ORIGINAL: Brown Dirt Cowboy
Rammer,
I appreciate everything; it helps alot.
I won't follow everything you say to the "T", but it's great insight!!!
I was born and raised in central NJ and grew-up hunting everything with shotguns.
The only rifle I owned at that time was a marlin 336C level action in 35 Remington with iron sights.
I still own it and will never "scope-it" in case I find myselfhunting big game in dense cover again.
I haven't hunted in thirty years until a buddy of mine took me out to the skeet fieldstwo years ago and rekindled the "fire" all over again.
I've shot straight on a number of occassions so I moved to "lowgun" andstarted shootingstraight doing that, so I movedto 20 gauge "low gun" and starting shooting straight with that.
I now shoot five stand "low gun", very humbling.....
I have all the shotguns I need and now want to build the "right" battery of rifles.
So now that you know my life history;
Here is my first question -223 small varmints, 243 or 270 both-varmint&deer/utility/"tweener", 270 or30-06 big game, 308 or 300 or 338 or______ dangerous game?
Is 243 and 270 a must?
I'm looking for a quality scope with; first - illuminated reticle, second - Ball Plex/BC type reticle, third - smaller MM (less than 50 mm for low mount/good cheek weld) Remember, I'm smaller.
I am thinking to put the same scope on all my rifles for the sake of familarity/ease/comfortfor those quick decision opportunities.
Now....Thanks for the pictures......Great looking "rig"!!!
243, Savage 16, medium heavy (bull barrel?), stainless&fluted.
Is that a Harris Bi-pod?
With a sling and "all", how much does the whole "set-up" weight?
I don't "sit" real well....I'm a still hunter.
Which "flip-up" lense covers do you use?
Do they make them in 44 MM?
I'm also tuff on my stuff.
Nice coyote.....Are you a pelt hunter?
I use to trap muskrats as a kid.
Is there a bounty in SD?
Someone told me they pay a bounty onevery pair of ears.......is that true?
I live in California now......screwed up hunting seasons!!!
..."sweet chocolate biscuits and red rosy apples in summer"......................E.J.
Brown - The savage is a limited run gun, its not even listed in their catalogs. I got it from my local dealer who picked up a few at the SHOT show in Reno. It is a Harris bipod in the picture, the flip-open caps are Butler Creek caps, and they make 'em for every scope that I know of. Just a guess, I'd say the gun is around the 10lb mark all dressed up, give or take a half pound. With a quality padded sling, its no problem toting it around. I am a pelt hunter. I cover a few states every winter hunting coyotes. Come mid December I will start wackin' an stackin' the dogs. There isn't a bounty here, I sell the coyotes "on the carcus" I don't skin them out myself.
When you start talking dangerous game, the minimum I'd reccomend would be a 338 (depends on what dangerous game I guess). Lets say the Big Bears, I wouldn't go after them unless I had a 338 or 375 in my hands, or a 45/70 or 444 or 450 marlin, something along those lines. I'd skip right over the 30 cals.
Since you have a 223, and a 30-06, the 243 would definately be a good in between/utility gun.