First purpose bought long range hunting rifle.

[Fitch]

I found a Savage BVSS chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum on GunBroker. According to the seller, who apparently has quite a few of them, it was part of a special run of long action BVSS rifles in several calibers including .300WM. I thought about it since last Wednesday. I finallly couldn't stand it any longer and bought it.

My thinking, based on input from this forum in another thread where I was asking for input for my "other:" 7mm-mag (the Ruger 77 MK-II from my Nephew) is that 168g Berger VLD loads will cover me for anything I'm likely to hunt in PA (white tail, coyotes, ground hogs) to ranges beyond which I'll be able to spot them. Based on having shot my buddies BVSS in .22-250 I know I like the stock on the rifle, and the weight (should be close to 12.5 lbs all up) for comfortable shooting with out a brake (~15.5 ft-lbs of recoil). I can lug a 12.5 lb rifle to a stand with a sling no problem. There are a couple of places I may be able to use it for up to 500 yard shots on whitetail. So what the heck, for the price ($600.00 + shipping and transfer fee) I didn't see how I was going to beat it as a beginner's long distance hunting rifle. And I can certainly rebarrel it myself if that seems indicated or in the best of all worlds I wear it out - I've done that to Savages before.

Richard Franklin goes after ground hogs way out there with his .300 WSM so I figure this thing is good for ground hogs at significant ranges as well.

The cartridge should work well "out there" on game as I develope the skills needed to take longer and longer shots with it.

The dies, some Winchester brass, and a couple of boxes of 160g Accubond bullets arrived here today. The AB's will be worked up into loads for the Ruger. I have some Berger 168 on order to use in this most recent rifle.

I have the following projects going:

Load development and debugging of the Ruger 7-mag from my Nephew.
Finishing up the accurizing my Dad's old Winchester Model 70 and working up some deer loads for it.
Continuing and finishing load development for the Remington 700 BDL in .17 Remington I bought last fall.
The new 7-mag BVSS which will get a good bore and crown inspection, trigger adjustment, new pillars and DEVCON 10110 bedding before load development even starts.
Rebarreling my wife's sporterized -03 SPR.

On top of which there will be the weekly coyote hunt, countless ground hog hunts, horses to ride and take care of (I trim their feet among other things) ... how did I "ever" have time to work?

This is going to be a F U N summer !

Fitch

 

[Moman]

Fitch, you've got a lot of fires to put out but I'm sure you'll have a good time doing it. I remember reading one of your posts that you didn't own a magnum, and now in about a weeks time, you have two. That's awesome. Good luck with it all.

 

[Bravo 4]

LRH strikes again. When you open this website, there should be some kind of warning or disclaimer.

I'm sure you will not be disapointed with your purchase.

 

[trueblue]

Good buy, and its always nice to have a list.

 

[Fitch]

LRH strikes again. When you open this website, there should be some kind of warning or disclaimer.

Roger that!!

I'm sure you will not be disapointed with your purchase.

I won't be.

I'm really looking forward to this new rifle. I was busy designing a rifle that would work for a little old man (5-7, 170 lbs, 68 years young) to shoot at least 800 yards at mule deer and 1,000 yards at coyotes and Whitetail. I have all sorts of notes here on what it was going to be based on reading about all the great rifles on this forum.

What I had decided on was a heavy barreled (#5 or #6 contour) 7mmMAG that weighed around 12 to 13 lbs all up with scope so it would be comfortable to shoot with out a brake but still be packable to stands with a good sling on it. I wanted 26" stainless barrel and action, a detachable box magazine, and a comfortable laminated stock (I just like the feel of some sort of wood better than kevlar or fiberglass)

Then this rifle showed up for slightly less than half of what I was thinking I'd have to spend to build one even though I would be building it my self. The only thing it's missing from my list is the detachable box magazine (which I can probably add if I decided I "really" want it). Weight, stock, caliber, stainless - it's like Savage made the rifle just for me.

The ballistics of the 7-mag are about perfect for what I want to do with it. It should only need one bullet - the 168g Berger VLD will do all I had in mind. I'm expecting the rifle to launch it someplace around 2950 to 3050 fps. That will get it done for anything I'm likely to hunt here in PA at ranges farther than I'll be able to see the game.

Am I excited? Oh yeah!

Trueblue,

You're right, it's good to have a list. Life isn't a spectator sport - it's a first person experience. I'm convinced it's no conicidence that "List" and Living" both start with an "L". Doing is living. Everything else is just existing.

Fitch

 

[Joel Russo]

Good luck with the new rifle Fitch..

Going to need the 7mm Mag as I hear the groundhogs around the Carlisle area are tough critters...

 

[johnnyk]

Fitch,
I just purchased my second BVSS last week. I like the rifles too. I bought a used .300WinMag in Wa. state in 2008. Hardly shot, replaced old trigger with Rifle Basix - nice trigger. I initially had plans to bed the thing but after I shot it decided that could wait a bit.
Just picked up a 6.5X284 (new) last week for 600 bucks. I will get brass/dies and mounts once I get settled in Georgia. Good luck with you new rifle. Let us know how she shoots! JohnnyK.

 

[Fitch]

Fitch,
I just purchased my second BVSS last week. I like the rifles too. I bought a used .300WinMag in Wa. state in 2008. Hardly shot, replaced old trigger with Rifle Basix - nice trigger. I initially had plans to bed the thing but after I shot it decided that could wait a bit.

That sounds promising.

FWIW: I decided to bed all new rifles before starting load development as a matter of standard practice. I figure if I'm going to invest a couple hundred bux (easier to do than most realize) in developing loads, I should do it after I've done the bedding. I've had bedding invalidate load development but improve the rifle significantly. So I'll just do it. But I'm sure glad to hear yours didn't "need" it to shoot acceptably.

Just picked up a 6.5X284 (new) last week for 600 bucks.

That's what I paid for mine (new). Ken is a busy guy!

I will get brass/dies and mounts once I get settled in Georgia. Good luck with you new rifle. Let us know how she shoots! JohnnyK.

Oh yeah!

Fitch