Inexpensive deer hunting rifle

[Delmar]

What is the least expensive, off the shelf,multi-round rifle, you can think of, that is legal to hunt deer with in Indiana. If you wish to omit rifles that are junk, in your opinion, that is fine.

 

[Jon Craig]

Curious on this myself. The rules for deer hunting with rifles seem... really stupid.

 

[randyb]

The multishot is the catcher on that. If it was me recommending somestarting out I would suggest the NEF handi-rifle. I would opt for the rifle frame and then add barrels thru their program. Probably the cheapest route for a repeater rifle would be a used winchester/Marlin lever gun or a Ruger semiauto/bolt .44 mag.

 

[furbymac]

the issue i see is you used inexpensive and deer rifle in the same sentence

 

[Delmar]

The multishot is the catcher on that. If it was me recommending somestarting out I would suggest the NEF handi-rifle. I would opt for the rifle frame and then add barrels thru their program. Probably the cheapest route for a repeater rifle would be a used winchester/Marlin lever gun or a Ruger semiauto/bolt .44 mag.

I'm just not too interested in a single shot rifle period. I have the use of a Marlin 60 for plinking, and would really like to get a rifle with a little more pop, but before I do so I thought I would see what was out there that could also be used for hunting. Without getting arrested, that is!

 

[Delmar]

the issue i see is you used inexpensive and deer rifle in the same sentence

I'm not really sure why that should be a problem. There are lots of inexpensive rifles out there that would work really well for taking deer. Unfortunately not legally in most cases. Could be that there is nothing that fits the category that I am asking about.

 

[fireball168]

What is the:

least expensive

off the shelf

multi-round rifle

that is legal to hunt deer with in Indiana.

Puma in .357, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .454 Casull or .480 Ruger.

Not uncommon to still see the Brazilian made rifles in the $300-400 range(Whittakers in Owensboro and some Gander Mountains have them on clearance).

 

[Redskinsfan]

exactly what I was going to say.

Puma in .357, .44 Magnum, .45 Colt, .454 Casull or .480 Ruger.

Not uncommon to still see the Brazilian made rifles in the $300-400 range(Whittakers in Owensboro and some Gander Mountains have them on clearance).

Agreed. I bought a Puma in .454 for my son and another in .357 magnum for me. Both have gotten deer and function great. I paid $350 for each. They are a bit more now, but hunt around for a good used one.

Good luck,

Terry

 

[Fordtough25]

Hard to beat the .44 mag for a cheaper deer rifle. The .458 Socom AR would be ideal as far as legal, but not cheap. Too bad we can't use a real rifle legally, you could pick up a Mosin for $80 and have a cannon for cheap. Ha. My brother in law did pick up a lever action .45 long colt for 200, seems to do well. Will find out for sure this season!

 

[Delmar]

Agreed. I bought a Puma in .454 for my son and another in .357 magnum for me. Both have gotten deer and function great. I paid $350 for each. They are a bit more now, but hunt around for a good used one.

Good luck,

Terry

Yeah, last December Albies had the Puma M-92 in .454 for under $400 but I haven't seen that kind of price for a while.

 

[Dr Falken]

If you had a rifled slug barrel, wouldn't that make a shotgun count? I'd think that a used 12 guage with a rifled barrel might get you there. Otherwise, yeah, the Puma's are inexpensive.

 

[Delmar]

Hard to beat the .44 mag for a cheaper deer rifle. The .458 Socom AR would be ideal as far as legal, but not cheap. Too bad we can't use a real rifle legally, you could pick up a Mosin for $80 and have a cannon for cheap. Ha. My brother in law did pick up a lever action .45 long colt for 200, seems to do well. Will find out for sure this season!

If I found a lever action .45 for $200 it would be all over but the bragging! and yes, if I don't find such a deal, I will end up picking up a Mosin or a Mauser, at some point. I saw a really cool Turk Mauser sell on GB this AM for $125.

It would be nice if the rifle I end up with were legal to hunt with, but I guess it isn't all that necessary since I do have a nice 12 gauge.

 

[Delmar]

If you had a rifled slug barrel, wouldn't that make a shotgun count? I'd think that a used 12 gauge with a rifled barrel might get you there. Otherwise, yeah, the Puma's are inexpensive.

Not exactly what I thought I was looking for, but a really interesting alternative. +1

What is the effective range of a riffled 12 ga with slugs?

 

[Colt556]

I think a lever gun in .44 or.45 would be cool. You could use a revolver or lever with the same ammo just like some cowboys did. For some reason I've always wanted a .444 Marlin. I think now is the time to buy as the closer to season it gets the higher the prices go,

 

[ironjaw]

Not exactly what I thought I was looking for, but a really interesting alternative. +1

What is the effective range of a riffled 12 ga with slugs?

Hunting season of '08, I shot a doe at a 162 yards with my Rem. 11-87 rifled slug barrel. That distance was confirmed with a range finder from a state trooper that lives down the road from my brothers property. I was using Winchester super extreme sabots.

 

[malern28us]

I think it is Hornady that has the new more accurate slugs. My friend was bragging that a shotgun with slugs is now an easy 150-200 yard deer gun. I havent shot his shotgun yet myself but, I have also NEVER heard him exaggerate about anything.

 

[kb66]

Here is a short review of a few new sabot slugs, it does not include the new Hornady, but the author was zeroing at 150 yards and then getting only a 7 inch drop at 200yards with the Winchester SSP12.

12 Gauge Reviews

 

[Delmar]

Here is a short review of a few new sabot slugs, it does not include the new Hornady, but the author was zeroing at 150 yards and then getting only a 7 inch drop at 200yards with the Winchester SSP12.

12 Gauge Reviews

Nice!

 

[den57]

Here you go, you can get this in .500 S&W...

Big Horn Armory - Products

 

[snapping turtle]

Remember what a highly accurate slug cost per shot.

Take your normal 15 shots per season to sight in and feel comfortable with the new slugs or batch of slugs you buy in to account and in ammo the shotgun will cost about 45 dollars a year to feed it fifteen shots at 3 dollars a shot. Yes the new super duper slugs run about 3 bucks each.

Factory winchester white box 44 mag cost 36 dollars per 50 at MEGA LOW MART. About 72 cents a shot. Or 10 dollars 18 cents a year to feed based on the 15 shot a year sight in.
A difference of 35 dollars or so a year so if you get a marlin 44 mag at 500 dollars you could pay for the rifle in 14 years just on ammo cost alone based on your 15 shots a year.

If you want to get good with a rifle or shotgun you need to shoot more than 15 shots a year anyway and your years till free on ammo will decrease.

Basically you here everyone complain about the 5 bangs on opening day of firearms season and deer still running away. Once again I believe that people need to practice more and the 44 mag will get you shooting more often just based of price alone. I for one used to dread shooting mine and my buddies slug guns for sight in. After about 10 of the mega sabot shells my shoulder was a bit sore and after 20 hanging straight down for a bit. I think the mega shells also cause a bit of a flinch it shot alot in lighter shotguns. '

As for the Puma if that is what you can afford go for it. I would put 150-200 dollars more in for a Marlin lever action rifle and not look back myself. Pumas are hard to scope and in my humble opinion less accurate than the marlin.