One rifle you could hand anyone to hunt anything? (Western US)

[cwitt]

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Ope, here they come

lol, just the cost of doing business on here. Honestly action was one of the aspects I was least curious in hearing people’s thoughts about. I assumed what that answer would be

 

[doverpack12]

I would say 6.5 PRC a little extra doesn’t hurt anything with unknown shooters. It’s controllable and not small enough the client would have doubts, put a big affective brake on it (suppressor in multiple states with different people you don’t know is an issue)

Tikka of course. Or a Saur 100.

 

[SuperDUECE22]

If you were in my shoes, what would the rifle look like? I’m talking clean slate, starting from scratch, could go any direction.

I know you mentioned narrowing it down to the 6.5 or 25 Creed, and both are great choices. But if it were me, I’d build an 8–9 lb 6mm Creedmoor running Barnes 112 Match Burners. It gives you incredible shootability for everyone from kids to older clients & the felt recoil is so light that even nervous shooters shouldn't have a problem. It’s still lethal out to 6-700 yards (not that you’d ever let a client shoot that far), and in my opinion it would be a perfect “hand‑it‑to-anyone” rifle.

 

[RancherJohn]

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Ope, here they come

If I am loaning someone a rifle on a hunt, it will not be a 700-based action anymore. What other options are out there in the price range of the TIkka with similar reliability and parts support? @cwitt nailed it with this post earlier in the thread.

Because I will be hunting with them either way. I value my own time and energy too much to leave something on the table like this that is easily controllable. And finding a way to have a successful hunt despite the limitations of a client is a pretty core aspect of guiding.

Loaner guns should be boringly reliable, easy to set up/find a suitable hunting load for, and preferably reasonable on cost. I want it to have a locking bolt as well. I am building it to remove every possible variable I can to increase their odds of success. It shouldn't have to be a $1k aftermarket action, prefit barrel, fluted bolt, etc... That is just as likely to jam or have trigger issues as an off-the-shelf R700. The Howas are gaining in popularity, but aftermarket support for the stock I would want is still weak. Same goes for the Ruger Americans, and in the little I have been around both I have seen a few malfunctions. The Xbolts I have are very accurate guns, but little to no aftermarket support combined with cost push them off the list for me. Model 70-based actions are nice, but either sourcing another MRC action or finding a good donor action and building off it add to the cost too much to make it worth it vs a Tikka.

Do you have other options that I am missing, or did you come here just to post memes?

 

[EdP]

Guy's wife or 12 y/o son comes to hunt with him. Needs a rifle. .300 WM doesn't sound like a great choice in that situation. Could be going for pronghorn or griz. Could be a lefty. Too wide a range to cover with one gun. Plenty of choices in the mid calibers that would work for a majority of hunters though. Having a 6.5CM and a .300WM barrel for a T/C Encore might not be a bad way to go.

 

[shtrbc]

Winchester Model 70 in 30-06 shooting 180 grain Accubonds. Done.

 

[well_known_rokslider]

Do you have other options that I am missing, or did you come here just to post memes?

It's just a joke big cat, it can't hurt you unless you let it.

 

[Jordan Smith]

I’d be loading 6CM or 6.5CM with Barnes LRX bullets, and make sure to let the client shoot it a bit on paper before hunting, so they know it recoils very little and won’t flinch based on the assumption that the rifle is a hard kicker like their own rifle almost certainly is. Most hunters I’ve guided were way over-gunned.

Recoil usually doesn’t matter as much when pumping with adrenaline while shooting game. Most of the psychological damage done by recoil takes place before the hunt while shooting paper and steel.

 

[LongWayAround]

I would just get a compact Tikka 6.5CM and put an SWFA on it. Reliable gun, reliable scope, fairly cheap. I don't see any reason to spend a bunch of money on a loaner rifle.

The premise of this thread is probably the biggest reason I don't think I would be a good guide. You put in all of the work and some dipshit shows up with a crap rifle that they haven't put 20 rounds through in the last ten years. That would really irritate me.

 

[RancherJohn]

It's just a joke big cat, it can't hurt you unless you let it.

Text can be a hard medium to judge humor from, especially when it comes across as trolling and you offer nothing substantive to the conversation. I'd take a look around at how many members have gotten time outs lately for memeing up the tech forums and trolling. This isn't Facebook.

