Another help me decide on a rifle thread!

[SammyIamToday]

Originally Posted by DMan

Okay, after some discussion with wife, it is now down to a good bolt action rifle, Accuracy at distance is the key!

The Ruger M77 models are a pretty inexpensive good bolt gun.

Although imo, you should still look at the AR10 style .308's. A lot of them hold sub-moa groups, so you get the accuracy of a bolt gun with a 20 round semi-auto rifle.

[sniper58]

My .02: I see a funnel with all of your options going into the hopper. With each of your "needs," the list of rifles falling to the bottom of that funnel is getting smaller. I think .308's are fine, but I shoot a .30-06 with incredible accuracy and power out to just shy of 400 yards. If you want a flat shooter with a big energy payload, I suggest you seriously consider the .300 Weatherby Magnum. It's more powerful (velocity and energy, muzzle and downrange) than the Remington Ultra-Mags and the other .300 magnums and the rifle itself is available in the Vangard model from Wal-Mart for less than $500. Yes, the Vangard is made by Howa which is not a bad rifle in itself, but the Weatherby sure doesn't shoot like a standard Howa!

I agree with the Nikon scope. I shot Redfield (now Simmons) forever and thought it was OK. My Redfield broke and I switched to BSA and was not disappointed. Then I got a Nikon. WOW!!!!!! Super clear and crisp, no parallax, no issues AND, available for $199 from Cabelas!

The .308 is a good paper-puncher at long range. It loses too much energy for long range hunting. The .270 is a good flat shooter, but has it's distance limitations. I love my .30-06 (I get 1.2" groups at 300 yards), but the .300 Wby. is in it's own class. Start reloading for it as factory ammo is iffy with accuracy and definitely HIGH priced! PM me if you want more.