Light weight, short action, low recoil, mid range build input wanted

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Thinking of a new build, for all North American game, excluding big bears in Alaska. Rifle is for my wife, she is an experiences shooter/hunter, but like most shooters is not a fan of recoil.

Rifle will NOT be used on thin skinned game past 500m, rifle WILL be used on Alaskan moose, whistle pigs and everything in between.

The rifle needs to be light enough to carry, shoulder, and fire effectively from standing. I have certain ideas in mind right now as to what will suit her needs but I want your input?

My initial thought is
SA, 308 based round, with todays bullet choices there are just to many options.
18" barrel, not a light profile but med, fluted
McMillan classic or manners mcst lightweight in a dipped natural wood finish or something from Joel. She likes nice classic wood stocks and blued steel, my evaluation of her shooting style is she would benefit from a slightly raised comb like is found on the McMillan classic and a stock cut to length for her.

Please build me your ideal rifle for this application, ask your wife's or daughters input, and post what you would do. Also if you have a rifle that fits this criteria and you want to consider a trade for my 300 win mag in the EE please offer.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Rem 700, trued
stainless Krieger #3 or stainless Douglas XX #5 contour (.700" at muzzle), finished out at 26", 1:9 twist, chambered in 7mm-08
B&C Medalist Weatherby-Style Monte-Carlo stock
Rem BDL bottom metal setup
EGW base
TPS TSR low rings
Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50 or 4.5-14x50 w/ target turrets

That would make a nice, moderately inexpensive, SA multi-use low-recoil rig, IMO.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

..
My initial thought is
SA, 308 based round, with todays bullet choices there are just to many options.
18" barrel, not a light profile but med, fluted
....

Exactly what I thought when I saw your thread title. The two cartridges that come to mind are the 7mm-08 & the 338 Federal.

Why the 7mm-08?
A zillion bullets to fit your needs-
Won't kick the snot out of you (with 140's at least)-
High SD of the heavy 7mm pills for that moose-
Far superior ballistically, to the 308 with the 162 A-max or 168's -
Better barrel life than the 260-

Why the 338 Federal?
Again, Bullet slection: 180's for light stuff & light recoil or up to 250's (realistically) for the big stuff-
Barrel life has got to be measured in eons-
Usability covers pretty much every game animal huntable in the lower 48: big bullets make big holes


The .308 will do pretty much everything you ask well but, I tend to be a "road less traveled" type of guy. Generally speaking, if everybody else has it, I don't want it.


Stock type & shape may be better suited for a "hands on" situation if you can. What I prefer as a tall scrawny dude, probably won't be of much help to your wife.


t

 

[Michael Eichele]

When I saw the thread title I thought .260 rem, 708, 6.5x284 and of course, the 308.

Since you threw the term 'moose' in there, I'd say if you're stuck on a short action with low recoil the 308 is a great choice. I've killed a number of Alaska/Yukon moose with the 308. With the right bullet, it's hell on them. You do have to be carefull about bullet choices. The best results I've had with the 308 and moose was with the 180 Barnes. Today, I would use the 175 LRX or 180 Accubonds if I took off after moose again with my 308.

The 180-200 grain 338 pills don't have the SD for adequate penetration and the 225-250 will kick her *** in a light rifle so to me, the 338 federal is out.

708 could be good WITH 160+ grain bullets of heavy duty construction.

All that said, the Swedes have been killing moose for a very long time with the 6.5mm. I think 140 partitions or Accubonds might work very well. Moose while big and sturdy don't have the will power to live such as elk. There are exceptions but for the most part, they give up pretty easy. What you need here is penetration. A quality the 6.5 is known for. My hunting buddy killed his first Alaska/Yukon moose with a 6.5 Swedish Mauser using 140 partitions. It was a very clean kill.

Keep us posted.

M

 

[MudRunner2005]

My reasonings for mentioning the 7mm-08 is b/c of the great bullet selection with high BC's and SD's. I mean, for smaller, more thin-skinned game the 140's would be great, and for deer size and up Nosler 160 AB or Berger 168 VLD's, and if you really wanted to you could push some 180 VLD's out of it for Moose. Which I bet would be pretty nasty out to say 500-600 yards or so.

 

[benchracer]

If you want to keep the barrel short, I would go with .308.

