Thinking about a deer rifle

[fr0sty]

Picked up the xl7 this past weekend at Cabelas. Good news, the gun range here is open in the winter. I wasn't expecting that. Soon as I get a scope on it I will take it to the range and report back on how it shoots.

[Arctic]

The Marlin XL7 is a great choice. A friend of mine bought one last fall in .270, mounted a Nikon ProStaff scope on it, and we sighted it in at a local gravel pit. An excellent, sturdy, well-balanced gun. I like the accu-trigger, as it allows the trigger pull to be safely set pretty light. I don't know how Marlin can produce them at such a low cost, but I'll probably buy one this spring for my oldest son to use next fall as a first-time deer hunter.

Enjoy your new gun, Frosty!

[fr0sty]

I am looking at the exact same scope too.

[fr0sty]

Got the prostaff sighted in at the range today. The trigger feels good and it's shooting fine.

This is at 100 yards.

[fishuhalik]

I hear the xl7 is a great gun, but I also hear the ammo for it is pretty steap and kinda hard to come by. You can't buy any .270 round for it, it has to be a certain kind with a plastic tip so that the rounds don't go off in the tube. And being that it's your first rifle I'd recommend shooting it plenty and getting real comfortable shooting it.

I have a 25-06 and love to sing it's praises, but again the ammo is hard to come by and it's not cheap. If I were you I'd go with a good ol' savage or Rem. 700 in a .270. Recoil is manageable and there's never a shortage of rounds at any retail store or gas station out in the woods, and they'll handle any game in the lower 48.

[fr0sty]

I haven't heard anything in my searching about the xl7 needing high end ammo to shoot well. I know a lot of accuracy buffs do go that way to get the absolute smallest three shot groupings though

So far I have been shooting the standard remmington corelokt and am I having no problems keeping them in the kill zone at 200 yards. I think they are $20 a box. I have heard the federal powershok (blue box) are supposed to shoot accurately in the xl7's.

I do plan to shoot as much as possible from now until next deer opener.

[fishuhalik]

Sorry, I was thinking the xl7 was their new lever action....oops, my bad.

[jay83196]

Keep in mind the 30-06 is going to give you the most versatile loads 55 grain to over 200 grain and a lot of range and enough velosity and power to kill in minnesota and north american animal you would hunt. Its ammo is most affordable and the easiest around to find. Very accurate and reasonable recoil as well.

[hunter991]

If you are set on iron sights i would suggest a marlin 336 30.30 or 35 whelen. Its the perfect woods gun. I would however suggest you get a scoped bolt action rifle. As far as the brand, i would check out the Marlin XL7 and XS7 model line. They are reasonable and have NOT a fly on them. They shoot great, and have many of the features rifles 2x their cost have. Mine is a great shooter and have never heard anything negatvie about them. For caliber, you need nothing more than a 7mm-08. In fact this is the perfect deer round. If you are concerned about finding ammo at walmart, i would then suggest the 30.06 or 308. The reason i didn't suggest a .270 (although a fine round) is if you are going to long action and already plan on taking the recoil, then why not a 30 cal, and something that will allow you to hunt bigger. It's not that the 270 can't, but a 30.06 is argueably the standard for the lower 48. REcoil isn't that bad. in fact i can't tell much of a difference between the 30.06 and the 270.

Ruger is also a nice gun as well as the Tikka T3 hunter series. the marlin will run you $300 with a syn stock and the other 2 will be around $600. a half way decent scope such as the new redfeild, or nikon prostaff is about $170.

[fr0sty]

Good suggestions. I have actually purchased the xl7 in .270 and have mounted a nikon prostaff 3x9 scope.

I have had the gun out to the range about 4 times so far and have run around 120 or so rounds through it. Seems to like the federal vital shok better than the remmington core lokts.

If you are set on iron sights i would suggest a marlin 336 30.30 or 35 whelen. Its the perfect woods gun. I would however suggest you get a scoped bolt action rifle. As far as the brand, i would check out the Marlin XL7 and XS7 model line. They are reasonable and have NOT a fly on them. They shoot great, and have many of the features rifles 2x their cost have. Mine is a great shooter and have never heard anything negatvie about them. For caliber, you need nothing more than a 7mm-08. In fact this is the perfect deer round. If you are concerned about finding ammo at walmart, i would then suggest the 30.06 or 308. The reason i didn't suggest a .270 (although a fine round) is if you are going to long action and already plan on taking the recoil, then why not a 30 cal, and something that will allow you to hunt bigger. It's not that the 270 can't, but a 30.06 is argueably the standard for the lower 48. REcoil isn't that bad. in fact i can't tell much of a difference between the 30.06 and the 270.

Ruger is also a nice gun as well as the Tikka T3 hunter series. the marlin will run you $300 with a syn stock and the other 2 will be around $600. a half way decent scope such as the new redfeild, or nikon prostaff is about $170.