I think all of the rifles you mention will be just fine. Pick the one that "feels" best to you and you will be happy with it. Of the four, I'd personally go with the Winchester or the Ruger in 6.5x55 Swedish or .260 Rem, respectively. I just love a controlled round feed action vs push feed, and I dig 6.5mm bullets. But please don't cheat yourself and bypass the Tikka and CZ rifles, though. Check them out before you buy.

As far as the cartridge is concerned, you just can't beat the .270 Win for your purposes. The .270 has killed more deer (and elk) than the .280 and 7mm-08 combined and there is nothing that 140gr .284 bullets can do that 130gr .277 bullets can't. Same holds true for 150gr/.284 vs 140gr/.277, 160gr/.284 vs 150gr/.277 and 175gr/.284 vs 160gr/.277. You can easily find premium bullets for the .270 in all these weights and in various configurations and you will find many more choices in .270 Win factory ammo over the other two. I'm not saying to stay away from the .280 or the 7mm-08. Quite the contrary: I love both (especially the 7mm-08) and would recommend them wholeheartedly. Just don't let the old bullet selection argument sway you...there is simply no difference in the way the three rounds will perform on game with the bullets that are available.

Whatever you get, put the best quality scope on it that you can afford.

Good Dogwork and Good Hunting

Edited by - seattlesetters on 11/06/2002 10:52:19