Hunting bolt gun

[cornstalker]

6.5mm = .264" in cartridge speak.

[Lost River]

This is the rifle I'm taking hunting this summer. Tikka T3x in 30-06. It has a Swarovski Z3 3-10x42 mm BRH scope. It weighs 7.7 lbs as seen below. I have both 3 and 5 round magazines of it. It shoots 0.66" groups with my handload (Barnes TTSX 180 gr. over 56.8 gr of H4350 @ about 2815 fps). Barnes Vortex 180 gr TTSX factory ammo is about 0.79" and comes out at 2760 fps.The whole package cost me $1300.

Attachment 68169

New York

Paul's T3 30-06 with that exact handload, or factory ammo would kill any Whitetail, Elk, Moose, species of bear anywhere. You would never need to screw around with anything. Just grab your rifle case and go hunt. No need for a future , larger rifle, as the 30-06 will absolutely do it. If you feel the 180 is not up to the task, there are always 200s and 220s that will, and professional Alaskan bear guide Phil Shoemaker has gone after the largest bears in AK with a 30-06 using heavy for caliber projectiles.

The short version is that these days, unless you are doing very extended range shooting, a magnum is really not needed and is usually detrimental in terms of precise placement. I could easily hunt the rest of my days with an -06 or .308 and be quite content.

[newyork]

It’s not a big deal at all but I’m curious what recoil in a 30-06 T3X is like. Not that I’ll be shooting a ton with it. As compared to 308 which I’m familiar with.

I’d have to substitute for a cheaper optic. That Swarovski is $1000.

[newyork]

So far I haven’t seen a 30-06 t3x available. 308 either. I’ve seen some Bergara 308. Weatherby 308.

[okie john]

It’s not a big deal at all but I’m curious what recoil in a 30-06 T3X is like. Not that I’ll be shooting a ton with it. As compared to 308 which I’m familiar with.

Slightly faster. If you can handle one then you can handle the other.


Okie John

[pangloss]

New York

Paul's T3 30-06 with that exact handload, or factory ammo would kill any Whitetail, Elk, Moose, species of bear anywhere. You would never need to screw around with anything. Just grab your rifle case and go hunt. No need for a future , larger rifle, as the 30-06 will absolutely do it. If you feel the 180 is not up to the task, there are always 200s and 220s that will, and professional Alaskan bear guide Phil Shoemaker has gone after the largest bears in AK with a 30-06 using heavy for caliber projectiles.

The short version is that these days, unless you are doing very extended range shooting, a magnum is really not needed and is usually detrimental in terms of precise placement. I could easily hunt the rest of my days with an -06 or .308 and be quite content.

The book One Man, One Rifle, One Land might be of interest to the OP.

[newyork]

I’ll be buying that book

[Shotgun]

Whatever you decide, it's damned exciting isn't it? Every man should have a deer rifle. They act like a time machine. You can drag that rifle out and be immediately transported back to hunts of long ago.

[Borderland]

Could you fill those blanks with 6.5 just as effectively or those cartridges are better for whitetail?

I edited my post because there are a lot of good cartridges out there larger than .264. I mainly group cartridges into calibers (dia. in inches) because that's what the reloading manuals do. I'm not sure why cartridge companies feel a need to use a Euro designation for a new cartridge but they do. They don't even adhere to the Euro standard of bullet dia. and case length like 7x57 (7mmx57mm). A 6.5 Creedmoor is actually a 6.5x49 but they opted to confuse everyone with both US and Euro naming conventions. It should have been a .264 Creedmoor. Sorry.

My general perception is just about any cartridge that can shoot a 120 gr bullet at 2500 fps would make an excellent deer rifle. Ammo companies are building some fantastic hunting ammo these days. People get too hung up on the gear and forget about the rest of the equation. That being ones ability to shoot the rifle they chose and the skill to stalk. I don't know anything about stand hunting but I would assume there is some skill evolved there also. Think bow hunting.

I think you would enjoy a 6.5 Creedmoor for a long time.

[Nephrology]

Have you looked @ Howa Rifles? They make rifles for several big name companies. Dependable and accurate with a NIB price around $600. On the other side of NY in grape country until recent times it was shotgun only for deer, rifle is now allowed in certain areas or zones. The most common rifle was a 30/30 in the beginning (probably already owned) but that has changed and i have seen more 30.06 and 243. in later years. Happy hunting

I'm not a hunter at all, but came here to post this recommendation. Howa makes really nice bolt guns for the money.

New York

Paul's T3 30-06 with that exact handload, or factory ammo would kill any Whitetail, Elk, Moose, species of bear anywhere. You would never need to screw around with anything. Just grab your rifle case and go hunt. No need for a future , larger rifle, as the 30-06 will absolutely do it. If you feel the 180 is not up to the task, there are always 200s and 220s that will, and professional Alaskan bear guide Phil Shoemaker has gone after the largest bears in AK with a 30-06 using heavy for caliber projectiles.

The short version is that these days, unless you are doing very extended range shooting, a magnum is really not needed and is usually detrimental in terms of precise placement. I could easily hunt the rest of my days with an -06 or .308 and be quite content.

The only .30 cal rifle I own is a .30-06 Howa 1500 purchase on a lark. I am not a hunter (yet) and don't shoot it much, but I'd have a hard time getting rid of it. Until I have the money to get into real long-range precision shooting, the 30-06 Howa will do anything I could conceivably need a .30 cal rifle to do.