Help choosing a Rifle
- Thread starter Buckdown
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Anyone who actually read the post should have noticed. The first link is "www.chuckhawks.com" and the second is "www.handloads.com"
I'm no magnum hater, but if you're inexperienced with rifles and start off with a lightweight .300 WM, you may become one in very short order. If not a rifle hater altogether. At best I can virtually guarantee you will begin your rifle-shooting career by developing a flinch that will be hard to break.
Did your first bow have a 75-lb draw?
A .300 magnum is not going to give you any significant advantage hunting elk. Period.
+1 on the .30-06 or .280 Remington. If elk/moose are a likelihood, I would lean towards the .30-06. Once you've put a couple thousand rounds through it, if you still want a magnum, you'll then be ready for it.
I'm sure this will be met with all manner of indignant replies stating "I've shot a 100 deer at 500 yards, blah blah". But the truth is, there are very few hunters who have any business shooting at a deer, under true field conditions, at a range where the trajectory of the faster bullet would make a difference (and I'd call that 250+ yards.)
And by true field conditions, I mean not snug in a stand that's the equivalent of shooting off the bench with a heavy-barrel rifle.
Did your first bow have a 75-lb draw?
A .300 magnum is not going to give you any significant advantage hunting elk. Period.
+1 on the .30-06 or .280 Remington. If elk/moose are a likelihood, I would lean towards the .30-06. Once you've put a couple thousand rounds through it, if you still want a magnum, you'll then be ready for it.
I'm sure this will be met with all manner of indignant replies stating "I've shot a 100 deer at 500 yards, blah blah". But the truth is, there are very few hunters who have any business shooting at a deer, under true field conditions, at a range where the trajectory of the faster bullet would make a difference (and I'd call that 250+ yards.)
And by true field conditions, I mean not snug in a stand that's the equivalent of shooting off the bench with a heavy-barrel rifle.
Being from Ohio I grew up hunting with slug guns, primarily with a 12ga H&R Topper which weighed a hair under 6 lbs and had a 3" chamber which I felt obligated me to use 3" magnum slugs. The H&R reared back with enough recoil that it eventually ripped the fore end mounting lug from the barrel, but I survived just fine.
My first time shooting a .30-06 I had trepidation about the "heavy" recoil. Imagine my surprise when it felt like a popgun compared to my H&R. When I later saw recoil figures equating the recoil of a standard weight 12ga shooting heavy magnums to a .375 H&H, I understood and ceased to fear recoil.
The OP's already fired an even harder recoiling round than the .300 WM he's wanting, so I don't see that to be an issue of note even if he gets a lighter Tikka which would only weigh about a pound or so less than most standard rifles by time it's scoped & loaded.
As to the OP's question about a rifle, Ruger M77's just feel "right" to me, have a great reputation for ruggedness and shoot quite well IME. Tikka's are also nice but that plastic mag is gawdawful expensive and I've heard the grooved scope mounting has been known to allow movement. A Savage with an Accustock would also intrigue me as they have a great rep for accuracy and are relatively light.
My first time shooting a .30-06 I had trepidation about the "heavy" recoil. Imagine my surprise when it felt like a popgun compared to my H&R. When I later saw recoil figures equating the recoil of a standard weight 12ga shooting heavy magnums to a .375 H&H, I understood and ceased to fear recoil.
The OP's already fired an even harder recoiling round than the .300 WM he's wanting, so I don't see that to be an issue of note even if he gets a lighter Tikka which would only weigh about a pound or so less than most standard rifles by time it's scoped & loaded.
As to the OP's question about a rifle, Ruger M77's just feel "right" to me, have a great reputation for ruggedness and shoot quite well IME. Tikka's are also nice but that plastic mag is gawdawful expensive and I've heard the grooved scope mounting has been known to allow movement. A Savage with an Accustock would also intrigue me as they have a great rep for accuracy and are relatively light.
