Oppions of current hunting rifles

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Ok so have been doing the bench rest thing for a while have progressed to unassisted methods with great results. Currently on the look out for a accurare reasonably priced rifle. What are you guys using and what are your thoughts. I spoilt myself with my first gun and have been cautious as hell when i comes to anything else. However the thought of banging up a 3k rifle is kinda daunting, thats where your help would be greatly appreciated

[albat]

I have a weatherby vanguard s2 in 243 i paid $630 brand new 6 months ago very accurate with all the factory ammo i have tried guaranteed to shoot under moa from the factory and way cheaper than a tikka its just a tad heavier if you are carting it around in the scrub

[<<Genesis93>>]

Whats your 'reasonably' priced??

Maybe a few ideas on what type, style chambering, what type of hunting of what??

[bladeracer]

Ok so have been doing the bench rest thing for a while have progressed to unassisted methods with great results. Currently on the look out for a accurare reasonably priced rifle. What are you guys using and what are your thoughts. I spoilt myself with my first gun and have been cautious as hell when i comes to anything else. However the thought of banging up a 3k rifle is kinda daunting, thats where your help would be greatly appreciated

What sort of hunting do you want the rifle for?
Calibre, length, action?
You only want one rifle to do everything or will you buy different rifles for different jobs?

Personally, I'm loving the Ruger Americans.

I like to be able to use a variety of cartridges, but I really don't like having a mish mash of different rifle designs, controls, trigger feel, sight picture and cheek weld, with different scope mounts and slings on each. I did that when I was younger, and it made sense to experiment until I discovered all the personal features I wanted in my shooting. I don't expect or want one rifle to do everything, I want to do everything but within the same platform. One rifle that I can do a lot of shooting with, become intimately familiar with, and learn to rely on. Whether I'm laying in a paddock shooting rabbits on the horizon with the .204, or sneaking through thick brush looking for pigs with the .308, trying for a long shot on a deer across a valley with the 7mm-08, or shooting paper out to 1000yds, I want my connection to my primary hunting rifle to be as consistent as possible.

Coming back into long guns after years in WA only shooting handguns allowed me to start from scratch. All I really knew for sure was that I wanted .223, 7mm-08 and .204 Ruger, short action, and synthetic instead of wood. I've never had any interest in firearms (or anything else) for their aesthetics, I only care about their mechanical quality, performance and bang-for-buck. I spent a lot of time, months, researching one rifle that offered the most options that might appeal to me. Perhaps not immediately, but something that would have the options available if I got bitten by different bugs down the track. I was thinking along the lines of the Remington 700 or Ruger 77, primarily because I knew them from years ago. I hadn't heard of the Ruger American but I started seeing references to it, videos, and reviews from lots of very impressed owners.

When I started looking at its options, and its price, there really weren't any others in the hunt. I figured Ruger would not market a rifle around its .204 Ruger invention if it didn't perform, so I ordered one. Never even seen one. Didn't know anybody else that had used the Ruger or the .204. No regrets at all. I've also got the 7mm-08 and the American Rimfire in .22LR. I'm also getting the .223, .243, .308, and 6.5mm Creedmore. And I'm putting Bushnell AR Optics 4.5-18x40 scopes on all of them. Straight out of the box the .204 shoot's 0.5MoA with no effort on my part out to 200yds and I can comfortably keep it under 0.75MoA at 300yds. I've run Hornady NTX 24gn, VMax 32gn & 40gn, ZMax 32gn, Sierra 39gn Blitzking and Speer 39gn TNT so far and have settled on the NTX 24gn at 4400fps, ZMax 32gn at 4000fps and VMax 40gn at 3700fps. I also use the ZMax 32gn at 1600fps and 2400fps with Trailboss loads. The 7mm-08 reliably holds under 1Moa to 200yds with Sierra 100gn HP and Speer's 145gn and 160gn HotCore. And today I picked up 100 Hornady 162gn ELD-M's and 200 120gn VMax's to work up a long range precision load and a long-range varmint load.

The short action for the .223 or .308 bolt face, both available in stainless, and parts and accessories are interchangeable through the Standard, Compact, Predator and Ranch series'. Same mags, trigger packs, stocks, barrels, scope bases, etc. A good range of cartridges from .20 to .30 calibre, 16", 18" and 22" barrels, in blue or stainless, threaded if you prefer, length of pull of 12.5" or 13.75", only 2.8kg - and I bought all three new for under $700 each delivered, transferred and registered.

In the .223 bolt face and magazine you have:
.204 (12" twist), .223 (8") and .300BLK (7").

In the .308 bolt face and magazine:
.22-250 (10"), .243 (9"), 6.5mm Creedmore (8"), 7mm-08 (9.5") and .308 (10").

Available barrel lengths (threaded 1/2"-28 or 5/8"-24):
16-1/8" threaded blue in .223 and .300BLK.
18" unthreaded blue or stainless in .223, .22-250, .243, 7mm-08 and .308.
22" threaded blue or unthreaded stainless in .223, .22-250, .243, 6.5mm Creedmore, 7mm-08 and .308.

