Picking out a hunting rifle

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I'd go for .270, .280, .30-06, 7mm Magnum or one of the short magnums. .45-70 is going to leave you wanting more range in the mountains, scout rifle with that short barrel will as well.
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I personally shoot a Remington 700 Mountain Rifle in .280 but unless you reload, I would steer you away from it. The problem is ammo availability. If you reload, you have far more choices in ammo with a .280 than you do a .270 and I'd argue its also more versatile than the .30-06. However, if you have to buy ammo for it, well you will find one box 140 grain .280 ammo at Dicks and that's it. If your stuck out in the field and forgot your ammo at home, if you have a .270 or 30-06 almost any sporting goods or country store or gas station in hunting country is going to have boxes of ammo to sell you. 99 out of 100 times they won't have .280.

You'll certainly find .7mm Mag or .308 at Wal Mart (your probably not going to find .280 there) and likely at country stores too, but even then its a hit or miss proposition where if you have a .270 or .30-06 you will have no trouble finding ammo anywhere.
 
There's someone that doesn't handload? Why?

:D

I don't worry about "country stores". I carry several hundred rounds with me on hunting trips just so if I drop the gun, I KNOW I'll have enough to sight in again with it. I don't mind having too much ammo along, but sure don't like not having enough.

That said, in addition to my .257 Roberts which IS a handloaders option, I own a .308 and a 7mm mag, two of the most prolific for ammo on store shelves....go figure. :D
 
I have a Browning Abolt Composite Stalker in .270 wsm, love this rifle. My next deer rifle will be in a .308.
 
I don't worry about "country stores". I carry several hundred rounds with me on hunting trips just so if I drop the gun, I KNOW I'll have enough to sight in again with it. I don't mind having too much ammo along, but sure don't like not having enough.
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MCGunner,

that's how I always felt too. But then, two weeks ago, I took off early from work on the next to last day of the season. Drove 45 minutes to the farm I was going to hunt before lookin gin the rear view mirror and realizing I had left me "hunting" bag at home. Had the rifle, but not bag.

90% of the stuff I didn't need. I had a differnt knife in the car I could use, for example. BUT, I didn't have ammo. I could have stopped at 1/2 dozen places to pick up .270 or .30-06, as it was, I had to go 15 minutes out of the way to a Dicks and they only had a single box of .280.

(and at that point, if I headed back home it would have taken me 2 hours at least with rush hour traffic and been after dark already).
 
I have 4 -.308 rifles. They are easy to shoot both in cost and recoil. My wife uses one, anyone of reasonable size can operate at least one of the 4. I have never shot an animal with a .308 and wished that I had more rifle. If I cannot take it cleanly with a .308, I need to learn to get closer. I dislike magnums for the simple reason that a lot of people mistake power for good bullet placement. They are expensive to practice with and after 20 rounds, I am about done for the day recoil wise.
 
countertop said:
90% of the stuff I didn't need. I had a differnt knife in the car I could use, for example. BUT, I didn't have ammo. I could have stopped at 1/2 dozen places to pick up .270 or .30-06, as it was, I had to go 15 minutes out of the way to a Dicks and they only had a single box of .280.
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Even then, unless it is the exact ammo you sighted in for, or you have an idea of where it will impact, how can you be sure it will be shooting where you aim?

I actually had the same problem happen to me on Christmas Eve, except I hadn't forgoten ammo, I had brought the wrong ammo. I brought factory .30-06 rounds, while I had my gun sighted in for hand loaded rounds. Luckily I had already shot a few of the factory rounds after sighting in for the hand loaded rounds and new they were not too far off. I also had also brought an unscoped Model 94 .30-30. I had two options, use the .30-30 and limit myself to around 100 yards, or trust that the factory ammo which was not far off my point of aim at 100 yards would allow me to hit at around 300 yards.

Lucky for me, I shot a deer at 250 yards with it....and I might make that mistake some more in the future :D
 
For Colorado big game I suggest .308, 270, or 30-06. All three are flat shooting to about 325 yards or so; they're proven game-getters. Ammo availability is no problem and often discounted as well.

Choice of action is a personal thing. I prefer carbine length most of all and that's why I hunt with .308. Both 270 and 30-06 should have barrels no shorter than 22 inches for performance reasons.

