Long Range Hunting Rifle on a Budget...What About This Setup

[Gunmonkey]

I need a low-recoil hunting rifle that will drop a whitetail out to 400 yards on a tight budget, so I started looking around and this is what I've come up with:

Marlin X7VH in .308; some features include:
2.5 lb. adjustable trigger
26" heavy barrel
Pillar bedding
7.75 lbs.
Scope base rail (Installed)
Street Price: $300.00

Nikon ProStaff 5 3.5-14X40 MilDot
Street: $300.00

Burris Signature Zee rings:
Street: $43.00

Less than $650.00 for shootable 400-yard hunter.

Post your own setup, or shave some money off mine by replacing my items with items of equal or better quality for less money.

 

[gohring3006]

TC Venture 30-06 fire field scope
250yrd zero 178gr amax. 3 shots

 

[TBuckus]

The gun sounds perfect.

You may be able to shave some money off of the scope. You can get a 4-12x40 Vortex Diamondback with a BDC reticle for $200. I have been really happy with my Vortex products.

 

[Hiwayman92]

The Viper is a better scope than the Diamondback, but more expensive.

 

[Hiwayman92]

I've got a Diamondback 4-12x40 with bdc that I would sell ya for 150 if you want one!

 

[TBuckus]

The Viper is a better scope than the Diamondback, but more expensive.

I agree. I have the Viper HS-T and love it. But the OP is talking about keeping the price down, so adding around $200 to his price tag didn't sound like the right route to go.

 

[ntg]

I'd go with a Legend Ultra HD 4.5-14 with mil dots. If you look around you can get it for ~ $220. I have one and it's good for the money IMO. The only negative with the rifle chosen is they should have made it with a faster twist.

 

[WildRose]

I need a low-recoil hunting rifle that will drop a whitetail out to 400 yards on a tight budget, so I started looking around and this is what I've come up with:

Marlin X7VH in .308; some features include:
2.5 lb. adjustable trigger
26" heavy barrel
Pillar bedding
7.75 lbs.
Scope base rail (Installed)
Street Price: $300.00

Nikon ProStaff 5 3.5-14X40 MilDot
Street: $300.00

Burris Signature Zee rings:
Street: $43.00

Less than $650.00 for shootable 400-yard hunter.

Post your own setup, or shave some money off mine by replacing my items with items of equal or better quality for less money.

You're doing ok there but let me offer a couple of suggestions.

Look at the Bushnell Legend scopes. Best guarantee in the business and the two I've looked through had pretty good glass for their price point.

The Vortex Viper PST series are also very good scopes for their price point. I had problems with 2 of them I bought and Vortex handled it very well for me.

On your choice of caliber if it were me I'd go with a 260Rem or 6.5 Creedmore insead of the .308. Both offer much better ballistics and are more than capable of taking Deer or even Elk Sized game out to 600yds all day long and twice on Sundays if you do your part behind the rifle, and both have substantially less recoil.

 

[Rob96]

My budget set up is a Remington 700 ADL in 308 with Mueller APT 4.5-14x40 AO scope. With my hand loads of Sierra 165gr Gameking bullets I'm at .307moa at 100yds. That is with the barrel being cut down to 20" and a recessed target crown.

 

[Gunmonkey]

I'd go with a Legend Ultra HD 4.5-14 with mil dots. If you look around you can get it for ~ $220. I have one and it's good for the money IMO. The only negative with the rifle chosen is they should have made it with a faster twist.

I have not researched the Legend Ultra scopes, but I do like the mildot and magnification. The rate of twist is just right for what I plan to use the rifle for. It will be a deer hunting rifle shooting 150-165 gr. bullets at around 2900 fps.

 

[Gunmonkey]

You're doing ok there but let me offer a couple of suggestions.

Look at the Bushnell Legend scopes. Best guarantee in the business and the two I've looked through had pretty good glass for their price point.

The Vortex Viper PST series are also very good scopes for their price point. I had problems with 2 of them I bought and Vortex handled it very well for me.

On your choice of caliber if it were me I'd go with a 260Rem or 6.5 Creedmore insead of the .308. Both offer much better ballistics and are more than capable of taking Deer or even Elk Sized game out to 600yds all day long and twice on Sundays if you do your part behind the rifle, and both have substantially less recoil.

I will look into the Bushnell. I have one on a model 70 30-06 that has been there for 32 years without a problem. I have also heard great things about Vortex.

The rifle is only offered in .308 or 22-250.

 

[cohunter14]

Something to think about: although you are on a tight budget now, will you eventually want to spend more on upgrading the gun? If so, I would suggest looking at something like a Remington SPS. You will have a multitude of caliber options and can get a new one for $500, so a used one should be even cheaper than that. Those should be accurate enough to get you shooting to 400 yards, but if you eventually upgrade the stock ($240) and trigger ($110), it could become a real shooter. If you get a used rifle and eventually shoot out the barrel, you have a great foundation to start from as well. Just a thought...