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In your opinion what is the best bolt action for big game and deer? I am wanting to take up deer hunting and looking for a good gun.

You will get many answers. I prefer the Remington model 700. What I would suggest is go to a large gunshop handle several models and makes. All the makers do a good job. I do not use many Rugers because of issues with their barrels in the past. How ever this may have changed. You will hear push feed / controlled feed. The guns that gave me the most serious trouble in 50 years of shooting were controlled feed.. But you will have to decide that. I would also go to a shooting range with some friends and try different rifles by shooting them. This also goes for calibers. I love magnum rifles, but they are NOT for the average once a year hunter, especially when you get above the 7mm's.. I also usually try to get a new hunter to look at the used gun market. Some excellent buys can be made there, plus if you do not like the gun or caliber, a trade can be made that is less costly to you. If I were going out to day to buy a new rifle and were a once a year hunter, I would try an 06 if I could handle it, I would buy a Remington with a wood stock and 24 inch barrel if I could get it.

HOOO BOY! This oughta get interesting!

To help ya with your question, you're gonna have to answer a few first...

What's your experience with firearms?
What kind of terrain?
What kind of distance?
What exactly is your definition of "Big Game"?

In the US, a 30/06 will take just about anything we'd be going after. While the recoil isn't bone jarring, it can be a deterent to some folks. Just about all, if not ALL, manufacturers have a 30/06 in their line up. For me, I'd be looking at a bolt gun.


HWD

All virtually all of the commerically available name-brand turnbolts are "good rifles".

I currently shoot a Savage Model 10 Sierra. I like the Savage action because it has several design elements which make it inherintly accurate at a low price. The Savage action utilizes a bolt with a seperate, floating bolt head. The minor amount of float designed into the bolt head allows for full and complete locking lug engagement throughout the firing cycle, without laborious hand-fitting and lapping. When the barrels are attached to the receivers, they are screwed into them with the bold closed and a "gauge" that is essentially a dummy round is fitted into the chamber. The barrel is screwed down until it won't screw down anymore. It is then locked in position with an external lock nut. The result is that every Savage rifle can be made quickly and inexpenisvely with a minimum headspace diminsion. The barrels are button rifled and the bores are usually very smooth internally. They are also stress relived and hand straightened if need be. Savage uses a proprietary chromemoly alloy steel to make blued actions and barrels from. It is tough, strong stuff. The action is pillar bedded on older models and current non-accustock models. Barrels are free floating. The Accu-Trigger allows a light, crisp trigger pull that is also exceptionally safe by design. Log on to the Savage website and look at the videos that describe all of the stuff that makes Savage rifles accurate.


-JP

I also like the ergonomics of my Savage. Others might not. Only way to tell is to shoulder one.

Savage rifles use a seperate bolt handle that is retained to the bolt body by a fastener that screws into the rear of the bolt. There is nothing else behind the bolt handle but this fastener. This gives the Savage action its quirky look because other brands have a cocking piece behind the bolt handle. The beauty of NOT having anything behind the bolt handle for a middle aged guy wearing corrective lenses like me is that when I run the action, I am not smacking myself in the glasses or my head with the back of the bolt and have plenty of clearance between me and the back of the bolt, even when it is fully retracted. This lack of stuff on the back of the bolt also allows Savage to place a sliding, tang mounted safety right where I can reach it RIGHT NOW. That safety is quick to use, tactile in feel, silent in operation, and has three positions. Full safe also locks the bolt handle down. Mid position unlocks the bolt but continues to block the trigger. Full foward allows the rifle to be fired.

-JP

For most of my life, I relied upon the .30-'06 as my main centerfire caliber. It is the caliber that I did my serious (as in expensive) hunting with -elk in Colorado and Utah, caribou in Newfoundland, various plains game in Africa, and mule deer in several western states.

I currently shoot a .243. For the forseable future, my "big game" hunting is going to be centered on whitetails and feral hogs. The .243 tipped with Barnes TSX bullets is plenty of cartridge for these animals. The truth of the matter is that there isn't much in the way of North American big game that would make me feel undergunned with my little pop gun. I wouldn't have felt the same prior to the Barnes X bullets. Recoil is virtually nill and the round is a lot of fun to shoot all day at the range. Ammo is available pretty much wherever ammo is sold.

Choices abound. In short action, the .243 Winchester, .260 Remington, and 7mm-08 are all good choices. If I ever do feel the need for ooomph than I get out of my .243 tipped with TSX's, I think I'll rebarrel it to .260 Remington and call it good. If I need more gun than that, I probably need A LOT more. My next step up from that would probably be the oddball (here in North America) 9.3 X 62 mm. In long action, the .25-'06, .270 Winchester, .280 Remington, and .30-'06 all work. If I'm going to shoot a long action again, though, for me, the choice would be .30-'06.

I would have to say either a Browning x-bolt/a-bolt.

I like the Remington 700, I have never met one I couldn't get to shoot at least 1 MOA. They are easily upgraded if need be, but the newer ones have an adjustable trigger which breaks very nicely at around 3lbs. If that is not good enough there are tons of aftermarked triggers, stocks, and barells out there. Both of mine shoot 1/2 inch groups with handloads and are near stock.

I have heard good things about Savages but have never shot a newer one, however have an old "Foremost 6400" .222 Rem that still shoots 1 inch groups at 100 yards after 30 years and a horrible, horrible, trigger. Every Savage I have seen shoot at the range (mostly .223/ .22-250's) shoots little bughole groups. The barrel on the Savage is also easily removed and changed by the layman with a vise, barrel nut wrench, and headspace gauges for each caliber. I would suggest shooting a newer savage as some people do not like the feel of the accutrigger vs the traditional trigger. The accutrigger is similar to a two stage trigger which some people don't care for.

I have never shot a Ruger M77, Winchester 70 or Browning A-Bolt, so I cannot comment on them but I am sure they will do the job.

As far as caliber is concerned, the sky is the limit depending on one factor, you. I don't know what your experiance level is with rifles, so I would suggest shooting several calibers you are considering to decide.

The broken record you will hear is that a hit with a .243 is better than a gut shot with a .300 Ultra Mag. Confidence in your rifle is the most important thing. Good luck on your search.

Rem 700 or Browning X-Bolt.

I own both. My next gun will be another X-Bolt.

My next gun is now on order. It will be a Browning X-Bolt .223 Stainless Composite Carbon Fiber Stalker with fluted barrel. Check this one out!
http://www.browning.com/products/catalo ... r-firearms