30-06 rifle of choice?

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t george

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Ok so I have been researching lots and lots of rifles in the past few days. I thought that I wanted a short compact rifle such as the ruger hawkeye compact, but now I dont think thats what I want. (dont like the finish, and would rather just have a full size rifle.) so im asking you to help me compare some of the nicer mid to high end rifles.

This rifle will be an all around gun from deer up to and including elk. I want stainless finish and either synthetic or laminate stock. rifle will be in 30-06


what would you choose of the following rifles? and what are your pros and con on said rifles?

1. Browing x-bolt stainless stalker
2. Modle 70 extream weather SS
3. ruger number one stainless/laminate
4. kimber 8400 Montana
5. sako 85 stainless/senthetic

and any that I may be over looking that are in this class. I have always liked the ruger number ones and now might be a good time to finaly get one, but if I take it elk hunting it is quite a bit more heavy in comparison to the others.

on the sako 85 the twist is 1-11 for the 30-06 where as the standard seems to be 1-10. donno if it makes that much diffrence as the heaviest bullets I would be shooting are 180gr, but its somthing to think about any way.

any help would be great, and I look forward to your opinioins on this comparison.
 
I don't know much about these rifles, however once you said that being compact is not longer an issue, I would not go under 24" of barrel length in 30-06, especially if you plan elk shots.....the 30-06 is a rather high intensity cartridges and in 22" or less of barrel length you would notice the difference.


The only reason I haven't bought a nice Savage in 30-06 on sale few weeks ago is because it had a 22" barrel.

If you do not care for wood I would grab a stainless steel Weatherby Vanguard...

Pretty much anybody agrees (including retailers which is telling you something...) that anything Kimber is overpriced....I would never consider their products...

I like the Browning X-Bolt a lot....
 
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When faced with a decision, and can afford the option called 'Browning', proceed.
 
I love single shot rifles, so my vote would go to the Ruger. The only singles I have right now are a CVA Optima Elite and a Handi Rifle but I'll have a #1 as soon as the funds allow.
 
Choice

If you're a stainless guy my order of preference is Browning,Sako,Win.

If your a blued guy the only choice on your list is the Kimber.

The Ruger #1 while being a fine rifle(and the SS/Lam. would be my choice as well) IMHO does not belong in the running with a list of bolt rifles. It has been my experience that most folks lose their enchantment with a single shot rifle quickly.
 
My choice is NOT on your list.

I have a Remington 700 CDL in 30-06. It is light accurate and a pleasure to shoot.
 
Wait... there are other guns than the M1 Garand that shoot 30-06?!

This is news to me!

My next question would be why you'd want to waste the ammo on a non-Garand rifle... jk, the Garand is my obvious choice, other than that I'd say the Remington 700 CDL that glockman19 recommended. However, I generally prefer my 700 in .308, I just like that particular round better overall.
 
I don't think any of the 5 are bad choices. But of the five the Sako 85 stainless synthetic would be at the top of my list. My Sako in 300 WBY has the 1 in 11 twist and have never had an issues shooting up to the length of the 200 Grain Nosler Partitions. My 308 Win HB 1 in 12 shoots 180 Sierra SMK bullets for it most accurate load to date. So the twist rate is not an issue if your just shooting 180 grain bullets.
 
the only reason I did not include the 700 is the fact that I already have 2 of them, and I would just like somthing diffrent. after all variety is the spice of life!

Geuss I should have mentioned that in my first post.

Thanks for the replies so far. and keep'em coming.

t george

P.S thanks for the info Runningman now the sako is back in the top three... I think... this is a good problem to have I think!
 
The CZ 550 has a mauser action and a set trigger. All you do is push the trigger forward and pull if you want the extremely light trigger pull. Or, you can just pull the trigger for the normal trigger pull which is adjustable. CZ 550's are built EXTREMELY well for a production rifle. Take a look at them..
 
If not a Remington 700, I'd choose the Winchester Model 70, only because it is a classic American action, and paired with a 30-06, it just screams "American hunting rifle"!! :)
 
I went through the same decision process a few months ago. I went to Cabelas and handled them all, except the Ruger #1. I chose a Winchester Model 70 Extreme Weather Stainless/Synthetic in 30-06. Its a very nice rifle. Very smooth bolt throw. I haven't shot it yet, but I recently got a VXIII 2.5-8x36 scope mounted on it. I hope to have time to shoot it soon!

With that said, they're all nice rifles! The Sako 85 is significantly more money than the others.
 
A local jewelry store was giving away a Browning .30/06 bolt gun last week with purchase of 1 carat diamond stud earrings. Dunno what the earrings cost.
 
I would suggest going to a large gun shop and handle some rifles. See what feels good to you. Every person on this forum is going to have an opinion on what works for him or her. You need to find that out for yourself first hand. When you buy the rifle speak to the salesperson about a scope and see if they can work out a package deal. The way the economy is, some shops are willing to deal. For me, I have a Browning A-Bolt SS 30-06 - BOSS, good rifle, shoots perfect every year with no problems. Good luck.
 
I agree with TexasEd. I always go to Gander and touch all the ones I am thinking about since they have them all in stock. Then when I have decided I go back to my own small time mom and pops gun shop and have them order it for me because I like to support my local small town businesses.

Of the ones listed, the option referred to as Browning wins for me also :), I LOVE my A bolt Stainless Stalker in 7mm mag and I am not even a synthetic rifle fan, I like wood but my Browning makes me think a little synthetic is OK now and then hahaha.
 
I've owned at least one of every one on the list. Sako is the finest product listed. I'd still follow the recomendation of handling all of them testing for fit.
 
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