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Thread: Hunting Rifle advice/recommendations

  1. #21
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    Oct 2013
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    Canton GA
    I do not know what is going on but Cabelas is closing out a bunch of hunting rifles at blow out pricing.

  2. #22
    Quote Originally Posted by NWshooter View Post
    Have a buddy of mine looking for some advice on a hunting Rifle.

    He will be hunting mainly elk and deer, and is going back and forth between two rifles.

    First is the Weatherby vanguard back country

    https://weatherby.com/store/vanguard-back-country/

    Second is the Bergara B14 Hunter rifle

    https://www.bergara.online/us/rifles/b14/hunter-rifle/#

    I don't hunt elk or deer and only birds, so me saying "X400 Xtreme plus" isn't much help to him, but I told him I know of a place where gun wisdom flows generously.

    If any of you would give your thoughts that I may relay to him it would be appreciated.

    Thank you all in advance.
    I also own a Howa 1500 in .308 and have been pleased with the rifle. The Weatherby Vanguard is a variant of the Howa much like the Mossberg, Smith and Wesson, and report ably the Nosler rifles.

    The Howa 1500 is a solid and reliable rifle. I have over 800 rounds of various factory loads through mine. I have only hunted deer, and no experience with elk. The Bergara rifles are relatively new

    and my experience is limited to handling a couple of different models and shooting another guy's rifle (.308) with a short heavy barrel at the range. It was shooting under an inch at a hundred yards

    with match ammunition. As a point of reference for the accuracy from my Howa's 22 inch stainless steel barrel (number 3 contour barrel) with Remington .308 150 grain Core Locke (soft point)

    it groups around an Inch and 1/2" at a hundred yards for 10 rounds fired.


    I think if your friend has around a Thousand dollar budget for a rifle, he will find a quality piece. Best bang for the buck, would be a Howa, T/C Compass, Remington 783, or Savage model. If it's

    possible suggest for him to visit a larger gun shop to check-out several different models for balance, length of pull of the stock, and general feel of the rifle.


    If he is focused on the two models listed, then I would lean towards the the Weatherby Vanguard because of my positive experience with Howa and others whom I know that own the brand.

    The comparable model from Howa is located at this link: https://www.howausa.com/hs-precision .


    Finally, as for the rifle caliber I would agree with the others that the 30.06 is pretty hard to beat. The selection of factory loads is excellent. I spent two hours today on Palmetto State Armory &

    Natchez Shooters supply looking at different calibers and the availability of ammunition. The 30.06 is a solid hunting round and taken just about every kind of game animal. And it is easy to find the

    ammunition just about anywhere and there are factory loads for anything he could hunt in the lower 48 states.

  3. #23
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    .300 WM is a great round, no doubt. But IMHO, it is not a beginning hunter’s round. The advantages it gives - longer range; more power on target; etc, do not compare to the increased recoil, expense of ammunition, and increased rifle weight (at least in standard consumer grade rifles) to the advantages of going with a standard caliber rifle such as the .270, .30’06, .308, or even 6.5 Creedmore of moderate recoil, lighter (possibly shorter) action, less expensive practice ammunition, and more commonly available ammunition. The .300 would be a specialty rifle for most new hunters - something to add later, if the power and range advantages seem to make sense.

    Personally, I find shooting a .300 a thoroughly unpleasant experience. I think if a new hunter has any friends helping out in their pursuit of becoming a hunter, they should spend a range day shooting hunting rifles so that the new hunter can try things out without investing $1k in a rifle and possibly another $1k in a scope only to find out the combination doesn’t work for them.

  4. #24
    Abducted by Aliens Borderland's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Duelist View Post
    .300 WM is a great round, no doubt. But IMHO, it is not a beginning hunter’s round. The advantages it gives - longer range; more power on target; etc, do not compare to the increased recoil, expense of ammunition, and increased rifle weight (at least in standard consumer grade rifles) to the advantages of going with a standard caliber rifle such as the .270, .30’06, .308, or even 6.5 Creedmore of moderate recoil, lighter (possibly shorter) action, less expensive practice ammunition, and more commonly available ammunition. The .300 would be a specialty rifle for most new hunters - something to add later, if the power and range advantages seem to make sense.

    Personally, I find shooting a .300 a thoroughly unpleasant experience. I think if a new hunter has any friends helping out in their pursuit of becoming a hunter, they should spend a range day shooting hunting rifles so that the new hunter can try things out without investing $1k in a rifle and possibly another $1k in a scope only to find out the combination doesn’t work for them.
    It's a pretty popular cartridge for western hunters. I see a few of them at the range in the fall. My impression is people who own them rarely shoot them. My guess is ammo cost and heavy recoil. I can't imagine owning a rifle that I only shot a few times every year in the fall. I gave a 7mm Mag to my brother who lived in WY because I didn't like the recoil.

