68w
Well-Known Member
Good to know, nice way to try out a caliber you want to try without dropping big $
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Rifle for deer/coyotes moderate range
- Thread starter 68w
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gohring3006
Well-Known Member
just country
Well-Known Member
morning, depends on ur pocket book. 243-6mm-7-08-308-260-25-06-280.
Remington SPS-Winchester Black Shadow- Browning- Savage- Ruger.
24-26" barrel. Bolt gun. the arena is urs. the gentlemen that have made suggestions
r mostly professionals. we all have our favorites. any of the calibers mentioned
will do a very good job. I prefer medium-to heavy barrels. practice, practice,
practice.lightbulb
gun)
Remington SPS-Winchester Black Shadow- Browning- Savage- Ruger.
24-26" barrel. Bolt gun. the arena is urs. the gentlemen that have made suggestions
r mostly professionals. we all have our favorites. any of the calibers mentioned
will do a very good job. I prefer medium-to heavy barrels. practice, practice,
practice.lightbulb
gun)
I re-barreled a Remington 700 from .243 to .260 caliber. I went back and forth between the .260 and the 6.5 Creedmoor finally settling on the .260 because I do reload and could get Laupa brass. Overall I am happy with my choice but I don't think I would have been any less happy with the 6.5 Creedmoor, had I chosen it.
I own Remington, Savage and Ruger rifles and have owned Winchester. They all have pros and cons but I always go back to the Remington
I own Remington, Savage and Ruger rifles and have owned Winchester. They all have pros and cons but I always go back to the Remington
I'm also a KS resident who hunts the same stuff at the same ranges mostly.
First thing I'd ask is are you a trophy hunter?
The reason for this is that big bucks don't always offer great shots. Sometimes the only shot you will get will be at a tough angle or other less than ideal circumstance. For this I like to shoot a little more powerful rifle than the 243/6mm class. A 25-06 with a tough 100 or 110gr bullet gives me a little more confidence on a big Midwestern buck. It will also drop a coyote just fine. I'm shooting Barnes 100gr TTSX bullets in mine and a friend uses the 110 Accubond in his 25-06 and 257 Weatherby with great results.
If you aren't a trophy hunter and are willing to pass on the shots that require a little more penetration, a 243 or 6mm is darn hard to beat. I usually hunt the antlerless season with one of these rifles shooting a 90gr Accubond or Sierra 85 or 100gr Gameking. They do a great job of dropping broadside deer fast, and are great for coyotes.
Nothing against the 6.5 rifles either, my buck season deer rifle is a 264 Win mag I use the 140gr Berger VLD in currently. They do a great job in the wind and I haven't had a deer travel over 30yds after a hit from one, most never take a step.
For a KS coyote rifle I would look more at the maximum point blank range than real long range ballistics. It seems most of my shots at coyotes must be taken pretty quickly, no time to range, dial, check the wind, etc. I do much better shooting something with a high muzzle velocity and sighting it in so the bullet never goes over 2.8" higher than line of sight. That gets you close to 300yds without holding high with most of the combos I mentioned with a zero around 250yds. I have my scopes set up to dial when I do get the chance but it just doesn't always happen.
None of these are great 1000yd high BC guns, but fit hunting in KS very well.
Years like this one I end up using the guns mentioned for the majority of my predator hunting. The grass is so tall and thick that it can blow up or deflect varmint bullets from the 204 or 22-250 before they get to the target. Varmint bullets from a 243 in the 70gr range will wreck a bobcat if we ever get one to come in, so I stick to the game bullets and just accept that I will have an exit wound. I'd rather have that than miss the critter all together.
I have a friend who builds rifles so I have had him put mine together. I like 3 position or tang safeties so they are built off Winchester or Ruger actions. If I was looking to buy a factory gun right now I'd have to look hard at the Winchester 70 Extreme Weather or Coyote lite. Also the Browning X bolt Eclipse Hunter or their Hells Canyon camo models. I like a camo gun for calling coyotes, they get called a lot around here and I'll take any advantage I can get. If I got one that wasn't camo I'd likely have it Cerakoted or put camo tape on the barrel. I like having a pretty stiff stock also so when using sticks or a bipod the forend doesn't touch the barrel.
For glass I really like the Leupold VX-6 series for the hunting I do around here. They are as bright as the Swaro Z5 I use out west. I like that they have a cap to cover the CDS turret when not using it so it can't be accidentally dialed. I love the TMOA reticle for wind holds also. I have a 3-18x44 and a 3-18x50 and both are great scopes. A cheaper option I like is the Vortex Viper 4-16x44. I have Leupold 4.5-14x40 VX-III scopes on a couple rifles with the VH reticle that are nice, but the field of view is a little small for some predator hunting spots. The other scopes mentioned have at least 10ft more FOV at 100yds at their lowest power if my memory is correct. You can look that up if it interests you.
Good luck with your hunting, smoke some yotes!
Hope this helped
First thing I'd ask is are you a trophy hunter?
The reason for this is that big bucks don't always offer great shots. Sometimes the only shot you will get will be at a tough angle or other less than ideal circumstance. For this I like to shoot a little more powerful rifle than the 243/6mm class. A 25-06 with a tough 100 or 110gr bullet gives me a little more confidence on a big Midwestern buck. It will also drop a coyote just fine. I'm shooting Barnes 100gr TTSX bullets in mine and a friend uses the 110 Accubond in his 25-06 and 257 Weatherby with great results.
