Help me with an Elk Gun

[JLH3]

I’ll put a vote in for a Weatherby Vanguard. You can get one for around $1000 and that would leave you a lot of money for glass.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

OP, is that an Axis or an Axis II? Axis II has the AccuTrigger.

 

[CJ_BG]

I’ll put a vote in for a Weatherby Vanguard. You can get one for around $1000 and that would leave you a lot of money for glass.

If you're getting a vanguard I can't see why you wouldn't save the money and go with a howa

 

[CJ_BG]

Part of me says this is the perfect excuse for a new rifle and the other part says use the Axis. Both of my Axis are shooters. Are they the best feeling rifles out there? Absolultely not. But you can buy trigger kits and bolt kits that make them handle a lot better. For $50 and an hour you can make the trigger pull better and the bolt lift effortless. The stocks plain suck, but you can make them slightly better with plumbers putty and some weight. Or just buy aftermarket.
Hope to see a write up on a successful hunt this fall!

I feel the same way for OP. You'll probably never have a better reason to buy a really good rifle but if they're just bowhunting outside of this one occasion then what's the point if the savage will work?

 

[HairyScandinavian]

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Make sure you buy a threaded barrel version. You can add a SME which is legal and not a Supressor. Once you shoot one you will start shopping for your first Supressor. The SME is reasonably priced below $200.

Do you have any experience with them? Thanks.

RWT, x2 I'm curious if you've used them and how well they work. Before buying a pile of suppressors I used a few linear compensators with mixed results. This one almost looks more like a little single chamber suppressor so may be more effective than the stuff I used. If it drops 11db like it says and reduces concussion it could be a great option for various uses. $115 is about the price I was paying for decent LC's.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

Tikka T3X stainless. Cartridge something like 308, 7-08, 270, anything but a 30-06 (I've had 3 Tikka 30-06s, all 3 were accuracy problems - every other Tikka I've ever had was a 1.25 or less MOA gun for a 30 round group). I'd also recommend against a magnum Tikka (or really, anything, LOL). Not needed to kill an elk, and recoil is no friend of accuracy.

I use older Bushnell made in Japan scopes, but those are discontinued. Not a Vortex or Leupold fan.

 

[mkonzen]

Tikka t3x. With a vortex viper 6-24x50 scope 300 win mag is what I have. Things I'd change.

Great shooting gun but I hate how the safety works and the ergonomics of the safety. You have to turn off the safety to unload. Also i don't have a muzzle break or suppressor but did put an aftermarket butt on it. It's still not fun to shoot much more than 10-15 rounds due to recoil. I'd try a 7mm in the future. I have but don't need a 6-24 vortex viper scope to shoot 400 yards. I'd value something in the 4-20x range. I'd look for something I could shoot comfortably and could easily get back on the animal without losing them in the site picture because of the recoil.

At 400 yards many options 270, 308, 6.5, 7mm, 30-06, 300 wm or wsm. Just about any round would work that's over 150 grain. I'd probably stay on the heavier side though for beyond that and would care more about the caliber and bullet properties after 400 yards. 300 win mag, 7mm or similar over 400.

I use the old Remington core lokts 180 grain for white tail to elk. It's overkill for whitetail but that's what I'm sighted in with so stick with it.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

On a more general note about scopes for hunting purposes. A lot of zoom and adjustments are preferable for shooting off a bench at tiny points of aim on a piece of paper. If I'm only benchrest shooting, I'd like a 6-24 (or more), please and thanks.

Out in the woods for hunting, shooting of an improvised rest (or even proper shooting sticks or the like), I want exactly the opposite - little to nothing to adjust, and the least amount of zoom possible for the shot at hand. I run 3-9's because that's the main thing most scope vendors make a solid one of, but if I had my druthers, I'd run a 2-7 or 1.5-6-ish.

Here are some of the reasons why I say that:

1) Lower zoom gets you a much wider field of view. Even those of us who go out prepared to take a 400-500 yard shot, the majority of time (usually the VAST majority of the time), when the time comes to pull the trigger, it happens at much closer ranges. More field of view is much better to find the critter and get on target faster at closer range.

2) The brain is a funny thing. When you have a lot of zoom, you are aware of every little twitch of the cross-hairs, and you try to correct for it. Other than shooting off a bench or prone+bipod or similar, there's actually a lot of twitch in the cross-hairs, and so with a lot of zoom off a less-than-perfect rest, your mind desperately attempts to correct point of aim on an ongoing basis as it watches the crosshairs twitching, and that will actually make you less steady than having the zoom dialed back and having the perception that you are holding steady.

3) More brain stuff - when you have a lot of zoom, you automatically start trying to get super-precise as to where you're going to put the bullet, which isn't entirely a bad thing, but - there's basically a basketball sized area in the chest cavity that if you run a bullet through roughly the center of that, from any angle, it's time to get out the knives. Your mind can put the crosshairs in the center of that basketball sized area and hold it steady (see point 2) long enough to squeeze the trigger, much faster and better than it can decide where exactly in that crease behind the front shoulder you want to put the bullet.

All that said, I do have a couple of 4-16's with AO on my 'cross-over' rifles (guns that are good for targets, hunting, and long-ish range), but otherwise, I run 3-9's on everything and hunt with the scope dialed to 3x. Only 3 times in 25 years or so hunting have I ever looked at something and thought "damn, I need more than 3x or 4x zoom" and turned the zoom up. Otherwise, it's "gun up, find the critter, crosshairs steady-ish in the center of the chest cavity, squeeze", which takes as little as 1 to 2 seconds.

All IMHO, YMMV, and all that jazz.

