Newby Lefty Hunter - Looking for 1st all around hunting rifle

[Cbelg]

New to hunting. Did my second rifle deer hunt this year and need a lighter rifle. Currently just have a savage 110 tactical 308 sitting in an oryx chassis with a khales 525i. Needless to say it’s a little heavy for hunting, comes in at close to 14lbs. This year I took my second buck with it from a tree stand in north pa woods and did some hiking to get there.

Looking through lots of threads on advice for calibers, range limit, and weight. Very realistic and don’t think any further than 300 yds at my current skill level but like the idea of getting to a 500yd limit. With current setup at the range off bench I can group 1moa at 300yds.

Ideally would like something that can get me into elk hunting. Feel like the 308 has taken enough elk witching my range limit that it doesn’t make sense to go to anything larger. Especially because will need lots more practice. Ammo cost becomes a factor for range time as reloading isn’t in the picture yet.

New jersey rules so suppressed is not in the equation either.

Barrel life is a concern, same concept as ammo cost, I intend to shoot and practice as much as possible. Annual round count probably in the 1000 count range. Figure ten visits 100 round days.

I’m leaning towards a factory t3x lite or savage 110 ultra lite.

Have seen some nice custom sales in classifieds for 7mmPRC, 280AI, 6.5.

I know this has probably been beaten to death and need to get my post count in as it’s my first but am leaning towards sticking to a stock 308. Getting some years in with it and then going custom after I have some more experience.

 

[Watcher of the Woods]

I'm right handed, but left eye dominant so I shoot lefty. My wife purchased me a Tikka T3X Lite in 308 as my wedding gift. I also bought a T1X in 22 this year to use as a trainer because it's the same chassis. Is there better out there? Sure. Does this work for everything I need? Definitely. I also like that the T3 was stainless. Takes away some of the weather concerns if you're in a wet environment.

 

[left hunter]

Yeah, just get a left hand tikka t3 lite stainless in 308. Put a SWFA 3-9 on it in unknown rings and proceed forward. Should come in around half the weight of your current set up but be every bit as tough. Plus your already used to that round as far as trajectory and wind drift

 

[camelcluch]

Really hard to beat the tikka for what you get. Lots of aftermarket options. I have tried a lot of other options including the Ruger Gen2 and they all fall way short.

 

[Cbelg]

For the t3x, any differences in their line up for 308. Looked at doing a barreled action and getting a chassis for it but price wise doesn’t seem like there’s much of difference between
full rifles and barreled action. I like the oryx chassis and have a Bergara 22 sitting in one

 

[Jmedin]

Just get a tikka and hop on the barrel sale by ls wild and get a 6 creed barrel

 

[kkp005]

A LH tikka in 308 would be hard to beat

 

[hereinaz]

Just get a tikka and hope on the barrel sale by ls wild and get a 6 creed barrel

Just put together a barreled action for a customer and tested it with 18” 6 creed barrel.

First three groups out of the rifle. Hornady Black ammo 105 hpbt and Precision Hunter 103 ELDx is the four shot group. Those dots are smaller than 1”.

Or, you could get the Tikka with fast twist .243 or a 6.5 creed. We kill elk with 280AI at 500-600 where we hunt. But that could be done with an off the shelf 6.5 creed. I am running a 6 PRC as the biggest gun I will hunt with.

Don’t get too much recoil. 22 arc and 22 Creedmoor have killed pretty much everything, easily. 6 creed is a good choice because of caliber limitations.

That said the Savage Ultralight with carbon fiber in 280 ai is a decent gun.

 

[Cbelg]

https://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3x-lite-stainless-synthetic-lh-308-win-20bbl-1-10-5-8in-x-24tpi-synthetic-stainless-jrtxb41620mt

This is the front runner as of now. I like the idea of sticking with 308 caliber from a cost of ammo pov and fact that I’ll be inside of 500yds for a while.

 

[Cbelg]

https://www.sportsmans.com/shooting-gear-gun-supplies/rifles/tikka-t3x-superlite-gen-2-left-hand-308-winchester-matte-black-stainless-bolt-action-rifle-20in/p/1926956

 

[Cbelg]

Took advantage of the sportsman sale and ordered the tx3 super lite gen 2 308. At this price point, I see an MDTHNT26 chassis for its future.

 

[Steve from GA]

Right handed, left eye dominant, lefty shooter. I have a 6.5 PRC Tikka Veil and a Trijicon scope. It’s like a freakin laser beam. Sample size of one, but it absolutely crushed a cow elk last time I hunted. I personally don’t want or need a stouter recoiling caliber.

 

[Go West Old Man]

Right handed, left eye dominant, lefty shooter. I have a 6.5 PRC Tikka Veil and a Trijicon scope. It’s like a freakin laser beam. Sample size of one, but it absolutely crushed a cow elk last time I hunted. I personally don’t want or need a stouter recoiling caliber.

