Best Deer Hunting Rifles | Hinterland Outfitters

While there is no single perfect deer hunting rifle for all shooters, we can help you select the best rifle for your hunting style from the many options available.

The first and oldest style of rifle is the standard hunting platform, which is available in dozens of different calibers, barrel lengths, stock materials and colors. Most rifles used for deer hunting will have a barrel length between 22 and 26 inches, and popular stocks include classic wood (usually walnut) and synthetic.

The best deer hunting rifle calibers depend on a multitude of factors, such as size and species of deer (small white-tailed, larger mule deer, etc.), type of hunting range distances (open prairie or grasslands, dark thick timbered woods, etc.), as well as type of hunting styles (sight and stalk, sitting still, utilizing deer blinds, etc.). All of these factors and more, such as budget considerations, must be well researched and thought out if you want the perfect deer rifle that will work best for you and give you a lifetime of performance.

Accuracy is also an imperative factor in your deer rifle. The Minute of Angle (MOA) refers to the spread between bullets for a three-shot grouping at 100 yards. If a gun is a MOA gun, it can achieve a three-shot group with a 1-inch spread amongst the shots. For most deer hunting applications, a MOA rifle will be more than sufficient to get the job done, but for superior accuracy, you can get a sub-MOA rifle. This designation is reserved for rifles that can place three shots on target all within an inch of each other at that range.

Before selecting a gun, you will want to consider the ballistics of the round you intend to use. A ballistics chart will tell you the basic information of what the bullet will do after it leaves the muzzle, such as velocity (ft./sec.) measured by yards as well as energy (ft.-lbs.) and range trajectory measured in yards. You should have a solid understanding of how much a bullet will drop at a given yardage and what type of energy the bullet will still have at a given yardage. Understanding this will help give you a better understanding of which caliber will best suit your needs.

Some of the latest trends and advances in rifle design have greatly helped the performance of deer hunting rifles. One area is in trigger design – a good trigger should have a smooth and crisp pull, as an excessive trigger pull can cause your accuracy to be slightly off. With the introduction of the Savage ACCU Trigger in 2003, trigger systems have been revolutionized throughout the industry with updated designs that have made all the difference for smoother, crisper shots.

Best Deer Rifles by Caliber

A rifle’s caliber expresses the core diameter of its barrel denoted in either inches or millimeters. The caliber measures the size of a bullet your rifle can shoot and the cartridge means the shape and caliber of the bullet.

So, which is the greatest all-around rifle caliber for deer?

There is no right or wrong answer; however, there are a handful of proven calibers that all hunters will agree are the most suitable.

The first step when choosing the perfect deer hunting rifle is deciding on which caliber will best suit your needs. Determining which caliber type to purchase depends upon how the rifle will be used, the type of game you are hunting, and the person using the rifle. For hunting small deer, a .243 Winchester could be used very nicely. However, as the size and distance of the deer increases, a larger caliber will be necessary, such as a .30-06 Springfield.

A good all-around deer rifle must be accurate, and most rifles shoot close to MOA right out of the box. Most shooters prefer minimal recoil to resist flinching when they fire, which is something that must be learned from practice. In addition, a sleeker, more aerodynamically efficient projectile will maintain a flatter trajectory before being pulled to the ground. A good rule to follow is that the bullet should strike the deer somewhere in the chest, helping to ensure a clean kill. Your rifle also needs to be comfortable to handle, so find a rifle size and weight that is the perfect fit for your body type and strength.

• .30-06 Springfield – Extremely versatile, it balances a large bullet with higher velocity and performs well over a large spectrum of game. Ammo in this caliber is very popular and therefore widely available. The .30-06 is one of the most popular calibers used for deer hunting.
• .270 Winchester – This rifle has a flatter trajectory over long distance, and shoots a modest bullet weight with light recoil.
• .243 Winchester – Known for a combination of high velocity, long range and accuracy, the .243 Winchester has less recoil for a smaller framed shooter. This is perfect caliber for a younger or recoil sensitive hunter.
• .257 Weatherby – This model is considered a great compromise between low recoil and a flat trajectory with strong velocity energy with negligible recoil.
• .300 Winchester Magnum – With plenty of practice, shooters can tolerate the .300’s stiff recoil to take advantage of its accuracy and lethal performance. This caliber is suitable for almost any game in North America, from smaller white tail deer to moose or elk.
• .308 Winchester – The .308 is known for its superior accuracy, as well as its lighter recoil. While it comes in a wide variety of loadings, stick with 150-grain bullets for deer, and look for a short barrel.
• 6mm Remington – The 6mm Remington has relatively low recoil, which allows shooters the advantage of accurate shot placement.
• 6.5×300 Weatherby – This model is designed for extreme terminal velocity and long-range shooting with a flat trajectory, hard hitting, accurate performance.
• 7mm Remington Magnum – If you want to reach out a long way without stiff recoil every time you pull the trigger, this is what you are looking for. Like the 300 Win Mag, the 7mm has plenty of power to take down most large game.

