Rifle dilemma

[Dr. Vette]

Nothing wrong with the 7mm Rem Mag, but I understand what you mean about the Savage being clunky.
One of my first centerfire rifles was a Savage in 270 WSM. Great caliber, very accurate, and even a decent appearing wood stock. However, I could never get past the clunky feeling of the bolt no matter how much I tried to tweak the mechanism. So, I sold it and moved on. The new owner ( a friend of mine) thinks its great.

 

[TheLongRanger83702]

I am seeking guidance on what to do for a general white tail rifle with a max range out to probably 400 yards or so. I am primarily a bow hunter, but decided this last year to fill my tag with a rifle and took a nice 8 point buck. Unfortunately I had sold off all of my hunting rifles to build a long range 6 creedmoor off of a bighorn TL3, which was terrible to carry in the field.
I ended up picking up a savage 110 storm in 7mm rem mag, but I am concerned that it's too much gun for whitetail in my range limitations. Now I am debating getting a 20" .308 barrel for the tl3 or selling the savage and getting a tikka in .308 or 30-06.
I have had several hunting rifles in the past that would fill this role perfectly, but I tend to get inpatient and sell them off to fund other projects. I want to just have a rifle set up in the safe that I can grab if I don't fill my tag with a bow, and just stick with it. Is the tikka worth it over the savage? Am I foolish to not utilize the awesome action I have set up with a great trigger and scope? Why can't I buy them all?

.308 Win

 

[lhead71]

There are many many calibers capable for what you're asking to do. Start with .243, 6 creed, all the 25's, 6.5's, 7mm's and 30 cals on up. Nothing wrong with a 308 win out to 500 on deer. If you're looking for ultralight without a brake for recoil management, I would look at 6.5x55 Swede, 6.5 creed, 260 rem, 7x57, 7mm-08, 284, 280 reg and AI. It's about bullet placement and correct bullet type, which I'm sure you're aware of already.

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Im a big fan of very light weight rifles chambered in .270 Win for Whitetail deer. I own a Weatherby Ultra Light , in 270 Win , that comes with a full 24 inch Fluted S/S Krieger barrel . It weights 5 3/4 pounds . I usually have a Leupold vari X3 in 2.5X to 8X power on it for farm deer in West Virginia ,but I can also put a Vari X 3, in 3.5X to 10 X, or a 4.5 X to 14 X , in case longer shots might be needed. As an old guy, my personal limit for this rifle is 300 yards. A younger man with better eyes can comfortably shoot deer over 400 with this rifle. Kimber make a very nice ultra light as well. You should google these two rifles . You might like one of them !! It came with a flat Grey Stock, I cant resist making things "BETTER " so I had the stock Hyrodipped and made Snow Camo .

 

[Janno05]

I should have mentioned in the initial post that I'm a lefty, so it cuts back on some of the options listed here. It's funny how life works, a couple years ago I had a savage 7mm that I picked up for cheap, it shot great, was the first rifle I took out to 1k yards, but someone wanted it more than I did and I sold it. The only reason I'm stuck on a tikka is that I took one on trade that I have since sold and the action was amazingly smooth.

 

[Mike Matteson]

If you are looking at a different rifle or changing out the barrel. You might look at Hammer bullets. I haven't tried them yet, but have some. I am impress by them. The only thing is you have to increase the twist rate of the barrel. 7mm Mag will do any job needed beyond 400yds out 600yds. Just need to know where to hold or have scope that will do the job for you. If your rig is heavy them change out the barrel to lighten it up. That way not having to change everything else or adding too.

 

[T Bone]

If you're worried about meat damage, then don't shoot the deer in the first place.
Be glad there are people with lots of rifles and share there knowledge!
I would like to suggest the TC venture. There no such thing as to many guns, there is always room for one more.
Stephen

 

[Bullmark]

