Deer season will be upon us before we know it. If you’re looking for a new rifle to take down this year’s venison, here are some to consider. When it comes to deer hunting, I’m not one of those hunters who prides himself on long-range shots. A typical deer shot for me is around 50 to 60 yards, and I normally drop my deer with one shot.
Some of my deer rifles are open-sighted, others have scopes. It would be very unusual for me to take a shot at a deer more than 100 yards away. While there are numerous calibers available for deer hunting, I rely on guns chambered in the time-proven cartridges .243 Winchester, .270 Winchester, .30-30, .308, .30-06, and .300 WSM along with pistol caliber cartridges .327 Federal Magnum, .357 Magnum, and .44 Magnum to make this list.

The first two deer rifles on this list are universal favorites. I don’t own either but have had the opportunity to use both on sponsored hunts. Most of the other rifles on this list I currently own. All the rifles on this list are capable of taking a good-size whitetail.
Remington 700/783 Series
The Remington Model 700 has been in continuous production since the 1960s. The Model 783 was introduced in 2013 to compete against competitors such as the Savage Axis, Tikka T3, and Ruger American Rifle. Remington wanted to keep features that were important to hunters such as a superb trigger, pillar-embedded stock, and free-floating barrel inclusive of a target crown.

The Model 700 is a top-loading gun. The 783 is magazine fed which creates a smaller ejection port. The frame is therefore more rigid. The detachable box magazine is metal, not plastic, and is less costly to manufacture.
The Model 783 does not sacrifice accuracy for price. It has a one-piece cylindrical receiver and small injection port. The accuracy is improved due to more mass and rigidity passing through the receiver. The 783 has a new crossfire trigger system. It is factory set at 3.5 pounds, but is also user-adjustable from 2.5 to 5 pounds. It has a carbon steel magnum contour button rifled barrel (standard at 22 inches and 24 inches on magnums). It has a pillar-bedded stock and free-floated barrel with a SuperCell recoil pad. The Model 783 accepts two Model 700 front bases. It is available in 270 Win., 308 Win., .30-06, and 7mm Rem. Mag. with MSRPs starting at $439.
Winchester Model 70 / XPR
Winchester’s Model 70 is currently available in nine different variations. Pre-1964 models have almost a cult following among bolt-action rifle enthusiasts. Winchester made a few cost-saving mods to the post-64 models, but they are still very popular. Today’s Model 70 has one of the most accurate trigger systems available on a hunting rifle. A beautiful, wooden stock Model 70 in a caliber such as .243, .270, .30-30, .308, or .30-06 can run a little over $1,000, however, there are still some Model 70s available in the $500 range.

Winchester’s XPR Sporter rifles add modern materials and manufacturing techniques to the traditional look and feel of the classic hunting rifle. Available with camo, composite, laminate, or wood stocks with Cerakote or Permacote finishes. Button rifling and a free-floated barrel with a recessed target crown provide all the accuracy you could desire. The MOA trigger system with zero take-up, zero creep, and zero overtravel provides you with outstanding accuracy. All these features combine to provide an exceptional rifle at an extraordinary value. Prices range from just under $400 to over $800.
Bushmaster Carbon 15 SuperLight — 5.56mm
This is my one Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR). It’s a Bushmaster with a 16-inch contour barrel with A2 flash hider and a Burris red dot optical sight with rings and riser blocks. It has a 6-position stock and a black carbon-fiber receiver. It is spec’d for 5.56 ammo. I have both 15- and 30-round magazines for it. I include this here just as an example of the many Modern Sporting Rifles there are to choose from. This just happens to be my choice.

Marlin 336 — .30-30
The Marlin 336 chambered in .30-30 has been in continuous production since 1948. With its solid, flat-top receiver and side ejection, the Marlin 336 is a prime candidate for use with a rifle scope. However, mine is topped with a Skinner Sights peep sight. I find it to be extremely accurate out to 50 yards and beyond.
My rifle has a 20-inch barrel, micro-groove rifling, blued-steel barrel band, swivel studs, 6-shot tube mag., hammer block safety, and gold-plated trigger. It has the blond, curly maple pistol grip stock, cut checkering, rubber rifle butt pad, and hammer block safety. It weighs in at 7 pounds. Ruger is now shipping the Model 336 Classic with a beautifully finished American black walnut stock and forend.

