First Rifle!

[WVOIFVET]

Picked up my first rifle about a week ago, only thing I dont like about it is it didnt come with iron sights! I bought the rifle for $290 without a scope, and bought a Bushnell Banner 3-9x40 with CF 500 reticle for $100. What do you think of the scope? I went with that over a Tasco just because I know Bushnell is a good brand for optics, but I know nothing about sights! I havent had the chance to shoot it yet, but I am looking forward to it... the largest rifle I have shot to date has been a .30-30 lever. How much more kick can I expect out of a .30-06 compared to the .30-30? I have Winchester Power Point in 180gr. Total of about $430 in the rifle with gun, scope, rings, and ammo... not too bad for first time I think!

 

[John A.]

Actually, tasco and bushnell are owned by the same parent company.

Not to split hairs, just different stickers on the boxes.

 

[aksavanaman]

Bushnells are certainly not bad scopes, especially if you're intended purpose is to land deer! Having shot both the .30-30 and a .308 ATR... I would imagine the kick [from a .30-06] with such a light rifle as the Mossberg to be quite a bit heavier than a wood stocked lever action... but certainly manageable!

 

[nitesite]

I like the Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn series of scopes. They are a lot of bang for the buck. I've bought several and not been disappointed.

Lots of centerfire rifles which we expect to wear scopes never include iron/open sights. It's normal. Usually only really big bore (think North American Big Game or Africa) bolt guns come with good iron sights. Your .30-06 rifle will recoil more with bullets over 180-grains, but still less so if you choose standing, sitting, kneeling or prone shooting positions. If you set yourself up to shoot seated from a shooting table or bench with rests, and you are leaned well into the gun but your body can't flex with the recoil, you might feel like you're shooting a 12-ga with 3-1/2" slugs.

It's all about shooting smart and not being rigid.

 

[aksavanaman]

I like the Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn series of scopes. They are a lot of bang for the buck. I've bought several and not been disappointed.

Pun intended on that one

I know that there's at least one ATR model that has iron sights, but most come bone stock. I'm actually looking at buying your same model, same caliber... throwing a boyds laminate stock on it with a Redfield Revolution 4-12 scope. I just gotta find the funds first OH YEAH... we want pictures please!

 

[GunnyGene]

I like the Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn series of scopes. They are a lot of bang for the buck. I've bought several and not been disappointed.

Lots of centerfire rifles which we expect to wear scopes never include iron/open sights. It's normal. Usually only really big bore (think North American Big Game or Africa) bolt guns come with good iron sights. Your .30-06 rifle will recoil more with bullets over 180-grains, but still less so if you choose standing, sitting, kneeling or prone shooting positions. If you set yourself up to shoot seated from a shooting table or bench with rests, and you are leaned well into the gun but your body can't flex with the recoil, you might feel like you're shooting a 12-ga with 3-1/2" slugs.

It's all about shooting smart and not being rigid.

30-06 is a big bullet with a lot of velocity, and from experience it does deliver a pretty good whack. But with proper hold (using the sling) it is manageable as nitesite said. I fired my first 30-06 when I was around 12yo and about 120lbs soaking wet.

Here's some comparison with other calibers.

And some ballistics for Hornady 180gr: http://www.hornady.com/store/30-06-Sprg ... rformance/

Full ballistics chart for multiple cal. http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/bal ... istics.pdf


And more specifically a recoil table from Chuck Hawks: http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm Your rifle will hit about twice as hard as your 30-30.