DESPERATE TIMES!!!!

[miteybucs]

Spending 20k for a NM elk hunt is crazy, but if you have it, why not. I assume 10k of that must be a landowner tag voucher in the Gila. IF so, that area is full of big elk! Several reputable outfitters in that area that come to mind. Michael Delao of Gila & Apache is one of the best. Good luck on your hunt. I would recommend being ready to shoot out to 400. Plenty of open canyon areas in Gila for rifle season.

yeah. first ever trip. Going to Chama. Costs 15k but with travel and then hopefully taxidermy etc....

 

[miteybucs]

I believe your 6.5C will be plenty as well as the 3x9 scope. Oh and get your money back for the Christensen. Sorry you are having such troubles with the rifle.

I am going to try

 

[cgasner1]

I’m sure you will be very happy with that if you could get a smith to drop a trigger and put a break on it you’d be surprised what those tikkas can do


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KHNC]

yeah. first ever trip. Going to Chama. Costs 15k but with travel and then hopefully taxidermy etc....

I am leaving friday to archery hunt that same area. Not a trophy bull area, but lots of elk. However, there ARE giants in every unit in New Mexico.

 

[wind gypsy]

Go buy a seekins havak in 300 win put a 4-14 shv on it and kill whatever you want

I would recommend against this.. My Havak in 300 WM has been one of the bigger headaches I've come across to date with firearms.

 

[Silvereagle50]

Someone said practice holdovers to 225yds.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Runningwater]

Don't have a Creedmore, but have a 6.5x55 which is its kissing cousin (or maybe great, great aunt is a better analogy?). I've killed 3 elk, a moose, a mountain goat in addition to lots of deer and pronghorn. Get practiced up with a quality 140 grain bullet and you'll be fine.

 

[Newtosavage]

Thank you all for the feedback. At risk of asking too many questions, would you leave the Leupold 3-9x40 I have on my 6.5? is that sufficient for New Mexico elk hunting ?

YES

 

[OXN939]

I went and purchased a Tikka t3 lite 300 winmag today. I put the Swarovski z8i on it and will take the next 2 weeks getting comfortable with it and ave the 6.5 as a backup. That was the best solution I could come up with.

I dont think theres any doubt the 300 is a harder recoil for me to shoot ... and yes I most certainly anticipate more.

Man I'm gonna leave your thread alone after this... but big magnum rounds, to include the .300 WM, have caused a lot of wounded game because people get beaten up by them and make poor shots when they anticipate the recoil. It's almost an automatic response when your heart rate is elevated by the sight of a big, trophy bull. It takes years of experience to get to the point where you can control that response and even then, there is almost nobody who is able to shoot as well with elevated adrenaline levels as they can at the range.

Point is this. I have run hundreds of ranges teaching people the fundamentals of precision shooting, and your ability and confidence with a rifle is in a completely different ballpark of importance than caliber size. If you shoot the 6.5 well, you should take that.

 

[FLAK]

300 WM is the perfect go anywhere, do anything round.
If I could only have one rifle, it would be in 300WM.

 

[miteybucs]

Man I'm gonna leave your thread alone after this... but big magnum rounds, to include the .300 WM, have caused a lot of wounded game because people get beaten up by them and make poor shots when they anticipate the recoil. It's almost an automatic response when your heart rate is elevated by the sight of a big, trophy bull. It takes years of experience to get to the point where you can control that response and even then, there is almost nobody who is able to shoot as well with elevated adrenaline levels as they can at the range.

Point is this. I have run hundreds of ranges teaching people the fundamentals of precision shooting, and your ability and confidence with a rifle is in a completely different ballpark of importance than caliber size. If you shoot the 6.5 well, you should take that.

I appreciate your response. Thank you. I bought a tikka t3x 300 wm and put the Swarovski on it and its been very encouraging right out of the box. I wouldn't want to go shoot 50 rounds a day like a 6.5 but its good. I am 10 rounds in over 2 days and am anywhere from bullseye to 2 inches at about 90 yards. Learning trigger and length of pull. Anticipating some

 

[OXN939]

Anticipating some

 

[Sled]

I appreciate your response. Thank you. I bought a tikka t3x 300 wm and put the Swarovski on it and its been very encouraging right out of the box. I wouldn't want to go shoot 50 rounds a day like a 6.5 but its good. I am 10 rounds in over 2 days and am anywhere from bullseye to 2 inches at about 90 yards. Learning trigger and length of pull. Anticipating some

did i miss it or did you say if you had another person shoot your old 300win? i've bought a few higher end "lemon" lite weight magnums that wouldn't shoot MOA. not sure if it was their ammo or the fact that light weight mags kick a bit but they all shot sum MOA for me.

aside from that checking the crown, bedding and barrel float would be on my short list.

 

[DenverBulls]

Ok I stumbled upon this thread and find myself 3 pages in. Op, you’re shooting 5 rounds a day due to the recoil? Do the math on that, you won’t be comfortable in time. You need to be prepared to take the 6.5 as well (on a 20k hunt, I’m taking a back up!) It’s super clear that you’re comfortable with that 6.5 rifle but afraid it’s not enough. Shoot what you shoot well, not what you think you need to bring down an elk. Confidence and comfort in setup goes a lonnnnnnggggg ways. A canon won’t do you any good if you flinch.

 

[scfreeman66]

I would recommend against this.. My Havak in 300 WM has been one of the bigger headaches I've come across to date with firearms.

Can you explain a little? O have one and I'm interested in what problems your having


Sent from my moto g(6) play using Tapatalk

 

[Skrub]

g a ba

This.