The crisp, clean checkering on both the stock and forend enhances the appearance and grip of the rifle. The stock’s black pistol grip cap is inset with a Marlin Horse and Rider medallion. The forend is attached using a barrel band.
The alloy steel rifle is richly blued, features a standard-sized finger lever, and a six-round magazine capacity. The 20.25-inch barrel is cold hammer-forged which improves longevity and yields ultra-precise rifling for exceptional accuracy. Like the classic 336, this rifle features the gold-colored trigger.
Heritage 92
Taurus now owns two producers of lever-action rifles. Rossi has been manufacturing Winchester and Marlin clones in Brazil since 1997. The latest producer of lever-action rifles is Heritage. Heritage joined the Taurus family in 2012. It has been known primarily for its rimfire single-action cowboy guns, but all of that changed with a new line of lever-action rifles being rolled out this year. The Heritage 92 series is designed to replicate the iconic lever-action rifles of yesteryear, but with the precision and performance demanded by today’s firearms enthusiasts. These rifles are being produced in the Taurus manufacturing facility in Bainbridge, Georgia.

The Heritage 92 line features a diverse range of calibers including .357 Magnum, .45 Long Colt, and .44 Magnum. Each rifle in the Heritage 92 line is available in three distinctive finishes allowing shooters to choose between stainless with hardwood, PVD gold finish with hardwood, or polished black with hardwood. This gives shooters options to fit their particular style of ownership or perceived use for the gun.
I’ve owned several of the Rossi rifles but had someone interested in my El Jefe, which is essentially the same rifle as the Heritage 92. After arranging a new home for El Jefe, I asked Heritage to send me a 92 in .357 Magnum with black finish, octagonal barrel, and hardwood furniture.
Deer season is still in the future, but I’ve put the Heritage 92 through its paces during several trips to an outdoor range. I am confident that should it make it to a deer hunt this year, it’s capable of bagging a deer.
Mossberg Patriot
Mossberg’s Patriot .308 with a Vortex Crossfire II 3–9×40 premium optic is everything a lowland hunter needs in an affordable package. The Patriot’s button-rifled fluted barrels are free-floated and have a recessed crown for maximum accuracy. At 22 inches in length, the barrels are built to achieve full velocity from every caliber, yet they are short enough for quick handling in the woods. The Patriot’s spiral-fluted bolt looks really cool and is at just the right angle for quick follow-up shots (without banging up your hands). It’s easy to load cartridges into the box magazine and the magazine into the gun.

The Mossberg Patriot features the Lightning Bolt-Action Adjustable Trigger that is user-adjustable from 2–7 pounds. The stock design is streamlined and checkered for easy, efficient operation. The walnut and laminate stock has a stippled pistol grip and forend that provide a steady grip during wet weather.
Mossberg has a long-standing relationship with Vortex that results in an excellent scope match for the Patriot rifle. The scope that was in my package. The scope offered in the popular scoped hunting rifle package, is the Crossfire II 3-9×40 riflescope with Dead-Hold bullet drop compensator reticle. Once your rifle is zeroed in at 100 yards, the BDC allows you to compensate for other distances using hash marks on the reticle. This rifle weighs right at 8 pounds and is 43 inches long. It balances beautifully. With its 22-inch barrel, it is easily maneuvered in the brush and well-balanced.
Savage Axis II P
I was most attracted to the Savage Axis II XP lineup and picked one in .243 Win. Why .243? I have rifles in .30-30, .30-06, and .308, and I have a MSR .223/5.56, but nothing in between. The deer around here are small, and the coyotes are big. The .243 Win. seemed to be just the right caliber for taking down either.

An XP package is one that has extra accessories added. For the Axis II XP rifle, those extras include a user-adjustable AccuTrigger and a bore-sighted Bushnell Banner 3–9x40mm scope. Accuracy potential is aided by the inclusion of a headspace gauge threaded into the receiver with a lock nut securing the barrel against the recoil lug for perfect head spacing. The Axis II XP combo features a floating bolt head design where the head and body of the bolt are two separate pieces. The resulting float allows for perfect lug and cartridge engagement.
The .243 barrel is 22 inches long with a 1-in-9.25-inch twist rate. The overall length of the rifle is 44 inches, and it weighs 6.5 pounds. This is a lot of rifle for the package price that was less than $400.
Ruger American
The Ruger American Rifle has a receiver made from 4140 chrome-moly bar stock and a hammer-forged, free-floated barrel with a blued black oxide finish mounted onto a polymer composite stock. The rifle feeds cartridges into the chamber from a detachable rotary magazine via a push-feed mechanism employing dual cocking cams on the stainless steel bolt, which has three locking lugs allowing for a smaller 70-degree throw-angle of the bolt handle.

