So my little brother is finally coming hunting with Dad and I this year (I say little brother, but he's turning 30 next year), and between the 3 of us and my mom and dads' buddy, we have a lot of tags to fill. At least 1 moose, maybe a Buffalo, a couple Mule and maybe a general white tail tag if we come up short.
We have always pooled the guns together and decided who should take what depending on what tags we all had. As a youth I typically got the .243 Win because I wasn't hunting anything larger than a Mule anyway. Dad also has a .270, and a .25-06, and when my grandfather would come with us we also had his .300 wby mag and .264 win mag. Hunting in the Alberta coulees usually meant we'd be taking our shots at no closer than 250 yards, with a few exceptions (I'd shoot the 25 instead of the 243 if it was farther).
Grandpa is sick though, and he's not coming hunting anymore. So dad decided we should probably get a Magnum for the family. So I went looking around here because I'm the only one on CGN and dad hasn't bought a gun in 20 years (gramps probably hasn't bought one in over 40).
I figured we should get a .300 Win because its easy enough to find and we have dies for it even though we have never owned one. So I went on the lookout.
I had one lined up from a fellow CGNer that I've both sold to and purchased from, a Howa 1500 that I was pretty keen on getting. But while I was looking, Gramps gave dad the 300 Wby, and he wasn't interested in pitching in to buy a new rifle anymore. I couldn't afford one on my own, so I had to tell him I couldn't take it.
Fast forward a few weeks and I've finally landed a great job (I'm finishing up my masters, and it's been a long time coming), and I've got the ability to buy my own rifle finally. The Howa is gone from the EE, so I go looking around at the shops in town to see what people traded in and if I can manage to find the perfect deal on something used.
The best thing I came across was a consignment at Marksman Guns and Sports in Lethbridge, it was a Weatherby Vanguard S1 with a straight x6 Leupold on it ready to go, but I thought the $1100 price tag was a bit much for an S1 and an old scope, even if it is a Leupold. So I put it in my back pocket to mull it over while I kept looking around. The rifle was in beautiful shape after all.
I went down to Wholesale Sports, despite the lackluster closing sales because I knew they had the trifecta of the inexpensive rifles, and I wanted to spend no more than 700 bucks tops for rifle, bases, rings, and scope if I could manage it. I wanted to see if the Ruger American was any good, because I had seen a Rem 783 and thought the stock was flimsy and cheap, and everybody I know who bought a Savage Axis replaced the stock with a Boyds because it is reportedly terrible. Turns out the American doesn't have a .300 Win so that was out, but what I didn't know was that Mossberg has their hand in that market as well with the Patriot. So I read up a couple of reviews online and they were quite favorable. The one at gun digest was what sold me on it HERE.
I'm not fond of the plastic magazine, but I am used to rifle magazines like this because my .243 is a Remington 788. I figure if this rifle is currently in production it should't be difficult to get a spare or 2 ordered form Mossberg just in case.
They had a package deal. The Patriot in Synthetic stock, in .300 Win Mag, with a Vortex Crossfire II 3 - 9x pre-mounted and boresighted, for $589 with a 5% discount because of the liquidation. Add the GST back on and I got my rifle for just shy of $590.
I'm not a fan of the synthetic stock, but it's functional and sturdy (the wood stock model came without the scope for the same price). If someday I feel like spending the extra money, Boyds carries all of their options for the patriot in a long action, so I could go that way if I'd like. Probably with a "Platinum" or "Heritage" stock.
All things considered, I am quite happy with this purchase, and I intend to go sight it in when I take my brother to the range next month and teach him how to shoot.
I suppose I should start looking on the EE for any 300 brass.
https://i.imgur.com/JOhii3w.jpg
We have always pooled the guns together and decided who should take what depending on what tags we all had. As a youth I typically got the .243 Win because I wasn't hunting anything larger than a Mule anyway. Dad also has a .270, and a .25-06, and when my grandfather would come with us we also had his .300 wby mag and .264 win mag. Hunting in the Alberta coulees usually meant we'd be taking our shots at no closer than 250 yards, with a few exceptions (I'd shoot the 25 instead of the 243 if it was farther).
Grandpa is sick though, and he's not coming hunting anymore. So dad decided we should probably get a Magnum for the family. So I went looking around here because I'm the only one on CGN and dad hasn't bought a gun in 20 years (gramps probably hasn't bought one in over 40).
I figured we should get a .300 Win because its easy enough to find and we have dies for it even though we have never owned one. So I went on the lookout.
I had one lined up from a fellow CGNer that I've both sold to and purchased from, a Howa 1500 that I was pretty keen on getting. But while I was looking, Gramps gave dad the 300 Wby, and he wasn't interested in pitching in to buy a new rifle anymore. I couldn't afford one on my own, so I had to tell him I couldn't take it.
Fast forward a few weeks and I've finally landed a great job (I'm finishing up my masters, and it's been a long time coming), and I've got the ability to buy my own rifle finally. The Howa is gone from the EE, so I go looking around at the shops in town to see what people traded in and if I can manage to find the perfect deal on something used.
The best thing I came across was a consignment at Marksman Guns and Sports in Lethbridge, it was a Weatherby Vanguard S1 with a straight x6 Leupold on it ready to go, but I thought the $1100 price tag was a bit much for an S1 and an old scope, even if it is a Leupold. So I put it in my back pocket to mull it over while I kept looking around. The rifle was in beautiful shape after all.
I went down to Wholesale Sports, despite the lackluster closing sales because I knew they had the trifecta of the inexpensive rifles, and I wanted to spend no more than 700 bucks tops for rifle, bases, rings, and scope if I could manage it. I wanted to see if the Ruger American was any good, because I had seen a Rem 783 and thought the stock was flimsy and cheap, and everybody I know who bought a Savage Axis replaced the stock with a Boyds because it is reportedly terrible. Turns out the American doesn't have a .300 Win so that was out, but what I didn't know was that Mossberg has their hand in that market as well with the Patriot. So I read up a couple of reviews online and they were quite favorable. The one at gun digest was what sold me on it HERE.
I'm not fond of the plastic magazine, but I am used to rifle magazines like this because my .243 is a Remington 788. I figure if this rifle is currently in production it should't be difficult to get a spare or 2 ordered form Mossberg just in case.
They had a package deal. The Patriot in Synthetic stock, in .300 Win Mag, with a Vortex Crossfire II 3 - 9x pre-mounted and boresighted, for $589 with a 5% discount because of the liquidation. Add the GST back on and I got my rifle for just shy of $590.
I'm not a fan of the synthetic stock, but it's functional and sturdy (the wood stock model came without the scope for the same price). If someday I feel like spending the extra money, Boyds carries all of their options for the patriot in a long action, so I could go that way if I'd like. Probably with a "Platinum" or "Heritage" stock.
All things considered, I am quite happy with this purchase, and I intend to go sight it in when I take my brother to the range next month and teach him how to shoot.
I suppose I should start looking on the EE for any 300 brass.
https://i.imgur.com/JOhii3w.jpg
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