 

[kcm2]

On scopes, you don't want something with too much magnification. You may be sneaking around in black timber or an aspen grove. My closest elk was shot at 20 yards, farthest at 519 measured. Think 3x for low end on a 3x9. Or maybe the 3.5x10 Leupold as a good option.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

On scopes, you don't want something with too much magnification. You may be sneaking around in black timber or an aspen grove. My closest elk was shot at 20 yards, farthest at 519 measured. Think 3x for low end on a 3x9. Or maybe the 3.5x10 Leupold as a good option.

I'll tell you what, the little compact Nightforce 2.5-10x42 are pretty damn close to perfect if you ask me. I have two SHV's and an NXS. OP could do a Tikka T3x and the SHV with UM rings and stay in the $2 budget.

 

[112Savage]

Being from central Appalachia I would say your shots could be a lot longer than some people on this forum realize. They could be in normal mountains and close like less than 100 yds especially in September and October. Or they could be really long on the reclaimed mountain tops that the elk were originally released onto. That fact really has no bearing on my recommendation, it’s just that I think most people generalize out of ignorance when it comes to hunting east of the Mississippi River.
I say use the axis and the scope you have. Pick a good bullet. Archers already know about shot placement.
If you find that unsatisfactory for any reason, get a browning x-bolt, Tikka, Savage, etc of your son’s choice in 270, 280AI, 7-08, 308, 30-06, 7 rem mag, etc with a decent bullet. Practice like crazy.
If you’re using a guide or local knowledge talk to them about the terrain, previous success etc.

 

[CJ_BG]

Being from central Appalachia I would say your shots could be a lot longer than some people on this forum realize. They could be in normal mountains and close like less than 100 yds especially in September and October. Or they could be really long on the reclaimed mountain tops that the elk were originally released onto. That fact really has no bearing on my recommendation, it’s just that I think most people generalize out of ignorance when it comes to hunting east of the Mississippi River.
I say use the axis and the scope you have. Pick a good bullet. Archers already know about shot placement.
If you find that unsatisfactory for any reason, get a browning x-bolt, Tikka, Savage, etc of your son’s choice in 270, 280AI, 7-08, 308, 30-06, 7 rem mag, etc with a decent bullet. Practice like crazy.
If you’re using a guide or local knowledge talk to them about the terrain, previous success etc.

Grew up hunting in the northern end of Appalachia where some of the local guys were shooting mountain to mountain, super long range hunting. That said unless you're intentionally doing that you would be hard pressed to find a shot over 250 most of the time except when hunting the big ag fields. Unless KY is vastly different then I don't really feel like OP has much to worry about for shot distances

 

[406Fend]

Tikka T3x Lite 7mm with some 168 gr berger vlds​

 

[ColPenguin]

Well he is 19 and stout as a mule, that being said though I’m not really wanting one that will knock you down to shoot lol. I don’t figure I can afford a muzzle brake or suppressor right now so just have to deal with a stock gun. Most of Ky is pretty thick so a heavier caliber will probably be beneficial.

If he is a stout fellow, you could get him a .308 Tikka t3x CTR. It has a 20" medium profile barrel. With the slightly heavier barrel it will be a lighter felt recoil. It's threaded 5/8-24 so he won't have to drop $200 on getting it threaded later down the road if he decides to suppress it or put a muzzle device on it.

.308 ammo is cheap, widely available, and he can put thousands of rounds through that barrel and it would last his lifetime.

 

[JLH3]

If you're getting a vanguard I can't see why you wouldn't save the money and go with a howa

It’s been awhile since I’ve been around a Howa, but the action is the same. And 3 years ago I bought a Vanguard Sporter in .300Wby. It’s a sub-MOA gun with 180grn TTSX’s.

 

[RevJim]

I'm not a Savage fan, but your Axis would work. My hunting buddy of 35 yrs has used the same Browning BLR .308 he bought in HS, 1970. He uses nothing but 150 Remington Corlokt, factory loads most of the time. He has killed wads of everything here in Utah! From antelope to Bison! You could put a cheaper scope on the Axis and have it for a spare, crap happens! I personally like the Bergara Hunter, but I know people who use the cheaper CVA Cascade with shouts of glee! Tikka is a wonderful rifle, Vanguards are great. I hate the Hogue overmold stocks on Howas (same action as the Vanguard) Check out the used gun racks for a rifle your son likes, but go with 308 regardless. Have a ball man!

 

[bnsafe]

maybe look at a seekins ph2 on sale somewhere to. midway had the 308 for 1300 but not sure if they still do or not. this is a once in a lifetime hunt. id have a lifetime rifle to remember it by. as for cal pick something over 27 an go with the right ammo. have a blast, this should be an awesome hunt.

 

[Seekbigger]

I almost convinced on the tikka rifle, Euro has a great price on them, just have to decide on a caliber???????

 

[RevJim]

The easy answer is in .308, like your Savage. But a different caliber won't hurt anything, heck, it will broaden your experience! I can add that my Son in Law has several rifles, but he bought a used Tikka T3 Lite in 7mm Rem Mag for a good price. We sighted it in with HSM 168 Berger ammo. It was not unpleasent in recoil and a tack driver, right off the bat! He took a 5pt bull with it that year. So thats another option. In truth, a 270 would have done the same thing. Sorry, I'm really not a short action round fan either, just a quirk I have.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I almost convinced on the tikka rifle, Euro has a great price on them, just have to decide on a caliber???????

If y'all aren't rifle hunters I'd stick to something with a ton of ammo options and flavors. This means 308 since the 6.5's aren't legal for you. The odds of finding a great shooting factory ammo option are increased this way as well as being able to buy ammo, with options, anywhere in the country.