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I am doing my DSC1 in December and was thinking about what rifle to get. I will hopefully be shooting roe and muntjac sometime in the future. I cant afford new but quality secondhand is fine. I would like to target shoot with it as well, and I also plan to reload . Is that asking too much of one gun?
Thanks

6.5x284 is the caliber I would go for if I was you.

A Blazer would be nice but normally one would have to sell one's house in order to fund them.
Maybe a S&L, Ovenpaa swears by ours. Apart from his AI, the S&L is his favourite in the cabinet.

One of the 6mm like Christel suggests, personally 6.5 x 55 - look for a second hand cz.

Mike

Heh!, ask 100 hunters this question and you will get 100 different answers, if it was me going for a first time hunting rifle I would look for a good used 6,5-55 modern Mauser as much as I really am impressed with the S&L in 6,5-284.

6mm Remington, the proper .243. Giving a bit more throttle than the .243" Win and great case to reload.

The 6mm Musgrave is another fantastic round but rifles aren't that common over here.

Personally I think the 6mm calibre is a bit over the top for roe but as I do most of quarry shooting in Scotland I can use the .222" and that to me is the perfect roe cartridge.

A nice 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser - a Carl Gustaf M1896 for example - would be excellent for sorting Bambi and you could also use it for a historical target / military rifle.

christel wrote:6.5x284 is the caliber I would go for if I was you.

A Blazer would be nice but normally one would have to sell one's house in order to fund them.
Maybe a S&L, Ovenpaa swears by ours. Apart from his AI, the S&L is his favourite in the cabinet.

Crikey Christel, that's a bit hefty for muntjac, and for roe too unless you're wanting to drop em beyond the typical 100 yards?

AL8 wrote:I am doing my DSC1 in December and was thinking about what rifle to get. I will hopefully be shooting roe and muntjac sometime in the future. I cant afford new but quality secondhand is fine. I would like to target shoot with it as well, and I also plan to reload . Is that asking too much of one gun?
Thanks

Having read your post right through and with no other information it certainly isn't asking too much of one gun and I'd say go straight to .308.

If there's more information to be had I'd ask:

1. Have you shot live prey before or is all this completely new to you? If so I'd strongly recommend limiting your shooting distance to 100 yards.
2. Where are you hoping to shoot deer? Woodland? Fields? Essex? Scottish hills?
3. What kind of target shooting discipline?
4. What distance and on which ranges? You might have to concern yourself with MoD muzzle energy limits which could shut out Christel's suggested 6.5 x .284 for example.
5. You've not done any reloading before now? I wouldn't stop you having a hobby but don't think you're going to save money unless you're going to shovel thousands of rounds downrange.

tikkathreebarrels wrote:

christel wrote:6.5x284 is the caliber I would go for if I was you.

A Blazer would be nice but normally one would have to sell one's house in order to fund them.
Maybe a S&L, Ovenpaa swears by ours. Apart from his AI, the S&L is his favourite in the cabinet.

Crikey Christel, that's a bit hefty for muntjac, and for roe too unless you're wanting to drop em beyond the typical 100 yards?

Yeah a bit further out was my thinking and also AL8 was mentioning for target so I thought of the .284
Honestly I had just been watching a youtube video made by a Norwegian hunter, guess I was inspired by that :)

Oh? Is it Open Season for Norsquigians ? What calibre is recommended to bag one of them?