Apparently not. If you think this data doesn't appear to be from one source I don't know what to say to you.
It's hard to communicate in these forums and mixing data makes it harder especially when it appears to be identical. Not only that but Hawks in particular is "very" picky about people quoting his work on any site. I was surprised that you even posted it here to be honest. You may want to read this post about how people can deal with copyright issues on this board. I think it's safe to say it was put there almost entirely due to Hawks. Most people won't post anything from his site at all. And mixing it with other data in a way that appears to be from a single source is not a good thing to do friend. I'm telling you this because you should know how Hawks does things. He is "very" protective of his work. The post I linked to is there so that the board isn't held responsible for what individuals post. Hawks has been known to file lawsuits over issues like this. I hope the mods here don't mind that I'm about to post a link to a thread on another popular board. It's being done for a good cause. I strongly suggest you read this friend and avoid mentioning Mr. X in the future. If you read this thread posted by the founder of a different board you will get an idea of what I'm talking about. For your own good I strongly suggest you avoid using his material. Seriously. I'm not trying to make you look bad or anything of the kind. I'm trying to help you. The consequences of using anyone's copyrighted work is something we should all be aware of. And this guy is famous all over the net for causing problems for people. I would not want to be posting his data mixed in with other data in a way that makes it appear it came from him. Seriously. I won't be surprised if this post gets deleted because the owners of this board know what even talking about him can mean. I will quote the founder of that other board so you might get an idea why I'm saying these things. He said,
"Do not post anything written by him on here, he doesn't like having his works posted on a public forum, don't quote him and don't refer to his website or articles on here."
Cee Zee,
Thank you for letting me know about the potential problems associated with referencing Mr. X's material. This is the first I've heard of it. The post you linked to will not open on my phone, but I will read it ASAP. From now on, I won't link to or quote anything by Mr. X. It's not like it offers any unique insight. It's just very readily available. One can easily reproduce the recoil and ballistics info on that site using online calculators and that's what I'll do.
Thank you for letting me know about the potential problems associated with referencing Mr. X's material. This is the first I've heard of it. The post you linked to will not open on my phone, but I will read it ASAP. From now on, I won't link to or quote anything by Mr. X. It's not like it offers any unique insight. It's just very readily available. One can easily reproduce the recoil and ballistics info on that site using online calculators and that's what I'll do.
swampcrawler
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Kimber Mountian ascent makes me drool. But I'm also in my early 20s and too busy trying to pay for life to buy a 2k rifle at the moment.
Maybe a sako fin light? Even a tikka t3 lite. And i think I'd back the caliber down to trusty ole 30-06.
Maybe a sako fin light? Even a tikka t3 lite. And i think I'd back the caliber down to trusty ole 30-06.
That's pretty much the opinion most people have of that site. There are others and many are better. So there's no sense throwing rocks at a dog on a chain. Chains break sometimes. Heck we had a German Shepherd that would break anything except a logging chain and even then it would drag the dog house with it around the neighborhood. That was before I was born I guess but apparently dad had a terrible time with that dog. Some dogs are best left alone.
Swampcrawler;
That Tikka T3 Lite, LHB, with a Leupold 3-9X tactical mil-dot scope in the rings that came with the gun is my go-to .30-06 these days. I've been knockin' it around for several years, hunting elk in the mountains & such, with no scope movement problems at all. Whether or not that'd hold true with a different cartridge, like the .300 Winchester magnum, I couldn't say. But, there's Talley rings too, they screw into the receiver instead of clamping onto the rail.
900F
That Tikka T3 Lite, LHB, with a Leupold 3-9X tactical mil-dot scope in the rings that came with the gun is my go-to .30-06 these days. I've been knockin' it around for several years, hunting elk in the mountains & such, with no scope movement problems at all. Whether or not that'd hold true with a different cartridge, like the .300 Winchester magnum, I couldn't say. But, there's Talley rings too, they screw into the receiver instead of clamping onto the rail.
900F
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