My first gun was a New England Firearms single shot, break action 20 GA shotgun, followed by an old Marlin bolt action .22 For a first gun, I agree with pretty much everyone here that you can't go wrong with a .22LR, for all the merits mentioned above.
As far as a first hunting rifle goes, it really depends on the application. I'm pretty partial to my 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser
(model 94, all matching #'s, bore condition 2, Carl Gustof factory for those who are interested in old mausers)
This caliber is pretty versitile, and from what I have found it is very popular in Sweden for Moose hunting. It has a very gentle recoil, and for me it is a highly accurate. A slight disadvantage is that they are a bit cumbersome and heavy due in part to the full lengh stock. However, many sporter conversions are available, and there are quite a few on the market that have already been sporterized.
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