13.75" length of pull stocks in black or Muddy girl (Standard), green (Predator), and Dark Earth or Kryptek (Ranch).
12.5" stocks are black (Compact).

The long action and magnum action are of no interest to me and don't offer the interchangeability of the short action.
The long action gives you .30-06 (10") and .270 (10") in 22" unthreaded blue barrels and 13.75" black stock.
The Magnum gives you 7mm RemMag (9.5"), .300WinMag (10"), and .338 WinMag (10") in 24" threaded stainless barrels and 13.75" black stock.

For similar money the Savage Axis series offers the same calibres except for .204.
The Howa 1500 series does include the .204, but not 6.5mm Creedmore, they do 6.5x55mm though.
Weatherby Vanguard series doesn't include .204 but does do the Creedmore.

[juststarting]

Did someone say 308? No? OK! 308! Good all rounder, especially on rabbits. And everything else.

Tika T3 Lite; or
Browning X-Bolt composite stalker.

Both are very lite (un-scoped), rugged and puuurty. In case of a browning, can take few drops too (from personal field drop testing notebook)

[wade06]

weatherby vanguard s2 in 243

+1. Don't have a centrefire yet but the Weattherby S2 243 is right at the top of the list based on every review I've read The only thing I don't like is it doesn't have a detachable magazine.

Just a pity the $630 specials aren't around... More like $1000 now. Howa 1500s are very similar and from the same manufacturer I think. Different factory.

[sandgroperbill]

I'll add a vote to the ruger american for a hunting rifle. I have them, and its my go to for hunting. Great trigger, reliable as, very light so easy to carry all day with no effort, and i don't worry about scratching it. Mine is topped with a redfield 3-9x40 and its a decent scope. I don't take mine to the range, but out hunting nothing is safe.

I had been looking, fondling lots of different rifles and didn't know the american even existed, but the moment it hit my shoulder and worked the action, I knew that was my rifle. It really did fit me perfectly.

I have been very happy with the american, and when you factor in the price, its very hard to beat.

If I hadn't gone the american, I would have gone the vanguard s2 in .223 and a tikka forrest in 30 cal

[happyhunter]

What type of hunting?

[AZZA'S HJ47]

Hopefully pigs, dogs, foxes ferals i have 3 weeks holiday less than a week away hoping to try my luck at a bit of hunting however have to find a property to do the hunting on. So its looking unlikely but thinking along the lines of a 223 i have a 243 (love child) and a 17hmr id love to take out just have to find something to fill the void and as stated to not be to scared of marking.

[happyhunter]

To cover that lot of animals I'd be looking at something like a Remington 7600 in 308 Winchester or something like a Browning Abolt or Xbolt if you want a bolt action.

[happyhunter]

.. or a shotgun.

[Browning]

A 243 or 17 will cover all those animals. Unless you come across a monster pig, you'll be fine.

[AusTac]

A beaten up .303 sporter holds it own out in the wilderness, 10 shots, fastest bolt action rifle ever made, bayonet if your real keen lol and decent iron sights,

308 or 12g

With the right progies/shot ain't much you'll run into that they won't kill

[bladeracer]

A beaten up .303 sporter holds it own out in the wilderness, 10 shots, fastest bolt action rifle ever made, bayonet if your real keen lol and decent iron sights,

308 or 12g

With the right progies/shot ain't much you'll run into that they won't kill

I've ordered some Hornady 100gn XTP's to try in mine, if they work well I want to try the 85gn and 60gn XTP's next

[Oldbloke]

A 243 or 17 will cover all those animals. Unless you come across a monster pig, you'll be fine.

+1

[bigfellascott]

weatherby vanguard s2 in 243

+1. Don't have a centrefire yet but the Weattherby S2 243 is right at the top of the list based on every review I've read The only thing I don't like is it doesn't have a detachable magazine.

Just a pity the $630 specials aren't around... More like $1000 now. Howa 1500s are very similar and from the same manufacturer I think. Different factory.

All coming out of the same factory mate, just slightly diff specs but essentially the same.(same trigger/action - diff length barrels from memory and I think the Vanguard bolt is/was fluted and generally the Vanguard had a better stock - me I just buy the Howa Barreled actions and drop em into Boyds stocks, most of my actions cost around $450 from memory (Varmint Barrels).

[sandgroperbill]

A beaten up .303 sporter holds it own out in the wilderness, 10 shots, fastest bolt action rifle ever made, bayonet if your real keen lol and decent iron sights,

308 or 12g

With the right progies/shot ain't much you'll run into that they won't kill

True.

.303 is one of my, if not my, favourite cartridges. I have a soft spot for the .303 and there's very little on this planet where I would feel undergunned with a .303.

Plus, you wouldn't he upset if an old sporterized .303 were to get scratched or beaten up.

If you want new, though, I still like the americans then howa/weatherby

[bigfellascott]

I used to have a sporterised 303 as a kid, had a scope mounted on it and it shoot quite well from memory and used to kill well.

[Redwood]

It's not very exciting but a Tikka and Leupold combo won't break the bank and you can be all but sure it'll shoot great out of the box and both bits will last.

That in your chosen chamber for the hunting you want to do.