Mountain rifle

[kameron]

I am very new to long range shooting and am looking at building a mountain rifle for an elk hunt in the future. Everyone on here seems to know a lot and have good advice.
So to start out with I am left handed so that already is hard enough to find a rifle, I already have a tikka t3 .308 with an oryx chasis, shilien 1-10 heavy barrel shooting 175 grain nosler custom competition BTHP factory loads and I really like tikka actions so I kinda thought about getting a left hand tikka in a 300 WM and maybe one day when I get into reloading I might rebarrel it to a 7mm prc when things are more available, I also thought about just getting a CA ridgeline in 300wm. Does anyone on here have any other ideas? My budget is probably around $2000 for the rifle and that would bet me a tikka with a good stock and barrel I think but I'm open to ideas.

 

[K.E.C. Darkside]

Howdy, welcome to LRH. A Ca. Ridgeline in a 300Wm would be a great gun. I bought one a couple years ago, shoots great. A 300 Wmag is never a bad purchase. IMO.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Buy the LH Tikka in 300wm and don't look back. When funds allow add a KRG stock or XLR chassis or any of the other options.
Sky is almost the limit with Tikka these days.

 

[Husky user]

Why would you want to rebarrel a 300 WM to 7mm PRC?

 

[kameron]

Why would you want to rebarrel a 300 WM to 7mm PRC?

I just liked the idea and design of the 7mm shooting high BC bullets at 3000+fps and being able buck wind better so there would be less margin for error

 

[Mark37082]

I would go with a Tikka in 300WM if you have thoughts of upgrading it down the road. One step at a time. Reloading is a great step in opening up future options but requires a significant investment to get setup appropriately. I don't have personal experience with CA, but the frequent QA issues I am reading about and the number of CA rifles I see for sale on the forums leads me to steer clear at the current time.

 

[LkeAF]

Howdy, welcome to LRH. A Ca. Ridgeline in a 300Wm would be a great gun. I bought one a couple years ago, shoots great. A 300 Wmag is never a bad purchase. IMO.

Agreed. I have a Ridgeline 300 WM with well over 1K rounds through it that still shoots lights out to 1K yds. I did just have a buddy pick up a Ridgeline in 7MM PRC and he said that for whatever reason there are a bunch of those available in LH.

 

[kelly1]

A tikka in 300 wsm works well ,fits the action well,and will work in your 308 chassis,kelly

 

[Mcarso1]

CA Ridgeline in 6.5x284, great shooting rifle, zero complaints! My 8 yo. Grandson shot this three shot group off of bags at 100yds. He was pumped.

 

[Husky user]

I just liked the idea and design of the 7mm shooting high BC bullets at 3000+fps and being able buck wind better so there would be less margin for error

Just neck the 300WM down to 7mm and buy a barrel with a tight twist!

 

[kameron]

Just neck the 300WM down to 7mm and buy a barrel with a tight twist!

That would be wild! I don't have a lot of time to reload at the moment though since we just built a house and had a baby so I have an endless supply of honey do project's.

 

[river rat23]

I only have a sample size of 3 Christensens , but they've been great so far. I picked up a ridgeline in 7rm and one in 308. Good friend shot mine and ordered one in 300wm. All have been shooting and feeding 100%. All 3 shoot better than i can. Owned them for a few years now. You can't go wrong with CA or Tikkas . Congrats on the new baby!

 

[Lee7588]

I just liked the idea and design of the 7mm shooting high BC bullets at 3000+fps and being able buck wind better so there would be less margin for error

Why not just buy a 7mm rem mag? I have a buddy that bought a Ridgeline and he has said to stay away from them, he hadn't elaborated on why. What are you looking for in a mountain rifle?

 

[codyadams]

I just liked the idea and design of the 7mm shooting high BC bullets at 3000+fps and being able buck wind better so there would be less margin for error

You mean like the 208 LRHT @ 3000 with a bc of .364? Or how about a 212 eld-m @ 3000 with a .359 bc? That would be a 300 win mag. Compare that to the 7 prc shooting a 184 hybrid with a bc of .362 @ 3000 fps, or a 180 eld-m with a .360 bc @ 3000 fps......7 prc doesn't buck the wind any better. It has less bullet mass though, not necessarily the best thing for elk. It does however have less recoil, which may matter if you don't want to put a brake on your rifle. It will have some decent factory loaded options, which is a good point for some. There is no good brass options at this point, though by the time you would get there I bet adg or someone will be making 7 prc brass.

Not saying a 7mm won't kill elk, it absolutely will, we have killed a bunch of them with a 7mm and even a 6.5 at extended ranges (900+), however if you already have a good 300 wm....as an elk rifle, there isn't really a *practical* reason to rebarrel it into a 7 prc, other than to lower recoil. In a Tikka specifically, it may make sense to do it so you have more room for bullet seating when you handload, that is logical. However based on performance alone, the 7 prc simply is not better than a 300 wm. I know it's a ways down the line before a rebarrel on a gun you don't even have yet, but just something to chew on.

As far as rifle options, I think your on the right track. For factory options, browning also isn't a bad choice, I have worked on a couple x-bolts and a-bolts that absolutely hammered, specifically a 7mm rem mag, 270 wsm, 300 win mag and a 28 nosler, but the downside to them is far less backing for aftermarket support. For the most options down the road, I would look at the CA.