My first thought was that something in a 7mm would be about perfect, but it seems to me that the smaller bores tend to pay more of a performance penalty for shorter barrels. If you go with a 7-08 or a .284 Win, I would go with a #2 profile barrel no shorter than 22" and 24-26" would be better.

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

Just want to reiterate that I want to keep the barrel short for weight and maneuverability. She will not spend as much time with the rifle as any of us would so this is key.

OK I like everything I have read so far great thoughts. The 308 was the first thing I thought of as well, but I did not want to overlook the 7mm due to lack of personal experience. I think the 338 is out but I did consider it for her.

 

[MudRunner2005]

If you wanted something definitely more capable than the 7mm-08 (which to me is like shooting a .17 HMR), but not as bad as a magnum's recoil, you could always look into the .280 Ackley Improved. The ones I have shot are VERY smooth recoil, and not sharp...Especially if you use a radial brake like a Vias Brake. Which is one hell of a cartridge that really will send a 7mm projectile above and beyond to kill anything on this continent.

But you'd have to use a standard long-action for it instead of a standard short-action.

 

[X-man]

When I saw the thread title I thought .260 rem, 708, 6.5x284 and of course, the 308.

Since you threw the term 'moose' in there, I'd say if you're stuck on a short action with low recoil the 308 is a great choice. I've killed a number of Alaska/Yukon moose with the 308. With the right bullet, it's hell on them. You do have to be carefull about bullet choices. The best results I've had with the 308 and moose was with the 180 Barnes. Today, I would use the 175 LRX or 180 Accubonds if I took off after moose again with my 308.

The 180-200 grain 338 pills don't have the SD for adequate penetration and the 225-250 will kick her *** in a light rifle so to me, the 338 federal is out.

708 could be good WITH 160+ grain bullets of heavy duty construction.

All that said, the Swedes have been killing moose for a very long time with the 6.5mm. I think 140 partitions or Accubonds might work very well. Moose while big and sturdy don't have the will power to live such as elk. There are exceptions but for the most part, they give up pretty easy. What you need here is penetration. A quality the 6.5 is known for. My hunting buddy killed his first Alaska/Yukon moose with a 6.5 Swedish Mauser using 140 partitions. It was a very clean kill.

Keep us posted.

M

The 160 and 175gr TSX penetrate very well....better than any high SD Berger and probably better or at least equal to a 225gr Accubond.

Alaskan moose are double the size of the Swedish version. The problem with the 6.5s on AK moose (as I see it) is if it buggers off in high gear after being shot it will head for the thickest God forsaken swamped out hiding hole in the area..It will be dead alright, but when you find it (if you do) you might wish you didn't find it!

I like the 7-08 as a sensible minimum.

 

[Timber338]

My first thought was either the 7mm-08 or the 308 as well. I've been going through this same exercise trying to figure what would be the best rifle for my son to start out with. If you were not planning on the larger animals I would say 7mm-08, but given you want to hunt bigger critters, I would definitely go 308.

Yes, you can kill just about any critter with one of the smaller calibers, but I am personally a believer in bigger is better for large animals. With the 308 you can always hand load very light, low recoil loads that will have the same recoil as a light 7mm-08 load. But with heavier bullets, the 308 will out perform the 7mm based on energy.

Load up some light loads with light bullets for practice at the range so your wife does not develop a flinch. on the side you can work up the heavy load and get it dialed in for the hunt.

 

[gillettehunter]

A friend has a 7mm 08. We used it a few yrs ago when spotlighting on his ranch. 120 gr bullets. Recoil didn't seem to be much more than my 22-250. VERY mild. Bigger bullets will kick more. Great selection of bullets. Its what I'd pick. See if a friend has one you can try. Bruce

 

[ICANHITHIMMAN]

So i was doing some internet browsing today, i think right now she leaning towards a new model 70 featherweight ss. She likes the look and the way the metal contrast against the dark walnut. Barrel is already short, but having it chopped a little shorter will not hurt, bed it and tune the trigger? Is that going to kick the snot out of her? I dont think so?

 

[bigngreen]

With my wife in mind and knowing how she likes to shoot I'm going to put together a 6.5x47 Lapua, easy recoil, excellent bullets and it can take a decent volume of shooting and it's an actual short action round with ballistics that aren't a turd. If she feels the need to whack a bull out farther then she can shoot one of my braked rifles, she shoots my ground howitzers very well.

 

[lloydsmale]

308 loaded with 165 partitions and go hunting about anything.