Deer rifle

I have been looking at getting a new rifle. I have been debating getting a larger semi auto(either a ruger mini-14, or some surplus peice, most likely an SKS) or a deer gun(30-30 lever or a 30-06 bolt)

Then I realises a compromise, buy an AR-15 and get a .308 upper for deer hunting. The big part would be finding a lower end AR or a used one, not too hard when 10-20 companies make ARs and they have been around for several decades.

Any thaughts on this idea or recomendations on where to look would be great.

Brian

How much do you want to spend? $100, $1000? An SKS should be plenty for a deer and reasonably priced. A mini-14 is going to be 223, which may or may not be deer-legal where you live. 30-30's have taken many deer. An AR15 with a 308 upper will be pushing a grand or better. A 8mm Mauser 98 like a Turk in the $120 range will drop about anything you want to shoot at, but is bolt action.

My father has a Spanish 8mm mauser, nice, but finding ammo is a bitch.

How is the 7.62x39 for deer?

The big thing about the AR is versitility. you can swap out the uppers for anything from a .204 ruger up to a .50 Beowulf.

Maybe I should just save up for a PS-90, only no practicle use unless we have a zombie outbreak or desend into civil war, but damn those guns are SWEEEET(and $1800)

Spanish Mausers are generally to be avoided. The steel wasn't always hardend properly. At least that's the general consensus. A Turkish Mauser is a good one, though. 8mm is a very powerful round, about the same as a 30-06, as the 30-06 was designed around the 8mm Mauser, and you don't want that to blow up in your face. I have a Spanish 93 Mauser that I built in 7.62 x 39 as a project. It is a nice shooter and I'm a lot more comfortable with that than pushing a 8mm Mauser through the action. Call me chicken.

I'm not a hunter (being a vegetarian), but I read a lot. 7.62 x 39 was designed to bring down deer sized critters. Many poeple hunt with that caliber. Bigger seems to be prefered, up to the point that you destroy the meat.

8mm Mauser is pretty easy to find. I think even Wal*Mart carries it now. J and G Sales www.jgsales.com is a good place to buy stuff and has plenty of 8mm: http://www.jgsales.com/index.php/ammo-for-rifles/8mm-mauser/cPath/12_45 The S&B or Wolf brands are imported from East Europe or Russia and are top notch stuff, non-corrosive. I don't know about the Yugo stuff they sell. That's probably corrosive but good quality. For a while, you could buy surplus ammo for about 7 cents each. Some going back to WWII, corrosive, Berdan primed, but at 7 cents each, you can't go wrong. Then the UN mandated that countries could not sell their surplus ammo anymore so we got screwed. Thanks UN.

Yeah, you can get different uppers for an AR, but the cost is so high that you can just about buy a whole other rifle for it. You can even get a 50BMG upper for an AR. Makes it single shot. I was looking at a Turk 98 at the pawn shop in town the other day. $129 plus tax. Good condition, matching numbers, etc. For popping deer, you can't beat that.

I'm a fan of the old C&R stuff. Nagant's, swede mausers... etc. etc.. etc.. If it weren't for the wife I'd have a C&R FFL and do some proper collecting.

If it was designed to shoot a soldier, it'll get a deer..

7.62x39 ain't as cheap as it used to be. When I bought my SKS it was almost less than a penny a round. Now that we're shooting AK's in the desert the price has been steadily going up.

But..good cheap rifle there.

Finally, a question I can definitely answer!

Ok, first off. .30-30 and x39 are pretty much ballistically identical. So it's a crapshoot there. Now, like the Doc said, they're made for deer-sized targets, and accuracywise, they're both adequate. Get a Yugo SKS, and while x39 isn't as cheap as it used to be, it's still on the bottom rung of ammo prices and there's alot of different bullets available.

Now, your AR idea. I hate to rain on your parade, but you can't put .308 in an AR-15. Now you can build a .308 AR-10 (or SR-25) but that gets expensive fast. You could do an AR like mine for about 800 bucks, but with .223 you must be careful with your shot placement to ensure a humane kill. With the larger .30 cal (like the previous two) you don't need to worry about that much. You can also build a AR in 6.5 Grendel, 6.8SPC, or .243WSSM...but that's custom stuff and it won't be cheap. Cool, but not cheap.

Which leads me to my reccomendation. If you don't mind working your way around the rifle, get a Mosin Nagant. They're chambered in 7.62x54R, which has similar power to a .308 Winchester, and they're cheap. Under 200 bucks for one some poor Russian sap carried around Siberia. But they're accurate, you can get a "Monte Carlo" stock for it, and they make some decent scope mounts for both long eye relief (easy) and regular (hard, need a bent bolt) scopes. I love mine. It kicks like a mule, and S&B makes all kinds of ammo for it.

If you've got a little more to spend, a Remington 700 is a no-brainer, you just need to pick your cartridge. My father in law has killed many a bambi with .270...but I like the big stuff. .300 WinMag, anyone? ;)

And, with an MN, you can play Enemy at the Gates.

SGN has been running a very interesting series on sporterizing a MN over the past year. He's almost done, and when he finishes, the whole series will be available on a CD. He certainly turns a sow's ear into a silk purse.

I never saw 7.62x39 at a penny each. Cheapest I remember was in the mid 80's at around 5-10 cents for Chineese. Still a bargain. All ammo prices today are through the roof. $0.50/ea for .223 FMJ. Insane. I think the 7.62x54R is about the cheapest stuff going right now.

Anyone making their own AK from a parts set?

