You dont want a scope as a beginner... Id master an open site first

270 is the best way to go in my opinion. Long range and it stays flat the longest. Anything bigger than that and the bullet will start dropping at long range sooner. You could also look into a 7mm mag. Those are the 2 rifles I use

get a mosin nagant.

stocks are like 150 bucks right now because the market was just flooded with like 100k guns. most of them have never been shot yet, good deal and the gun shoots very well.

wait nvm.

This post was edited by DOM_innate on Sep 3 2010 09:59am

I say just jump up a notch and go with an assault rifle... i suggest the newer M6... body housing of an M4 but with a gas-piston system... way less jammage than the M4, i qualed with an M6 a few months ago. Real nice to shoot!

id would suggest a .300 mag is has great stopping power and very flat trajectory. this is a fine choice for deer hunting and bear due to its larger caliber. A 30/06 is ok for deer, but as far as bear it can be iffy. I know this because my first bear hunting trip i took one and it took 2 shot to kill, the first shot was a head shot and the round grazed off, bears have thick skulls, so as long as you aim for the sweet spot you should be fine. with the .300 mag this wouldn't matter as it would open the bears head like a .44 to a water melon.

First, what kind of hunting you are lookiong for ?
For a good quality/price, I suggest that you look at www.savagearms.com

I just bought a .308 long range hunter .308 and its very accurate for the price.

good luck and post again if you need more advice

and as for a scope, its all depend of your budget..

Look for buschnell or Leupold for good quality