New Rifle Build- Bullet and Caliber- Mono metal- Thoughts?

[2-Stix]

I shoot monos...its like archery rifle hunting. They pencil through...I hate them but I am in CA and we gotta use copper.

 

[DagOtto]

Glad to see you made a much better choice than rebuilding your 30/06! I strongly recommend a 223 to anyone that is trying to become a better shooter!
Now when you are ready for your next rifle reload your 30/06. Thread the barrel for suppressor use and load some light hammers or 130 Barnes. Recoil will be pretty mild and it won't cost much at all. The 06 just works and is very easy to reload from mild to wild.

I appreciate the comments and man was buying the new .223 the right call! Have been enjoying lots of range practice working through the Ross Form Hunting Drill and others. Humbling for sure but I know that the results in the field will be worth it!

For now the 06 will sit in the safe and I will stew on future projects. I bought it 20 some years ago and it was my primary hunting rifle for a long time. Had a cheap Leupold rifleman scope on it and for the first 15 years I'd just buy a box of random hunting ammo and "zero" it at the range with the first 5-10 shells and hunt with the rest. I'd estimate that it was a 4-5 moa gun (10 shot group size.)

Five years ago I shot a really nice mule deer buck with the '06 using 168 gr ELD-X at about 70 yards and it turned into a rodeo He was walking along a fence and the first shot was mid-body and high and went through his spine. Then I proceeded to miss him three times even though he was laying down with his head up.. It was due to a combination of a poorly sighted gun, my panic, and flinching. I finally finished the poor guy (who watched the whole shit show) with a head shot at 10 yards. Not my proudest harvest report.

I felt so awful about the amateur nature of my shooting that it started a quest for becoming a better shooter. Of course, rather than work on my own skills, I went out and bought a new gun! (more fun and easier to blame the gun than myself.) I bought a just=released Waypoint 2020 in .308 and while the gun was accurate, I struggled with first a faulty barrel and later a series of action and scope screw loosening events. These problems taught me the usefullness of a bore scope and loctite. The final screw loosening event occured after I'd loctited the scope rings for a third time and nearly caused me to fail a Montana master hunter shooting test. But I also spent dozens and dozens of sessions at the range and started to learn to shoot.

All of this to say that I wish I had found Rokslide four rifles ago and I feel like the .223 is just another progression towards finally becoming a much more proficient hunter.

It seems like it might be appropriate to re-build that old 06 into a truly accurate and relible hunting rig as a way to mark a transition into true competance. (fingers crossed on that!)

 

[Scoutfan]

Glad to hear you are getting lots of trigger time with the 223. I have had a couple of not so great shots also ( most have if they admit it). It can make you lose confidence in yourself and your equipment in a hurry! I can't think of a better 2 gun combo for your 4-500 yard max range than a 223 and 30/06. With a good recoil pad and light mono bullets the recoil is is not bad. Add a suppressor and little kids can shoot it. If you decide to reload it is easy to load for and I have gotten excellent accuracy from them. When you decide to rebuild the rifle, if you are on a budget then do optics and stock first. After that if you still don't like it then rebarrel. There is no right or wrong choice as long as you shoot it well.