TR

bullelk-1.jpg
 
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Even then, unless it is the exact ammo you sighted in for, or you have an idea of where it will impact, how can you be sure it will be shooting where you aim?
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True. But I know my rifle very well and with the info on the box (weight of ammo and velocity) I can pretty much predicate within a certain range where it will end up. As it is, it it shoots about 1 1/2 high and about an inch to the right of my normal ammo. Which, is still well within the kill zone of a whitetail deer.

I took a doe, no problem, with it at 75 yards. I would have felt comfortable using it out to about 100 yards without siting it in. I wouldn't have taken a 200 yard shot with it though.

But for the original posters purposes, he could always set up a target and check the sites on his rifle. The larger point is that he would have the ability to purchase different ammo i he found he had forgetten his. With a .280 or the other odd calibers, that might not be an option.

That said, you couldn't get me to part with my .280 at all.
 
I really appreciate all the suggestions. I went to Whittaker Guns yesterday, and handled pretty much every rifle in the place (which took over two hours). A Remington 700 BDL in .30-06 caught my eye. It was sitting next to a used but unfired one in .270, but the price was $150 cheaper. I held all the Model 70's and Ruger M77's, a few Weatherbys, Savages, etc and this one felt as good (or better) as any of them. I went in intending to just look, but I felt I got too good a deal to pass up. So I bought it. Its got a few handling marks on the wood, and a small bit of rust and discoloration near the muzzle, but I figure I'll be adding more of my own anyway. So now I'll get to look for a scope and then rings and bases. Should be fun.

IMG_7463.jpg

I definitely looked at other calibers, but when I compared ammo cost and all that I figured this will serve me well. The ammo is a bit cheaper than the 300 WM and some other less common stuff, so I'll save that until I start reloading. Plus there was a lot more to pick from in the .270 and .30-06 flavor.
 
Any used bolt action in .270 or 30-06 and a decent 3x-9x scope will suit you just fine. you're good to go out to 300 yards with some practice.
 
Thanks for the comments. I do plan to do some shooting with the irons, I want to be familiar with them and their capabilities. I figure if I were out in the field and the scope broke on me, I would remove it and be back to the irons in a few minutes, and still hunting though at reduced range.

I have been researching and have concluded a 3-9x40 will probably be best for it, and was actually watching the ebay listing that was posted above. I'm going to have to figure out what gear I really need for the elk hunt, and yes, how to get it out of wherever if I'm fortunate enough to get one.
 
You've got yourself a classic looking hunting rifle in the classic 30-06 caliber. You are right in considering a 3-9x40mm scope & if you go Leupold I'd suggest the VX-II over the VX-I(there are links to both options in this thread)
 
If I understood it correctly, you bought the '06? They're really easy to load for. And, yeah, a 3x9x40 is all the scope you'll ever need. I'd go mid-range on models and pricing. Do the same sort of looking at scopes that you did on the rifles.
 
Congrats on a fine rifle that should serve you well. As for the scope, I'm a fan of low power fixed scopes. They tend to cost a bit less. I have a 30-06 with a Leupold fixed 4X and I'm very happy with the 4X. Out to what most folks would consider an ethical hunting distance, a fixed 4X should be fine. Nothing wrong with a 3-9 either. Just providing an alternative. To keep myself from going crazy on options, I just purchase Leupold scopes. My other option if I'm looking for a more inexpensive scope is the Redfield (owned by Leupold) scopes. Redfield scopes have a lifetime warrenty as well. I have a 2-7 Redfield on a social plinking rifle (i.e. one I don't hunt with) and I'm happy with it as well.
 
Don't forget in CO tags need to be put in for around the first week in april. You can do it online, but don't wait until the night before, their system really slows down. 2 or 3 days before the deadline and you get right in. good luck this year.
 
Yes, I bought the .30-06 pictured above. I removed the barreled action from the stock, cleaned everything, disassembled and cleaned the bolt, and plan to shoot it Saturday with the iron sights.

I have been looking at a lot of scopes, and still haven't made up my mind about a fixed 4x, or a 207 or 3-9. One things that bugs me is most 3-9's I see say their actual magnification is 2.5-6.5. Pretty weird rounding their. Of course I expect an 16 gig flash drive to hold 16 gigs, not 14.5!

CrankyCJ, thanks for the heads up about CO tag deadlines! I was not aware of that. I'll check into it.
 
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