1st rifle for a new hunter

[JonS]

Taking an art teacher that I've taken shooting a few times out hunting and he wants to shop for a rifle.
I'm thinking leaning him towards a .308, or .30-06 as first will be antelope, and hope to build up to deer and elk next year.
He's mentioned he loves when I share some steak or some chili cooked with wild game and wants to provide for his family as well.
Can you go wrong with a Tikka in any of the above?
Anyone got one to sell?
Thanks and hope all had a happy Thanksgiving

 

[coyotecreek]

I’d go with a smaller caliber with less recoil. For someone new to rifles, a lower recoiling rifle will be a more accurate rifle that he will have confidence in. I’d go 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 Rem. Both are easily capable of quick kills on Antelope, Deer, and Elk.

 

[Justin Crossley]

^Good advice^



Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

 

[Dhbwa]

I’d go with a smaller caliber with less recoil. For someone new to rifles, a lower recoiling rifle will be a more accurate rifle that he will have confidence in. I’d go 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 Rem. Both are easily capable of quick kills on Antelope, Deer, and Elk.

+2

 

[hodgeman]

What's he been shooting when he goes with you?

Nothing at all wrong with a Tikka in most common chambering. A 30-06, .270, 308, 7-08, or 6.5....all solid choices with plenty of factory ammo around.

 

[mlob1one]

Agreed on the Tikka especially in the 7mm-08. Great cartridge!

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

 

[TREE ‘EM]

If he’s a millennial, 6.5 Creedmoor
If he’s a GenXer, .270 Winchester
If he is a Boomer, 30/06 and Geritol

 

[Dirt Wagon]

I'd go with 270 if I were to get a long action like the Tikka. Or a 25-06 would work too, just need to buy the right ammo when elk is on the horizon.

 

[BrushyHillGuide]

I’d steer him to a short action, low recoil round like 6.5 Creedmoor or PRC (if you like speed) or a .308 or 7mm-08. The whole ‘grow a set and shoot a big boy caliber’ crowd is just plain wrong, imo. What do I know, though, after 30+ years guiding? Lol. Seriously, recoil causes more problems in new shooters than ANY other factor. You never know whether a new shooter will react negatively to recoil. I’ve seen so many guys (and gals) get a bad flinch or fall into slapping a trigger because of a dislike of recoil, even guys with a passion for the gym that looked like pro defensive tackles! The WHOLE point of “getting a friend into shooting” is for them to enjoy it and stick with it. Given that fact, why would you ever consider following an unnecessary path that included a caliber capable of derailing that journey or, at least, complicating it? All the calibers I mentioned are plenty of gun for the lower 48 and for all but 2-3 animals in North America. It only makes sense to avoid potential pitfalls and stick with something that’s easy and fun to shoot without giving up capability.

I’ve never known another guide that wouldn’t prefer a confident, capable and comfortable shooter with a slightly smaller caliber (as long as it’s suitable, of course) to a shooter with a “big boy” rep caliber and less than perfect technique. Now that I also run blood tracking dogs I notice that a majority of calls I get are not from people shooting .243 and .264, it’s guys shooting .300wm, .30-06 and other “big boy” calibers. That’s sure not the result of the calibers’ capability....it’s operator error 100% of the time. This disproportionate cross section illustrates recoil is a very real problem (even for those who don’t want to admit it) that is a bad idea for many shooters, particularly NEW ones. If you started your buddy in .300wm (or some other bigger caliber) and it worked for him/her...great! You got lucky. It just makes sense to work shooters up to bigger recoil instead of introducing them to it immediately because of some misguided attempt to compensate for some shortcoming. There’s lots to learn to become a GOOD shooter and hunter; so make recoil easy to manage and shooting lots of rounds a painless experience. Wit modern powders and bullet construction we don’t NEED to shoot big recoil to get very lethal effect down range. The days of needing a big heavy bullet to kill an elk or smaller deer are in the past.

Besides, a short action will shave ya a few ounces! Lol!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FLS]

My vote is a .270. Modest recoil and easy to find ammo. With the right bullet it will handle everything up to dangerous game.

 

[howl]

I’d go with a smaller caliber with less recoil. For someone new to rifles, a lower recoiling rifle will be a more accurate rifle that he will have confidence in. I’d go 6.5 Creedmoor or 7mm-08 Rem. Both are easily capable of quick kills on Antelope, Deer, and Elk.

This^

And if he does not have a 22lr, suggest that and borrowing one of your rifles for hunting. You can't really get a volume of fire going to learn to shoot with a big centerfire. It's just too much power generating too much heat. 22lr you can shoot all you want. Point blank shooting at deer is easy for someone who is a crack shot with a 22lr.

 

[KU_Geo]

I’d get this one...Tikka....

but in all seriousness, I use a carbon copy of that one with a Leupold vx2 3-9 with LR duplex here in Colorado and it’s done everything I need on deer/elk out to 600yrds. Feed it 150 partitions and he’ll be good to go for anything. Picked up a spare and just don’t need it.

evidence a 270 is all he will ever need below....all taken with 270win tikka here in CO over the last couple years

 

[LightFoot]

I agree with the above...

270 Tikka + 150 Partitions

Also like the 6.5 Creedmoor and 7mm-08.

>>>----JAKE----->

 

[Jon S]

That 270 would be great. Going to take him out again and let him shoot some more. He’s shot a bit of .22, some .223 and a tikka .308.
Spent more time on the .22 to practice moving a jack and lots of competition to shoot it before I did.
He liked the .308, the 270 is more kick for sure, he may not mind a whole lot. He may have shot my tikka .300 win mag once or twice.

 

[Dirt Wagon]

I've never noticed anymore recoil out of the 270 over the 308, could be just me but it always felt like a soft shooter. To be fair though I've only shot 130 gr bullets out the 270 & usually 165 gr out of the 308.

 

[KU_Geo]

ThinkIng the same thing about recoil. 270win is pretty mild with 130gr. Max loads with 150 partitions may well have a slightly more recoil than a 308 with 165gr but it can’t be much.

 

[Matthew556]

If he’s a millennial, 6.5 Creedmoor
If he’s a GenXer, .270 Winchester
If he is a Boomer, 30/06 and Geritol

This

I would go 270.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Desk Jockey]

Steer away from the 06 or long action. Tikka is great and will shoot better than him for a long time. 270 is fine. I Vote for 308 or 6.5 cm but it is really preference. If he needs something bigger then he will have caught the bug and be buying more guns.

FWIW I started a buddy out owning him my 308. He did just fine with it and bought his own.

 

[realunlucky]

Steer away from the 06 or long action. Tikka is great and will shoot better than him for a long time. 270 is fine. I Vote for 308 or 6.5 cm but it is really preference. If he needs something bigger then he will have caught the bug and be buying more guns.

FWIW I started a buddy out owning him my 308. He did just fine with it and bought his own.

FYI 270 is a long action chambering. What advantage would you gain in a Tikka shooting a short action cartridge? Just curious

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[Wmmichael20]

I thaught all tikka rifles were long action with a different bolt face for the short action cartridges....am I wrong in thinking that?