2500 budget for long range sub 9.5 pound rifle

[strattonje2020]

what would you guys get? i have a great leupold discount so ill use a vx5hd 3-15. i need a rifle for do it all out to 650 yards hunting senario. I was thinking tikka ultralight or browning hells canyon long rnage. 28 nosler.

 

[Cahunter805]

I’d buy this!

Sold - 28 Nosler

Still available

www.rokslide.com

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Range toy? Hunting rig only? Hunting rig with periodic range time?

The VX5HD and VX6HD are great scopes. Mine have been flawless so far (2 VX5HDs and 1 VX6HD). However, if you are going to be doing a ton of dialing look at the Mark 5 HD (if you want to stick with Leopold). Depending on the model, you can find the Mark 5's for about $1500 if you shop around.

Spend the rest on a rifle that suites your needs. I have some inexpensive Savages that shoot well under MOA with commercial ammo; even better with hand loads.

 

[strattonje2020]

mostly hunting some range. I kind of love that browning hells canyon long range McMillian but don't know if its really worth the 2k.

i know savage can shoot with best of them but aren't as "sexy".

 

[brn2hnt]

I have a tikka in 7RM that I bought for pretty much this purpose. Found it to be a bit light (7lbs 2oz with a VX3i) and the barrel twist to be a bit too slow for what I was trying to do.

Because of barrel twist I would never buy a tikka/sako in 30 cal.

But I am looking reeeeeealllllly hard at the tikka package from @HellsCanyon now that I have a tikka action laying around with a mag bolt face.

Don't know if you have a tikka action laying around as well, but you would be very hard pressed to beat it for that price.

Heck if you started with a cheaper stock, didn't get a brake, and did the bedding yourself, you could probably get a custom rifle built for that budget.

 

[SDHNTR]

I’d not buy a factory gun that’s for sure! $2500 will get you into an Alamo Precision Maverick build. With genuine custom quality parts and the ability to put your own stamp on it with colors and fluting preferences, bbl length and twist, etc.

 

[WRO]

Oregon mountain rifle company does some nice budget light weight builds.

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[Marbles]

Seeing as you mentioned getting a Tikka, I'm assuming that $2500 needs to cover the scope as well leaving you with only about $1500 for the rifle. That makes a Tikka a solid choice. A Winchester Model 70 would get you under weight and under budget in a nicer package as well. The Extreme Weather SS comes in at 7 lb 2 oz, the Tikka at 5.9 lb. So the Tikka is lighter, but both will be under 9.5 lb with a 20 oz scope.

 

[strattonje2020]

Seeing as you mentioned getting a Tikka, I'm assuming that $2500 needs to cover the scope as well leaving you with only about $1500 for the rifle. That makes a Tikka a solid choice. A Winchester Model 70 would get you under weight and under budget in a nicer package as well. The Extreme Weather SS comes in at 7 lb 2 oz, the Tikka at 5.9 lb. So the Tikka is lighter, but both will be under 9.5 lb with a 20 oz scope.

Yeah I just realized I meant savage ultralight.

For non custom I have became most fond of the limited addition hell’s canyon McMillan long range.

 

[Marbles]

Yeah I just realized I meant savage ultralight.

For non custom I have became most fond of the limited addition hell’s canyon McMillan long range.

At the full $2500 I would get a Kimber 84L Montana for around $1240 (could probably find a used one cheaper). Bed the action, if it does not shoot like you want send it to PacNor and have them true the action and put a new barrel on for $605 to $785 depending on what you go with. You could even have them to Cerakote it for $207. That would put you right at 2.2k on a custom build that would come in under 7 pounds scoped with a CRF action, Cerakote over stainless, and fiberglass stock.

But, now I'm just talking about what I want to do.

 

[mgacf]

Tikka is hard to beat. They just plain shoot!

 

[SDHNTR]

For $2500 I doubt he wants plastic parts and a bolt stop!

 

[strattonje2020]

So guys this what I’m leaning towards. Trading an ar15 I don’t use for my tikka super lite 300 win mag I sold. Stripping that down and building it up. Hells canyon armory seems to have a nice package for the $2500 bucks.

 

[macjensen]

There is a browning hells canyon 28 NOS on LRO forum for sale right now. Asking $1350.

 

[Elkfitness]

I’ve got a hells canyon long range NIB in 270wsm I’d sell for $1000 shipped


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[PowellSixO]

You can get a better rifle if you put the parts together yourself. Order a McMillan stock of your choosing (or find one in the classifieds). Find a new or used tikka rifle on the cheap (or an action if possible). Order a barrel of your choosing (you can find blanks left and right in the classifieds). I'd personally go with a carbon wrapped barrel, but that's up to you. Find the trigger you want, or just do the spring swap on the tikka trigger. Take the parts to a good smith, and have him chamber the barrel, bed the action, install the barrel, and get the trigger worked out. Bam, you have a solid rifle that will shoot, especially if you're a reloader. I went this route and saved myself a bunch of money. Couldn't be happier!

 

[SDHNTR]

You can get a better rifle if you put the parts together yourself. Order a McMillan stock of your choosing (or find one in the classifieds). Find a new or used tikka rifle on the cheap (or an action if possible). Order a barrel of your choosing (you can find blanks left and right in the classifieds). I'd personally go with a carbon wrapped barrel, but that's up to you. Find the trigger you want, or just do the spring swap on the tikka trigger. Take the parts to a good smith, and have him chamber the barrel, bed the action, install the barrel, and get the trigger worked out. Bam, you have a solid rifle that will shoot, especially if you're a reloader. I went this route and saved myself a bunch of money. Couldn't be happier!
View attachment 222342

Great way to save money, if you have the time and patience. To present another viewpoint, I’ve gone this route and won’t do it again. I had some minor problems along the way that were frustrating. The barrel guys blamed the smith. The Smith blamed the barrel guys. The stock guys blamed the bottom metal guys and the bottom metal guys blamed the stock guys and there was no one to take ownership of the entire project as a whole. It all eventually got worked out but it took a few trips back to the smith and back to the barrel builder and back to the stock maker, etc.

Kinda like being your own general contractor and subbing out all the trades to build you a home. You can save a good chunk of change, but there is greater potential for frustration.

 

[JakeB2010]

I would get a CA ridgeline and drop it in a high end stock of your choosing. With a ridgeline, you get a carbon barrel, adjustable triggertech trigger along with some other features. Their factory stocks are alright but an aftermarket stock would make for much better ergonomics, especially if your shooting prone more often than not.

 

[catorres1]

I shoot a Weatherby Accuguard, and I like the rifle just fine, but my recommendation to you would be to think along the lines of something that is Remington patterned....not saying Remington, just patterned. So any of the custom actions, a Bergara etc. There is a lot of support for Tikka's too ( I have a CTR), but I prefer a longer action/box combo as I am shooting 300 win mags with heavy bullets loaded long, and nothing rivals Remington patterns for industry support. Which is how I learned to realize that I should have listened to my gunsmith when he recommended I not buy the Vanguard and get something Remington patterned....everything you might want for the gun in future, whatever you want to make it into...you can always do it with a Remington pattern, but not necessarily anyone else.
Ultimately, I had to have my action opened up and a different box put in to get it to shoot the loads I want. Have a better trigger in it, but not the one I want. The stock I have is okay, but not the chassis I want. None of those things would have been a problem if it were Remington pattern.
I ignored my gunsmith because I thought...ehhh, why would I need to change anything....ha ha, man plans God laughs.
When this barrel is done, I will likely just toss this action or sell it cheaply and start over, as now I know what I want....I just can't get it using a Howa long action. Just a thought.

 

[Boiserunr]

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