I need one of those, too! For my son! They don't make them with the scout scope mount anymore.

I've got an old mauser action chambered in this already. Very nice, but really, a handloading proposition. That's why I like the 7mm-08 for non-reloaders.

You can get it the way I did.

•You call or email the nice lady in Savage Customer Service and tell her what you want.
•You send the nice lady a check or a credit card number.
•You have your FFL send the nice lady some paper work.
•In a number of weeks, after they've had their way with your finances, you go pick up your shiny new rifle from your FFL.

If you're interested, I still have the email address for the nice lady.

I now know what a nice trigger feels like and what it will do when shooting. I know this because of the Accu-Trigger.

Amazing. Go down to the store and pull one of them a couple times.

My only reservation about the accu trigger is the added number of small parts exposed to the weather, and the posibility of them adding to the list of things that can go wrong.


That said, back to the OP,

First and foremost, find out where you are going to hunt.

Shotgun zone, then get an 1100 or a 870 slug gun with the cantilever scope mount on a rifled barrel. THE best set up out there for slugging.

Rifle zones, again, look where you are going to hunt, in the thickets and grouse woods of the eastern and northeastern parts of the state, lots can be killed with a marlin or Winchester 3030. A more modern bolt rifle can be used, but if you are hunting where 60yards is a long shot, why bother?>

For your wife, look at something that is going to be shooting something under 140 grains for the recoil end. A few very good choices are the Ruger 77's in .257, 260 rem, 6.5 x 55 swede and the 7 x 57 or 7-08.
Ruger seems to be the one gun maker who has understood that the light sporting cartridges are the most efficient for deer hunting and are plenty of gun to kill bigger species too. After all, in Sweden, the 6.5 is considered plenty for Moose when loaded with a 140 or 160 gr bullet.

The 30 cals all develop more recoil than most women are happy with. My daughter has been shooting since she was 11 and at 18 now, even though she is big enough to handle larger rounds, she really enjoys shooting her 7x57 in a No 1 ruger or in the shorter RSI.

I have a couple of .250 savage 99's, two in take downs, and one in a fixed frame, and they have virtually no recoil. So little in fact that my nephew who had broken a collar bone playing in captains practice for hockey was able to kill a deer with his three weeks after breaking it, when even putting on his shirt still hurt.

Anything a 308 will do, a 300 savage will do just as well. Both have the same capacity below the shoulder, and factory loads load the 300 sav to about 95% or so of the 308.

IF you are thinking about starting deer hunting here and maybe then trying western game ( antelope, mule deer, rams and sheep, etc) than consider perhaps moving to one of the long action sub 30's. The 25-06, the 270 and the 280 are great rounds, that keep the recoil down while putting up numbers that allow you to take those longer prairie or mtn shots with more confidence.

The 30's, 308, 300 sav, 30-06, 300 anything else mag. All good rounds, really truly great flexiblilty, generally firing 150 and up grain bullets which generally means more recoil but certainly not over what the full grown man can tolerate.

The only two rounds which are over 30 cal which are common deer rounds are the 35 rem and the 358. Both are great, both are becoming less common, but both kill dear like lightning.

Oddities, like 45-70's, .348's 32 specials, are all good deer killers, but the first two are a bit of over kill, the later getting rarer by the day, despite that for a long time it was the Number 3 deer getter in the land after the 3030, and the 30 06.

Despite the interests in the recent spate of uber short mag rounds, or Ultra this and that, remember that factory ammo is already hard to find for popular rounds sometimes, and if you loose your ammo or forget it at home, how likely is it that "Bob's bait and ammo" is going to have 26.5 reminchest ultra short mag on the night before opener?


For deer hunting practice, find some land where you can set up a tree stand or ground blind and get a package of paper plates, (preferably the 5-6 inch "salad" sized plates) and staple them to a bunch of sticks, walk around at various distances and stick them in the ground. These are about the same size as the vitals on a deer and see how well you can hit them. If you find that you can hit them from your deer s tand out to a couple of hundred yards, then you can shoot that far. if you are missing them at 60 yards, practice till you are able to hit them every time and then keep that your max distance until you are able to hit them further out. doing this, even a .22 is good for practice, although it will have more bullet drop than most, it will teach you about shooting from awkward angles.

I lost confidence in the BLR when a good friend took one with us to the UP of Michigan to go bear hunting. he shot once, and when trying to reload he must have short stroked but he ended up trying to repush the fired case and the loaded case in the chamber and ended up stripping the rack on the rack and pinion gears of the action. According the smith who looked at it up there, it was an uncommon but not unheard of thing to happen to them. Browning replaced the rifle.

I don't hunt, but I love shooting at paper targets. I just got this Ruger MK II Frontier scout rifle in 7mm-08 and it's SO much fun! The forward mount scope lets you sight with both eyes open, which is more of an advantage to a hunter than a target shooter, but very easy on these aging eyes of mine. The 35.5 inch stem-to-stern length is perfect for runty people like me. The 7mm-08 packs about the same punch as a .308 but the recoil feels like my .243. Trigger pull is approx. four pounds and I can shoot two-inch ragged holes all day long at 100 yards.

The ammo, admittedly, is expensive ($23 per box of 20) but now I have a good excuse to learn handloading!

Check out the new Guns & Ammo, August 2007. Page 48 has a teaser blurb about the Savage 10FCM Scout, HS Precision Stock, detachable box mag., Accu-trigger. Nice setup. Even has iron sights along with the forward scope mount.

Mmm ... very nice. I have a soft spot for carbines.

It appears that it is offered in both a right and left hand model, at least that is what the pictures display.

I apologize, I neglected to include a link to the info page.

Savage Scout 2007 writeup.

I've got a RH one in 7mm-08 in the delivery channel. No accutrigger, though. My LH son and I were shooting RH bolt action 22's and he was faster than me so I figure he really doesn't need a LH rifle. He holds the pistol grip with his left hand on his left shoulder and works the bolt with his right hand. He never loses his sight picture and he's quick.

We were shooting charcoal briquettes hanging on strings and as soon as I would get one in the cross hairs, it would explode before I could pull the trigger.

Maybe by the Fall I'll get one on .308 for myself.

I want to sit on the porch in Squaw Lake and hit one in Hibbing..............


...and NO they do not make it in a left hand verson.....

.

As others have said, some parts of the state are shotgun only. First, you'll want to decide where you are going to hunt.

What's your budget? Do you currently own any long guns?

I'd start cheap and see if you like deer hunting. A Remington 870 combo is a great way to start. The slug barrel will take deer anywhere in the state. Swap in the smooth barrel and you have your bird/small game gun.

For your wife I'd go with the .243 or .270. Modern bullets make the .243 plenty of gun for deer. Accuracy is the most important part. She won't shoot well if she's expecting a big kick. Also, try to buy a heavier rifle. They are easier to hold steady and felt recoil is less.

76.1 MILES? That's quite the range.

OK, so I stretched it a little.....................how about Black Duck

Not much change from 14 grand and I dont think that's with their ABC wind velocity meter OR the Leica RF