Buddy wants one rifle for everything...?

[Miller27]

1) All ungulates to 400 yds (deer mostly, but elk, moose, etc will almost certainly be tackled occasionally).

2) Steel and paper to 800 plus (occasionally out to 1200 just for giggles on big targets).

3) $1500 for scope and rifle.

4) Factory rifle most likely (see #3).

5) I'll load for him, perhaps indefinitely, but reasonably common factory ammo is a must.

6) He only hunts with lead free. So it needs to have a good factory option in copper (see #5). He's cool with slinging lead at paper/steel, but verboten on animals.

7) He can handle recoil, but I'd like to steer him towards "a bit more than minimum" that will get the job done, so a factory rifle with a brake is a high priority, but not a deal breaker.

So...

Rifle?

Scope?

Cartridge?

I have my own opinions, but would love to hear from the peanut gallery. Just stay in the lane. None of the above 7 points can be violated and keep him happy. He's not a high volume shooter, but I'd like to push him that direction, so keep economy in mind too.

My recommendation would be either a 280AI in whatever rifle you'd like inside your budget as.
Or preferred option would be an M700 pattern rifle like the Bergara B14 hunter in 7 Rem Mag. Lots of factory options, but specifically for the reloading advantage. If you get the chamber throated to accept a 3.5"-3.6" coal then you can push a 175gr bullet upwards of 3100-3200 fps without upping pressure. That will give you back the advantages the 7 Rem Mag should always of had from the beginning.
My personal rifle is a 7 Mag setup that way and I'm running 168 Barnes LRXs at 3100 with a coal of 3.5" and a 26" barrel. For reference the Barnes load data states a coal of 3.34ish and velocity of 2850 max, which a 280Ai will do all day, so if you want to get all the performance in a 7mm, go with a long throated Rem mag. Otherwise I think the 280Ai would likely be your best all around rifle.

Extra options, a 300 or 338 win setup the same 3.6" coal as the 7 Rem mag option I stated above would also be a viable choices as well.

 

[25-06Stick]

That is a tall order for $1500.00. I would be checking out the for sale section on various forums.

 

[greenejc]

1) All ungulates to 400 yds (deer mostly, but elk, moose, etc will almost certainly be tackled occasionally).

2) Steel and paper to 800 plus (occasionally out to 1200 just for giggles on big targets).

3) $1500 for scope and rifle.

4) Factory rifle most likely (see #3).

5) I'll load for him, perhaps indefinitely, but reasonably common factory ammo is a must.

6) He only hunts with lead free. So it needs to have a good factory option in copper (see #5). He's cool with slinging lead at paper/steel, but verboten on animals.

7) He can handle recoil, but I'd like to steer him towards "a bit more than minimum" that will get the job done, so a factory rifle with a brake is a high priority, but not a deal breaker.

So...

Rifle?

Scope?

Cartridge?

I have my own opinions, but would love to hear from the peanut gallery. Just stay in the lane. None of the above 7 points can be violated and keep him happy. He's not a high volume shooter, but I'd like to push him that direction, so keep economy in mind too.

I'd go with a Remington with a 24" or 26" barrel in either 280 Rem, 308 Win. or 30-06. I lean toward the -06. The 180 grain and 200 grain bullets give it very good long range potential. It also has the most options available in ammunition, both in manufacturers and in bullet weight. Ruger makes very good rifles in the -06 as well, but its hard to find one with a barrel over 22". If you can find the FTW Hunter in 30-06, it'll be a little more pricey, but it comes with rings and a threaded barrel, barrel balance and muzzle break. For an inexpensive and still useful scope, get a 4 to 16 power Nicon with aiming dots on the vertical crosshair, a mid-range Burris, a mid-range Bushnell or a leupold. They have a nice 4.5 to 14 Burris on sale on EBay for under $300 right now. If you don't want the -06, go with a 308 Win with a 24 to 26 in. barrel. You'll lose a little in velocity (100 to 150fps) but with the longer barrel, it'll still reach past 1,000 yards with 175-180 class bullets. Last is the 280 Rem or 280 AI, either of which will launch up to 175 grain bullets and take elk or moose. Ammo is more pricey and less available, but not too bad, normally. All these cartridges are medium recoil and easily handled in a standard weight (7.5 to 8lb without scope) rifle, highly effective and have long barrel life. Any larger caliber rifle or magnum cartridge will be accompanied by heavier recoil than you specified, and these three will do the job. The -06 with 200 grain bullets will kill big bear.

