First and Last Rifle - New Hunter

[VinoVino]

If waiting for the SWFA doesn’t appeal to you, I like the Accupoint 3-9x40, with whatever flavor of reticle you like. I have th e standard duplex. Lightweight. Quality glass, although not up to my Swaro Z3, but still really clear.

Trijicon AccuPoint 3-9x40 Riflescope TR20-1G

Trijicon AccuPoint 3-9x40 Riflescope TR20-1G | Only at EuroOptic.com!

www.eurooptic.com

 

[98TJ10]

Unknown Munitions makes better rings than Sportsmatch, but also at 2x the cost.

I noticed. Hoping to stay with something equivalent to SM cost wise.

I have used the Sportsmatch rings for about 4 years. I’ve always gotten them from Airguns of Arizona. They aren’t ever listed as in stock, but they’ll likely come in way before your scope. The last two sets I ordered shipped 3 weeks after the order. If they survived Form, they are good enough for me.

Burris makes steel rings for the Tikka integral rail. I have a pair of tall ones, but I’ve never used them. They are skinnier and have less purchase on the rail than the Sportsmatch rings.

The UM rings are the nicest of the bunch. They are an updated of the Sportsmatch and I think they have a second recoil pin. They are a bit over twice as expensive as the Sportsmatch.

purchased the 1'' SM rings from Airguns of Arizona for a Burris FF II scope that i'm planning on mounting until the SWFA is back in stock. Thank you all!

 

[VinoVino]

I noticed. Hoping to stay with something equivalent to SM cost wise.

purchased the 1'' SM rings from Airguns of Arizona for a Burris FF II scope that i'm planning on mounting until the SWFA is back in stock. Thank you all!

The SM are nice. I have them on both my Tikkas.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Thank you everyone for your help. I greatly appreciate it. It's decided- a T3X lite 6.5CM and waiting for the SWFA to come back in stock. I would ask about blued vs stainless but i'm using the search function to my advantage... Any rings other than Sportsmatch? Kind of tired of everything being backordered in today's world...

SS is the way to go. The Tikka SS barrels tend to be not quite as slow as the CM’s, and they’re far more rust and corrosion resistant which is going to happen on a hunting rifle.

Check out the Spuhr SCT mounts, they’re excellent. They’ve got nearly 5” of clamping bar to the dovetail rail, a recoil lug that can be placed in 4 positions, and a leveling wedge that makes mounting and leveling the optic a breeze. I use them on all 3 of my Tikkas.

 

[TaperPin]

just backorder the swfa, they've basically been out of stock for about 3 years, backorders get filled eventually and there's seldom enough left over to go "in stock"

I’m sure glad you mentioned this - I had no idea, but it makes sense.

 

[Vern400]

You mentioned a lightweight rifle. I know some hunters carry a 300 Winchester magnum in a lightweight rifle. But I haven't heard of anyone that shoots theirs much because it hurts.

The lightweight rifle is going to get a little punchy or perhaps uncomfortable in a 308, then start to hurt with 270 then 30-06 then 280AI and so on.

Shoot a round of 100 sporting clays with a double. Use 1 1/4 - 3 3/4-7.5s. that'll be roughly equal to 20 shots out of a lightweight 308.

Seriously, go to a club or a friend and see if you can borrow a rifle and shoot it a little bit. From what you're talking about the 6.5 or the 7-08 don't sound far off the mark. They also happen to be fairly tame on The recoil end.

 

[AlpineCarpetbagger]

Another vote for the Tikka in 6.5 CM. No worries, no fuss, works for everything . If you ever feel like you want more velocity, the Tikka chamber is very accommodating for reloads, so you can easily get another 200 fps with the same bullet over factory. So you are very near factory 6.5 PRC speeds at that point (within 50-75 fps safely.)

Do you happen to know how accommodating they are, i.e. where you’ll start bumping into the lands with any of the hunting (match) bullets that are popular on here? I’d like to know if there’s one that can be loaded really long, like > 3.1”, without jamming.

*Edit - my understanding from reloading forums is that I may need to use Lee Factory Crimp Die to maintain concentricity in this case:

 

[aftriathlete]

Do you happen to know how accommodating they are, i.e. where you’ll start bumping into the lands with any of the hunting (match) bullets that are popular on here? I’d like to know if there’s one that can be loaded really long, like > 3.1”, without jamming.

*Edit - my understanding from reloading forums is that I may need to use Lee Factory Crimp Die to maintain concentricity in this case:

I've only shot factory ammo with it, have never loaded my own, so I can't help with that, sorry man.

 

[terryda]

7MM-08 shoots an approx 140 gr bullet without a lot of recoil. Just a suggestion.