    I see a lot of people recommending the 06 which surprises me. Not because it isn't a capable cartridge but because of it's longevity. It's like it's so old it's new again. Maybe the most popular big game cartridge in North America. It was popular in 60's in AZ when I started deer hunting. Might have something to do with all those WW2 vets and their Garands. I hunted with a few of those guys.
    In the P-F basket of deplorables.

  5. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by okie john View Post
    Avoid ultra-light rifles for a first-time hunter. They can be hard to shoot well and they kick harder than slightly heavier rifles. Eight pounds loaded, scoped, and with a sling is a very good place to be.
    Being long gun ignorant, I find this comment interesting given the level of attention P-F has given to the “Scout” / “Practical” rifle concept. That extra pound probably opens up a lot of options.
    David S.

  6. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by Borderland View Post
    It's a pretty popular cartridge for western hunters. I see a few of them at the range in the fall. My impression is people who own them rarely shoot them. My guess is ammo cost and heavy recoil. I can't imagine owning a rifle that I only shot a few times every year in the fall. I gave a 7mm Mag to my brother who lived in WY because I didn't like the recoil.

    I see a lot of people recommending the 06 which surprises me. Not because it isn't a capable cartridge but because of it's longevity. It's like it's so old it's new again. Maybe the most popular big game cartridge in North America. It was popular in 60's in AZ when I started deer hunting. Might have something to do with all those WW2 vets and their Garands. I hunted with a few of those guys.
    For out west deer and antelope hunting, I like the .270. Flat shooting, comparatively low recoil. For Elk, reasonable people can differ, but 300WM makes sense to me. If I had to pick one caliber, I'd still suggest .308 for versatility and actually getting the trigger time to be proficient. If you can have two, why not a .223 to shoot enough to be proficient and then choose a 270 or magnum for hunting?

    Although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as the one rifle, my favorite one is probably a used Kimber 84M in .308 that I picked up years ago. Apparently the previous owner thought it kicked too hard and perhaps it does from the bench. It is closest to the 84M Classic, which now appears to be 6.5 CM only. Light, accurate, and reliable in my experience, despite the somewhat mixed reputation for Kimber.
    Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.

    - William Pitt the Younger

  7. #27
    Quote Originally Posted by Borderland View Post
    It's a pretty popular cartridge for western hunters. I see a few of them at the range in the fall. My impression is people who own them rarely shoot them. My guess is ammo cost and heavy recoil. I can't imagine owning a rifle that I only shot a few times every year in the fall. I gave a 7mm Mag to my brother who lived in WY because I didn't like the recoil.

    I see a lot of people recommending the 06 which surprises me. Not because it isn't a capable cartridge but because of it's longevity. It's like it's so old it's new again. Maybe the most popular big game cartridge in North America. It was popular in 60's in AZ when I started deer hunting. Might have something to do with all those WW2 vets and their Garands. I hunted with a few of those guys.

    Agree on the 300. If you shoot a lot you can get used to it, but an eight-pound .300 WM is not much fun to shoot.

    The 30-06 is one of those things that they got right, and it has only gotten better. Kenyan professional hunter Finn Aagaard has written that one of the biggest gun shops in Nairobi sold more rifles and ammunition in 30-06 than any other single chambering.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  8. #28
    Quote Originally Posted by David S. View Post
    Being long gun ignorant, I find this comment interesting given the level of attention P-F has given to the “Scout” / “Practical” rifle concept. That extra pound probably opens up a lot of options.
    We pay a lot of attention to the concept, but pretty much everything shown or described in that thread is at least half a pound over weight. Cooper was big on stating things in a way that was easy to remember, so that's where you get standards like "1 kilo, 3 kilograms, 1,000 pound targets." An extra pound broadens the horizon considerably, both in potential hardware and in ease of use, but it departs from the standard.

    Cooper also didn't always adhere to that standard. When he built a pseudo-Scout for his daughter, Lindy, it was a 30-06 on a 1903 Springfield that was close to seven pounds than to six. George can comment more accurately on rifle classes at Gunsite, but I understand that people with conventional sporters won a disproportionately large number of the last-day shootoffs compared to those with Scouts.


    Okie John
    “The reliability of the 30-06 on most of the world’s non-dangerous game is so well established as to be beyond intelligent dispute.” Finn Aagaard
    "Don't fuck with it" seems to prevent the vast majority of reported issues." BehindBlueI's

  9. #29
    My go-to is a pre64 M70, in 30-06. My thoughts are that it does most everything well, and if I think I need a cartridge with more range, I'll just need to get closer. I rarely hunt, so my opinions are worth less than 2cents

  10. #30
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    Jan 2015
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    For new hunters I like to recommend this in 30-06. It can be had for ~$500 and comes with an okay 3-9x40 Nikon scope.

    https://www.savagearms.com/content?p...ummary&s=19691

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