NEW RIFLE: input please?

[Vahunter]

I think the difference in the two Savages are one has a removeable box magazine and the other is a blind mag. You can't go wrong with either the .308 or 7mm-08. In my .308 I'm using 150 grain Sierra boattail hollowpoints and they are super accurate and deadly on deer. I had a possum cop ( gamewarden) question me once about the little entrance hole in a small deer I had shot. I flipped the deer over and there was a fist size exit hole. I asked him if that was big enough.

[Taggure]

I think the difference in the two Savages are one has a removeable box magazine and the other is a blind mag. You can't go wrong with either the .308 or 7mm-08. In my .308 I'm using 150 grain Sierra boattail hollowpoints and they are super accurate and deadly on deer. I had a possum cop ( gamewarden) question me once about the little entrance hole in a small deer I had shot. I flipped the deer over and there was a fist size exit hole. I asked him if that was big enough.

LOL That was funny

[Iqentab308]

Ohhhh, thank you for the clarification. Since the detachable is the same price as the floorplate, I'm gonna go with detachable, because I have a thing with taking out and putting in magazines. I love the clicky sound =) Almost as much as I love the sound of a handgun action or an autoloading shotgun.

In regards to:

I had a possum cop ( gamewarden) question me once about the little entrance hole in a small deer I had shot. I flipped the deer over and there was a fist size exit hole. I asked him if that was big enough.

The entrance wound between a .22 caliber and a .243 (which I think is the smallest commercial round that is legal to hunt deer with in VA) is pretty similar. Even with a .308" diameter bullet, you're STILL going to get about a quarter-inch sized hole. It's really the exit wound and wound channel that looks different. With bigger, harder-hitting bullets, you are obviously going to have a larger exit wound from larger bullet expansion. I've seen deer shot with a .243, and I've seen deer bagged with a 30 caliber. The difference was astronomical. I wonder if mr. possum cop realized how stupid his suspicion was later. Either that or he shouldn't be a game warden.

[Diomed]

On the topic of the 44 mag. I've shot a handgun chambered to that. The kick was surprisingly manageable for such a massive, heavy-duty round. And good God, I'd hate to be the deer on the receiving end of such a hard-hitting close range round. =(

.44 mag out of a rifle is a whole different ball of wax. If you think it's impressive out of a handgun, it's like a freight train out of a long barrel with a locked breech.

It really shines when you put a silencer on it. Tom Denall doesn't call those guns the "Silent Destroyer" for nothing...