New Hunting Rifle advice

[antelopedundee]

The trigger on the 783 is CRAP. Don't like it. Better one on the 700. The 783 I have is for a righty so I don't shoot it much.

 

[Sawtooth]

If your 30-06 is in good shape and you shoot it well, keep it for your elk rifle and sell the 300 mag. Take the money and add that to the money you have for a new rifle and get a nice 7-08 with quality scope for deer and antelope. Tikka T3, Bergara B14, Browning x-bolt, or the Remington 700 mountain rifle Noharley mentioned above would be good options.
Howa or Vangard are a bit heavier but still a good rifle for the money.

 

[Boarmaster]

Sell any rifle your not completely in love with or can't shoot effectively. Use that money as well as the money your wife will let you spend and get a rifle and scope in 308 or 270. Either will do what you want. I would try and stay under 8lbs all up. That should be easier to carry but yet not kick the heck out of you. Im taking my own advise and getting rid of rifles that arent being used or dont blow my skirt up. Im not saying blow the bank on a new setup but if you sell off you have a bigger bank in case you find something you really love that is a little more pricey. Get yourself setup with a rifle and scope that really works for you. I doubt you will regret it.

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

This isn't fancy, but the Savage 12FV is on sale at Cabelas and BPS for $320 right now. That's a steal. I just bought one and it would make a great deer/antelope gun if you're ok with the heavy weight of the barrel. At that price you could probably afford to put it in a nice stock as well.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Lots of votes for .308 and .270. I concur. I'd also throw in a plug for a bottom rung Tikka T3X - I think that would be called the "lite" or "hunter lite" something along those lines. They come in a very standard blued steel and can probably be bought for around $600 if you look around. The triggers are great, its a light weight rifle, and shoots accurate.

You might also look into a Weatherby Vanguard, or a Browning x-bolt Composite Stalker.

 

[VikingsGuy]

If you are trying to avoid recoil, you may want to error on the side of heavier options - rifle weight is a meaningful part of the equation.

 

[VikingsGuy]

This isn't fancy, but the Savage 12FV is on sale at Cabelas and BPS for $320 right now. That's a steal. I just bought one and it would make a great deer/antelope gun if you're ok with the heavy weight of the barrel. At that price you could probably afford to put it in a nice stock as well.

I just bought one, so can hardly complain, but for me I wouldn’t choose a varmint weight barrel at 26” for a elk stalking gun I think it would end up oddly muzzle heavy when raising for a shot. (I got my to work up a bench/prone target gun). Of course, YMMV

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

I just bought one, so can hardly complain, but for me I wouldn’t choose a varmint weight barrel at 26” for a elk stalking gun I think it would end up oddly muzzle heavy when raising for a shot. (I got my to work up a bench/prone target gun). Of course, YMMV

Oh yeah, totally agree. I was just thinking that his 30-06 may be good for an elk gun and he mentioned something with light recoil for his wife and 3 year old to start shooting. He also mentioned deer and antelope, which if you're not hiking much, the 12FV would be nice. It's definitely not a good backpacking or hiking gun, but would work well short range hunting and target shooting.

 

[6mm Remington]

Ruger Hawekeye is an excellent solid built rifle. I like the looks and feel of the walnut models and they are good rifles.
Winchester Model 70 EW SS or Classic would be a very nice rifle also. My son has the EW SS in 300 WSM.
Montana Rifle Company X2 is a very good rifle also. It has the best attributes of the Mauser 98 and the Winchester model 70.

7mm-08 and......................... 30-06 - 280 Remington or 280 AI - 7mm Mauser - would all be good selections that would work very well with what you are planning to hunt.

 

[Gary]

Thank you for all the input. I guess a little more info would help. I have a 30.06 as well that I shoot fairly well but I got the .300 win mag for elk and have just never gotten comfortable with it and started flinching even with lots of bench time trying to get comfortable. I don’t seem to have the problem as much with other guns although after shooting the 300 at the range I tend to flinch with anything. I know this is something that I have to work through and I will but I was also looking for something without a lot of kick that would help me make better shots. Randy mentions 7mm 08 in a YouTube video and I just went there. And the wife said I could get a new gun and I wasn’t gonna turn that down. Maybe I should just get a deer gun and use what I already have for elk. I just want to ethically take down animals and I just never seem comfortable with the 300 even though I have killed animals with it. Sorry for the long rant and thanks for the help. My wife seems to want to start hunting antelope and I have a 3 yr old and I just jumped to light recoil thinking they may be able to use it.

Have you tried down loading the 300 for bench/target practice work? If you continue using it for elk, you need to do something to stop the flinching. You mentioned that you do reload. It should be a simple matter work up a light load with light bullets to shoot for fun/practice that will allow you to get past the flinch.
I'm not saying not to get a new rifle, just suggesting that the 300 might not be dead.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Have you tried down loading the 300 for bench/target practice work? If you continue using it for elk, you need to do something to stop the flinching. You mentioned that you do reload. It should be a simple matter work up a light load with light bullets to shoot for fun/practice that will allow you to get past the flinch.
I'm not saying not to get a new rifle, just suggesting that the 300 might not be dead.