LH or RH Tikka? Fair number of folks that own RH rifles and shoot LH, and also own both RH & LH rifles. Me included. Works just fine.

 

[benconfused]

Just put together a barreled action for a customer and tested it with 18” 6 creed barrel.

First three groups out of the rifle. Hornady Black ammo 105 hpbt and Precision Hunter 103 ELDx is the four shot group. Those dots are smaller than 1”.

Or, you could get the Tikka with fast twist .243 or a 6.5 creed. We kill elk with 280AI at 500-600 where we hunt. But that could be done with an off the shelf 6.5 creed. I am running a 6 PRC as the biggest gun I will hunt with.

Don’t get too much recoil. 22 arc and 22 Creedmoor have killed pretty much everything, easily. 6 creed is a good choice because of caliber limitations.

That said the Savage Ultralight with carbon fiber in 280 ai is a decent gun.

View attachment 980574View attachment 980575View attachment 980576

Listen to this man.

FWIW - I'm a lefty. Tikka off the shelf is the way. 308, 6.5 cm, or go ahead and take the Rokslide plunge and move to a 6mm. Go look at the kill threads. 6mm Creed. I currently have a 6.5prc and are moving to a 6prc end of season with a @hereinaz prefit barrel.

They all kill, put your money into the right optic, maybe a rokstok...and most importantly training.

 

[Steve from GA]

LH or RH Tikka? Fair number of folks that own RH rifles and shoot LH, and also own both RH & LH rifles. Me included. Works just fine.

LH - the Tikka Veil is a great LH option with some extra bells and whistles.

 

[glock233]

This is really easy.

-Tikka T3X stainless left hand threaded.
-6.5 Creed if you plan on 500 being your limit (otherwise 6.5 PRC)
-Limbsaver recoil pad (factory sucks)
-1 extra factory mag
-upgrade the stock if you feel like it
-OG 6.5 Suppressor.
-use Hornady match 147ELDM. Or 143 ELDX. Whichever shoots better.

Nothing about your use case requires a magnum rifle.

 

[bnewt3]

I got a Tikka in 308 for the exact same scenario: Correct-handed, Eastern hunter, vast majority whitetail, hopefully an elk someday, lightweight, nothing fancy. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. Find a bullet it likes(mine likes Hornady American Whitetail) and go hunt.

As glock stated above, plan on a limbsaver recoil pad. The factory one is pathetic. Not only is it terrible at slowing recoil(too soft followed by bottoming on the plastic internals), it also has that curved transition at the top that IMO contributes to muzzle jump.

Personally with you wanting to keep ammo costs down........I would skip any PRC, AI, etc. While they arent hard to find, they DEFINITELY have fewer options on shevles, and are therefore more expensive. 308, 6.5 Creed, 270, 243, 7mm-08 are all about as cheap as it gets(308 and 6.5 Creed are the cheapest, the rest are not far behind), definitely capable, and plentiful on just about any store shelf you walk up to. Out of that group 243 is going to be hardest on a barrel, but still not hard. almost nobody will ever shoot out a 308 barrel, probably not any of the others.

PS, I also have a 110 Tactical and I couldnt imagine carrying that thing around very much.

 

[Cbelg]

I got a Tikka in 308 for the exact same scenario: Correct-handed, Eastern hunter, vast majority whitetail, hopefully an elk someday, lightweight, nothing fancy. It does exactly what it is supposed to do. Find a bullet it likes(mine likes Hornady American Whitetail) and go hunt.

As glock stated above, plan on a limbsaver recoil pad. The factory one is pathetic. Not only is it terrible at slowing recoil(too soft followed by bottoming on the plastic internals), it also has that curved transition at the top that IMO contributes to muzzle jump.

Personally with you wanting to keep ammo costs down........I would skip any PRC, AI, etc. While they arent hard to find, they DEFINITELY have fewer options on shevles, and are therefore more expensive. 308, 6.5 Creed, 270, 243, 7mm-08 are all about as cheap as it gets(308 and 6.5 Creed are the cheapest, the rest are not far behind), definitely capable, and plentiful on just about any store shelf you walk up to. Out of that group 243 is going to be hardest on a barrel, but still not hard. almost nobody will ever shoot out a 308 barrel, probably not any of the others.

PS, I also have a 110 Tactical and I couldnt imagine carrying that thing around very much.

I went with the super lite in 308. I’ve learned some basic ballistic with this caliber so want to stick with it. Next is to find the right glass for it and bipod. The goal will be to be under 8lbs all in.

As for the 110, I took my first from a tree stand this year and off hand in a swaying tree it wasn’t very comfy to say the least. All in that thing is 14lbs!