New Hunting Rifle advice

[Don Fischer]

Enough different opinion's on which rifle to buy. Go look at rifles and see what you like. Then see if you can get it in a cartridge you want. I personally prefer 6.5's and 7mm. Yet today have two 6.5's and no 7mm. The biggest advantage of the cartridge will be lack of recoil and bullet selection. Someone said you have a 30-06, boy has it killed a lot of elk, it's not going to fail all of a sudden. Something it can do that smaller cartridge's can't is handle quite a bit heavier bullet's well. If this is for elk, the smallest I'd look at is the 6.5 bt then I'm a fan of them. I've killed three elk with my 6.5x06 and 140gr Hornady interlock bullet's, one shot each. It's pretty much how you use what you have. I use my 30-06 for elk these days but take along my 6.5x55 as a backup rifle! My 6.5x55 is a couple pounds lighter than the 6.5x06 and has a 22" barrel as opposed to 26 on the 6.5x06, handier. I would say that everything from even a 223 up will kill an elk very dead with one shot depending on the shooter! But odds of success go up with increase in caliber for little more bullet's of suitable weight! In your situation, 7mm case's of any cartridge's are gonna be easier to come by than anything in 6.5 except 260 Rem. 260 can be made from any 308 case! You could have a rifle re-barreled to 6.5x06 but that can get expensive. 7mm-08 and 280 Rem fall right in there for up to elk but won't be any better than your 30-06 other than a bit less recoil. But 30-06 as elk rifle and 7mm-08 for deer should work out pretty well. BTW, I've never even held a 7mm-08 in my hands much less shot one but have had several 7x57's. What one does, so will the other.

Find the rifle you like with little regard to what someone else like's and then consider cartridge!

 

[antelopedundee]

Anyone have a comment about the Pachmayr decelerator pads for reducing recoil? I've got one on a 6.5-06, but have not used it yet.

 

[JLS]

Anyone have a comment about the Pachmayr decelerator pads for reducing recoil? I've got one on a 6.5-06, but have not used it yet.

One of the best.

 

[Don Fischer]

My 6.5x06 doesn't even have a recoil pad but it does weight 9#. I hear a lot of good about that Pachmayr pad. Wonder what the difference between it and other's is?

 

[antelopedundee]

My 6.5x06 doesn't even have a recoil pad but it does weight 9#. I hear a lot of good about that Pachmayr pad. Wonder what the difference between it and other's is?

I'll find out when I eventually get the gun back. Like the OP in post #16 I have a tad of flinch from long ago that never seems to have gone away.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I'll find out when I eventually get the gun back. Like the OP in post #16 I have a tad of flinch from long ago that never seems to have gone away.

Getting a lower recoil gun helps, but so does doing a lot of dry firing. It is one simple trick to help moving past a flinch.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

In that price range I'd be looking for a used Tikka or new Ruger American personally. 7-08 and a 120 would do the trick. The nearest sporting goods store worth anything is literally 100 miles away on a crappy road in the winter so it's not like it's a quick stroll to feel out a bunch of rifles for the OP. This is the wild west over here, ha.

 

[blueridge]

Fair point, both my 7mm08s shoot 120 TTSX.

I'd like to try some 120 TTSX hand loads in my Tikka 7mm-08. Would you mind sharing your load details, knowing my results may vary. I've got the T3 Forest (22 7/16" barrel, 11" twist, 6lb 13oz).

To the OP, we're all recommending our favorite rifles, so I'll add that I love my Tikka T3 Forest. Adjustable trigger pull (2-4lb), 10 oz heavier than the Lite version, nice walnut stock. When I was looking, the Ruger American was in the running as well.

 

[VikingsGuy]

I'd like to try some 120 TTSX hand loads in my Tikka 7mm-08. Would you mind sharing your load details, knowing my results may vary. I've got the T3 Forest (22 7/16" barrel, 11" twist, 6lb 13oz).

To the OP, we're all recommending our favorite rifles, so I'll add that I love my Tikka T3 Forest. Adjustable trigger pull (2-4lb), 10 oz heavier than the Lite version, nice walnut stock. When I was looking, the Ruger American was in the running as well.