Stock Styles for Your Deer Hunting Rifle

In recent years, hunting rifle manufacturers started offering many more options for the stock materials and styles. The stock is the part of the firearm to which the barrel and firing mechanism are attached – it is held against one’s shoulder and pressed against the cheek when firing the gun. The stock provides a means for the shooter to decisively support the device while comfortably and easily taking aim, and it also spreads recoil into the shooter’s body. While most popular styles still include a classic wood or synthetic stock, some newer manufacturers have started to produce carbon fiber integrated stock options.

• Wood vs. Synthetic – Solid wood stocks are generally made of walnut, birch or beech. Nicely figured walnut stocks are a thing of attractiveness and also very practical. Walnut is rigid and handles the battering from recoil soundly. It feels good to the touch, especially in wet or wintry weather, and can easily be touched-up or refinished if marred. A beautiful walnut stock gives a timeless traditional look to the rifle, but is also more susceptible to getting scratched or damaged in the field. Walnut stocks are also typically more expensive than walnut stock.Synthetics, on the other hand, are usually made of an injection molded plastic of a molded fiberglass shell filled with plastic foam. Synthetic stocks can be molded to embrace extensive and extravagant checkering patterns, be made in any color desired, and can flex so much that they tend to restrain the effect of substantial recoil. Synthetic stocks are also more rugged and hold up better in the harsh conditions hunters sometimes face in the field.

• Thumbhole – The hand conforming thumbhole allows for increased accuracy while distributing the recoil among the palm and shoulder, thus minimizing muzzle jump and felt recoil.
• Monte Carlo – The comb must support the shooter’s cheek at a height suitable for use. The Monte Carlo is a design modification that allows for the comb to be elevated to lift the cheek higher, while keeping the heel of the stock low. This feature is popular when you need to mount a large telescopic sight and therefore need to lift the cheek to a higher resting position for proper sighting.
• AR Platform – The AR platform is highly customizable. With manufacturers offering so many various parts and accessories, it is easy to make this rifle stock your own.

Best Bolt Action Deer Hunting Rifles

Due to its superior accuracy, the bolt action rifle is among the most prevalent firearms for hunting and long-range shooting. Because of the accuracy advantage, almost all bolt action rifles are designed to be mounted with a rifle scope instead of fixed iron sights. The reason bolt action rifles are the most accurate of all rifle action types is because the locking lugs on the face of the bolt mate seamlessly with the chambered cartridge, securing a very dense platform from which to fire.

Bolt action rifles are also great for novices because they are the simplest and safest of all rifles. Holding just one round in the chamber, a bolt action rifle needs to be manually reloaded after each shot. With the bolt action that is quickly achieved by manually lifting the bolt handle upward and pulling it back to eject the spent cartridge which cocks the firing mechanism and strips a new round from the magazine. Sliding the bolt to forward position seats the live round in the chamber and, in a final downward motion, locks the bolt in place, making the rifle solid, secure and ready to fire.

• Winchester Model 70 #51785 – Its lightweight design allows for spending time combing the hillsides for deer. This model comes with a decelerator pad to lessen recoil, and a superb MOA trigger system.

• Remington Model 700 VTR #47748 – This model has 3 rings of steel for strength paired with a hammer forged barrel for unmatched, out of the box accuracy for legendary precision

• Browning X-Bolt #26464 – The Browning X-Bolt has an adjustable 3-lever feather trigger and free-floated barrel for MOA accuracy.

• Savage 110 #44613 – Superior AccuTrigger flexibility sets the trigger pull with carbon steel barrel precision.

• Weatherby Vanguard Sporter Rifle #39250

• Bergara B-14 Timber #50343 – Some of the Bergara B-14 Timber features include free floated barrels for excellent accuracy and an easily adjustable crisp trigger system to match the user’s ideal pull weight.

• Weatherby Mark V #52592 – All come with sub-MOA accuracy guarantee. These are one of the most accurate and reliable production rifles on the market, and a favorite among hunters.

• Christensen Arms Classic #50087 – This model comes with an aerograde carbon fiber barrel, lightweight carbon fiber stock and sub-MOA guarantee. This would be considered the Ferrari of the hunting rifle world.

Best Lever Action Deer Hunting Rifles 

Lever guns endure not from some mistaken sense of nostalgia, but because they strike a perfect equilibrium between portability, balance, handling and firepower like no other deer rifle. The first lever action rifle that most people recognize today as having all the modern lever action traits would be the 1866 Winchester — you can still purchase a reproduction today.

