First Rifle Choice

[rookieforever33]

You responded to my other forum post too! Thanks! And yeah, 308 and 30 06 have definitely been on my radar as well. I think I was instilled with an old school mentality from my older brother that 30 06 will always be the go to caliber. And I grew up in Illinois where I feel like everyone I knew was hunting white tail with a 308.

Shooting 12 gauge slugs in Illinois taught me how to flinch. I also couldnt trust the accuracy past 100 yards. When I started learning to hunt with a rifle a x bolt 308 worked great. Easy recoil, easy to find ammo, and enough gun to kill a deer or pronghorn at 400 yards which is too far for me to shoot yet.

 

[LightFoot]

I like the Tikka and Xbolt. In my limited experience, Tikkas are generally shoot better than x-bolts, but only marginally.

I have a Tikka 300 Win and I really like it. It shoots as good or better than my custom rifles. I like that I can get a prefit barrel when I am tired of the 300 Win.

If you go with Browning, the 280AI would be my choice. Great ballistics, lower recoil than the magnums, and practically the same capability. You are limited on factory loads but you can easily find ammo on ammoseek.

If you go with Tikka, I would strongly advise a 270 Win or 30-06 in the Roughtech or Veil. My 300 Win is the Wideland Veil. The 270 is more than adequate for elk with a premium bullet in factory loads, including the Federal Terminal Ascent, Barnes LRX, or Hornandy ELD-X. With the 30-06 the Hornady 178 ELD-X is nearly perfect for most big game situations. There are so many good factory loads for either cartridge and if you hand load, the possibilities (and capabilities) are near limitless.

When you get tired of the 270 or 30-06, you can rebareel the Tikka to 280AI with a prefit barrel and action wrench. No need to change anything else.


>>>——JAKE——>

 

[Vern400]

If you're considering a 7 mag and a 300 win mag I would respectfully suggest that you take a look at a 280 AI. It's very very similar to the 7mm magnum without the belted case. The only reason to buy a 30-06 rather than a 280 AI would be because of ammunition availability or price. The 7 mm bullet has perhaps more choices than any other caliber for hand loaders, and it's just a little bit more slippery than that 7.62. And it's plenty of gun. With a good bullet and a good shot any tracking should theoretically be short, easy, or non-existent.

 

[roadrunner]

I'm new here and would like some opinions on a rifle. I am looking at a Browning X Bolt and a Tikka T3X. I think I would be happy with either but I found the X Bolt for $100 cheaper and with my budget, I would prefer to spend less. I am still open to both if anyone wants to weigh in on their opinions or inform me of their experience. My main question is about caliber. I live in Colorado and will be hunting elk and mule deer mostly, possibly black bear and pronghorn in the next few years. For elk and mule deer, I am torn between 7mm mag and 300 win mag, I know a lot of people on here like 6.5 cm but I think I would rather stick with "a little more" gun. I will get a smaller caliber if I get into pronghorn in the next few years so thats sort of irrelevant for now. Just curious on what yall think! Thank you.

A smaller caliber is fine, as long as you can find the "ammo". Notice the common theme in the smaller caliber threads about specific bullets and let that help guide you.

A favorite of mine is a .270 WSM with recoil suppression. I can see bullet impact through the scope, so, recoil is minimal.

Whatever you choose, reloading will be an advantage to the "ammo" portion of the equation.

 

[Fmuguira]

Good advice here. And I would also say give the 06 based cases some serious consideration. 30-06, 280 or 270 will all 3 handle NA hunting for you with appropriate bullet selection. As others have mentioned you ll get less recoil, easier to find shells and components, etc. One other thing, you typically get an additional cartridge in your magazine over a magnum case

 

[MT_Fin]

I agree with much of the above. I like both Tikka and the Xbolt, but prefer the stills between the two. I also would suggest not going with a magnum. Tikka has a $75 rebate until November.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Before you buy a seven mag or a 300 WM, see if you can get somebody to let you shoot a box of hunting weight shells through it in one session. If you don’t have a flinch by the end of that session., you’re probably good to go!

 

[BCD]

I much prefer the xbolt over any Tikka. I would consider a smaller caliber.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Here's an easy button for around $1200, and the 7mm-08 is a great middle of the road round with light recoil and just enough "umph" to satisfy any big bore curiosity while remaining a pleasure to shoot.

• https://www.eurooptic.com/JRTXE352-Tikka-Tikka-T3x-Lite-7mm-08-Rem-SYN-MPN-JRTXE352.aspx
  • $750
• https://www.airgunsofarizona.com/sc...piece-30mm-medium-suits-tikka-15mm-dovetails/
  • $59
• https://swfa.com/scopes/swfa-ss/?page=1
  • $399
• https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/7mm-08-rem-150-gr-eld-x-precision-hunter#!/

Tikka has excellent aftermarket support if you like to tinker... Not sure if xbolt has the same if that matters to you.