Advice on which cal. & gun

Mr.4x4

Mr.4x4

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Howdy all
Im interested in getting into the rifle scene, I come from a handgun / shotgun background and ive come in search of wisdom from the men of precision shooting. I am looking for a gun that will allow me to do the following:
be able to use for long distance shooting ( may be interested in getting into competition shooting )
light weight
can serve as a hunting rifle / back packing rifle
has take down power for large game moose / bear
easy to mount pic. rail and accessories without having to go to a smith.

I have eyeballed a few 308's and 30/06's. I liked the sako trg 22 and 42 but seemed a bit heavy. I used to own a big old clunky browning 308 ( moose hunting gun ) but nothing since i sold it.

Thanks in advance guys for your advice:)
 
Hi,

Your asking a lot from what I assume is going to be your only rifle. Maybe you should think about trying out a few before you purchase although I can't think of any rifle that will satisfy all your needs. I would stay with 308 for your long distance shooting though, but that is just my opinion.

Steve
 
Thanks steve that seems to be the opinion a couple of people have said. what do you guys think of tikka or sako? plus is a free floating barrel worth the extra money?

what about the old m24 or the m24 a2? these are in 308 arnt they?
 
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Mr.4x4 said:
Thanks steve that seems to be the opinion a couple of people have said. what do you guys think of tikka or sako? plus is a free floating barrel worth the extra money?

what about the old m24 or the m24 a2? these are in 308 arnt they?
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my gunsmith once told me he considers tikka t3 to be the best quality/price value. They shoot well without any modifications.
 
You have very conflicting goals. I think you would be best served with two rifles.

For your first LR rifle, pretty hard to beat a Savage heavy barrel in 223, 243 or 308. Accurate but not light. Light usually means a sporter contour barrel and this will heat up too fast.

Check out the exhange forum for lots of great target rifles ;-)

For your hunting rifle, there are also no shortage of choices and since you are looking for a boomer, consider a 338 or 35 cal of some kind.

For almost nothing, the Mossberg ATR or Stevens 200 will get you a great hunting rifle.

Jerry
 
Hi 4x4,
Your getting some good advice here, Mystic's sugestion makes a lot of sense. As far as free floating barrels are concerned, I would not try to shoot long distance or competition without it, once again that is just my opinion. I had a Tikka M-55 heavy barrel in a competition stock for years, chambered in 308. It was a beautiful gun out to about 4 or 5 hundred meters. I am currently having a rifle custom built, based on a Parker Hale (Safari) rec, 26 X 1-1/4 inch barrel. It will be very heavy but I kind of like that. It is not that expensive to have one built to your specs, sometimes cheaper than buying one outright. It all really depends on what you want to do with the gun. Don't forget the optics can get quite pricey.

Stay away from the CN tower;)

Steve

P.S. I know a gunsmith who is Remington Certified. He could build you a nice gun at a great price, PM me if your interested.
 
Mr.4x4 said:
what about the old m24 or the m24 a2? these are in 308 arnt they?
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If you're interested in those you'd better have an extremely large budget; you're looking at paying well over $6000 for the base M24 (if I remember correctly).
Don't mean to hijack this, but is the M24/M40 designated as "7.62x51" or ".308 WIN"? If it were designated for the NATO round, wouldn't that mean that you wouldn't be able to use factory loads such as Federal Gold Match?

-Rohann
 
Also keep in mind that you are likely going to be looking for a heavy barreled rifle for precision shooting, but that will likely lead the rifle to becoming heavier than you want in a hunting rifle.

I bought a rem700LTR for both target and hunting. It is a lightweight rifle as far as HB rifles go, but as for a packing hunting rifle it is too heavy (can't realistically shoot it standing) only stationary with bipod.
 
I put my vote for a Tikka Tactical in .308 for coming closest to doing all that, but there are other good choices like Savage, and the heavy barrelled Reminton 700's.

I suspect however that when you try competition, unless you happen to be in some sort of a factory class, you will have a tough time against custom barrelled rigs.
 
:D
Holy crap guys lots of info here and i really appreciate the comments. I will take all this into consideration. I may even look at mysticplayers 308 hes got for sale as id rather buy from one of you guys then a store :)
Ill take a look around and see if i cant try out some of these models you recommend. Jeez i may have to get 2 rifles but what about my wife :eek: :runaway:
 
Mr.4x4 said:
:D
Holy crap guys lots of info here and i really appreciate the comments. I will take all this into consideration. I may even look at mysticplayers 308 hes got for sale as id rather buy from one of you guys then a store :)
Ill take a look around and see if i cant try out some of these models you recommend. Jeez i may have to get 2 rifles but what about my wife :eek: :runaway:
Click to expand...

careful... they learn fast, absorb stuff like a sponge and generally do very well...
 
jkajfes said:
careful... they learn fast, absorb stuff like a sponge and generally do very well...
Click to expand...

Oh so that is why she is good at cleaning :dancingbanana:

Rohann im lookin to spend about 1500.00 - 2k
 
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