Help Choosing a Rifle

[cofen380]

I know, another help my pick a rifle thread.

To give some perspective I need to be under $800 for the bare rifle itself.

I’m suffering from a bit of analysis paralysis looking for a rifle. I don’t have any ties to particular brands, so that doesn’t matter much to me.

Right now I’m living in North Carolina and hunting whitetail, but we’re moving to Montana in a couple years, so I’m looking for something that I can hunt deer and elk with at reasonable distances (400 and under).

One of the problems I’m worried about is the rifle fitting me. I’m 6’5 and really want a rifle that fits me in terms of length of pull, comb height, etc, so I’ve mostly been looking at rifles with adjustable LOP. Am I on the right track with that, or should that not be a big concern? Any big guys have recommendations in that area?

Here are things I’m looking for:
- 308 or similar
- Bolt action
- Not overly concerned with weight
- Not so long of a barrel that it catches on everything in the NC woods I’m currently hunting
- Adjustability


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[ResearchinStuff]

Just grab a Tikka 6 5 creed and be done with it.

 

[cofen380]

Just grab a Tikka 6 5 creed and be done with it.

Certainly an option


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[ResearchinStuff]

It's really the easy button. Especially at your budget. Sako s20 is nicer but is also 1200.

Accurate, dependable, safe.

 

[cofen380]

It's really the easy button. Especially at your budget. Sako s20 is nicer but is also 1200.

Accurate, dependable, safe.
View attachment 591394

I may get to the point of being sick of researching and just going with a Tikka. I was hoping to find something with adjustable or at least longer than average LOP


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[ResearchinStuff]

View All Sako S20 Rifles

Check out our entire selection of Sako S20 Hunter and S20 Precision bolt action rifles!

www.eurooptic.com

Not really anything in the lower price range with factory adjustability. You can always get a krg bravo if the tikka is too short.

 

[cofen380]

View All Sako S20 Rifles

Check out our entire selection of Sako S20 Hunter and S20 Precision bolt action rifles!

www.eurooptic.com

Not really anything in the lower price range with factory adjustability. You can always get a krg bravo if the tikka is too short.

For sure, appreciate your input man


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[Honyock]

I realize that the gun snobs will probably heckle me but look at a Savage 110. With the Accufit/Accustock you get one of the better adjustable OEM stocks and a good adjustable trigger. They are not safe queens or the "cool gun" but there's a reason a lot of precision hunters are using a Savage action. I would rather spend my money on a better scope. My mountain gun is a 110 Storm in 300 wsm.

 

[jimh406]

I'm not tiny at 6'2", but I've never really had an issue shooting any standard rifles. I haven't shot every model. Height but also weight/shoulder/chest thickness impacts LOP. Note: the measurement isn't 100% indicator if you can shoot a gun.

You should measure to see what it is the right LOP. Then, look at specs. You may find that you are barely off. In that case, adding a thicker recoil pad like a Limbsaver might get you very close to where you want to be. 1/2 inch is quite a bit.

A big advantage of stock fit is managing recoil which shouldn't be an issue with a 308. In that respect, I wouldn't worry too much as long as you are close which you should be for many rifles.

Hunting in NC and Montana are quite different. Another option, is "get by" in NC and buy a good used rifle with the plan to buy a Montana rifle later. Not that you can't shoot an Elk with a 308, but you may want to buy something with a bit more power/distance for Elk.

Finally, consider a threaded barrel which will give you an option to use a suppressor in the future.

 

[Sevens]

Also 6’2” so not quite your height, but taller than many. I used to get infatuated with having a longer LOP, but what I’ve found over the years is 13.75” is actually fairly comfortable for me despite the ol’ LOP 90* elbow trick saying my LOP is 15 inches or something like that. Took me many thousands of dollars and several stocks/rifles to learn that though. Would not recommend that method.

Based on your budget, the Tikka seems like a great option. Get one in a cartridge that strikes your fancy, preferably in stainless, and shoot it for a couple seasons. Once you find what you like or don’t like about it, you can upgrade it accordingly and as funds allow. The Tikka is fairly user friendly and you can do pretty much any of your upgrades, including a barrel swap, from home with some tools. It has a pretty strong following too, so lots of stock options if you decide you want something like a Manners, McMillan, KRG, MDT or whatever flavor of stock/chassis you desire.

Tikka gives you options on a reliable platform.

 

[Formidilosus]

I may get to the point of being sick of researching and just going with a Tikka. I was hoping to find something with adjustable or at least longer than average LOP.

Sauer 100. They are the only real competition to Tikka. Action, barrel, trigger, are functionally equivalent to the T3 for most uses, and the stock is better designed with a longer LOP than normal- 14” IIRC.

 

[LoggerDan]

Winchester 70, 308 or 30’06. Your choice as to finish.

 

[TaperPin]

The stereotypical do everything elk/deer rifle out west is the 7 mag. There are probably more of those used during elk season than any other caliber. 300 win is probably the second most popular elk rifle. For lighter recoil the 270 is the diet version of the 7 mag. The 6.5 is the diet version of the 270. The 308 isn’t seen all that much, but if you are a scope dialer there’s no reason it can’t work.

