wet weather rifle for deer and maybe elk

Ruger has discontinued the All Weather Hawkeye. That is a shame because it would have been about perfect. You may still find one in inventory or on the used market. They do offer the new American in SS and all of them come with good synthetic stocks. On a budget I'd highly recommend one and they are available in several useful calibers. The 243 would be about perfect for deer, but is very borderline on elk. A 7-08 or 308 would be good choices if elk are an option and the 6.5 Creedmoor might just be the perfect compromise.

They are a little more expensive, but I like the Winchester EW a little better than the Ruger 77 anyway. Mine is in 308 and has an aftermarket McMillan stock.

Getting SS metal helps with cleaning, but blue steel isn't that bad. It just requires a little more attention. A synthetic stock is a huge help in wet weather. The metal parts will take a long time exposed to wet weather before causing problems, wood stocks can go from perfect to useless in minutes with no advance warning.

Too bad your caliber choices are limited to two...the Henry Repeating All Weather rifles are the bee' knees, but they only come in 45-70 or 30-30; either perfect for deer and elk.

savage, tikka, browning, remington...uh....the rest. They all produce a decent stainless rifle. pick the one you like the feel of in a caliber you like, id be more comfortable with a cal larger than .243.
If your a blaster on a budget than the .308 maybe a better choice, but if its just hunting than anything from .257-.358 would work fine in most conditions.

personally id probably go with a tikka or remington 700adl in stainless....mostly cause i like the way those guns look in white.

I'm not in the immediate market, but a similar rifle is in my future for wet weather hunting.

I like the Browning X bolt stainless stalker. The Winchester EW model 70 is also nice, but subjectively prefer the feel of the browning.

The ruger American may also be worth a look. People that have them seem to like them.

What's your budget? All commercial hunting rifles are pretty much all the same, but shops like Browning market based on the name. A Savage Weather Warrior at 6.9 pounds comes in a swarm of suitable chamberings, synthetic stock and a detachable mag for about a grand. Mind you, they make an Axis XP SS that runs about half that.
As mentioned, the .243 is too light for elk.

Savage or tikka would be my first picks. Neither of them have a down side to the design for an all weather rifle. They may not always be the purtyest guns out there, but they work. Very well.

I strongly reccomend at least the 7-08 and better the .308 if elk is on the agenda. This would be far and away my first pick given your requirements
http://www.winchesterguns.com/produ...t-production/model-70-extreme-weather-ss.html

Get a Browning.
You won't regret it.

Easy decision - Tikka T3 LITE, but not sure about a 7mm-08 or .243 for elk ......... but I worship at the alter of the old .30-'06, so what do I know

Savage weather warrior is a good choice. Accutrigger and accustock, and you can get almost any caliber you want. Like others have said, I would pick something a little heavier if you plan to hunt elk.

Maybe it's because I've started working up loads for it, but I'm really enjoying the .30-06 experience. Maybe 'Ol grandpappy knew what he was talking about

Nature Boy said:

Maybe it's because I've started working up loads for it, but I'm really enjoying the .30-06 experience. Maybe 'Ol grandpappy knew what he was talking about

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Yes! If I was ordering one of those Winchester SS guns I would really have a hard time between 30-06 and 7.62x51 . 110-220 hunting bullets at very good velocities are hard to beat !

7mm-08 is plenty for elk

From my experience I would go with a Savage SS with the accutrigger as the most bang for the buck. I agree with some of the others that you should consider the .308 for Elk.

I like my bolt guns with a detachable box magazine. I purchased a Tikka T3 Lite, stainless with composite stock in 6.5Se. I shot a 6pt white tail yesterday. The trigger is wonderful. We hunt in an area that requires a very long drag to get out to a road. I was glad to have a light rifle and composite stock. My rifle got wet dragging past the beaver pond.

I normally purchase Brownings and I have several 30-06's. I would bring both my .30-06 Abolt and my Tikka on an elk hunt. If I didn't handload, I would have gone with the 7mm-08 for whitetail.

I do have a buddy with an Xbolt in .30-06. It is a nice rifle.

.243 is light for elk-period. 7-08s can push 160s fast enough to work especially with premium bullets. .308 does it all with 180s for elk 150s for deer and there are some awesome 110 and 125 grain .308 loads these days that can take heavy predators like wolf or coyote ect. waaay out there like a .243.

I've owned two Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather rifles, one in .308 Win and one in .300 Win Mag but sold both since they were heavy and the machining was poor and neither shot particularly well. However, both of those were markedly better than the crappy Savage Weather Warrior in 7mm-08 Rem that I still have and which is by far the worst rifle I've ever purchased. I keep meaning to put on the McGowen barrel that I bought for it and sell it, probably at a loss. I would take a Tikka, Browning, Sako, Begara, Kimber and even a Remington over anything from Savage. If Winchester did a better job of machining their receivers I'd take another look, but their synthetic stocks are hideously heavy. By the time you put a good stock on a Winchester you could have bought a Kimber with an even better stock for less money. I bought my girlfriend a Kimber 84M in .308 Win a few months back for deer and elk and it's a great value and awesome shooter. Here's a five-shot group with a Barnes 165gr handload.

I have a .338 WM for my fantasy elk hunt: I know it is big...but. I also have a Swede and I shoot that gun and my .270 Win very well. I'd take those too. That would be minimum in my mind. Above that, whatever you can shoot well...

Greg

Cdnn has the 7mm-08 77 hawkeye in stainless still available.

I would go that route.
I have 2 all weather hawkeyes (308 and 25-06) and have been quite pleased so far. Not as smooth as some others but they are accurate, tight, and rugged. They have become my favorite bolt actions.

I too second either the 7mm08 (with minimum Barnes 140TTSX) or better , the 308 with 150gr Barnes TTSX for elk. for deer? Whatever strikes your fancy with these two. The Tikka T3 Lite is a good one, I personally have a Ruger SS in 338 Federal and a custom 358 Norma Mag ( Brown Precision High Country Stock, and weatherized barreled action) Lots of options, just stick with those two short action rounds if you want to kill elk.

Fella's;

Another vote for a Tikka stainless/synthetic. I'm also another 6.5 X 55 mm Swedish Mauser user & hunt elk with mine every year. The Swede does just fine for that animal. In fact, earlier this season, I took a 300 lb black bear with my Swede, one shot.

900F

If you want to do a 7mm-08 for elk, I think the 175 partition is THE bullet for this application. It's old, but it's got good low velocity performance because of the soft lead forward of the partition, and works down to about 1800 ft/s or so. Since the 7mm-08 is going to be slow with heavy bullets, that's important.

In terms of a gun, I'd go for something with at least a 1:9.25" twist so you know you'll be stable in any weather/altitude with the heavier bullets. The Kimber Montana meets your desire for stainless/composite and is light. Some find it too light to shoot well though. For heavier rifles, IMO there are not many good stainless options with a suitable twist rate for the heavy stuff. Remingtons are OK twist-wise, but given their quality problems these days I can't recommend them. The Savages, Tikkas, Sakos, Howas/Weatherbys, Winchesters and MRCs are all 1:9.5" twist . The Rugers are 1:10"!?! If I had to have a heavy stainless 7mm-08 for elk I guess I'd rebarrel a M70 extreme weather SS to a faster twist and hate how much I just spent for what I got. Or drop the stainless requirement and get a Kimber classic or classic select.