Thinking about buying a rifle and loading bullets

[318]

I honestly think i wont do this til im comfortable with loading handgun rounds. I will only be loading 40s&w, 9mm, and 45 acp. 40 s&w is for my m&p compact 40 with viridian tac stobe light (my carry gun), 9mm is for springfield xd9 sub compact, and the 45acp is for my kimber ultra carry II with laser grips. Ive always wanted to have a high powered rifle, but in ohio you cannot hunt whitetais with them therefore i never purchased one. In your opinion should i buy rifle to enjoy it at the range and load new bullets for it? Also if the answer to this question is yes, what would a good rifle and caliber be for whitetail in case i ever get the chance to go to surrounding states to actually hunt whitetails? Money is no object. All firearms will be passed down to my children that hunt.

[318]

254 views and no replies? Solid.

[Strongbow1075]

i would recommend a nicer lever action either in 30-30 or 44 mag either one would be fun at the range and good for hunting whitetails at ranges under 150 yards

[Brian Pfleuger]

Yes. Buy a Cooper Model 22 in 243Win or 243AI

[reynolds357]

If money is no object, buy a Mark V Ultramark in .257 WBY.

[Adamantium]

Its a pretty subjective question. More than any caliber I would recommend getting a bolt action so you can neck size your brass to get much more life out of it and do hardly any triming and annealing. Thats just my advice though. Killing dear is more about shooting them in the right spot than the specific cartridge you use to do it. When in doubt stick with something popular like a 243, 308, 270 or 30-06.

[alex0535]

So hear me out on this...

You want a rifle but you don't have one because it is not legal to hunt with a rifle in Ohio. Check out the Savage model 212 or 220. They are 12 and 20 gauge bolt action slug guns and should be very legal to hunt with in your state. From what I hear they are very accurate as far as a slug gun is concerned, its not the best long range option but it is probably one of the best options available to you for the purpose of deer hunting in your state. The gun also has a very appealing price tag. A 12 or 20 gauge slug will take down a whitetail deer or really whatever you shoot at in ohio with authority.

I know that its possible to reload shotgun shells, but I haven't looked into it much.

[Nathan]

In OH, if deer hunting is your goal, I think your best bet would be a 45 Colt or 44 mag lever action. This is a good 0-150 yd deer gun and we will probably be allowed to hunt with them in OH soon, based on the talk around here.

If you want a more traditional high power rifle, 243 Win, 260 Rem, and 308 Win would all make nice rounds for neighboring states and accurate reloading.

[318]

Thank you for the replies brothers. Alex, i have a rem 1100 with a rifled barrel and redfield scope, also have a rem 11-87 premier cantilevered 21" fully rifled barrel with a redfield scope set up for deer only. Also have an 870 pump set up for deer. All 12ga. Have 20 ga 870, ithaca sweet 16. Etc. also have 10 gauge turkey guns, benelli goose and duck guns. I just want a rifle. Im gonna take all this info and buy one. Mrs 318 will be tickled. NOT!!! I will keep you guys posted. When i "pull the trigger", i will let you know what i buy. Thanks again.

[grumpa72]

I won't address which rifle, if any, you should buy since that is truly a personal thing. I will address reloading, however. Imo, reloading for rifle is a bit more tricky that pistol because of the increased case prep time, the increased risk since you are dealing with greater powder charges, and the fact that you typically do batch operations. By that I mean, I clean the cases in one batch, deprime and uniform pockets in the next, followed by prime, etc. In pistol reloading, many folks using machines that do all these functions together. If you are only reloading for occasional range use, you may find that reloading rifle is not worth the time.

When I go to the pistol range I shoot 100-150 rounds at that session. On the rifle range I shoot 20-30 and a really good session is 40 rounds. I shoot pistol at each session and rifle at every other range session. Fwiw, I only reload for my milsurp rifles, M1 Garand, Carbine and AR. I don't reload any commercial ammo although the 30.06 could be use in a civilian rifle, of course.

[JHLL]

A rifle just for range shooting, I would lean toward the smaller calibers like .243, 6mm, .204

[hooligan1]

I third the .243 winchester recomendation, low recoil, highly accurate, easy to handload for, and it will take thin skinned game out to 300 400 yds, with proper practice and bullets.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

as mentioned, "a rifle" is pretty subjective,,, some will swear by a bolt gun, & I'm quite sure if you held a 70-80's Remington 700 with nice wood, & deep blue, jeweled bolt, ebony tip & grip cap, you'd fall in love... but then there's those that say get a lever gun... you hold that thing in your hands & envision John Wayne, or pic a newer western... I added a leather butt cuff & shell holder with my intials, & a set of fiber optic sights, & my stainless 45-70 guide gun is as nice a gun as you could want... oh! wait! my fancy wood / blued & engraved 357 magnum lever gunis as nice a gun as you could want... but wait !!! that fully outfitted AR with the milspec sights & tactical light... Ahhh... you get the picture... all are very fine rifles, & without being diagnosed with multiple personalities, I can say I love them all... ( & I didn't even mention my custom single shots, which are some of my favorites )

I guess I'm saying they are like Lay's potato chips, you can't have just one...

if you would like the option of deer hunting with this 1st gun, sound like pistol caliber rifle is what you are after ( or at least straight wall cases ???

BTW... when I 1st started dating my wife, & my FIL started grooming me to take over his collection, it was suggested I buy one versitile handgun, rifle, & shotgun, & I could borrow anything needed that those didn't cover... my 1st rifle was a stainless composite Ruger M-77 bolt action in .243... sad that now that my FIL is gone, & we have his gun collection, I rarely shoot that 1st gun, only because I've conceided to buying "a lot" more... I'd still stand by the fact, that a bolt action .243 is one of the most versitile around... though I would have to add, that if I were doing it today, it would be chambered in 7-08 ( which was not a standardized cartridge, meaning you couldn't buy factory ammo, back then )

... & BTW... you load bullets into cartridges...

[wrightme43]

My absolute favorite rifle is my 1894c Marlin camp carbine in .357 magnum. It is just freaking awesome what it will do. Fun, accurate, and did I mention fun? The hornady lever revolution rounds, can be loaded in a press. Hornady requires a special trim length to use the bullet though. It compares with a 30-30 in performance with that round. I have had that rifle for 20 years now, and it was so old then that the walnut on the side where it hung in a old mans pickup truck gun rack was bleached when I got it. Still shoots like a dream, no real thoughts of anything but thats what I want to hit. It was the very best $200 I have ever spent.