Rather than using a traditional flat lug to transmit recoil, the rifle’s barreled action is secured into the stock via a proprietary bedding system known as Power Bedding.
The Ruger American Rifle uses the Ruger Marksman Adjustable trigger. The trigger is similar in design to the Savage AccuTrigger and allows the user to adjust the weight of pull between 3–5 pounds by means of turning a set screw on the trigger housing. The trigger mechanism is a single-stage design, but an integrated safety blade (similar to those on Glock pistols) must be fully depressed first before the main trigger can be unlocked and pulled thus preventing accidental discharges. The spring tension of the safety blade functionally creates a pre-travel feel that mimics a two-stage trigger allowing the shooter to exercise a much smoother and comfortable trigger pull.
Generation I has the following models:
- Standard
- Compact
- Magnum
- Predator
- Ranch
- Hunter
- Go Wild
Generation II has the following models:
S&W 1854
The S&W 1854 is currently available in either .357 Magnum or .44 Remington Magnum. I got the .44 knowing I would shoot .44 Special more than the magnum cartridge. The rifle is 36 inches long and weighs 6.8 pounds. The barrel is 19.5 inches long and threaded for a silencer. It is made from forged 410 stainless steel and has 1:20-inch RH twist 8-groove rifling. The receiver is forged from 416 stainless steel. Both the barrel and receiver have a flat silver finish. The stock is black synthetic with textured grip panels and a M-Lok forend with textured grip panels.

The lever, hammer, and trigger are in a contrasting black color. The trigger is flat with a serrated face. The lever is a large, loop style to accommodate shooting with gloves. This goes with the entire all-weather design of the gun.
Unique to this lever-action, at least as far as my experience goes, was the removable magazine tube which makes unloading the gun simple. Simply push in and twist the tube (from the muzzle end) and remove the tube from the rifle. Then, turn the rifle muzzle-end down to unload any remaining cartridges. The S&W 1854 features a 9-round capacity.
A Picatinny rail is mounted on the receiver. The rail makes for a simple process to add a scope or red dot optic. The Model 1854 sports XS Sights consisting of a ghost ring rear sight and a brass bead front.
The bolt is round. A crossbolt safety is found below the hammer that had both half-cock and full-cock positions. Trigger pull is advertised at a 5-pound pull weight, but mine is coming in a little under that, typically 4.5 to 4.7 pounds on my Lyman Trigger Pull Gauge.
Taurus Expedition
I struggled with what to put in this 10th slot. There are a lot of excellent rifles from which to choose. I had my short list down to Tikka TX3, CZ 600, Browning X-Bolt, and two or three others. However, the fact that Taurus now has a bolt-action hunting rifle in its lineup is something I just can’t let pass. I get something to test from Taurus or one of their subsidiary companies often, but never has it been a bolt-action rifle. This rifle really is something worth noting. Taurus is big on offering value products. It likes to give customers a lot of gun for not a lot of money, so much so it is sometimes accused of making cheap products. That’s simply not the case. Taurus makes affordable products it can stand behind with a lifetime warranty and what has become in recent years, excellent customer service.

So, what is this Expedition? Taurus CEO Bret Vorhees is an avid hunter, and it’s apparent he’s putting a lot of his own likes and dislikes into this new product which is a sub-$1,000 rifle with the most desirable features in a hunting rifle. Barrel length is 18 inches on the .308 Winchester, so the twist rate is 1-in-10 inches. The muzzle is threaded and includes a thread protector.
The stainless steel, spiral-fluted bolt has three locking lugs reducing bolt lift to just 60 degrees. The lugs ride at nearly the 3-, 9- and 12 o’clock positions with the external extractor positioned between the top and right lugs. A plunger-type, spring-powered ejector extends through the recessed bolt face. The bolt handle is machined flat and slotted, while the bolt body is fluted. At the rear of the bolt, a stainless steel cocking indicator extends through the bolt shroud.
The single-stage trigger is curved and adjustable and comes set at about four pounds. The rifle uses a five-round detachable magazine. Overall weight of the rifle is seven pounds. Overall length is just under 38 inches. From the reviews I’ve read, stock ergonomics are excellent. Accuracy is right up there where it needs to be as well. I’m looking forward to getting one of these for personal review.
What are your top ‘affordable’ deer rifles from this list? What’s your favorite deer rifle and caliber? Share your answers in the Comment section.
Read the full article here