After many years of shooting many calibers up to a .338, I have formed some pretty strong conclusions. In no particular order: For one, dead is dead. A well placed shot with almost any caliber will kill a deer.
Next, the importance of that well placed shot. You really need to practice at a distance before lobbing lead at an animal.
I'm not talking about full days at a range every week....but at least enough sessions to learn from and make adjustments.
Next, and true for everyone I know, you won't practice with a rifle that u don't like to shoot, mainly because of recoil.
Many will say, and it's true, that they don't feel recoil when shooting at game. But at the range they feel it....I know I do.
If I haven't shot a rifle at longer distances, I'd have no confidence.
So it all kinda ties together.
And for me, I've settled on the .280ai as the one that checks all the boxes. I've owned several and maybe it was the builds/loads or some combo, but the felt recoil is minimal juxtaposed with the range and stopping power.
Ive never shot 1000yds....I'm impressed by those that do, but 400-500yds is a long ways. I was a diehard serious bowhunter for 25yrs and it was all about how close I could get.
Anyway, if you're gonna have one rifle to meet your needs, make sure it's one that you'll look forward to shooting, and not have least bit of reluctance.

 

[Ken61]

My choice when I was deer hunting was a 243.

 

[Huggy]

I am seeking guidance on what to do for a general white tail rifle with a max range out to probably 400 yards or so. I am primarily a bow hunter, but decided this last year to fill my tag with a rifle and took a nice 8 point buck. Unfortunately I had sold off all of my hunting rifles to build a long range 6 creedmoor off of a bighorn TL3, which was terrible to carry in the field.
I ended up picking up a savage 110 storm in 7mm rem mag, but I am concerned that it's too much gun for whitetail in my range limitations. Now I am debating getting a 20" .308 barrel for the tl3 or selling the savage and getting a tikka in .308 or 30-06.
I have had several hunting rifles in the past that would fill this role perfectly, but I tend to get inpatient and sell them off to fund other projects. I want to just have a rifle set up in the safe that I can grab if I don't fill my tag with a bow, and just stick with it. Is the tikka worth it over the savage? Am I foolish to not utilize the awesome action I have set up with a great trigger and scope? Why can't I buy them all?

Given your apparent propensity to buy then sell at the drop of a hat, my personal recommendation would be to buy the Savage since it is less expensive (although you don't seem to mind dropping coin for quality) but is still a quality product.
There are SO many variables to buying a new Boom Stick, not the least of which is visual appeal, that can boggle the mind.
Regardless the platform my personal perspective is to go with the .30-06 caliber over the .308.
Don't get me wrong, the .308 is a FINE cartridge and can take most any four-legged critter on this continent but the extra oomph the -06 gives you allows for a bit more distance, more on-target terminal effect and an even larger range of usable projectiles.
Now depending on what you plan to hunt and where (mountains over plains over desert hills) the caliber gains of one over the other may not make a hill of beans, so ther is that to consider as well.
It all comes down to filtering the variables for YOUR hunting style, location and range of game.
In the end you could buy one of each and be a happy Man as well.

 

[Bryerific]

One factor you might consider is how big are the whitetail you are hunting? A 7mag might be a bigger gun for those little southern deer but as you go north and west I would say it isn't too much. I have shot a couple southern Texas whitetail with a 7mag at a couple hundred yards and even then I didn't regret the bigger gun but if I was hunting them exclusively I might think about downsizing. Overall, I have shot a lot of deer with a 7mag and while it isn't my favorite deer cartridge (that would go to my 7-08) I wouldn't feel the need to buy a new caliber to replace it... unless I was looking for a reason to get a new caliber!
Also, as a lefty and Savage shooter, those Storms might not be the smoothest, but some of them shoot!

 

[adk hunter]

Get the hacksaw out and lop a few inches off the 7mag. barrel. Then, get the reloading press out and load up some lighter weight lower charge loads and wack whitetails and paper. Then if you go bigger you can always stuff some 160-175 grainers in it and slay any dragon on the ticket...

 

[KS2506]

Get a nice, fairly light 25-06, low recoil, good selection of factory ammo if you do not reload. Kill any deer going at the ranges you are talking about. Also nice selection of factory rifles to chose from. Personally, have used Federal 100gr Ballistic Tips for years on coyotes, deer and antelope. Sight it in 3" high at 100 yards and hold on top of back at 400. DRT!!

 

[Lenny Foffa]

Hey Janno, Do you ever watch MEAT EATER on the Outdoor or sportsman's channel ??? He is a lefty and shoots a Savage in 7 mag, in a Synthetic Cammo stock some times. Craig Boddington from Guns and Ammo TV is also a lefty !!!