What to get, first time gun buyer.
 

Hey all, I am currently in the market for a 300 win mag. and was looking for some suggestions for models and would like to stay under 800 for the gun. I have looked at the tikka t3, t/c venture and icon, and weatherby vanguard. They all seem like nice guns. Like the lightness of the t3 but like the build quality on the t/c's. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Or pros and cons of the ones i listed. Thanks

Also would like to go synthetic...

First of all, welcome aboard.

I personally am a big fan of savages and the weatherby vanguards. Both usually have great out of the box accuracy. Have you shot a 300 win mag before? What game will you hunt? How much will you practice? How long of shots will you take?

Yeah, i shot a savage 300 win mag. my brother has. I will be deer hunting with it and plan on making trips out west in the next few years elk hunting. I would probly shoot it 1-2 a month, and would like to be able to shoot 500 yards with good accuracy if i have the chance. Plan on getting a nice scope $400-500 range so would like to stay around 800 and under with the gun.

Good answers. Sometimes people start out wanting a Magnum just because it sounds cool, and don't have a clue about the recoil or ammo costs. I hate recoil and prefer a .270, .308, 30-06, or 35 whelen in a fairly heavy gun. Of the choices you listed, I would probably choose the T3 or vanguard. You might also check out the Howa's. It is the same action as the vanguards. I would probably choose a synthetic stainless set-up with a scope such as Ziess conquest, bushnell 4200, Leupold vx-L or 3 or a Burris in 4-14x42 or 44mm. You might at least take a look at the savage weather warrior.

It looks as if the T3, Vanguard, or weather warrior can all be bought for less than $600, so I would find which one shoulders best and has the best fit and finish. You might also check the bolt throw and trigger pull.

bigbuck,


First I would switch the budget you have for the gun (To: $500) and the scope (To: $800), especialy if you want to shoot long distance.




You'll need good glass to shoot 500 yards...........................

X2 what Sheridan said.Might check gunsamerica or gunbroker if you don't mind a used piece.You can get some really nice stuff for good prices.

Ok, so i was thinking that too, spend more on the optics as all the guns should be pretty close in accuracy. I think i have narrowed it down to either the tikka t3 or the T/C Venture. What kinda scope would you guys recommend for 500 yards or more, to use on this gun. $500-$800 range on the scope. I have heard alot of good things about the ziess and was kinda leaning that way but what power for that range.

A light weight in 300WSM (or 300WM) will have a healthy amount of recoil. Any of the ones you mentioned will suffice. Just pick what feels best to you. Personally, I'd also be looking at Ruger's. They are tough, dependable and fairly priced. Scope-wise the Vortex Viper, Sightron Big Sky and Zeiss Conquest are great choices. :rock:

Listen to Ridge Runner. 500 yards is a little ways out and requires good equipment and practice to make ethical shots on animals. Do you have a place to practice shooting at 500 yards? If so, you're way ahead of most of us.

I would recommend that if you want to shoot long range, you invest in a good rifle, a very good scope, a laser rangefinder, and last, but not least, a handloading setup.
Handloading will let you squeeze the best accuracy out of your rifle with bullets suitable for long range shooting. I've never had a rifle that I couldn't get to 1 MOA with handloading, but only one that consistently shot <1MOA with factory loads, and it was a target/varmint weight rifle.

Mike

Well around here on the farm we have land that would let me shoot that distance. I am not new to hunting, and have been gun hunting for 8 years or so with my uncles 7mag. I just used that every year and have finally decided to purchase my own rifle. The 500 was just a number i threw out there as i plan on going elk hunting and if it came down to it with practice and all that i would be confident at that kinda yardage. Just wondering on the gun and scope that would give me a chance to do this. I know it will take some knowledge on my end.

If you want to consistently (key word) make 500 yrd shots on big game, a factory sporter rifle probably won't cut it. I would look at a Sendero...

