budget medium range hunting rifle/scope

[killerspoons]

cost of both need to be under $1200 and loooking to use it out to 500 yards on deer/elk once I get good enough. recoil needs to be around a 30-06 preferably less.

[C.O. Shooter]

I would have to say a Savage model 11/111 LRH, maybe in a 6.5 creedmore, 260 or 6.5x284, and a vortex PST 4-16x50. This may be a little over 1200$ but not by much. This is what I would do anyways.

[1SevenZero]

Used Savage w/ Heavy or Varmint barrel and accutrigger. I'm thinking you'll have to get used to heavier recoil if you want to bring down elk at 500, but someone wiser can chime in on that. Reasonably priced, you can tune the trigger to a lighter pull, good barrels. Additionaly the action by design doesn't require the precision machine work other actions do for long range accuracy. Glass bed the stock yourself for cheap.

Scope wise I'm a fan of the Vortex Viper series with a mildot reticle. Reasonable price, great optics quality, and no questions lifetime warranty.

EGW 20 MOA HD scope base. As for rings I like serial numbered matched set rings. I went Seekins,but there are definitely cheaper options. I also prefer aluminum over steel in these components for weight savings.

This combo should fall under your price range.

[Long Time Long Ranger]

The Tikka T3 light is a good choice. I like it in the 300 wsm and 300 winchester since they don't mke the 338 any more. The 300 wsm isn't much difference from the 30-06 in recoil.

[trebark]

Rifle: look at the various Savage models. They are economically priced and shoot well. If you can get one with the accu-trigger, that would be good. That way you can adjust the trigger weight down. (most rifles come from the factory with a 5lb+ trigger pull. Generally speaking, 2.5lbs or less is much better.)

Cartridge: 30-06 may do what you want, but a 300wsm or 300winmag will take care of it for sure. If you're concerned about recoil, consider adding a muzzle brake to your rifle.

Optics: buy the best optics you can afford. Look at Bushnell, Vortex and Nikon.

[johnnyk]

killerspoons,
I scour the gun shops and pawn shops for used, heavy barreled rifles. These can usually be found in pretty good shape at fair prices.

The last two I bought were $500 each and had seen little to no use and certainly no abuse. A Win70 HVB .243 was in excellent condition and a Savage 112 BVSS .300WinMag was in very good condition. I talked to both of the previous owners, the .243 had seen about 40 rounds and the .300, about a 100 rds.

I put an older Nikon Monarch UCC 6.5-20X44 AO with fine crosshairs that I bought years earlier on the .243 mated with Leupold Long Range STD base and Burris Signature rings. I have the trigger adjusted down to 2lbs and with less than $1000.00 invested it has produces groups of 2.5-3" groups at 500yds with handloads, quiet regularly.

On the Savage .300 I mounted a Nikon Buckmaster 6-18X40 with side parallex adjustment and Target Dot in Burris Rings/Mounts. This is the pre-Accu-Trigger, so I added a Rifle Basix trigger set at 2lbs. Again, roughly a $1000.00 investment and accuracy is right at 3" at 500yds. I took this rifle to the range (Red Cloud) at Fort Stewart, Ga. and took it out to 1000yds. I was shooting at a mound of hard Georgia red clay but could easily see my hits and with a little adjustment of my range card (derived from JBM) I was stacking 'em on top of each other.

500yds is doable and doesn't have to break your bank. JohnnyK.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by C.O. Shooter

I would have to say a Savage model 11/111 LRH, maybe in a 6.5 creedmore, 260 or 6.5x284, and a vortex PST 4-16x50. This may be a little over 1200$ but not by much. This is what I would do anyways.

Lets quantify that a bit. Per chance to you mean a Savage 11 Lightweight Hunter? An 11-111 is a bit more than a grand by itself. Havs one of those too....

I also have an 11 Lightweight Hunter in 308 and 7mm-08, both with Viper PST, 4-16's and both are right at 1200 (with some educated bartering) bucks with rings and interestingly, both weigh in with 4 in the magazine at less than 7.5 pounds.

Nice toting rifles that won't wear your shoulder out ot weigh your pack down.

The 308 is my utility rifle because the ammo is available anywhere.