Caliber availability is huge, and 30-06 is a great caliber, you can do just about anything with it, I was just curious. Also the scope sounds like a great scope, just not the type of scope you see most people buy for their first rifles. Didn't know about the "class" divisions, sounds complicated as hell. Glad to see you toughed it out to get into the sport. Shooting is a blast, hope you enjoy it.Ingjald said:Why 30-06? Because around here the three most common calibers (meaning available and not too pricy) are 6.5x55 swedish mauser, .308 win and the 30-06, and the Weatherby Mark V only ever came chambered in one of those. Basically, during my search for "my" rifle, I fell in love with the Mark V. Never thought I'd actually own one, with the price tag and me on a bit of a tight budget, but some scrounging and patience paid off, and I found a MK. V Deluxe in 30-06 (they stopped making those in -94, not counting custom orders) for about half the retail price of a new one.spartan231490 said:
why not a 30-30? Again, not too common here, so limited selection and pretty pricy. That nothwithstanding, 30-30 has the problem of straddling the line between class 1 and 2 of calibers in our rather antiquated and arbitrary classification system (where 30-06 sits comfortably somewhere in the lower middle of class 1). Basically, only the LeveRevolution bullets can reach legal performance for big game, and only in longer barrels, defeating the purpose of a handy carbine.
Class 1 can be used on anything, classes 2 and 3 are specialty calibers for varying sizes of small game and birds, and class 4 is pretty much entirely made up of .22 LR. Class 2 and 3 game can also be hunted with shotguns, and slugs may be used on some big game assuming you're certified to own and use class 1 rifles, but only out to 40 meters. Conventional wisdom holds that a new hunters first hunting rifle should be a class 1, so they can participate in pretty much any kind of hunt, and gain experience. Specilization comes later.
Also, I picked the scope up used on a forum (1500 SEK, roughly 235 dollar) knowing it would be perfectly adequate for my initial needs. nothing says I can't replace it later on.
not sure how much it matters to you, but 7mm is more popular among bench shooters, it's a bit more accurate. If you get into hand-loading the 7mm will probably be a bit cheaper than the 30-06 as well, but both are great all-around calibers.antidonkey said:
Don't need much room to shoot a bow, I've shot one in my yard. Do you live in an apartment? Would you prefer a compound or a recurve bow? Hope you end up getting one and enjoying it, I have a blast shooting mine.Vault101 said:
yeah, even a backyard would be fine but unfortunatly I don thave that luxeryspartan231490 said:
Speaking of which, why does nobody seem to make modern lever-action shotguns? Sure, you get reproductions of things from 100 years ago (Winchesters), but new designs of pump or break action rifles and shotguns come out all the time, as well as new bolt action rifles and the odd bolt action shotgun.Dirty Hipsters said:
I know, you would think people would've been clamoring for them after Terminator 2 came out.thaluikhain said:
That one came right at the end of the era of lever-action guns. John Browning told Winchester, who wanted him to design a lever-shotgun, that a pump shotgun would be a better idea, to which they replied "STFU we are THE Lever Action Company!", so he made them a lever-action shotgun design. Since then, no one has really had the balls to be unconventional enough to try to market a lever-action shotgun as anything other than a novelty. However, regarding unconventional shotgun designs, I give you:Dirty Hipsters said:I know, you would think people would've been clamoring for them after Terminator 2 came out.thaluikhain said:
I mean how else are you going to look THAT badass?
Oh, I didn't take it as criticism. I graduated my hunter course in June last year, and I've spent a lot of time since then researching and reading internet forums on extremely academical subjects that make very little real life difference (.308 vs. 30-06, 24" barrels vs. 26" barrels etc.) trying to make my choice of weapon, caliber, optics etc. slightly less uninformed. And also, I like to explain my reasoning. Because I am a great big nerd.spartan231490 said:
It doesn't make the draw lighter, what they do is the full weight of the draw is hit sooner, and then the pull backs off as it reaches full draw. It isn't any easier to draw, but it's easier to hold back before you shoot, which makes it easier to shoot accurately.Vault101 said:
Lever actions lost popularity when pump came out. A lot of people(myself included) think that pumps shoot faster and are more intuitive.thaluikhain said:
Look for a Henry Repeater rifle, they can be a bit hard to find, but it's a lever action .357 magnum, and who can resist owning a piece of history. The Henry is the rifle that won the west. Fair warning, if you live in NY state you might want to get it before April, if they manage to beat the injunction on the SAFE Act the Henry will be illegal because it has an 8 shot internal magazine.Dirty Hipsters said:
I don't live in New York, I live in California, the second most restrictive gun state in the US, but wouldn't you be able to beat a ban like that with a simple magazine block?spartan231490 said:
Sure, I wouldn't expect there to be many modern designs, but I'd have there still to be some.spartan231490 said:
Gun designs tend to be very limited. For example, they make lots of pump shotguns, but no lever, they make lots of lever action rifles, but very very few pumps. Sadly, it's a rather limited consumer base, especially since firearms last so long. For whatever reason, it also tends to be very fad like. 40 years ago, a company without a lever rifle wouldn't sell shit, now a company without a bolt rifle won't sell shit, and many companies don't even offer lever rifles. I feel your pain, believe me, it's killing me trying to find a cheap pump action rifle in a magnum caliber.thaluikhain said:
Put a full sheet of plywood behind your target. It's pretty hard to miss a sheet of plywood at bow ranges(~10 yards). I used to use one as a back-drop so I wouldn't lose my arrows. The target tips will bend, but I don't think the arrows will go through, even with a heavy draw. Always stopped the arrows of my 45 lb draw after only a couple inches of penetration.Vault101 said: