Another newbie looking for hunting rifle advise

[T3-OleMan]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Tikka and Savage rifles. The CTR is a very nice rifle that I wasn't even aware of. Too bad they aren't more available. The 260 rem is more than enough to hunt AZ deer. Ammo is harder to find, but it sure has the range and low recoil I want.
Seems like the more I research calibers and brands, the more indecisive I become. Kinda like being hungry and having to many good menu choices.

Tikka T3 Lite Stainless Win .243 should be all the distance you need and ammo is everywhere. Be sure to put a LIMBSAVER butt pad on what ever you get. I have same gun but in 338WM and all I did was put the LIMBSAVER on and let it eat.

Good luck

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

Tikka T3 Lite Stainless Win .243 should be all the distance you need and ammo is everywhere. Be sure to put a LIMBSAVER butt pad on what ever you get. I have same gun but in 338WM and all I did was put the LIMBSAVER on and let it eat.

Good luck

I initially thought of the 243. Light on recoil, accurate, plentiful rounds, but was thinking it might not retain enough punch for deer at 500 yards. Never tested this out, as I always take the 308 or 30-06 out when I'm thinking I might have to get out to distance. I actually have a tikka t3 lite ss in .243 and it was what led me to buy the other tikkas I have.

Also, if you get the 243, and love deer hunting... You might want to go for elk, and though some will disagree, I believe the 308 is better suited to that task, giving you a little more "big game" versatility. The 270 would be a fine choice also.... Flatter than the 308... Ammo available most everywhere, and hard hitting.

Wow... Wish I was doing it all over again for the first time. Nothing like getting ready to get a new gun when the gun cabinet is empty!

 

[azjim]

Thx Again for all the input.
As life often goes, plans change.
A slightly used Remington 700 SPS in 7-08 is available at a great price. I also grabbed a new Viper 4-16 HS LR on clearance at Sportsman. I'm hopeful this will work out for my needs. If not, I'll move on to another set up.
I should have the rifle in a week or so and will start new threads to seek advise on setting it up , ammo selection and improving my accuracy.
Thx again Jimp

 

[ntg]

Great caliber choice! The SPS is workable. You should be able to get it shooting with a little tweaking.

 

[7magcreedmoor]

Thx Again for all the input.
As life often goes, plans change.
A slightly used Remington 700 SPS in 7-08 is available at a great price. I also grabbed a new Viper 4-16 HS LR on clearance at Sportsman. I'm hopeful this will work out for my needs. If not, I'll move on to another set up.
I should have the rifle in a week or so and will start new threads to seek advise on setting it up , ammo selection and improving my accuracy.
Thx again Jimp

An excellent caliber for the range you intend, and a great scope (I have four of them). Use a heavy for caliber bullet, such as Berger 168, Accubond 160, or Amax 162, and once your load development is done, set up a custom turret for your load for real quick adjustment in the field. Out to 500, it will work just great.

 

[Unofficial Gun Addict (UGA)]

I absolutely concur. You should be very pleased with the performance your 7-08 offers. I would have listed it, but here in our rural area, ammo can be tough to find for this cartridge, so I was trying to stay with very common cartridges seeing as it was going to be your only rifle. This round and rifle choice should serve you very well! Nice buy!

 

[AKRyan]

Welcome! I'm fairly new to LRH site as well. Finding your question most interesting I figured I'd throw out my 2 cents worth. I just bought 2 Ruger American rifles in 270 Win for my daughters. They both shoot Great. I'm getting 3/8" groups at 100 yards from both of them. with factory 130 grain Ammo you should be fine for AZ hunting with lots of range. Eventually I'd recommend hand loading. Accuracy is increased and it's just plain relaxing. My family lives in Alaska, and we all hunt. my three Ladies all use 270 Win. my wife dispatches Moose every year. my 12 yr old killed her fisrt last year with my old 7x57. one shot, PROUD Daddy! All three killed Caribou this year. All one shot kills. the longest shoot was 220 yrds. Again my 12 yr old.

Call me nutty, but with the no hand loading I tend to think the 6's and 6.5's are less accommodating to your request. 30 calibers and long range begin to necessitate Magnum Chambering, that equals increased recoil. It's all in what you really want.
I'm more and more a 270 Win guy. This coming from a feller who's smallest cartridge was a .375 H&H a couple years ago.

 

[WildRose]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Tikka and Savage rifles. The CTR is a very nice rifle that I wasn't even aware of. Too bad they aren't more available. The 260 rem is more than enough to hunt AZ deer. Ammo is harder to find, but it sure has the range and low recoil I want.
Seems like the more I research calibers and brands, the more indecisive I become. Kinda like being hungry and having to many good menu choices.

As long as one has access to a computer 260 Ammo is not difficult at all to find.

Even our little Taxidermy/Outoor Gear shop here in my one horse town usually has three or four boxes of .260 Ammo on the shelves.

Typically I just call the old man at Grizzly Ammo anytime I need .260 though and buy four or five boxes at a time.

I've nearly built up a lifetime supply of brass though so it won't b long till I'm done buying factory ammo for it completely.

 

[WildRose]

Thx 6.5
I'm left eye dominate for sure. I will practice hitting targets from more realistic hunting positions, it just makes sense to me.

Eye dominance is irrelevant when shooting a scoped rifle so don't worry about it. If you shoot better and more naturally right handed stick with that. Switching hands is very unnatural mechanically and will cause you far more problems than shooting right handed with left eye dominance.

 

[Punisher]

some of us classify 100-500 yards as mid range. i feel that is an accurate description for you. you need a mid range rifle and a mid range scope.

everybody has their own preferenes. here are mine:

if you get a savage lrh 6.5 creedmore, put an aftermarket trigger on it... and NOT a timney. for the same price or less you can get a rifle basix and be way happier with it.

two of my friends have the savage LRH. it is a good mid range gun with no extra work.

your optics and your setup platform are integral in long range shooting! i suggest looking at voodoo tactical sand bags for field positions.

learning how to calibrate your DOPE is more important than reticle choice. holdover method is not precise and usually leads me to miss my target.

use a ballistic app like iStrelok that has a trajectory calibrator where you zero for 100 yards, shoot at 500 and measure your drop on the same target and input your drop at 500 in inches. it will then be very, very close for everything under that yardage.

i have used cheap ($300 or less) scope and havnt had any of them perform well enough in the field to warrant rfecommendations of any of them.

vortex Viper HST or better is where you should start.

and please, help yourself and adjust your turrets in MOA or MRAD. dont buy into these pre-made turrets for your drop. what happens when you cant find the same ammo anymore? all your DOPE will be off!

 

[snowpro440]

.308 with a brake and a good recoil pad will get all your needs covered ! 800 yard killing power , plenty of ammo available , great barrel life and very respectable accuracy.

 

[roninflag]

Thx Again for all the input.
As life often goes, plans change.
A slightly used Remington 700 SPS in 7-08 is available at a great price. I also grabbed a new Viper 4-16 HS LR on clearance at Sportsman. I'm hopeful this will work out for my needs. If not, I'll move on to another set up.
I should have the rifle in a week or so and will start new threads to seek advise on setting it up , ammo selection and improving my accuracy.
Thx again Jimp

conisidering what we shoot in az i would start with a 140 berger. and probably varget.