I've been shooting deer with the SKS but (hunting) ammo is getting hard to come by for it... so thinking of biting the bullet... so to speak 
... and picking up a proper rifle. Will probably do so come the Christmas season.
Last wed, sitting out in the pouring rain, driving through horrible mud trails on ATVs, my gun, at the end of the day, looked like I picked it up off a battlefield (but it still worked perfectly - Soviets certainly knew how to build a gun). Trouble was, there was water and mud in all those little nooks and crannies that needed to be flushed with WD40. What a PITA - took me over two hours to completely disassemble and clean it! Thinking now that a simple, well-made rifle with a stainless barrel and synthetic stock will work perfectly - rain, mud, who cares? Wipe it off and chuck it in the gun closet at camp and be done with it till the next morning.
Trouble for me is finding one in a left-hand version. Aside from limited choices, the prices vary widely. Remington wants a boatload of cash for theirs, but Browning has a very nice lefty version for a reasonable price:
Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker, Left-Hand
As does Savage:
Savage Weather Warrior Model 116FLSS Left Hand
Of the two, I'm certainly leaning toward the Browning. Beretta has only one model of Sako in a lefty version.. no Tikka for me unfortunately. Winchester only seems to have a couple in their line, no stainless/synthetics.
Next conundrum is calibre... leaning toward 270 or 30-06 (both long actions). Thinking that either of those will be widely available, everywhere - even in Nowhere, NFLD - esp the 30-06. Other appealing feature with the 30-06 is the wide range of bullet weights. OTOH, I like the faster speeds and flatter trajectory of the 270.
Guess it comes down to what is overall more effective and authoritative for my needs? Primary uses will be distance target shooting and hunting whitetails. I'd like to go after caribou and perhaps moose one day. I'd be sniping groundhogs and the occasional nuisance beaver too. Don't think I'd purposefully go after bear, but would appreciate good stopping power at my command should I need it.
So... soliciting opinions, thoughts, suggestions, etc for brands, calibres, etc. Will have time to do my homework and plan to handle some of the guns before making a purchase.. probably go to Gander Mountain in the USA or BPS (but it's further away) to check out what's available and what I'd like.
... and picking up a proper rifle. Will probably do so come the Christmas season.Last wed, sitting out in the pouring rain, driving through horrible mud trails on ATVs, my gun, at the end of the day, looked like I picked it up off a battlefield (but it still worked perfectly - Soviets certainly knew how to build a gun). Trouble was, there was water and mud in all those little nooks and crannies that needed to be flushed with WD40. What a PITA - took me over two hours to completely disassemble and clean it! Thinking now that a simple, well-made rifle with a stainless barrel and synthetic stock will work perfectly - rain, mud, who cares? Wipe it off and chuck it in the gun closet at camp and be done with it till the next morning.
Trouble for me is finding one in a left-hand version. Aside from limited choices, the prices vary widely. Remington wants a boatload of cash for theirs, but Browning has a very nice lefty version for a reasonable price:
Browning A-Bolt Stainless Stalker, Left-Hand
As does Savage:
Savage Weather Warrior Model 116FLSS Left Hand
Of the two, I'm certainly leaning toward the Browning. Beretta has only one model of Sako in a lefty version.. no Tikka for me unfortunately.
Winchester only seems to have a couple in their line, no stainless/synthetics.Next conundrum is calibre... leaning toward 270 or 30-06 (both long actions). Thinking that either of those will be widely available, everywhere - even in Nowhere, NFLD - esp the 30-06. Other appealing feature with the 30-06 is the wide range of bullet weights. OTOH, I like the faster speeds and flatter trajectory of the 270.
Guess it comes down to what is overall more effective and authoritative for my needs? Primary uses will be distance target shooting and hunting whitetails. I'd like to go after caribou and perhaps moose one day. I'd be sniping groundhogs and the occasional nuisance beaver too. Don't think I'd purposefully go after bear, but would appreciate good stopping power at my command should I need it.
So... soliciting opinions, thoughts, suggestions, etc for brands, calibres, etc. Will have time to do my homework and plan to handle some of the guns before making a purchase.. probably go to Gander Mountain in the USA or BPS (but it's further away) to check out what's available and what I'd like.
But with around 15 days of hunting mostly in the mountains under its belt already there doesn't seem to be any battle wounds yet 
