Thread: I need a few opinions and reviews

This isn't about fishing, but I know that there are some good hunters on here.

I am planning to purchase a semi-auto centerfire rifle within the next two weeks and need some input.

My first choice is the Browning BAR Short Trac Left Hand in .300 WSM. I feel this is an adequate caliber for long shots on Deer and Bear that are being pushed.

Please give me some feed-back on this topic.

Thanks,
Kellog

7mm BAR

I like 30-06 browning good rifles

The 300 WSM is a good choice as is the 7MM. I have killed a ton of deer with my trusty 06 as well as 4 Elk. But these days is it doesn't say magnum it aint cool. I am a bolt man but I have played with a friend Benelli. It shoots like a bolt.

Kellog,Im no gun expert but I saw bear hunt.Have you ever saw the magazine"bear hunting"? I get it,it is all bears,been getting it for several years. I'd post a link to it but dont know how.! Shop around on your gun price,here, some of the little shops will sell you the same gun cheaper than the big stores.

Kellog....if you were deer hunting only I would suggest you downsize a little. A friend of mine used to use a .300 mag..and it would knock a hole in a deer you could put your fist in. Since you are considering bear also....the .300 WSM should be a great gun, but slightly overkill on deer in my opinion.

I am a big fan of 7mm magnum for its power and distance, I have heard they aren't the best choice for bear unless you have a heavy bullet, probably 175 grain. I am also a big fan of 30-06 and if I were bear hunting that is what I'd use. I almost went on a wild boar hunt a couple of years ago and my mind was immediately made up on my 30-06 since my 7MM seems to like lighter bullets. Also, I'm like Poppop on 300 magnum for deer. I have a cousin who has a meathouse and goes thru 150 +/- deer per season and I've saw a couple taken with a 300 mag. Overkill!

BTW-I'm like Ken Kinser, a BIG Browning fan.

yep! the 300 mag is way too heavy for deer, even the midwest deer where I am from! I used to have a Winchester 300mag. great gun, but good for elk,moose etc..or just knocking tree branches off to help trim trees!! :-) we used to use alot of 243's and 7mm in midwest for them big grain fed deer. the 30-30 is good for brush hunting but not long shots from what I remember.

If you plan to hunt white tail deer most of the time then the WSM is a heavy round for the white tail. Most black bears are killed with the 30/30 round in 170 grain bullet. The 300 WSM will do the job but its more caliber than you need. I like the 7mm/08 round as it offers excellent knock down on deer and will do in black bears quickly. The 140 grain bullet is excellent in this caliber. The 300 WSM is an excellent round but usually used in much larger game than white tails and black bear.

Thanks for the info guys. I read an article in Peterson's Hunting Journal a few years back about a survey on the best rifle caliber for Whitetail hunting. They surveyed 100 hunters and had more than thirty different responses. In the end they concluded that each hunter had given the right answer. So with this info in hand it can be safe to assume the best caliber is the one you like the best. After all, in the end the deer is as dead with one as the other. I forgot to mention that where I hunt most of the shots are 300 to 600 yards.