First hunting rifle considerations

[rdramsey8]

I guess I forgot to make a recommendation…after selling the Savage, I picked up a Bergara B14 Wilderness Hunter in 6.5 Creedmor and couldn’t be happier. Action is smooth and the factory cerakote looks great. With the B14 action being a 700 footprint, you have endless options for stocks, scope bases, and triggers.

 

[Rich M]

Please define “New Leupolds.” In your experience, when did they start to suck? I am not questioning your experience, just trying to figure it out because my experience with them has been uniformly positive. But I haven’t bought one and used it extensively in a few years.


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VX-2 was purchased 2006
VX-3i was purchased 2019

I still have the VX-2, the VX-3i is on someone else's 243 and they are happy with it.

 

[njons]

Bergara B14 cambered in .308

 

[Don Fischer]

If I were starting over again I doubt I'd really know or understand what I was being told by other's You may be recoil shy and even the 308 might be a bit much. 243 will certainly kill most any deer you will ever find but I'm down on 6mm's for no other reason than I think there's better answers out there. 6.5 Creedmoor should be a fine choice although I never shot one, I had a 260 made up on a 700 Remington 700 action. Recoil should be a lot like the 260. My 260 run's 140gr handloads great but doubt you handload so its factory ammo for you. Have no idea what is around in either the Creedmoor or the 260, been handloading well over 50 yrs now and don't often buy factory ammo other than rim fire. The 7mm-08 get lots of good comments but another I've never shot. But have used a 7x57 a good deal and it didn't beat me up. I don't go for recoil myself. The recoil is something you'll have to figure out and pretty tuff to do without a gun your interested in to try and shoot! Couple things that cause recoil are cartridge case size and bullet weight and velocity. case size gets bigger and recoil goes up to some degree. Same with bullet weight, weight goes up so does recoil. I don't suspect the 308 will bother you, I've shot one for years, in fact about five yrs ago started using a 30-06 for an elk rifle. Plain truth is the 308 will do pretty much everything the 30-06 will do with the same bullet's but a bit less recoil. The bigger case uses more powder and result is a bit more recoil. I think the best cartridge for you, you might not find anymore. 250-3000 Savage. American hunter's worship velocity and the 25-06 blows away the 250-3000. I have and have shot the 25-06 a lot over the years and don't find recoil to much to deal with but pretty good muzzle blast will wake you up. My favorite hunting cartridges today are 6.5's, 6,5x55, 260 and 6.5x06. 6.5x06 you can't buy ammo for. 260 you can but I suspect 6.5 Creedmoor is much easier and what one does pretty much so does the other. You go creedmoor and it's a good choice. 6.5x06 is a wildcatt you won't find ammo for, sorry I mentioned it. The other 6.5 worth mention is the 6.5x55. In a strong commercial action it handles pressure well but to many low pressure rifles around and I suspect ammo is made for them. Also 6.5x55 ammo may be very hard to find in this country! When looking at rifles, look at those that might appeal to you, Until you take the first shot that's all your gonna know about it, buy the rifle and recoil comes later! Could be someone on here that lives near you that might let you fire a few different rifles so you'll have a better idea what your in for!

Rifles. What surprised me was my Mossberg Patriot. Its a 243, my varmint gun and I seldom hunt varmints! My excuse to buy a new gun gun! But I got it in a plastic stock, hate them, and ordered a factory wood stock from Mossberg soon as I got it home. Rifle in plastic stock I think was around $300 and another $150 for the wood stock I ordered. Bought some loading dies with the rifle and a box of factory ammo so I could shoot it when I got home. Impressive as with the factory ammo it grouped well under 1" group at 100 yds. Only thing I'm on the fence about is the factory bedding, plastic insert is a part of the magazine well, not a clue how to bed it myself but at under an inch group, no need to worry to much but it is a hic up for me. I bought a Vortex 3-9x Variable scope for it: easier to see sage rats out over 200+ yds. Scale of 1-10 how do I like it? 9! Good looking, nice action and shoots very well.

Rifle I got before that one was my 6.5x55 a mod 70 Winchester Featherweight. I believe it does come in 6.5 Creedmoor, most everything does these days! Been some years back I got it and paid $790 I think it was for it. Money well spent. blue steel and wood stock and adjustable trigger. I think today it's over $800 somewhere. have a Leupold/Redfield 2-7x scope on it. Can see any animal the size of a small deer more than well enough to shoot at 300yds, 300yds the limit at what I'll shoot big game. Rifle shoots 140 gr bullet's sighted in for max point blank range at an 8" target and need a bit of hold over at 300 yds. Speaking of 300yds I have only done that one time at a deer with my 6.5x06. Held over about 4" as it was actually 330yds with my range finder. Normally I never take a shot much over 250 yd and usually much less. I don't know if the Mod 70 comes in 260 or not but not a big thing as I think it is in 6.5 Creedmoor and ain't a nickels worth of difference in the two!

Find the make and model rifle you want then look to see what cartridges you could get it in. Start with something like the 6.5 Creedmoor to keep recoil down as I'm thinking you haven't a clue how much you can stand right now. If you feel you'd like more later, you can always go up in cartridge. And pretty much sticking to a manufacturer's entry level rifles will get you a good rifle without fancier finishing. Most accurate rifle I ever owned was a Remington 788, an entry model. My mod 70 is not an entry level but I had the money and liked the feel and looks of it so bought it, no complaints.

I think Ruger has an entry level but I know nothing about it, same for Savage. But Savage has earned a very good reputation on their entry level for accuracy, another I know little about but have shot a few and they shot well.

Keep it in order as you go. first, the rifle. Must look good to you and feel good in your hands. You wont shoot enough a rifle you don't like and never really get close to it. Then get a cartridge you think you'd enjoy shooting. Again get one that simply won't shoot well and you'll be slower to take it out and practice. practice will bring you much closer to the rifle, you'll shoot more and you'll shoot better.

Good luck to ya and try and find somebody hopefully with a rifle you like in a cartridge you'd like to try to try out. Don't know where your from, I'm I'm Central Oregon about 70 mi from Bend. if your close give a shout, I'm in the book in Antelope, Ore. Have a 243, 25-06, 260 and 6.5x55 you could try. Gave my 308 to a brother but my son has my old 308.