First hunting rifle

[ida homer]

I prefer 7mm, seems to be the eclipse of energy, velocity, great BC's, relatively mild recoil and ammo/component availability.
The ballistic charts will clearly show that.

300 win mag is also a great option. 280 Ackley is a good option, but components can obviously be tough.

Skip on the 6.5CM, 308 or 30-06 for your goals.

 

[ida homer]

I've been rifle hunting for 25 years and have never shot an animal over 200 yards.

I wish that was the case here.

Just got back from scouting for my general bull tag. None of the elk I glassed up were within 800 yards this weekend.
There was 1 ridge halfway that would provide a perfect 400 yard cross canyon shot. Which is a lay up.

Getting on the same hill side and trying to come in above or side hill from them would be a 10 hour
process. The country is just so big, you want to be able to ethically and very confidently shoot as far as you can.

 

[std7mag]

I'd still say to do what i try to do.
Buy a used rifle and get the best glass you can afford.

I too like the "balance" 7mm gives you.
7mm Rem Mag just as popular as 300 Win Mag on the store shelves.
Better BC for given weight class bullets, less recoil.

Just say'n....

Oh, and welcome to the forum!!!

 

[Brian in Montana]

For a hunting rifle, I have a hard time getting too far from Tikka, and the .308 (and the children of the .308). But I'm primarily a hunter first and a shooter second; I know that long range shooting and hunting is really a big deal on YouTube these days, but I guess it doesn't interest me all that much.

That said, I'll echo what some others have said - if you plan to cover much ground in elk country you'll want something packable and reasonably light weight. Most bench guns for shooting 1K yds and bulky, heavy things. And the 6.5CM, the long-range darling, is an impressive little cartridge, but it should be considered somewhat on the light end of the elk spectrum.

 

[tzone]

I'm looking into getting my first hunting rifle when I get a bonus from work next year. I want something that I can do some long range shooting with, and also take elk and deer hunting.

I'm currently looking at the Browning Hells Canyon LR and the Howa's 1500 Randy Newberg edition. I'm wanting to keep it under $2,000 but might consider going over that a little. I really like the Macmillan model in the hells canyon, but that puts me right at the top of my budget without scope, rings, or bipod. My question on that is if the MacMillan stock is worth the extra $800. And my next question, is on the Howa. How suited is it for long range shooting? I guess I would probably want to replace the scope eventually for something with more magnification.

As for caliber, I decided on 300 win mag, but might also consider 6.5 Creedmore. For target shooting I'd like to reach out to 1000 plus meters, and for hunting, I would like the ability to kill an elk at 500-600 yards if I wanted to, but would try to keep my shots to 400 and under.

Does anyone have any suggestions for rifles and/or/scopes for these applications? I'd like a muzzle break, and some adjustability on the stock without adding too much weight (I'm a big guy, so extendable stocks are nice. Pretty much required for true long distance shooting.) For scopes, I'm looking for something in first focal plane that is set in MOA rather than mils (does anyone still use mils?)

Thanks for any advice!

If $2000k is your price you have a TON of options.

Fornthat money is look at a Barrett Fieldcraft in 7mm-08 or 6.5cm, a Leupold VX5 2-10x42 and go forth and shoot stuff.

 

[3855WIN]

Sako like this with quality glass.

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