What Rifle should I buy???

It has a wide variety of bullet sizes that can take down any animal.

I will make one suggestion,that being whatever cartridge you choose,select one load that is suitable for all of your big game hunting,instead of changing loads for various game animals.It is much easier to learn one sight in and one trajectory,and there is a much smaller chance of getting confused when that game animal suddenly steps out in front of you.For all of the 7mm based cartridges(7mmremmag,280rem,7mm-08 etc),a quality bullet in 140gr to 160gr range will take any big game from pronghorn to moose.For the .308" based cartridges(308win,30-06,300wsm,300winmag etc) a quality bullet in the 165gr to 180gr range will do the same.

[Barbwire]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Does anyone know where one might purchase a nikon scope in canada?? Ive been to nikons website and am having a real hard time finding a dealer north of the border.

Really liking the looks and stats of the nikon monarch scope.




Barbwire

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by Barbwire

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Does anyone know where one might purchase a nikon scope in canada?? Ive been to nikons website and am having a real hard time finding a dealer north of the border.

Really liking the looks and stats of the nikon monarch scope.




Barbwire

www.sirmailorder.com

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by Barbwire

Im looking around for a good rifle/scope combo for hunting all sorts of big game. I think I gonna buy a nikon monarch scope from the states but dont know which rifle to put it on. Anybody have any suggestions on a good all round rifle for under a thousand bucks?? Im looking to spend 1500 bucks total on this rifle and scope.

Oh and I was thinking a 7mm would be my best bet for caliber

Thanks

Barbwire

Monarach are good scopes, i think you can get them Ellwood Epps in Ontario.

Check around and try as many rifles as you can before buying, most of the rifles on the market these days are fine, some just preffered more by some guys than others.
Foed /Chevy thing, ya know!
However, personally, I do not consider the 7Mag a good choice for a first rifle , even for "all around" stuff - too much recoil.
A 308 with 165 grain bullets will do a whole lot better for 90% of the shooting distances and animals you are going to shoot because it is easier to shoot, and you can practice with it a lot without undo harm to your shoulder or pocket book.
Just an opinion, mind you, it just doesn't count for much as far as some are concerned.
Cat

[Barbwire]

Thanks Dick284, I found the scope I want. SIR slipped my mind for some reason.

Barbwire

[Pathfinder76]

Scrimping on a rifle is plain stupid IMO. It can be a lifetime purchase. Ammortize $1500 put into a rifle over 20yrs and you'll get what I mean. Skip the Nikon and get a Leupold if for no other reason than their accessories and warranty shop is in Okotoks and is 2wks from your door and back. I've dealt with Swaro warranty, B&L warranty, and what a friggin gong show.

Get a rifle that you can upgrade and a fixed power Leupold if the budget is a little tight to begin with and go from there. I'm a pretty die hard Model 70 fan, but they're a little scarce now days. For bang for the buck find a used boat paddle SS Ruger, put a FX II 6X36 aboard and you'll have something you could drag around the globe. I wouldn't take a savage dressed in a Nikon out of the back yard.

Chuck

Originally Posted by chuck

Scrimping on a rifle is plain stupid IMO. It can be a lifetime purchase. Ammortize $1500 put into a rifle over 20yrs and you'll get what I mean. Skip the Nikon and get a Leupold if for no other reason than their accessories and warranty shop is in Okotoks and is 2wks from your door and back. I've dealt with Swaro warranty, B&L warranty, and what a friggin gong show.

Get a rifle that you can upgrade and a fixed power Leupold if the budget is a little tight to begin with and go from there. I'm a pretty die hard Model 70 fan, but they're a little scarce now days. For bang for the buck find a used boat paddle SS Ruger, put a FX II 6X36 aboard and you'll have something you could drag around the globe. I wouldn't take a savage dressed in a Nikon out of the back yard.

Chuck

holy molaaaay , way to get the point across i read that and felt like my old teacher was scolding me


i dunno, for some reason those ugly savage rifles are finding a place in my eye. my mind says no, but my friends target says yes

I've dealt with Swaro warranty, B&L warranty, and what a friggin gong show.

I have dealt with Swarovski when a scope was damaged in an accident and they fixed it very promptly free of charge,even though the scope was in no way defective.I was very pleased with the service.

[Dick284]

Originally Posted by chuck

Scrimping on a rifle is plain stupid IMO. It can be a lifetime purchase. Ammortize $1500 put into a rifle over 20yrs and you'll get what I mean. Skip the Nikon and get a Leupold if for no other reason than their accessories and warranty shop is in Okotoks and is 2wks from your door and back. I've dealt with Swaro warranty, B&L warranty, and what a friggin gong show.

Get a rifle that you can upgrade and a fixed power Leupold if the budget is a little tight to begin with and go from there. I'm a pretty die hard Model 70 fan, but they're a little scarce now days. For bang for the buck find a used boat paddle SS Ruger, put a FX II 6X36 aboard and you'll have something you could drag around the globe. I wouldn't take a savage dressed in a Nikon out of the back yard.

Chuck

No opinionation going on here.

