for 199.99 before tax,also has a barrel nut,pretty easy to change the caliber,also after some searching the internet and some waiting for a deal,I have managed to buy a Adams&Bennet 22-250 stainless 6-fluted barrel for for the peasly sum of $125(including shipping) with a 50 round count down the tube(still a new barrel,hardly broke in),then a month later I stumbled into a Blued factory 308 barrel for $75(including shipping) with zero rounds down the tube.A set of GO-NO Gages will run you less than $50 dollars per caliber(you can change the barrel yourself with a little research or a DVD as a guide)Or you can take it to a gunsmith and pay the man about $50 dollars and he'll change it for you.....You can do this with any Savage also.
If you want to change calibers with a Remington,you will have to send it to the factory,so your waiting for you rifle for about 6 weeks at best for the work to be done(remmys use a pressed in barrel)
A lever action will have to also go to either a specialized gunsmith or the factory,either way another 6 week turn around,plus it'll run you $250 to $350
If you go with a H&R tops $190 for a barrel,but again,a 6week wait,till you get it back....Oh and you'll have to pay for all this shipping,and back to a dealer,who will have to run you back thru NCIS even tho you already own your rifle.
Go with the Marlin or Savage/Stevens,they are a bargain no matter how you look at it.And save all that extra money for a really good scope

Actually, not all remingtons use a pressed in barrel. In fact, most of them have threaded barrels like any other bolt action rifle. The only ones I know of with press fit barrels are the 710's and 770's, but someone may know of another.
The 700's are threaded, I know, 'cause I have two Rem 700 barrels in 7mm Mag sitting in my shed right now.
Anyway, to answer the original question, I'd have to agree with you.
A Stevens 200, Marlin XL7 or XS7, or a used savage or used Rem 700 are the way to go.

btr568 wrote:well ya'll can say this and that.....but dollar for dollar the BEST values are a Marlin XL7(or) XS7 model...

What he said!!

btr568 wrote:
If you go with a H&R tops $190 for a barrel,but again,a 6week wait,till you get it back....Oh and you'll have to pay for all this shipping,and back to a dealer,who will have to run you back thru NCIS even tho you already own your rifle.
Go with the Marlin or Savage/Stevens,they are a bargain no matter how you look at it.And save all that extra money for a really good scope

I think your wrong on them having to do NCIS check on you. The barrel program is just like sending a gun back for repairs they can ship it direct to you, by law. Never heard of anyone that has done the barrel program having to have it shipped to a dealer. They usually ship it UPS to your house,at least they did mine about 10years ago. H&R website says nothing about shipping to a ffl and the order form doesn't ask for one.

The barrel exchange program is probably gonna go away, since Remington bought Marlin and H&R the wait times are 6mths to a year and they have discontinued alot of barrels too. Remington is returning people's guns because they have no idea when they will be able to do barrels.

Sorry for the



Buy a Remington 700

I think the Marlin Bolt action would be a good deal.

Dont buy a mossberg bolt action ha. My brother bought one for his wife and he has had more trouble out of it not fireing than anything ive seen.

strange...

my step son shoots a mossberg 308 and it is his favorite he has owned...