Lever action rifles are rugged, dependable and simple to operate. Most lever actions are loaded by feeding ammunition through a port on the receiver’s side into a tube magazine either built into the stock or below the barrel. Pulling the lever down moves the bolt back, cocks the hammer and extracts and ejects the empty casing. A live round spring fed from the magazine into the breach is chambered when the lever is lifted upward and brought back to its original position.

The lever action rifle by design can only load flat nose shells into the magazine. This is because the base of the first round rests against the nose of the second round. Having to fire flat nose rounds has restricted the hunting effectiveness of the lever action because the trajectory of the flat nose bullet at longer distances beyond 200 yards significantly decreases accuracy. You also have a limited amount of the different calibers you can use with these types of rifles.

The lever action has been around for 150 years, and has endured due to its easy nature, reliability and accuracy. Hunters like the robust yet simple action that permits rapid follow-up shots in a light rifle that is easy to carry in the field. Winchester and Marlin were two of the first manufacturers to manufacture the lever action rifle, and are still gunsmithing some of the best today. Here are a few lever action rifles to consider:

• Marlin 336 #23758 – Topped with a low-magnification scope or peep sight, the Marlin is ideal for hunting dark timber or from within the confines of a small blind. With moderate recoil and six-shot tubular magazine capacity, it is a potent rifle.

• Marlin 1895 #23753 – Classic styling for big bore rounds. It’s laminate wood stock will hold up to harsh conditions better than traditional walnut stock. This model also features an integrated accessory rail and shoots the powerful 45-70. At one point, this was one of the most popular lever actions on the market.

• Winchester Model 73 #47842 – Each model comes with a beautiful walnut stock and ultra-smooth action with the same world-renowned look of the original model 1873.

• Browning BLR #26254 – Uses a unique box magazine that protects bullet tips and enables the gun to work as a lever action, yet it is capable of firing many of the most popular magnum cartridges which most of the competition cannot.

Best Semi-Autos/AR Platform Deer Hunting Rifles

Over the previous decade, the semi-automatic rifle has gained an incredible amount of popularity due to sophisticated technological advances that have made these firearms tremendously reliable, effective and accurate. Because the semi-automatic uses the energy force of the escaping gases from a fired round to recycle the action, most semi-automatic rifles have less recoil force than other rifles in a similar caliber.

The Modern Sporting Rifle (MSR) is a general classification of semi-automatic rifles that share the same basic characteristics of the AR Platform rifles. These semi-autos have become such a modular platform that they are now very popular due to the fact that they can so easily be customized to fit and adapt to all types of shooter’s personal needs and requirements.

• Browning MAR MK3 Rifle #57805 – The BAR MK 3 is the hunting rifle that sets the bar for every other autoloader on the planet with accuracy and speed — and a caliber selection — that is not matched by any other hunting autoloader.

• Remington R-25 GII Rifle #49823 – The Remington R25 GII is crafted from Teflon-coated 7075 aluminum and the barrel is Teflon-coated stainless steel. It features a lighter, more efficient bolt carrier, as well as an improved extractor and dual ejectors to have more reliable cycling.

• Daniel Defense DDM4/DD5 #57671 – The DDM4 is a short-barreled rifle for lightweight and easy maneuverability use. The DD5 features a free-floating 18-inch barrel and 2-stage trigger.

• Springfield M1A #51005 – This series comes in a variety of models, all of which are extremely powerful, accurate and reliable. Shooters across the country have discovered the versatility and enjoyable satisfaction of the M1A series.

• Nemo Arms Omen # 66667 – This is the ultimate MSR rifle for heavy hitting, knock-down power. This is one of the few MSR rifles capable of shooting the hard hitting .300 Win Mag. This compact rifle is great for shooting white tail or moose and elk.

• Falkor Defense Petra# 66042– This is another hard hitting MSR rifle shooting the .300 Win Mag. The custom Petra is a premium grade rifle offering superior accuracy and reliability.

Purchasing a Rifle and Ammunition for Deer Hunting 

Hinterland Outfitters simplifies the process of buying rifles and ammunition. With quality brands, fast shipping, affordable prices and industry-leading customer service, no other hunting supplier comes close. Contact us for help deciding on the right deer rifle type and ammunition needed for the gun’s intended use. Start the process by reviewing our How to Buy Guns Online information page, then emailing us at sales@blog.hinterlandoutfitters.com or calling us toll-free at 877-446-8370 to speak with one of our knowledgeable firearms specialists. And don’t forget to visit our other great products, including hunting accessories, optics, apparel, outdoor lights, knives, shooting targets and more.