Buying a dedicated deer and elk rifle for Colorado

[husky390]

Having a good recoil pad makes a huge difference. I have a Savage 110 in 30/06 that was miserable to shoot 180's off of a bench. I installed a Limbsaver pad and now it's a joy to shoot.

Blued rifles are fine, I'd keep a silicone cloth at camp to wipe down after being out in the field and make sure your rifle case stays dry.

My two "go-to" hunting rifles for CO are the Kimber Montana in .300wsm and the Ruger American Compact in .308. All the others stay home as I don't want to lug them through the woods. Of those two, the RAC was with me 99% of the time this year. It weighs under 7lbs scoped, shoots factory ammo sub MOA and is a joy to carry. I'm a big guy, 6'1", 240 and for whatever reason, that little rife fits me great. Is it a prize to look at? No. But I don't care if it gets scratched, dinged, wet, dropped or whatever. It's a $350 rifle and my Leupold VXII CDS cost me $250 on sale at Cabela's.

What part of CO are you in? I live in Highlands Ranch and I'm planning on spending a lot of time at the range after New Years. You're welcome to join me and try what I have.

 

[CO_west]

Thanks for the offer - I live in Grand Junction, a little far! I think I'm going to follow some of the advice I've seen here. I'm going to look around for a rifle that fits and is a good deal, and I have a feeling I can make whatever caliber work that I find. I really think my big issue with my old 30-06 was the fit (stock too long with slip-on recoil pad) more than anything else.

 

[CO_west]

What has been the experience for you guys - practically, would the recoil in a 308 shooting 150 grain bullets and a 7mm-08 shooting 140's be different enough to be noticeable? The Weatherby Vanguard Carbine is available in both calibers, and I think it's what I'm going to go with. If the recoil is similar, I'll go with 308 for wider variety of loads and for and cheaper prices.

 

[StrutNut]

If recoil is a real concern you should consider getting a brake put on. My Savage Bear Hunter in a 300 win mag came with one and shooting 180 gr bullets there is very little recoil at all. My 14 year old son and I ran 80 rounds through it in one sitting, shooting prone. We stopped because we ran out of ammo. He only weights about 140 pounds so not a real big 14 yr old either. You could put a brake on yours and enjoy hunting again. Otherwise, great advice mentioned. Ruger Americans are great. I love Savage and their out of the box accuracy. I paid $740 for mine on gun broker. That included shipping. You could always go that route and save up next year for better optics too.

 

[rileybassman]

What has been the experience for you guys - practically, would the recoil in a 308 shooting 150 grain bullets and a 7mm-08 shooting 140's be different enough to be noticeable? The Weatherby Vanguard Carbine is available in both calibers, and I think it's what I'm going to go with. If the recoil is similar, I'll go with 308 for wider variety of loads and for and cheaper prices.

I think this will help you out

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

 

[COlineman78]

I have an Accubrake on my 300 Wby Mag Lazermark and it kicks less than a most non-mag rifles I've shot. Don't know how much they'd charge to add it to a Vanguard after the fact, but its an option down the road.