I am not disagreeing that this is an option, but in the end, to move the bullet out of the rifle, a 300wm will burn more powder at any given speed and this will result in more recoil and more muzzle flash than the same weight bullet traveling the same speed in a less volumous cartride like .308win, or 7mm08 or 6.5cm. I love my 300wsm, .270, and 25-06 but like to start those with recoil sensitivity on the short action cartridges like 243, 7mm08, 6.5cm. I also like my 7.5 pound rifles for walking up and down the woods, but like to start folks on 9 lbs as they are fairly steady and the weight further reduces recoil. A 7mm08 pushing a 150gn bullet in a 6.5 lb rifle is not that great for the recoil shy either. Better to go 120gn in a 9 lber. and build up to 140gn in an 8 lb gun.

 

[Jape]

Browning X-bolt Hells Canyon or Tikka T3x SS.

I second this recommendation. You can get either for relatively cheap and with your handloads they will shoot lights out.

 

[JLS]

I am not disagreeing that this is an option, but in the end, to move the bullet out of the rifle, a 300wm will burn more powder at any given speed and this will result in more recoil and more muzzle flash than the same weight bullet traveling the same speed in a less volumous cartride like .308win, or 7mm08 or 6.5cm. I love my 300wsm, .270, and 25-06 but like to start those with recoil sensitivity on the short action cartridges like 243, 7mm08, 6.5cm. I also like my 7.5 pound rifles for walking up and down the woods, but like to start folks on 9 lbs as they are fairly steady and the weight further reduces recoil. A 7mm08 pushing a 150gn bullet in a 6.5 lb rifle is not that great for the recoil shy either. Better to go 120gn in a 9 lber. and build up to 140gn in an 8 lb gun.

Using H4895, one can easily download the 300 win mag to cream puff territory.

 

[VikingsGuy]

Using H4895, one can easily download the 300 win mag to cream puff territory.

Yup - it’s great for reduced loads in many types of cartridges. Start at 60% of book max load for H4895 for you bullet weight/type and work your way up to a node that shoots and meets your terminal ballistic needs. (But they recommending not to use it in this manner if you don’t have a published load to start with)

 

[Irrelevant]

Using H4895, one can easily download the 300 win mag to cream puff territory.

Really? I have an old Mauser .300 win mag that I know shoots great but because of the recoil I never use it. I'd love to otherwise.

 

[VikingsGuy]

An old Hogdon document about reduced rounds that has since be dropped from their website (some blame the lawyers, but who knows) - use at your own risk.

 

[BuzzH]

What I don't get is why the need to "build up to a 140" in the 7-08? The .284 nosler ballistic tip in 120 grain is one tough SOB of a bullet. I can see eventually wanting to move to a 140 grain accubond over time to get a higher BC. But as far as performing on game, there isn't a nickels worth of difference and up until a hunter can tolerate more recoil, see no reason to quickly move to a 140.

If someone told me nosler wasn't going to make the 140 ab anymore, but were going to make mountains of 120 ballistic tips, I wouldn't even hesitate to use them for the rest of my life on deer, elk, bears, pronghorn, moose, grizzly bear...what ever I wanted to hunt.

They are just flat a good bullet.

 

[VikingsGuy]

What I don't get is why the need to "build up to a 140" in the 7-08? The .284 nosler ballistic tip in 120 grain is one tough SOB of a bullet. I can see eventually wanting to move to a 140 grain accubond over time to get a higher BC. But as far as performing on game, there isn't a nickels worth of difference and up until a hunter can tolerate more recoil, see no reason to quickly move to a 140.

If someone told me nosler wasn't going to make the 140 ab anymore, but were going to make mountains of 120 ballistic tips, I wouldn't even hesitate to use them for the rest of my life on deer, elk, bears, pronghorn, moose, grizzly bear...what ever I wanted to hunt.

They are just flat a good bullet.

Fair point, both my 7mm08s shoot 120 TTSX.

 

[AggieOutlaw]

Oh yeah, totally agree. I was just thinking that his 30-06 may be good for an elk gun and he mentioned something with light recoil for his wife and 3 year old to start shooting. He also mentioned deer and antelope, which if you're not hiking much, the 12FV would be nice. It's definitely not a good backpacking or hiking gun, but would work well short range hunting and target shooting.

It's heavy but a great shooting rifle. I got one for $219 with a MIR a few years back. Great rifle. The action alone is worth $219 and you can rebarrel it to something lighter for $300!

 

[N2TRKYS]

What I don't get is why the need to "build up to a 140" in the 7-08? The .284 nosler ballistic tip in 120 grain is one tough SOB of a bullet. I can see eventually wanting to move to a 140 grain accubond over time to get a higher BC. But as far as performing on game, there isn't a nickels worth of difference and up until a hunter can tolerate more recoil, see no reason to quickly move to a 140.

If someone told me nosler wasn't going to make the 140 ab anymore, but were going to make mountains of 120 ballistic tips, I wouldn't even hesitate to use them for the rest of my life on deer, elk, bears, pronghorn, moose, grizzly bear...what ever I wanted to hunt.

They are just flat a good bullet.

I got to test that bullet out on 3 bucks this season in my 7-08. I was impressed.