I have a turkish 8mm mauser, (found it at a flea market for $80 a number of years back)

the problem with one of those is finding/expense of the non-FMJ ammo. no, wally world does NOT carry 8mm mauser last i checked. even going up to cabella's they never have the cheaper ammo in stock. I went to a local gun show and got surplus ammo at IIRC 25 cents a round.(disclaimer that the gun show was a ripoff on everything and just a sales drive for the local gunshops IMHO)

that said, I have never gone hunting, but am heavily thinking about going this fall with a friend (would borrow a scoped 30-06 from him, as its more accurate and easy to get ammo for then my 8mm)

anyone know anything about hunters safety courses online? (ive range shot for years, so i just kind of want to knock it out of the way)

For lever action, I have a 300 Savage. Should be more than enough bullet for a deer and I can group within a inch easy @ 125yds with the gun.

I spent some time in my youth shooting spanish cavalry carbines in 7mm mauser. Like this one. http://www.angelfire.com/nh/milarm/95carb.html

Good fun, but 7mm mauser is harder to find than 8mm, atleast a bit ago.

Nagants, swedish mausers, .303 and the older .308 enfield, are all super cool.

I found this the other day and it made the old wheels turn.. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/mosinscoutrifle/index.asp

A nagant scout rifle. Many neat things you can do to those $120 guns. Make sure you get a good bore, cause they were made in corrosive primer days.

Hmmm anyone know of a good source for some of these old surplus rifles? I'd love to get my hands on a MN or Enfield....or both

I need some new long guns with where I live. Found a place online that has MN carbines for $74....but not sure if its a legit site and what the shipping requirements would be (if they can send direct or if it has to go to FFL holder)

I need some new long guns with where I live. Found a place online that has MN carbines for $74....but not sure if its a legit site and what the shipping requirements would be (if they can send direct or if it has to go to FFL holder)

The internet is a good source, Gander Mountain has been known to sell Mosin Nagants, and unless you have a C&R permit, it has to go to an FFL. If you had a C&R, you'd know this already, so you'll need to get your friendly local gun store to take delivery for you.

Go to Wal-Mart and pick up a copy of shotgun news. All those MilSurp rifle dealers will be in there, advertising. :)

rebelgtp: go to www.cruffler.com dig around all you want. If you get a curios and relics FFL you can get those $75 rifles shiped to your door. Easy as pie, also a good bunch of handguns.

therex wrote: The internet is a good source, Gander Mountain has been known to sell Mosin Nagants, and unless you have a C&R permit, it has to go to an FFL. If you had a C&R, you'd know this already, so you'll need to get your friendly local gun store to take delivery for you. Go to Wal-Mart and pick up a copy of shotgun news. All those MilSurp rifle dealers will be in there, advertising. :)

Local gun shop would be the hardware store and don't have any of them fancy Wal-Marts out this far in the sticks

While we're on the topics of MilSurp rifles, where have all the Swede M96/38s gone?!

I was looking to pick one up 3 years ago, but funds were tight. Now that they're not, my favorite gun store doesn't seem to want to stock them again!

I'd love one. Where are they hiding?

Oh, and OP: I hunt boar/ Florida deer (so basically, large dogs) with a 1895 Chilean Mauser in 7mm Mauser. It's a sweetheart of a round, probably the perfect North-American round.

Something to be said about the number of deer killed with a .30-30, though. And with those fancy new plastic tips, you can load Spizter-style bullets into a tube-feed lever-action.

samco used to sell tons of them.. now they have a few.. http://www.samcoglobal.com/sm38.html

I think people bought the hell out of them....

impactguns.com has an ok selection, but most of the items are out of stock.

ignorant wrote: samco used to sell tons of them.. now they have a few.. http://www.samcoglobal.com/sm38.html I think people bought the hell out of them....

$300!?! Woe is me, woe is me. When I was thinking about acquiring one, they were $190ish!

even the prices on http://www.gunbroker.com/ are stupid..

I think the cat got out of the bag back in the mid nineties and people bought'em up.

aren't you out of FL?

Samco is out of Miami...

Might warrant a trip if you are close....

Samco Global Arms, Inc. 6995 N.W. 43rd Street Miami, FL 33166

I humbly suggest a bolt action for deer.

I also prefer short action over long.

.243, .308, or (what I just picked up) .338 Federal

Look at the Tikka T3 for serious bang for the buck (sorry for the horrible pun). Jaguar to the Sako Aston Martin. Howa makes an awesome (improved) Weatherby action rifle as well.

ignorant wrote: rebelgtp: go to www.cruffler.com dig around all you want. If you get a curios and relics FFL you can get those $75 rifles shiped to your door. Easy as pie, also a good bunch of handguns.

You know what thank you for the suggestion I'm going to do it

rebelgtp wrote:

ignorant wrote: rebelgtp: go to www.cruffler.com dig around all you want. If you get a curios and relics FFL you can get those $75 rifles shiped to your door. Easy as pie, also a good bunch of handguns.

You know what thank you for the suggestion I'm going to do it

you're welcome.. It's a good deal. you can buy and sell(mostly buy) stuff from before 1950... some good stuff not too many strings.

Hey Osterkraut http://www.cruffler.com/floridashops.html list of C&R florida shops... call around..

Damn I gotta go back to homework.. Now don't get me started on muzzleloaders, you'll digging up my civil war reenacting days..

Coolest thing is being able to buy from wholesalers....

the 30.06 is very popular in west michigan.

And when it's all said and done, how does the gun shoulder on you? Some fit well, some don't. The niftiest cartridge in the world isn't worth a darn if you can't comfortably shoot the gun.

Shoulder them at the store and see how they feel.