 

[wind gypsy]

Can you explain a little? O have one and I'm interested in what problems your having


Sent from my moto g(6) play using Tapatalk

The picture below is the work order from my first 300 WM Havak that I wasted a bunch of time and $ on load development. They sent me a basically new replacement. I couldn't get the replacement to shoot berger 215's acceptably either. The "4 round group with ammo provided" was with factory berger 215, they shot 8 of the rounds i provided and sent one 4 shot group. Keep in mind the loose muzzle brake they referenced was installed by them on the new barrel. They did send targets proving it shot Federal GMM 190s well so I figured I'd do a quick try of lighter bullets before I said screw it and had it rebarreled. I've only loaded up 9 rounds of 200.20x thus far, 3 each at 3 different charges of RL26. All 3 charges shot nice groups but velocities weren't particularly consistent.

There is a havak thread on snipershide where there are 4 or 5 others that have shown less than glowing results with 300 WM. I don't know if the flutes are just too much for the heavier bullets or what. I know I'll never have a barrel aggressively spiral fluted when given the choice based off of these havaks and one 6.5 SAUM barrel I had with spiral flutes that didn't cut it either.

 

[coyotecreek]

300 WM is the perfect go anywhere, do anything round.
If I could only have one rifle, it would be in 300WM.

This might be true for you but not for everyone. I have a lightweight .270 win that I no longer shoot because of recoil. I bought a heavier rifle in 7mm-08 and love it. For me, the 7mm-08 is the perfect do anything round. I wouldn't own a 300 win mag if you gave it to me. Each person is different as to what they are comfortable with. Ethical shots are about shot placement and staying within your comfortable range. I'm a bowhunter so I'm used to shots inside of 40 yards (10 yards is better! ). With a rifle I don't like to shoot past 200 yards. Everyone is different.

If I was going on this hunt I'd bring the 6.5.

 

[FLAK]

This might be true for you but not for everyone. I have a lightweight .270 win that I no longer shoot because of recoil. I bought a heavier rifle in 7mm-08 and love it. For me, the 7mm-08 is the perfect do anything round. I wouldn't own a 300 win mag if you gave it to me. Each person is different as to what they are comfortable with. Ethical shots are about shot placement and staying within your comfortable range. I'm a bowhunter so I'm used to shots inside of 40 yards (10 yards is better! ). With a rifle I don't like to shoot past 200 yards. Everyone is different.

If I was going on this hunt I'd bring the 6.5.

Disclaimer: I did own, for a very short period of time a Ruger Boat Paddle stock/stainless bolt gun in 300WM that I had to sell because of the recoil. It was literally like getting kicked by a Mule every time you pulled the trigger. Sold that sucker with less than 40 rounds down the tube.
I now have a Rem.700 in 300WM that is a totally different animal,,,,,,and a nice recoil pad on it.
Shoot whats comfortable. No flies on a 6.5 or a 7-08. Would love to have a .308 myself.

 

[treillw]

Only been shooting guns and rifles for about 10 years. Last year I started hunting and really have loved it. I booked my first ever hunting trip and its in less than 3 weeks to New Mexico for elk. I purchased a Christensen 300 win mag and a Swarovski scope. Should be a dream combination but its been a nightmare. I sent the rifle back as the bolt was very very sticky. They "fixed" it after a few weeks but it is NOT smooth by any stretch of the word. I don't like the rifle. I have other christensens, Surgeons, Seekins and they're all so dialed in. I love them all. I have 300 rounds through this thing and can't shoot a grouping AT ALL.

The scope rings weren't holding the scope and after having it set again at a different shop, I swapped out the Swarovski rings and started over. Still getting some movement in scope and now I went to readjust and stripped 2 screws. can't catch a break. Took scope off and put on a night force 7-35 which is too big for the job but ....

I am to the point where the 10k I have into this setup is not working. I dont have confidence in it which isn't a good feeling with less than 3 weeks to go until departure. I am seriously considering purchasing a new rifle tomorrow. I guess I need the screws popped off and reset now for the scope? Have never stripped them before.

If you were me and had more than 20k invested into a dream first hunt, what would you do? I need help....

I'm curious how badly the Christensen is shooting. What group sizes are you getting? Factory ammo or reloads? Have you tried different brands of factory ammo or different recipes for reloads?

I had a very similar situation with a rifle I, as well, spent way too much on. 300 win, everything top of the line, couldn't shoot better than 3 moa at 100 yards. Went crazy trying to figure out what was wrong - checked scope, action screws, mount screws, probably 20 different reload recipes. Nothing worked. Started to worry that I couldn't shoot worth a darn, but couldn't conceive being able to mess things up that badly. Questioned my reloading. Questioned everything pretty much.

Sent the rifle back to the factory for some other work and mentioned that I couldn't get it to shoot better than 3moa and to check it out. Turns out it failed their accuracy testing (shocker - I would have sent it into them sooner if hunting season wasn't rapidly approaching and for everyone telling me how hard lightweight magnums are to shoot and that it might be me).

They rebarreled it and then still had to fuss with it for weeks before it finally started shooting for them. I got it back and have been doing load development over the past few weeks. I have found a load that will consistently shoot half minute four shot groups at 200 yards. Things seem to have finally come together, but I'm hesitant to say that I'm happy!

Moral of the story - sometimes it's not you or anything your doing, it's just the gun. If you've tried everything, get Christensen to take a look at it. Hopefully they will stand behind their product. Even when they do make it right, it is still an extremely frustrating and lengthy process. It is costly both monetarily and more importantly in the missed hunting opportunities with loved ones who might not be with you next year.