Bigbuck,


How about looking into this in either .270 or .30-06


http://www.gunblast.com/Marlin-XL7.htm




With one of these on it.


http://www.opticsplanet.net/burris-4...le-scopes.html

Savage Weather Warrior
 

I recommend Savage rifles. With the money I saved, I had a Savage stainless steel Weather Warrior dipped in Realtree AP camo just because I wanted a different looking gun (compared to my walnut and blue). I sanded down the seams before having it dipped and it looks very cool. It's accurate too. I dropped the savage pad, not that it wasn't good, it was very soft, but it started falling apart when I screwed and unscrewed it a couple of times. I purchased a limbsaver which fits better than the stock pad (IMO).

ok, maybe i set my expectations to high. Lets just say 300 or so yards instead of 500. The only reason i was going with 500 was just throwing out a yardage that might be atainable out west elk hunting. Around this area would be more like 300 max in most places and I most under that. Well just looking for brand recommendations in 300 win mag and a scope that would work good out to 400-500 yards. Thanks for the recommendations and this would be a hunting rifle. Not for competition. Maybe I was a little far with the 500 yards but i figured out west i could see shots that far. The only way I would take that kinda shot is if i was confident in it and had practiced that range and the conditions were right.

Yep thats why I recommend the Sendero or even a 700P, you can still get a .300 WinMag also. A little heavy for all day packing, but great LR rigs for the price...

...........A lot of outfitters won't even let you take a shot much past 300 yds., even if you feel confident in it.

Shooting long range off a bench rest is entirely different fron doing it in a hunting situation. The first time that I attempted a 300 yard shot at a deer fron the sitting position, I didn't have anything to rest the rifle on. I just had my elbows on my knees, and everytime my heart made a beat the crosshairs left the deer. The 300 mag kicks like a mule, I'd rather use something like a .308 or a 30-06. Ammo is cheaper so you can shoot more often, and they have more than enough power out to 300 yards.

Hard to go wrong with a popular rifle. You're not going to notice much difference in performance once you've gotten the features you want. I reload for my rifles and my friends' as well. Remington, Savage, Ruger, Kimber (I'm partial to the cosmetics of the 700)--they're all good performers from my experience. The 300mag has very manageable recoil. A lot of today's rifles are already equipped with recoil pads which work wonders. I can't tell much difference in recoil between my 7mag that came with a pad and my 25-06 that doesn't have one.

Distance shooting can be difficult. I can say that a 6" orange target looks mighty small at 500 yards through a 12x scope, and even difficult to locate in a 9x. As big as a deer or elk's vitals are though, it's not out of reason to gain the talent to hit this. 400yds is about the breaking point in 'ease' I'd say. After here, most full-power loads start dropping substantially and accurate range estimation is a must. I'm from mule deer country, and most shots are about 200yds, and with any skill of stalking you can usually get within 300yds of a distant target. Regardless, there's nothing wrong with the bragging rights of having distance-shooting capabilities in your bag of tricks. It's the really close, or really long shots that are the best stories IMO.

Summarized-- you should be fine with any rifle you want if it has the features you like. It'll take practice and memorization, but long shots aren't impossible.

As for a rifle I'll also recommend the new Savage Weather Warrior Series. I just purchased one, equipped with the AccuStock and AccuTrigger setup's and I love it. I have my chambered in .308 but there was a .300 Win Mag I also looked at and held. Out of box performance was excellent with groups right around one inch at 100 hundred yards with cheap Winchester factory ammo.

I put a Burris FullField II scope on my Savage 3x9x40mm with the Ballistic Plex reticle. I wouldn't hesitate to take a shot out to 250 or 300 yards with my setup. I looked at scopes from $100 up to about $800 and decided I liked the $199 Burris over the Leupold VX-III I was looking at next to it. I don't know why, but the Burris seemed a lot clearer to me, I could be wrong overall but I'm just relaying my personal experience.

I will say learning to handload has been great fun, and will really improve your accuracy. I haven't shot any of my test loads for the new rifle, so I can't comment to handloaded accuracy yet, but I have a few test rounds ready for the range.