My new go to rifle.

[Brandon Cole]

I have been wanting a new go to rifle for pronghorn to elk. Been doing a lot of research on quality hunting rifles for the past 3 months and really thought I was going with a Weatherby accumark in 270 wby mag or Nosler Liberty in 26nosler. Until this past hunting season I was using my late grandfathers ruger m77 mark ii stainless in 264 win mag with a tasco 3-9 scope. I’m walking to my stand and not 100 yards into it I’m thinking man this is heavy. Was able to harvest a nice doe that day, but when I got home I just had to weigh that rifle. 9.3lbs. Also put my dads Winchester featherweight in 270 with same scope on the scale and that was 8.1lbs. I thought immediately that both of the rifles I wanted to get were out due to weight. The Nosler Liberty is what I really wanted to buy so I started looking at weights of different calibers. 7.65lbs in 26nosler and 7lbs in 270 and 30-06. Decided to go with 270 and waiting for it to come into my FFL.

Now the next problem I don’t want this rifle to be over 8.75lbs fully dressed. Scopes I’m looking at are Leupold VX5 2-10x42 and 3-15x44. I hunt mainly in northeast PA, but have ability to hunt out west with family in a couple different states. My question is will I be handicapped by the 2-10 out west or too much scope with the 3-15 in the east?

I plan to reload for this rifle and want to use RL26 powder with 140 or the new 150 AccuBond if it shoots good. Should I be concerned about heavy weight bullets for deer? I have used 130 AccuBonds in my dads 270 with great success.

Want to hear everyone’s opinions on my setup.

 

[MThuntr]

go with 2-10...a lot of guys get it done with 3-9's. My 270 wears a 3.5-10 VX3

 

[MJE2083]

I don't think a 3power is too much scope for the east. I hunt PA with a 4-12 and I've never felt that even 4x was too much. My Dad hunted PA for 40 years with a straight 4x. My wife has that same scope in 2-10, but I wouldn't hesitate to get the large power scope either. Nothing wrong with any of those bullets either, especially for deer. I shoot 140gr in my 7mm and my wife shoots 120's for deer.

 

[std7mag]

I'm in central PA.
I hunt mostly in Moshannon State Forest not far from Bennezette.
My hunting is done mostly with a Stevens 200 re-barreled to 250 Savage, or one of my Ruger 77 MKII in either 257 Roberts, or 280 Rem.
All of those rifles wear 4-12. One 40mm objective, the other 2 are 42mm.
I'm debating which rifle to take to Colorado this year.
No matter which it will be wearing the scope currently on it.

The 3-15 would work fine for you out there. Remember, you don't have to zoom the whole way to 15 power.

 

[Blacktailbc]

You will appreciate the higher power of the 3-15 out west.

 

[tom338]

I have always felt underpowered with anything less than 12 power on my scopes, I prefer a good 4 x 15

 

[Brandon Cole]

19oz on the 3-15x44. Should put me around 8.5lbs scoped.

 

[Deleted member 38069]

I love my m48 liberty!

 

[noharleyyet]

19oz on the 3-15x44. Should put me around 8.5lbs scoped.

That will be a very capable platform with a VX5 3x15...comfortable carry also.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Go with the 3 to 15 power scope and if your gun shoots a 150 grain bullet well, that's not at all heavy for deer.

 

[elkduds]

Give your 270 a chance, it may shoot different weight bullets similarly. My 270win likes 130 gr AB or mono for deer and smaller, 140 for larger. I have 2 boxes of Double Tap brand 160 gr NP, just in case.

 

[Riflerich]

3-15...what they said.

 

[Boarmaster]

I would go with the 2-10 myself if its lighter. If PA is anything like what I hunt in Southern Ohio then its hand to hand combat on moving deer. Being able to go as low power as you can in the woods would be nice. I doubt you will be handicapped much out west with 10x especially on elk. The decision for me would be about weight as I think both your scope choices are ok.

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

In my experience, there are vastly more 3-9x scopes in the midwest than any other magnification range. That's what I've used since I started hunting and I really doubt you'll have any problems with 3x on the low end.

 

[Brandon Cole]

3-15 will probably be the way I go.

I’m also leaning 150 so I can have one load for pronghorn to elk. Everything I read with RL26 and a 150 at 3000fps seems to be bad medicine for about anything in North America.

 

[1_pointer]

3-15 will probably be the way I go.

I’m also leaning 150 so I can have one load for pronghorn to elk. Everything I read with RL26 and a 150 at 3000fps seems to be bad medicine for about anything in North America.

With the right bullet, I think that load could cover everything, and easily, in the lower 48. Not saying your scope choice is "bad", but 10X is plenty for any of the ranges you'll be shooting with that rifle. Heck, at 500yds it will look like it's at 50yds. Plenty easy to place the crosshairs where they need to be with that type of sight picture. My 7yo shot a groundhog at 90yds with a red dot scope...

 

[sbhooper]

The 3-15 would be good, but you have a problem that is not a problem. You said that the rifle that you are using, weighs 9.3 and you want one that only weighs 8.75. If you think that carrying a half pound heavier rifle is a problem, then I think that you had better start off in the gym. The 130 Accubond will kill anything that you want to shoot.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

My .264 weighs ~9.8lbs and I regularly backpack hunt... so let's just call a spade a spade and saying buying a new rifle is fun. As far as your scope goes I always have mine on the minimum setting, and have a 42mm objective lens. This gives me lots of light at dawn and dusk. I think a Leupold VX5 2-10x42 would work well and I doubt you will need to turn the scope up past 3 or 4x

I wouldn't hesitate using 130grain .270 a-frames, partitions, or etips on anything in the lower 48.

 

[Don Fischer]

I live and hunted out west for a lot of years. 3-9x scope was as big as I ever hunted with but never got one up to 9x hunting. My favorite rifle out here was a Rem 660 in 308 w/2 3/4x fixed power scope. My 30-06 what I carry hunting elk has a 1-4x scope and I've never felt it was a disadvantage with it. But do still have a few 3-9x and 2-7x scopes. I think people have the idea they need a lot more scope than they really need. Seem' most people think they will need to shoot at 500yds, just isn't so!

 

[Brandon Cole]

The 3-15 would be good, but you have a problem that is not a problem. You said that the rifle that you are using, weighs 9.3 and you want one that only weighs 8.75. If you think that carrying a half pound heavier rifle is a problem, then I think that you had better start off in the gym. The 130 Accubond will kill anything that you want to shoot.

The difference between grandpas 264 and dads 270 is big to me. Biggest complaint is the 264 is all barrel weight. Not balanced and doesn’t carry well in that regard.