Don Fischer
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2017
- Messages
- 3,141
Creedmoor won't kill an elk. The bullet will bounce off!Tikka and for God’s sake not a Creedmoor if you’re ever considering elk hunting.
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Creedmoor won't kill an elk. The bullet will bounce off!Tikka and for God’s sake not a Creedmoor if you’re ever considering elk hunting.
I hunted for a lot of years before finally coming into a 30-06. I agree it is probably the most useful cartridge ever but there are so many it's pretty much splitting hairs. In Alaska for bear protection fishing I had my 308 with me and loaded up 200gr bullet's. I think the 30-06 would have handled the 200's better but it has a 24" barrel and the 308 a 20". For me the barrel length is an advantage, small advantage but may be one anyway. Therre are so many cartridges anymore, there are no holes! Ask what's best for this or that and we end up splitting hairs. I think the 30-06 still might rule as most popular though!Shop used guns. Lots of 30-06 to pick from. Seems everyone wants to dump the most useful caliber ever made for new man-bun guns with plastic stocks.
Lots of good advice here, I've seen several mentions of Bergara! They make great rifles. I bought one a couple years ago in 30-06 and have nothing bad to say about it. I'm extremely impressed with it.
All I've done to mine was free float the barrel and haven't had any issues. I've shot it in July when it's over 90° and just a couple weeks ago when it was -2° kept real good tight groups. I will add that it took me awhile to find one, but I was being picky and wanted it in a wood stock chambered in 30-06. I could have bought a hundred in synthetic before I found on in a wood stock. Nothing wrong with synthetic but I shoot what I'm comfortable with and a wood stock just feels better to me.It’s a good rifle but I would recommend bedding them right away. The contact patch of the action on the pillars is very small and moves with recoil. I noticed flyers with all the ones I’ve shot. After bedding they were all shooters with no more flyers.
Look for a used gun. Take Dad with him. No heirloom available to hand down? That would be much better than buying something.Spent a couple days extra in Spokane thanks to the Southwest flight debacle. Got a chance to take my girlfriend's 22 year old son to Sportsman's and Double Eagle to handle some rifles and have him get familiar with what he liked. I haven't "shopped" for a rifle in a few decades so nearly everything on the rack was new to me.
Joe was introduced to firearms by the Army and accompanied some friends into the field for moose while stationed there.
I told him we weren't looking for specific calibers but for him to find a rifle/safety position/ stock material/price point he liked. While there we talked about what ammunition was readily available. Looking at the ammo shelves, we saw plenty of 6.5CM, 308 and 30-06. I think in our discussion we narrowed it down to .308 and 30-06.
From my experience with a .300 WM I wanted him to have a rifle he was comfortable practicing with regularly. I think I'm going to ask his Maternal uncle to take him out to get some recoil practice.
He liked the Tikkas, Ruger American, and a couple others. My one and only large caliber rifle I bought used from a family friend gunsmith. Any shopping tips I can pass along to Joe ?
Take a good look at Bergara RiflesLook for a used gun. Take Dad with him. No heirloom available to hand down? That would be much better than buying something.
Only problem with buying used is selection in cartridges! Of course you may end up with a shot out barrel but IMO not likely! Few shooter's actually shoot out a barrel. what they do is get one just to dirty from not cleaning.Glad the OP posted this thread. I'm in a similar scenario. I even considered buying a practice rifle (300winmag) just to ease into things and not worry about abusing the actual hunting rifle. Or am I overthinking this? As to the OP's question... is a used rifle also an option as a starter? Or a just buy a Savage axis & sell it on the cheap or trade for quality ammo later when you buy the lifetime rifle? Sorry for the rambling.