A good first rifle?

[jkzfixme]

30-30's are great, with the leverevolution rounds Im accurate to way farther than I would ever be able to shoot in NY.

[bubba]

I am a fan of the 06.  But put 25 in front of it. Hard hitting flat shooting low recoil and deadly. But as Ed stated if you dont plan to load, think about it cuz ammo is expensive, but all ammo is getting expensive.  115 grain nosler partition and 50.5 grains of IMR 4831 you will not go wrong.  I am also a fan of single shots, but I choose an encore. 

[onemore]

I hunt with a nice Ruger 44 cal carbine, semi auto light weight, bought it used from a family friend. I also picked up a gently used remington semi auto 30-06 nice to have a couple of options. Look for a good gun shop and you'll be suprised at the used guns out there.

[Slugger09]

Mine first rifle was also a marlin 30/30.  Now I use a marlin 35 remington and I think its a great gun, very accurate, and gets the job done

[NYDeer]

I just reread you only have a shotgun. Practicing shooting with a centerfire rifle will eat up your $$$ pretty quickly.

I know you want to deer hunt, but I'd suggest a .22 to work with a bit, then go for a 'real' rifle..

[Caveman]

from small to large

270, 30.06 or 7mm

bolt action will be the most accurate.

I hope you didn't mean small to large in terms of caliber because a .30-06 is bigger than a 7mm