Not so much a newbie, but.....

[Knockturnal]

Whats up everyone, My name is Matt and im new to the site. Ive been hunting for the past 10 years and have just recently got into long range hunting. Ive seen lots of game animals at far ranges but i usually pass them up. Up until this year that is. I took a moose at 502 yards with a Remington Classic chambered in 300 weatherby mag topped with a Leupold Vari-x 3-9. It was, by far, my longest shot to date. Even to the point of no one believeing me until i took pictures. i hit him with all 3 shots. the first in the lungs, and he didnt drop, so i unloaded the mag on him. the other 2 were as follows, 1 in the jugular and the finishing 1 in the head. After thinking about it for the past few months, i realize that i was extremly lucky due to the fact that i am the guy that goes out a week before hunting season and shoots a mag just to make sure everything is still good. i have it sighted in at 2 1/2inches high at 100 yards. Anywho, back to why im here. I need some help! my old man wanted his rifle back so i need to buy a new one. Not to worried about the recoil. i just recently sold my 300 wsm and was shooting the 300 weatherby for the past 2 years. My boss is big into hunting as well and for my christmas bonus this year, he said he would buy me a rifle. So, as it stands, im in the hunt for a good long range rifle that i can use for hunting on a regular basis. I do handload all my rounds and was shooting 180gr Nosler Accubonds. I used that load for everything i hunt. Which is primarily deer and moose. although i will be going for elk this year and would like to use the same thing on that as well. My friends always ask me why i use such large bullets and i tell them that ive never had to track an animal before. they usually just drop like a ton of bricks. But, im babbeling. back to the topic at hand. a new rifle. What should i start with??? Price range of about 2200 with a decent scope.. i was thinking of a Sendaro, but what do i know. any help would be greatful. ive gone through a lot of the threads on here but everyone else is different in their situations. Again, sorry about the lengthy post but i could use some help from all your combined knowledge. thanks!

 

[AJ Peacock]

Welcome to the site. Nice shooting on the moose.

As far as your question, there are so many different directions to go, it's hard to even answer.

I've always believed in getting a good rifle and then the best optics I could afford after that.

When I read your posting, I immediately thought 300 Rem Ultra Mag. It is a step up from a 300 Weatherby. It is easy to load for and is a great long range caliber.

Which particular rifle you get will depend on your type of hunting/terrain. Carrying a Sendero at 10k' elevation isn't a lot of fun (although I carry an 18lb 338AM up there, it's not fun).

If you are going after a heavy rifle that will be used from vantage points, I'd get a Nightforce NXS 3.5x15x50 with the NP-R1 reticle.

However, if you are going after a lighter rifle to carry around and shoot from wherever you happen to be when you find the animal, I'd recommend a Leupold 4.5x14x40mm

There is so much room on either side of these issues, it will ultimately come down to personal preference. You could even go with a custom action, barrel and stock, but wouldn't have much/any left for scope/mounts.

AJ

 

[Knockturnal]

im used to carrying around a heavyish rifle. the weatherby weighed in at 14lbs with the bipod on it. I hunt some huge cuts and burns down here in the southern interior of BC and sometimes it requires me to reach out and touch something. Carrying around a Sendaro wouldnt bother me to much if it ment better accuracy in the long run. I actually know of a guy selling a 300 RUM right now. It has a black, McMillian style thumb hole stock with a 4-14x50 scope. not to sure what type of scope it is but i could probably get it for 900 bucks. are there a lot of guys on the forum that shoot the 300 Rum?

 

[AJ Peacock]

There are a lot of 300RUM's out there! It is a great cartridge. Once you burn the barrel out, you can easily have it re-barreled to a 338EDGE if you want (the Edge uses the 300Rum as a parent cartridge), or you can just slap another 300 RUM barrel on it. Unless you shoot a lot, the first barrel will last you quite a while though.

AJ

 

[Knockturnal]

yeah. i cant see firing more then 100 shots a year. im just waiting to hear back on this 300 RUM for sale here. see what is all done to it.

I also see a lot of guys on here shooting 7mm. i was originally thinking about that in the Sendero.

 

[AJ Peacock]

7mm is a great caliber. I've shot more game with my 7mm Rem Mag (remington 700) than all my other rifles combined.

AJ

 

[Knockturnal]

see, im not looking for a 1000yard rifle. 500-700 would be perfect. cause, in all reality, who really wants to pack a moose 1000yards out of a swamp. not me!

 

[Michael Eichele]

I too, like AJP thought of the 300RUM after reading your post. Yes there are alot of guys here using the 300RUM. It is a good common sense round. Components are easy to come by, they arent as finicky as some of the other larger magnums available and they are very accurate. Brass quality seems to be getting better. I should rephrase that to brass concistency is getting better. Barrel life is marginal although my last 300RUM barrel had over 1000 rounds down the pipe and still held sub .5 MOA. It was a .25 MOA rifle in the beggining. To solve the bbl life problem, I also own a 308 since I love to shoot and shoot 500-3000 rounds per year depending on whats going on that year and cant afford a new barrel every 4-24 months and 308 barrels last quite some time. 10,000 rounds in a good barrel is not unheard of.

If youre looking for a factory stick, then the sendero is an excellent choice. My buddy has a sendero SF in 338RUM and shoots amazing for a factory rifle.

BTW, welcome!

 

[Knockturnal]

what about a good rifle to start with and then modfify right away?? new bbl. bed it, trigger job and blueprint maybe?

 

[LostInSpace278]

If your going to go that route, just buy a new action, barrel of choice, stock of choice, and send it off to a smithy. No need to spend extra money on a rifle that you are going to strip anyway.

 

[angus-5024]

hey man, Im kinda in the same place as you minus the boss paying for my rifle.
I've done a bunch of looking and this is my plan for my first long / intermeiate range rifle
Rem Senduro .300 Ultra mag
leupold 4.5x14 VXIII Long range
leupold rings+bases (stainless)
Defensive Edge brake
Defensive edge cheek piece
glass bed (at home kit)
Turn the .300 into a .338 edge

the great thing about this package is that with the first three on the list your in your pice range, and the rest can come later for not alot of $$$.
Its prety hard to beat the Senduro package. The other thing I would recommend highly is Shawn Carlocks video on long range hunting (..:efensive Edge - Custom Gunsmithing::..). It helped me geet a grasp on LR shooting.

where are you in the interior? maybe we can go shoot ( Im newer to the long distance thing too)

 

[Knockturnal]

Im in kelowna and thanks for the input. it doesnt take long before you have to dump a lot of money into this. i just have to be careful cause im going back to school for a bit here in the newyear. cant spend my gun funds. haha.

 

[338 dude]

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