What second rifle for western hunting?

[redneckbmxer24]

Well I had a change of plans. I stopped in two stores on my road trip and both had 7PRC in the ELDX flavor on the shelf, neither had 7RM but one had federal power shock 300WM which I found interesting that the availability was the way it was and backwards from what I would have thought.

I made the mistake of opening one of the boxes of 7PRC and thinking **** it's a good looking round. I thought about it over the weekend and decided I'd go back this evening and get one box to have. Their prices were pretty good but they had a sale going on where you buy a 5 gallon bucket and fill it and anything in it is 12% off so needless to say I have a little stash of 7PRC ammo now and need a rifle to shoot it in.

 

[kgarrett]

I think you'll be very happy with it. Only reason I never got a 7PRC is that I already have a hunting rifle in 7 RM and have added a 6.5 and 300 PRC (switch barrel GW Nexus). Even a gun nut like me has a hard time justifying adding a 7 PRC to those 3…

The 7mm magnums are the ideal 1 cartridge western big game rifle IMO.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I stopped by another gun store in NC on the way back yesterday and they had all 3 flavors of Hornady 7PRC ammo in large amounts and a federal load. I got a box of the 160gr CX to try too.

They also had a ton of 7RM ammo and 300WM. Probably 15-20 of each. That's more or less what I expect to see for availability from a large store but it's nice seeing PRC on so many shelves.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I had another change of plans. I learned that the LA Havaks (and 6.5 PRC's) use proprietary mags and not AICS so I'd be stuck with their CF mags. I was under the assumption that it was a LA AICS bottom metal like the short action and I'm glad I didn't order one with that assumption. I want the ability to run higher cap mags to use it as a backup rifle for NRLH matches too, and also just not be stuck with one magazine which I've read of some feeding issues with.

I went back to the drawing board and while looking at options I saw that the Bergara Sierra's that were released at SHOT just started shipping and I found them in stock so I ordered one. It's not my first choice, but probably isn't a bad choice. It's .5lbs heavier and has a polymer stock with no bedding block or even pillars, they're generally throated long, and aren't stainless but they generally shoot well, it's cerakoted, it's inletted for an M5 bottom metal so I can toss a Hawkins in it, it's 4" shorter so will be a little handier with a suppressor and cost less than $900 so I figured it was worth rolling the dice. My biggest concern is the weight since it's on the heavier side but if it shoots well and is consistent then I can live with it.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I should have followed my initial instinct and the advice of those who said to get the Element. Things with the Bergara didn't go so good. First range trip out to test different ammo and break it in it was shooting 3-4" groups on average. I removed the stock at the range and removed some paint overspray in the bedding that I thought might have been contributing to it, swapped scopes, played with different action screw torque settings and nothing helped. It was copper fouling terribly the whole time and when I got back home I did a thorough inspection and found what has to be the worst lug contact I have ever seen on a rifle and the inside of the barrel looked like a copper mine and took several hours with Boretech eliminator to get it clean while my PH2 patched out with Hoppes. So it's on the way to Bergara and I'm just going to sell it whenever it comes back once I confirm it's fixed or send it back again if it's not. I'm 0/3 on Bergaras at this point and I think I've learned my lesson, every one of them has shot like *** out of the box. Beyond the accuracy I'm not in love with the ergonomics either after shooting it beside my PH2, it's just a far nicer rifle to get behind.

So now I've got an Element in 7 PRC ordered and should have it next week.

 

[kgarrett]

I should have followed my initial instinct and the advice of those who said to get the Element. Things with the Bergara didn't go so good. First range trip out to test different ammo and break it in it was shooting 3-4" groups on average. I removed the stock at the range and removed some paint overspray in the bedding that I thought might have been contributing to it, swapped scopes, played with different action screw torque settings and nothing helped. It was copper fouling terribly the whole time and when I got back home I did a thorough inspection and found what has to be the worst lug contact I have ever seen on a rifle and the inside of the barrel looked like a copper mine and took several hours with Boretech eliminator to get it clean while my PH2 patched out with Hoppes. So it's on the way to Bergara and I'm just going to sell it whenever it comes back once I confirm it's fixed or send it back again if it's not. I'm 0/3 on Bergaras at this point and I think I've learned my lesson, every one of them has shot like *** out of the box. Beyond the accuracy I'm not in love with the ergonomics either after shooting it beside my PH2, it's just a far nicer rifle to get behind.

So now I've got an Element in 7 PRC ordered and should have it next week.

Sorry to hear that, hope the element treats you better!

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Sorry to hear that, hope the element treats you better!

I'm still concerned about the recoil in a 6lbs rifle but if it shoots close to as good as my 6.5 PH2 I'll be happy with it. It shoots in the .2's-.3's for 5 shots with FGMM 140gr SMK and Hornady 143gr ELDX and in the .5's-.6's with Winchester deer season XP. One 5 shot group of Winchester went into .210".