I've got more sub $1000.00 factroy rifles than I can shake a stick at, and anyone who knows me knows I wont own a rifle that is'nt accurate. Like it or not the Savage line of BA rifles is kicking everyone elses butt all over the place where accuracy is concerned. Looks are secondary. You aint taking it to the prom so who gives two flips about the barrel nut and the bolt shroud, their tough accurate and damn servicable. And will last as long as any rifle costing 3 times as much.
I don't like Tikka's for my own reasons, I don't dobut the claims as to their accuracy, but personally I'll take a Savage. that's just me, and 20 other blokes on here probably feel the Tikka suites them better. Good on them that's why we have choices, I choose Savage, and you can choose what ever. But the person buying the rifle is the guy shooting it, and owning it. To suggest anything that's $1500 is going to last longer than all the rest is shere folly.
Buy a rifle you like Barbwire, and make sure you get the one you like.

[catnthehat]

I just sold a rifle to Dick.
It is by all ac counts the UGLIEST target rifle I have ever owned and shot, and according to some, the action is no good.
This rifle BTW, will shoot inside an inch all day long with the right guy behind it.
That's prone with irons.
It cost him less than $400.
Looks don't mean squat to me when it comes to accuracy.
ESPECIALLY when we're talking about rifles that have a Gawd Awful lever on the side that is a throwback to a can opener!!
Cat

[Pathfinder76]

Form follows function always, but accuracy has got to be the most overated aspect of a big game rifle there is. Accurate junk is accurate junk. Accuracy does you no good if a trigger breaks, the gun won't feed, floorplates fall open, clips get lost, stocks break, scopes fail, scope mounts malfunction.....................

I've handled and shot three different LH Savage 110's. One couldn't keep the bolt stop from malfunctioning, one went through extractors like water, and the other wouldn't feed from the magazine box no matter how you held your mouth. But ohhhhh did they shoot. Goodie!

I consider a savage rifle to be akin to an unpredictable horse. Life is to short, and there are an abundance of better alternatives out there. I'm sorry if some are offended by that.

Chuck

[catnthehat]

Like I said, Ford/Chevty thing.
I have countless friends that have stories about bolt handles , floor plates, and extractors filing on remingto Rifles and Winchesters also.

There are good and bad out there in every rifle.
Maybbe you should try a N.4Mk1 Enfield.
They don't break every often, and are accurate enough to hunt with.
Cat

[Dick284]

I agree with Cat, I've seen good and bad from just about every make of rifle out there.
Broken parts are often a result of either poor maintenance, or real bad luck.
Detachable mags that get lost are not particular to any given make of rifle, it's sort of a nature of the beast issue.
Floor plates falling open happen eapecially if the stock warps or something is assembled incorrectly. Again not brand specific.
I've seen more feeding problems with Rugers, Winchesters and MRC's than any other brand. Not brand specific
Bolt stops not working properly are often encountered in Winchesters and Remingtons, and are either a result of poor maintenance or a damaged or poorly formed part. Again not to brand specific.
As for broken extractors, well your either doing something wrong or your the unlukiest SOB on the planet.


I dont quite follow your statement about accuracy, and hope you can explain further.

But as you can see your ramblings about Savage's are in no way indicative nor specific to Savage's I've seen lots of diffrent rifles do some hideous things, and again not brand specific.

[Pathfinder76]

Accuracy is the most easily achievable aspect of any hunting rifle there is. It is difficult sometimes to find a rifle that is truly innacurate from a hunting prospective. The number of accuracy producing gunsmiths out there is testament to that. Now go ahead and make 10 calls to just about any gunplumber in this country and ask about a feeding issue, and you'll audibly detect a blank stare through the telephone. Ask them about stack angle, trueing the top of the reciever to aid in getting scope mounts concentric to the bore, quiz them on open sights placement and construction, ask them to open the ejection port on a reciever, and the list goes on and on and on. The list of guys who can talk the walk is short. Then ask them how shiny the chamber should be and long the throat should go on for and expect to be entertained for hours.

Now call the likes of Bill Leeper, D'Arcy Echols, Tom Burgess, Gene Simillion, Mark Penrod, and things will become clearer still.

No, a malfunctioning misbehaving rifle is not brand specific, but with a Winchester, Remington, or Ruger, you still have something, and you can get something done about it. You'll then have a hunting rifle that will perform for generations to come, instead of a basement half full of "accurate" $700 rifles that the range crowd will be impressed with. What they don't see is how well the thing shoots across your pack at 274yds, how well it's point of impact remains constant year after year in all kinds of weather variations, how well it takes a fall, or how the striker will fall when you're crotch deep in snow in a freezing type sleet storm when the bull/ram/buck of a lifetime is within easy reach if you only were back at the range.

But then again noone wants to talk about that at gun counter down at the local gun emporium. But they sure as heck will drag the wallet out and pluck from it's corners a sub MOA group shot last Saturday when Bob was watching...............

[catnthehat]

I agree thhat all the things you have mentioned are not in the realm of "gunplummers' .
I do not get those people to do any machine work on my rifles however.

As I mentioned before, non the the rifles on the market today are totally fool proof and totally reliable.
Stuff breaks on everything occasionally, and if a rifle is properly set up, it will function reliablly .

There are some actions i would choose over others however, such as the martini over a rolling block, or a B78 over a Ballard.
As far as bolt actions go, a decent mauser over almost any other , just because.
but there is nothing wrong with a commercial Enfield action either....
cat

[Pathfinder76]

Mausers suck!.............................





Cause I can't one left handed.

Chuck