If you aren't a trophy hunter and are willing to pass on the shots that require a little more penetration, a 243 or 6mm is darn hard to beat. I usually hunt the antlerless season with one of these rifles shooting a 90gr Accubond or Sierra 85 or 100gr Gameking. They do a great job of dropping broadside deer fast, and are great for coyotes.
Nothing against the 6.5 rifles either, my buck season deer rifle is a 264 Win mag I use the 140gr Berger VLD in currently. They do a great job in the wind and I haven't had a deer travel over 30yds after a hit from one, most never take a step.
For a KS coyote rifle I would look more at the maximum point blank range than real long range ballistics. It seems most of my shots at coyotes must be taken pretty quickly, no time to range, dial, check the wind, etc. I do much better shooting something with a high muzzle velocity and sighting it in so the bullet never goes over 2.8" higher than line of sight. That gets you close to 300yds without holding high with most of the combos I mentioned with a zero around 250yds. I have my scopes set up to dial when I do get the chance but it just doesn't always happen.
None of these are great 1000yd high BC guns, but fit hunting in KS very well.
Years like this one I end up using the guns mentioned for the majority of my predator hunting. The grass is so tall and thick that it can blow up or deflect varmint bullets from the 204 or 22-250 before they get to the target. Varmint bullets from a 243 in the 70gr range will wreck a bobcat if we ever get one to come in, so I stick to the game bullets and just accept that I will have an exit wound. I'd rather have that than miss the critter all together.
I have a friend who builds rifles so I have had him put mine together. I like 3 position or tang safeties so they are built off Winchester or Ruger actions. If I was looking to buy a factory gun right now I'd have to look hard at the Winchester 70 Extreme Weather or Coyote lite. Also the Browning X bolt Eclipse Hunter or their Hells Canyon camo models. I like a camo gun for calling coyotes, they get called a lot around here and I'll take any advantage I can get. If I got one that wasn't camo I'd likely have it Cerakoted or put camo tape on the barrel. I like having a pretty stiff stock also so when using sticks or a bipod the forend doesn't touch the barrel.
For glass I really like the Leupold VX-6 series for the hunting I do around here. They are as bright as the Swaro Z5 I use out west. I like that they have a cap to cover the CDS turret when not using it so it can't be accidentally dialed. I love the TMOA reticle for wind holds also. I have a 3-18x44 and a 3-18x50 and both are great scopes. A cheaper option I like is the Vortex Viper 4-16x44. I have Leupold 4.5-14x40 VX-III scopes on a couple rifles with the VH reticle that are nice, but the field of view is a little small for some predator hunting spots. The other scopes mentioned have at least 10ft more FOV at 100yds at their lowest power if my memory is correct. You can look that up if it interests you.
Good luck with your hunting, smoke some yotes!
Hope this helped
68w
Well-Known Member
Lots of good opinions from valid sources, I guess next I will have to go put hands on them. In the end there are a lot of good options but I need to see what feels best, and talk my wife into the necessity of this purchase... May be a bit but I will let you know what I end up with.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
You'll enjoy it. When I was like 10 I got my first bolt-action "deer rifle" It was an old (brand new at the time) Ruger M77 MKII All-weather stainless 7mm-08 mountain rifle with the skeleton stock. Still sits in dad's gun safe to this day. That rifle stacked 'em up at the hunting camp for many years, till I upgraded to my first 7mm RemMag when I was 16.f
I'm going to build/buy another one someday. It's a great little caliber for deer hunting. And it's just as easy to reload for as it's parent cartridge, the .308 Win.
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
I've owned a lot of different brand and model rifles, too... I always come back to 2 rifles. The Remington 700, and the Browning A-Bolt II. Those are the 2 that are the best actions to build off of, and make the smoothest customs from factory actions I've ever shot. A properly blueprinted 700 is smooth, but a blueprinted A-Bolt II is butter-smooth! And that 60º bolt-throw on the ABII makes it a really fast cycle-rate for follow-up shots. There are lots of other good actions out there, but my 2 favorites are those mentioned above for those reasons.
gohring3006
Well-Known Member
If I can get the 162 ELD to 2700fps it would a nice rig to play around with at 1000 yard steel..
MudRunner2005
Well-Known Member
I recommend the 168 VLD for hunting, or you could A.I. and long-throat the chamber and shoot the 180 Hybrids to maximize case capacity. The ballistic numbers of the 7mm-08 with 180 Hybrids is about the same as my .308 Win pushing 210VLD/215 Hybrids. Rhian (Bigngreen) says he's shot his .308 Win with 215's over 1,500 yards with exceptional results. I think 1,000 would be a cakewalk, if you get results like he does.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Funny, I have the exact same bags and the same stock pack on most of my rifles. We are a smaller family here than we like to admit.gun)
WildRose
Well-Known Member
A guy can buy a lifetime supply of .260 Rem Lapua brass right now for just under 1.00ea.
Without a doubt though there are more factory options for loaded ammo now for the 6.5CM but if you're starting with a good rifle you don't need a whole lot of options so it's mostly a wash.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
If you're in KS you aren't too far from retailers with large selections of new and used rifles so go put your hands on a few and see which seems to fit you the best and work forward from there.
Especially with kids involved though I really prefer the three position safety that comes with the M70's and M77 Hawkeyes.
Don't look past the CZ's either. They have a great Mauser type action and the best factory trigger I've ever touched with their single set trigger.
