Building or buying ONE nice rifle. Which caliber and why?

[Choupique]

It'd have to be a .375 h&h for me. Theres a good chance I have a trip to Africa in my future.

 

[EmperorMA]

Are tikka’s less money than browning xbolts? Last I checked they were pretty dang close if comparing like features.

And then having to put a new stock on the Tikka because theirs aren't great.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

And then having to put a new stock on the Tikka because theirs aren't great.

Tikka is what the rem700 once was. I know the action has benefits over the 700, but guys would buy them for the action

 

[nm.otter]

Tikka is what the rem700 once was.

Exactly.

Shout out to @Unknown Munitions and @Procision Arms for building what I hope turns out to be the first of many T3x clones and cousins.

 

[bnewt3]

Personally I think old school has this one covered. 308, 270, 7mm-08, maybe 6.5 CM or 243.

They arent exciting or flashy, but they work.......well. Ammo is on the cheap end, many options, produced in plentiful quantities, and none of them have a reputation for pickiness the way some others do, such as 7PRC. Everything except 270 is short action which could save some weight depending on the action.

My advice to you is similar to someone else, PRCs and AIs arent ideal if you dont reload. Too few options on shelves.

 

[Rock’N Tacos]

Personally I think old school has this one covered. 308, 270, 7mm-08, maybe 6.5 CM or 243.

They arent exciting or flashy, but they work.......well. Ammo is on the cheap end, many options, produced in plentiful quantities, and none of them have a reputation for pickiness the way some others do, such as 7PRC. Everything except 270 is short action which could save some weight depending on the action.

My advice to you is similar to someone else, PRCs and AIs arent ideal if you dont reload. Too few options on shelves.

280 AI ammo is plentiful right now as is PRC ammo. All the big manufacturers are making ammo for these…

 

[bnewt3]

I dont see much of them on any of the shelves ive looked at recently. Big box stores and LGS.

 

[Hondo64d]

I have never had a “nice” rifle. My current go to rifle is a .30-.06 savage axis with a custom boyds stock. I want to build or buy one nicer rifle that can handle anything in north America and likely won’t ever shoot at an animal over 450 yards (big game not predators or small game). Mostly midwest whitetail hunting but I do go out west almost annually and fully plan to hunt mule deer and elk with this gun. Having a hard time deciding on a caliber, my .30-.06 has not let me down one single time and I love that caliber but I already have a couple of them so that makes me want something else just for variety and a little more downrange energy. Want something in the 7mm-30 cal range, I like the sounds of the 7 rem mag or 7 prc, love the performance of 300 win mag but don’t want a cannon that loud if I can avoid it, .308 seems like a slight downgrade from the .30-.06. I only shoot factory ammo, not a reloader. I am looking at going suppressed as well. Would love to hear your recommendations and why you recommend it!

With your self imposed limit of 450 yards, I’d recommend a 6.5 Creedmoor, but if you just can’t wrap your head around just how effective a smaller cartridge can be, I’d suggest the .308. It’s so close to the 30/06 in performance that the difference is inconsequential but the recoil is noticeably less. Since going suppressed, you’ll want a shorter barrel and the .308 looses less velocity per inch of barrel than most. With either one of these rounds you’ll enjoy shooting it more, and therefore will shoot it more which will do far more for your on game effectiveness than a bigger cartridge ever will. I applaud your choice of going suppressed. It makes the shooting experience way more enjoyable and is another thing that will make you want to shoot more. I would also encourage you to do a full build as opposed to a factory offering. They can be done surprisingly economically and I have never had any factory rifle shoot as well for me as one of my custom rigs with a top name barrel. Depending on your budget, I’d be looking at a Zermatt Origin or Aero Precision Solus action. I’d throw Tikka in there too, but putting a short action cartridge on a long action just bothers my OCD. McMillan or Manners stock in your preferred pattern, or maybe a RokStock and a top name barrel, Bartlein, Brux, Kreiger. The barrel is definitely not the place I would try to save money, which is another reason I encourage a full custom. I have one known exception to my top name barrel requirement. I have used several Criterion barrels and they have shot as well for me as the major names. I would not go with a barrel nut prefit. I have done that in the past, and they grouped well, but I did have issue with unexplained POI shifts that went away once I went back to a shouldered barrel. The only shouldered prefit I have used is a Criterion I recently got through Northland Shooters Supply, and it is shooting well, but I still prefer a barrel fitted to my action by my gunsmith. I like Triggertech triggers. I recommend a Picatinny scope mounting system. The optic you choose will be at least as important as the rifle itself, but the $ spent is not necessarily a direct correlation to the functionality of the scope. A bunch of material here on Rokslide about what makes a good scope.

John

 

[nm.otter]

With your self imposed limit of 450 yards, I’d recommend a 6.5 Creedmoor

As would I, especially if you don't reload. Huge variety of factory ammo and competitive prices.

I’d throw Tikka in there too, but putting a short action cartridge on a long action just bothers my OCD.

Sako 90S is a very nice action.