Traveling so don’t have access to load books, but it is with Varget and Nosler brass. When I get back in town next week I will PM your the weight range I found useful if you wish. Obviously, you will need your own rifle specific COL and should probably just shot a 10 round velocity ladder to find your barrel’s nodes.

 

[jerm8352]

Thank you for all the help and insight. I might just look into a limb saver or something along those lines and get a lot more time behind the 300. I could get a pistol or “fun” gun as well. I just know that my wife does not say go ahead and buy a gun often so I need to strike while I can.

 

[Dewey]

I have an x bolt hells canyon and love it

 

[JLS]

Buy a new gun if you want, but where you reload you most certainly should spend time with reduced loads to improve your shooting.

 

[Jerky]

The -06 has put down a lot of elk, and moose for that matter. It is plenty of gun with the right bullets.

I understand wanting to get another gun, but you could also improve on the one you have.

 

[BluegrassBilly]

I've been in a similar boat and stalking the Weatherby Vanguard for a while, but recently read good reviews of the CZ 557 American (not the carbine length 557 Sporter that was recently discontinued) and the Sauer and Sons S100 Classic XT. For me, I am looking for a wood stock, three-position safety, and 6.5x55 chambering. Nobody provides all three at a slightly-above-entry price point. (No swede for the VG, 2-position on the CZ, and only synthetic on the Sauer.)

Have heard nothing but good words on here about the Vanguard, but nothing about CZs or Sauers. Anybody have real-world experience with them? Two out of three ain't bad, but I'm trying to decide where to compromise.

 

[jerm8352]

Thanks again for all the help. Just out of curiosity what is the difference between a $500 and a $1000 rifle? Obviously there are some quality things but with a lot of the entry level rifles being sub moa in hunting situations what is the real big reason to go more expensive? I don’t like the feel of my 783 but in terms of shooting the only problems I have with it are me not the rifle.

Also, I haven’t heard anything about the Winchester XPR. Any thoughts?

 

[Don Fischer]

Thanks again for all the help. Just out of curiosity what is the difference between a $500 and a $1000 rifle? Obviously there are some quality things but with a lot of the entry level rifles being sub moa in hunting situations what is the real big reason to go more expensive? I don’t like the feel of my 783 but in terms of shooting the only problems I have with it are me not the rifle.

Also, I haven’t heard anything about the Winchester XPR. Any thoughts?

$500!

 

[Brian in Montana]

The guy who is litteraly the best shooter I know once said in my hearing, "you can buy a rifle for $500 that will kill game at 300 yards, and you can buy a rifle for $1500 that will kill game at 300 yards."

The differences are subtle, but it all kind of depends on what you like and what you intend to do with it.

 

[danwolf]

I'd get with some friends and see if you can try out a few different caliber rifles.

300 win mag is great, but if it's killing you yeah a new recoil pad might help some. Also a muzzle brake would help the most.

If I were worried about recoil and want to go to a different caliber with less recoil a .308 is a great option, anywhere in the USA .308 is available. A 7 mm rem mag has lots of recoil in my opinion, my 7 mm rem mag has more recoil than my 30 06 or other 300 win mags I've shot.

There's so many options out there, pick one that works for you.

 

[Kenscot270]

Thank you for all the help and insight. I might just look into a limb saver or something along those lines and get a lot more time behind the 300. I could get a pistol or “fun” gun as well. I just know that my wife does not say go ahead and buy a gun often so I need to strike while I can.

Lots of good advice here either way you go. I own rifles in most in most of the cartridges metioned and all have their merits
I also have a 300 WM in a tikka t3 lite
It was a bear on the bench.
The redisgned tikka pad did nothing for it
I called up Simms and they were in the process coming up for a pad for the new tikka and had to wait a couple weeks for it’s release. I also upgraded my leupold vx3 3-10 to the vx5 3-15 which added a few ounces
With the combo of upgrades I now don’t feel that it hits me much harder than rem 700 30-06. Good luck what ever you decide

 

[jerm8352]

Thank you all for all the insight. I will spend more time behind the 300 and look into a different stock. I found that Boyd’s has a stock for the 783s but have not found anyone else that does.