 

[ProRoad]

Choose something they will carry throughout the trip, rather than have you carry. Something lite but shoots stable up to 300 yards. They will be doing more carrying than shooting anyway.

 

[Jake Larsen]

These are relatively similar to what I have in mind for now at least. A Tikka (or maybe Raven?) action in a HNT 26 chassis with a 3-18x NX6. 20-22” barrel, OG65. TT trigger.

Any reason for the XLR over the HNT26? I am leaning towards a chassis.

Why the chassis? Curious about your thought process.

I had a HNT26 and went away from it. The folding part was the only thing I really was after. Once I got behind a well built negative comb stock, I couldn’t stick with the chassis. My buddy has a McMillan Mountain Tracker, and side by side with the chassis it was significantly more shootable in field positions. Rokstoks are even better IMO.

If I was doing it from scratch, it’d be a 16.5” 6Creed, Raven action in a Rostock Lite. Airlock ZG 6mm, once those come out. If you really want to go all out, make it a wood Rokstock from Alpine Rifles. Which happens to be the build I currently have in the works


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[well_known_rokslider]

Why the chassis? Curious about your thought process.

I had a HNT26 and went away from it. The folding part was the only thing I really was after. Once I got behind a well built negative comb stock, I couldn’t stick with the chassis. My buddy has a McMillan Mountain Tracker, and side by side with the chassis it was significantly more shootable in field positions. Rokstoks are even better IMO.

If I was doing it from scratch, it’d be a 16.5” 6Creed, Raven action in a Rostock Lite. Airlock ZG 6mm, once those come out. If you really want to go all out, make it a wood Rokstock from Alpine Rifles. Which happens to be the build I currently have in the works


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I would think built-in LOP adjustment?

 

[Jake Larsen]

I would think built-in LOP adjustment?

A spacer kit is a very small price to pay for significantly more shootability IMO. Not to mention that from what I’ve seen and others have shared, shooters of all sizes, kids included seem to be able to get behind the Rokstoks very well. It’s a forgiving platform in terms of LOP.


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[well_known_rokslider]

A spacer kit is a very small price to pay for significantly more shootability IMO. Not to mention that from what I’ve seen and others have shared, shooters of all sizes, kids included seem to be able to get behind the Rokstoks very well. It’s a forgiving platform in terms of LOP.


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I can't speak to the rokstock one way or another, and the LOP was only how i would interpreted the OP's desire. But I'd think if you were guiding someone and you only discover the need for a back up when you're in-field, having to mess with a spacer kit is probably an additional aggravation compared to a simple AR-style adjustment.

 

[hereinaz]

LOP spacers in a 6 Creedmoor with 3-15 SWFA

 

[Hunterscamera]

As a new shooter I love my .270 with the SWFA 6X

 

[43.6N]

Every kid I take hunting gets the 223.
We try to get as close as possible.
If I lived somewhere with a caliber restriction, 6ARC would be the cartridge.

And it goes without saying that practice always matter more then bullet diameter.

And a final comment about the premise of the question: if somebody needs a loaner gun, my experience has been that they also need as much coaching and prompting as possible.
Since I’m switching my mindset from “hunter” to “Coach,” it helps me give them the best experience when they use my training rifle. I know it best, and trust it the most. We will be getting as close as possible, and passing on technical shots. So the long range potential and wind cheating ballistics are really a moot point.

 

[z987k]

I might also think about doing something like a 308 with a 130 ttsx(you can buy this factory loaded, but it's not as common). You're not going to be shooting far enough or in high enough winds to really care about wind drift if they're not bringing their own rifle. It's light recoiling and very flat shooting.
Or if you're willing to handload 20 rounds to keep on hand, the 135 afterburner in a 308 is an amazing combo.

The easiest is just a 6.5cm tikka. If you have clients that won't want to shoot a 6.5cm for no logical reason, but to avoid even having the conversation, just go 7-08 instead.

 

[Ecampbell25]

I was in the same boat as you. Guiding clients with sub par rifle set ups.

Went with a custom 6.5 prc suppressed with a Maven rs 1.2.

Gun has been great. I love the fact that I can shoot the factory 143ELD Xs.