You can have a spacer and new recoil pad added to any of the Kevlar or fiberglass stocks and once it’s refinished you’d never know it wasn’t built that way. There are also extra thick recoil pads and or spacers that will give you any length of pull, but it usually looks awkward.

 

[cofen380]

I realize that the gun snobs will probably heckle me but look at a Savage 110. With the Accufit/Accustock you get one of the better adjustable OEM stocks and a good adjustable trigger. They are not safe queens or the "cool gun" but there's a reason a lot of precision hunters are using a Savage action. I would rather spend my money on a better scope. My mountain gun is a 110 Storm in 300 wsm.

Hey I'm not above a savage 110. I'm finding that it's pretty hard to find an oem stock with much adjustability, so that rifle won't be out of the question

 

[BugleMeTimber]

I'd look at the Weatherby Vanguard Series. Good Bang for your buck rifles in my opinion.

 

[KenLee]

Sauer 100 can be found for $600 and is a dang nice rifle for the $. Only reason I don't own one is the LOP is too long for me. 14.5 inches.

Also the reason I don't own any long action BLRs. If you want to be different, buy a 7mag BLR and send it to Neal Jones to work the trigger. 14.25 in lop. Swap to limbsaver pad will put you at 14.4 inches.
Nothing brings smiles like a good lever gun.

 

[cofen380]

I'm not tiny at 6'2", but I've never really had an issue shooting any standard rifles. I haven't shot every model. Height but also weight/shoulder/chest thickness impacts LOP. Note: the measurement isn't 100% indicator if you can shoot a gun.

You should measure to see what it is the right LOP. Then, look at specs. You may find that you are barely off. In that case, adding a thicker recoil pad like a Limbsaver might get you very close to where you want to be. 1/2 inch is quite a bit.

A big advantage of stock fit is managing recoil which shouldn't be an issue with a 308. In that respect, I wouldn't worry too much as long as you are close which you should be for many rifles.

Hunting in NC and Montana are quite different. Another option, is "get by" in NC and buy a good used rifle with the plan to buy a Montana rifle later. Not that you can't shoot an Elk with a 308, but you may want to buy something with a bit more power/distance for Elk.

Finally, consider a threaded barrel which will give you an option to use a suppressor in the future.

That's great info, thank you. I'll take some measurements and see how far off I am and go from there. I may be better off going with a chassis that's more adjustable and then whatever action suits me. I'm open to other calibers though. My hope is that I can get a rifle that will get me by a couple seasons here, but that is more geared towards MT hunting.

 

[cofen380]

Also 6’2” so not quite your height, but taller than many. I used to get infatuated with having a longer LOP, but what I’ve found over the years is 13.75” is actually fairly comfortable for me despite the ol’ LOP 90* elbow trick saying my LOP is 15 inches or something like that. Took me many thousands of dollars and several stocks/rifles to learn that though. Would not recommend that method.

Based on your budget, the Tikka seems like a great option. Get one in a cartridge that strikes your fancy, preferably in stainless, and shoot it for a couple seasons. Once you find what you like or don’t like about it, you can upgrade it accordingly and as funds allow. The Tikka is fairly user friendly and you can do pretty much any of your upgrades, including a barrel swap, from home with some tools. It has a pretty strong following too, so lots of stock options if you decide you want something like a Manners, McMillan, KRG, MDT or whatever flavor of stock/chassis you desire.

Tikka gives you options on a reliable platform

Also 6’2” so not quite your height, but taller than many. I used to get infatuated with having a longer LOP, but what I’ve found over the years is 13.75” is actually fairly comfortable for me despite the ol’ LOP 90* elbow trick saying my LOP is 15 inches or something like that. Took me many thousands of dollars and several stocks/rifles to learn that though. Would not recommend that method.

Based on your budget, the Tikka seems like a great option. Get one in a cartridge that strikes your fancy, preferably in stainless, and shoot it for a couple seasons. Once you find what you like or don’t like about it, you can upgrade it accordingly and as funds allow. The Tikka is fairly user friendly and you can do pretty much any of your upgrades, including a barrel swap, from home with some tools. It has a pretty strong following too, so lots of stock options if you decide you want something like a Manners, McMillan, KRG, MDT or whatever flavor of stock/chassis you desire.

Tikka gives you options on a reliable platform.

I definitely don't want to get caught up on it so bad that I go through several rifles trying to find the LOP unicorn haha. I'm considering finding a stock like you mentioned with more adjustability and adding an action and barrel from there. Is that something you would recommend? I honestly don't know how technical of a process going through that would be considering I don't have any experience putting rifles together.

 

[cofen380]

Sauer 100. They are the only real competition to Tikka. Action, barrel, trigger, are functionally equivalent to the T3 for most uses, and the stock is better designed with a longer LOP than normal- 14” IIRC.

I'll check them out, thanks man

 

[ResearchinStuff]

I definitely don't want to get caught up on it so bad that I go through several rifles trying to find the LOP unicorn haha. I'm considering finding a stock like you mentioned with more adjustability and adding an action and barrel from there. Is that something you would recommend? I honestly don't know how technical of a process going through that would be considering I don't have any experience putting rifles together.

its 2 screws to swap a barreled action from a stock to a chassis, or between stocks. All you need is an inch-lb torque wrench.