First Rifle Recommendation

[Booper Scooper]

Hey y'all. I'm new around here (literally just made my account) but this seems to be a very active community filled with hunters and all that sort. I live in Northern Alabama and want to get into deer hunting this year. I'm 23yrs old and I'm an absolute beginner. I have hunted rabbits and squirrels, but I'd like to get a rifle.

So my question is what caliber would you recommend for Alabama hunting? I'll be mostly hunting on public land (for now) but there are some fields and brush I'll be hunting in. Target species will be: white-tail deer, hogs, and coyotes.

For the rifle, though, I've held many these past few days and the Tikka was the one I liked so far. Whatever it is I'd like to get it in left hand.

So if y'all have any recommendations on calibers, optics, rings, etc. or just any general advice that'd be helpful. I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks.

 

[LongWayAround]

Tikka .243
SWFA 6x or 3-9x
Unknown Munitions rings

That would be as good of a starting point as any.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Hey y'all. I'm new around here (literally just made my account) but this seems to be a very active community filled with hunters and all that sort. I live in Northern Alabama and want to get into deer hunting this year. I'm 23yrs old and I'm an absolute beginner. I have hunted rabbits and squirrels, but I'd like to get a rifle.

So my question is what caliber would you recommend for Alabama hunting? I'll be mostly hunting on public land (for now) but there are some fields and brush I'll be hunting in. Target species will be: white-tail deer, hogs, and coyotes.

For the rifle, though, I've held many these past few days and the Tikka was the one I liked so far. Whatever it is I'd like to get it in left hand.

So if y'all have any recommendations on calibers, optics, rings, etc. or just any general advice that'd be helpful. I'm open to any suggestions. Thanks.

Is it legal to use .224 caliber bullets on deer in Alabama?

If so, get a Tikka in .223, 1:8” twist, 16” barrel, SWFA 6x or 3-9x scope, UM or Sportsmatch TO84 rings, and some 77-grain TMKs.

If not, get a Tikka in .243, 1:8” twist, 20” barrel, SWFA 6x or 3-9x scope, UM or Sportsmatch TO84 rings, and some 95-grain TMKs.

I would also check out the Trijicon AccuPoint 3-9x40.

Consider getting a suppressor to make it even more pleasant to shoot.

Keep shooting squirrels and rabbits for field practice. There’s no better field practice for big game than squirrel hunting, in my opinion.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

308....I know it's boring compared to some of the new whiz bang calibers, but it plain works. Wide variety of production ammo and super easy to reload if you choose that route.

 

[glock233]

Tikka .243
SWFA 6x or 3-9x
Unknown Munitions rings

That would be as good of a starting point as any.

This or a 223. I’d do the 3x9. You can upgrade and add things as you go along. Short of barrel as Tikka offers. Definitely get a threaded barrel and a suppressor eventually.

That setup is highly scalable for the short ranges you’re start at up to 600 yards easily with the correct loads and bullets.

 

[glock233]

Tikka .243
SWFA 6x or 3-9x
Unknown Munitions rings

That would be as good of a starting point as any.

This or a 223. I’d do the 3x9. You can upgrade and add things as you go along. Short of barrel as Tikka offers. Definitely get a threaded barrel and a suppressor eventually.

That setup is highly scalable for the short ranges you’re start at up to 600 yards easily with the correct loads and bullets.

 

[coyotekilla]

I love my tikka, have 4 of them. Can't argue with the 223 / 243 suggestions above. My daughter is also a lefty, im right, as is my son.

Lefty's make up a small portion of the shooting family and are there for poorly represented in rifle selection.

My suggestion is to handle a beretta brx1 rifle. They are fully ambidextrous, and can switch calibers easily. I have a 20" 243 and its a shooter. I would also add the 6.5cm to your cartridge selection as its readily available & affordable, although the 223 is the king of that.

 

[WI in the west]

In my opinion a .243 is an awesome first rifle thats very capable. Thats what i started with. Id add 6.5 cm to that list. Both are very shooter friendly. They have no issues killing deer efficiently and theres lots of ammo.

Glass im always pro spending as much as you can on the glass, more then the gun usually. With modern machineing cheap guns shoot great.

 

[Hillstyle]

Most any caliber will work fine, and you are going to get a lot of different opinions. Nothing wrong with the classics like 243, 308, 270, 7mm-08, 30-06. You can walk into almost any store and buy ammo. You don't have to go crazy, but don't skimp on optics, 3-9x40 or 4-12 should cover any situation, and any quality rings should be fine. As far as rifles go, if you like the Tikka, that will be a great rifle. Just don't get a magnum or expensive caliber to shoot so you can afford to shoot it and get proficient.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

I use an AR-15 A4 in 5.56 NATO for the things you're interested in hunting.

It works for me.