 

[wilkup]

So make his old 670 more modern, $1500 will go further just getting a stock and optics. One of the McMillan Game series stocks start at $500 for standard fill, PT&G Stealth bottom metal are $150, that leaves you $750 to buy a magazine and some optics.

My last budget build went $2300 but I couldn't have bought a factory rifle I was looking for for that. That included buying a used rifle, Greyboe Trekker stock, Warne Mountain Tech rings and base, Used NF 3-10X42, Trigger Tech Primary trigger, and some gunsmithing work to mount my suppressor and fix some minor inlet issues with the stock. I'm very happy with how my rifle turned out (9 lbs suppressed), and I'll put more money into it eventually with some sort of coating and maybe eventually a DBM.

For your buddies budget I'd be looking at some T3x Tikka in a cartridge he's interested in and use the rest of the money on optics and mounts. Realistically that'll be the most bang for his buck. I wouldn't call it a significant improvement over a good shooting Winchester.

BEST ANSWER!

 

[srogerson]

IMO, the 30-06 is THE "if I could only have one" cartridge. 110's for yotes, and 220s for moose.

 

[gwdlrs]

I think what your buddy is looking for is a 300 WM. IMO it is the most versatile cartridge there is.

 

[erikblank]

Well with the parameters you gave, you could go the with most the money in the rifle and cheap glass or cheap rifle and better glass. I would go with either a Savage Axis or a Ruger American. Personally I'd pick the Ruger. That should live about a $1000 for glass. He could buy new, but there's quite a few great scopes here in the classifieds in the price range. I'd go used.

That leaves the caliber. There's been a lot of great suggestions, but my personal choice goes back to if I could only have 5 gun, what would they be? For me that would be a .22 rifle, 12ga. shotgun, 9mm pistol, .223 rifle and a 30-06 rifle. So. I'd go with a 30-06. The 1200 yards is pushing it, but it can be done. I have a friend who shoots his .308 out that far with great results. Also with modern powders you can get the 30-06 real close to 300 win. mag. performance.

It's a given, no matter which way you go, he's going to have to compromise somewhere. If he could come up with a few hundred more I would recommend going with a Tikka or Bergara. Quality wise he'd be happier in the long run.

 

[snox801]

300 WM with Barnes factory.

300 wm is the ticket. Load up some hammers or several companies sell hammers in loaded ammo for only slightly more than Barnes factory.

 

[esshup]

I don't understand why anyone would hunt with only lead free bullets but to each his own, several of the calibers mentioned would fill both his and your desires.

IF hunting in California, that is the only bullet that is legal.

For the guys that are recommending the .308, what recipe are you using that will keep the bullet supersonic at 1,200 yards??

 

[D2wing]

I shoot a Tikka T3 in 7/08. I have a Grand Slam Weaver on it but Recommend a Leupold VX3i. It also has a brake and doesn't kick at all. had a Remington 700 in 7 MM mag that was very accurate and has plenty of energy to 1200 yards. More kick but really fits your requirements.

 

[Starbuck]

6.8 Western could do it all but only Browning and Winchester are chambering it. The Browning is $1000+ and from what I've read the xpr isnt the most accurate rifle ever made. So he might run out of money to stay at $1500. But caliber wise for anyone thinking 6.5 PRC the 6.8 Western can do it all...and do it better. 6.5 bullet weights are just too light for this discussion.

I researched the 6.8 Western. Not saying that it won't make things dead or that it's a bad cartridge, but if you look at the BC's advertised for the available bullets and then run a few scenarios through a ballistics calculator, it doesn't take much time to figure out that you're ahead with a properly twisted .284. Even the 7-08 with 180's gains on and overtakes many "long range" cartridges. A properly twisted 7 mag is a formidable big game round at virtually any range.

