I am looking for something to hunt with in the SW region of the US. I will be hunting mainly deer, turkey, hogs, and coyotes. I am looking for something that is light in recoil, closest to the recoil of an m-4 is preferred. I would like to go to the range and be able to shoot 40+ rounds without my shoulder begging for me to stop. I want the rifle to last. The longer the better. I would love to use the rifle for long range target practice. With practice maybe one day kill a critter out to 600 yards.
What caliber would you recommend for what I described?
I will have a $1,000 budget. This is for the rifle and scope. If possible maybe some hand loading equipment as well.
Which rifle and optics would you recommend with the caliber you believe will fit my needs?
You're making it tough on us... LOL.
It's extremely hard to find a quality sub moa LR rifle in any caliber for under 800.00.
Quality glass, even used can run you from 400.00-800.00.
IF you want to go burn 40 rounds at the range AND expect the rifle to last you need to stick to something like the .260 Rem or .308 Win. I'll tell you though the secret to making a barrel last is to simply never get it hot. Fire one to three rounds and take a five minute break. Repeat as often as needed. This will extend the life of your barrel greatly.
See if you can pick up a decent used Remington police model in .260 or .308. .260 would be my caliber of choice. With the 130 and 140gr high bc bullets we have today you can pretty much mirror 300wm trajectories and accuracy out to 1,000yds with the .260.
For glass on such a short budget, I'd say see if you can find a good used Leupold 3.5-10x50 or zeiss conquest in the same power range.
The Vortex vipers are good mid to low priced scopes as well when you stay with a max magnification of 15x or lower.
The best advice would be to tell you to take your time and save up a little more money so you aren't just buying what you can find glass wise. My rule is to figure out just how much I can afford to spend on a scope and then plan to save and spend 200-300.00. Even the nicest, most accurate rifle is just an expensive club if you hang cheap, undependable glass on it.
Many years ago I was told by a good friend and gunsmith to always figure on spending at least as much on the scope as you do on the rifle, otherwise you are cheating yourself.