Might work for you, too.

 

[glock233]

Adding this: if you get the .243 you need the 1:8 fast twist. The slower twists are antiquated and ultimately range limiting.

I’d also get stainless in Alabama.

 

[ckt3]

Is it legal to use .224 caliber bullets on deer in Alabama?

If so, get a Tikka in .223, 1:8” twist, 16” barrel, SWFA 6x or 3-9x scope, UM or Sportsmatch TO84 rings, and some 77-grain TMKs.

If not, get a Tikka in .243, 1:8” twist, 20” barrel, SWFA 6x or 3-9x scope, UM or Sportsmatch TO84 rings, and some 95-grain TMKs.

I would also check out the Trijicon AccuPoint 3-9x40.

Consider getting a suppressor to make it even more pleasant to shoot.

Keep shooting squirrels and rabbits for field practice. There’s no better field practice for big game than squirrel hunting, in my opinion.

This is pretty much it OP. This is the distilled summary of the advice you’ll find on this forum from guys doing a lotttt of hunting and shooting.

If neither of these cartridges do it for you for some reason, go 6.5 Creedmoor. No reason for anything else than the three cartridges mentioned here already. Tikka is the rifle.

 

[Booper Scooper]

So far it seems a majority are saying .243 /w a 1:8 twist rate and 20" barrel and I checked Sako's website and it seems they have that factory, which is definitely nice.

Is it legal to use .224 caliber bullets on deer in Alabama?

Yeah, we can. A guy at the gun store I go to showed me a bunch of pics of the deer he has taken with his .223 and it's in the dozens. He has a whole wall of skull mounts.

I wanna say I'm definitely down for anything, either way I appreciate everyone's replies. I'll add the 6.5cm and 308 (especially since the factory ammo is everywhere) to my list too, I wanna do some research on everything listed. Y'all have given me a lot to go on. So thanks for that.

I'm definitely not impartial to any of the classics or new calibers, as well as AR platform rifles.

I also wanna say I will most definitely be getting a suppressor.

Thank y'all so much for the replies so far. I'll check this thread again when I'm back home, and like I said before I'll do all my research I can.

--
Also Idk if this might change anything, but I don't reload my own ammo as I'm a beginner but I've been interested in it ever since I've seen people doing it on YT shorts, and it looks very satisfying. I think for now I'll stick with factory ammo but I definitely wanna to get into reloading as I've heard a lot of good things about doing it.

 

[grfox92]

So far it seems a majority are saying .243 /w a 1:8 twist rate and 20" barrel and I checked Sako's website and it seems they have that factory, which is definitely nice.

Yeah, we can. A guy at the gun store I go to showed me a bunch of pics of the deer he has taken with his .223 and it's in the dozens. He has a whole wall of skull mounts.

I wanna say I'm definitely down for anything, either way I appreciate everyone's replies. I'll add the 6.5cm and 308 (especially since the factory ammo is everywhere) to my list too, I wanna do some research on everything listed. Y'all have given me a lot to go on. So thanks for that.

I'm definitely not impartial to any of the classics or new calibers, as well as AR platform rifles.

I also wanna say I will most definitely be getting a suppressor.

Thank y'all so much for the replies so far. I'll check this thread again when I'm back home, and like I said before I'll do all my research I can.

--
Also Idk if this might change anything, but I don't reload my own ammo as I'm a beginner but I've been interested in it ever since I've seen people doing it on YT shorts, and it looks very satisfying. I think for now I'll stick with factory ammo but I definitely wanna to get into reloading as I've heard a lot of good things about doing it.

When you get talking to guys who have hunted alot, they will likely tell you that you are an idiot for going so small with .223 or
243. Just know that those guys are factually and 100% wrong and you shouldn't listen to them.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Thomas]

I would go with the Tikka t3x stainless light in 243, 6.5 creedmoor or 7mm08. If not shooting past 300 yards and hunting mostly thicker woods i would go with a second focal plane trijicon scope. If shooting farther and using reticle to hold for wind then go with a first focal plane scope.

 

[JayF]

Alot of good suggestions and can't go wrong with anything here, especially if you already like the Tikka. I will also throw out one other suggestion i did not see. If you are going to be in quite a bit of brush and keeping even the open field shots at and under 100 yds, the good old 30/30 lever action is hard to beat. You have options of going old school with the wood furniture, or getting more modern with the black out look these days.

 

[ckt3]

When you get talking to guys who have hunted alot, they will likely tell you that you are an idiot for going so small with .223 or
243. Just know that those guys are factually and 100% wrong and you shouldn't listen to them.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

Same for guys working at gun counters of big box outdoors stores. Had one say to never hunt with 6.5 CM unless you want to chase the deer for an hour after shooting it. Instead, you gotta go .308 so it dies on the spot.