I've ran 1:9 Remington 7mm's that did well with the Barnes 168.

 

[Allen Lone wolf]

1) All ungulates to 400 yds (deer mostly, but elk, moose, etc will almost certainly be tackled occasionally).

2) Steel and paper to 800 plus (occasionally out to 1200 just for giggles on big targets).

3) $1500 for scope and rifle.

4) Factory rifle most likely (see #3).

5) I'll load for him, perhaps indefinitely, but reasonably common factory ammo is a must.

6) He only hunts with lead free. So it needs to have a good factory option in copper (see #5). He's cool with slinging lead at paper/steel, but verboten on animals.

7) He can handle recoil, but I'd like to steer him towards "a bit more than minimum" that will get the job done, so a factory rifle with a brake is a high priority, but not a deal breaker.

So...

Rifle?

Scope?

Cartridge?

I have my own opinions, but would love to hear from the peanut gallery. Just stay in the lane. None of the above 7 points can be violated and keep him happy. He's not a high volume shooter, but I'd like to push him that direction, so keep economy in mind too.

Just to throw my 2 cents in. My brother just put together a savage 110 ultralight in .28 Nosler and added an APA muzzle brake shooting Nosler 175gr. Accubond bullets. But to fill the $1500 request with a scope could be tricky. Maybe Vortex. He shot this with a 4x14x44 Zeiss conquest z4 below is his target at 100yds. Top bullet hole first shot then adjustments made for 2 more shots.

 

[Mark37082]

If you are talking anything from deer to cape buffalo I would take a 375 H&H.I worked up a load with a 220 gr hornady flat nose going 3100 fps using 72 grs of IMR4064 that shoots 1 inch at 200 yards I have taken deer and black bear with them I have loads with up to 350 gr bullets To me the 375 H&H is a do everything gun

He may find the rifle for $1500, but will spend another $1500 for 10 boxes of factory ammo. Then $50k for medical expenses for shoulder surgery LOL.

 

[PatriotHenry]

@Tidus56 and @Creedmoor shooter : 7mm Mag is pretty dang hard to beat, but I don't see any factory rifles that have enough twist for my taste. I looked at some factory ammo options, and 2200 fps at 400 yds is not a sure thing, although there's some get you there with some room to spare (e.g. Barnes LRX). Even reloading, with a 1:9.5 twist, you can't take advantage of the mid-weight Hammer Hunters.

@WWP2012 regarding paper and steel, it would just be some fun plinking (and wind practice) in a big wheat field. 1 MOA is sufficient, which I think most decent factory rifles will do. Without me to motivate him, I doubt he'll be doing it otherwise, so I'd almost certainly be hand loading all his target ammo.

Regarding 6.5 PRC, I consider it to be the "bare minimum" to achieve #1, as we're both "more than enough gun" kinda guys. With copper bullets, I just don't like the energy levels at 400 yds for elk. By no means saying it's not doable, I just like to see 2200 fps and 1500 ftlbs or more. Also, I only see 2 factory options in copper (Nosler E-Tip 120 gr, and Barnes 127 LRX). Definitely a contender though.

@memtb I think 338WM is a bit more than needed. He already has an old Winchester 670 in 300WM. It shoots OK, but he's looking for something a little more modern, and is excited about just "getting a new rifle".

@Shane Lindsey No doubt the old 06 will get her done, but IMO, the 7mm will do everything it will and more. Economy and rifle/ammo options are unparalleled though.

Browning Xbolt :https://www.browning.com/products/firearms/rifles/x-bolt/x-bolt-hells-canyon-max-long-range.html 8 twist 26" 7mag. Best prices: https://gun.deals/search/apachesolr_search/023614742623. Showing out of stock right now. It can be had for around 1,100, not up to speed on their trigger. I know there is a spring kit by Carbo? that is cheap. that leaves about 400 for glass. Maybe save a few months for better glass or find something used. My 2 cents.

PH