Ultimate new hunting rifle build

I read through most of the recommendations and here's what I would do. You already have a RUM that you like. You stated this may be your last hunt and you want to build a rifle up to 12K in cost.

If it were me I'd use the RUM and book some really nice hunts. Buy an awesome landowner tag or two and go out with a bang.
Hopefully after having so much fun on these hunts you'll decide you know what? I think I'm going to hunt again next year. Best of luck to you with whatever you decide.
 
Here is my view on the subject regarding the travel to nz to start with:
When traveling abroad for hunting , you want to have a rifle in a common caliber with ammunitions easy to find on the shelf. Because if your separate luggage containing the ammo are stuck somewhere or in transit that rwill uin your hunt . So no fancy wildcats caliber or rare caliber( in nz) like the Nosler ones. The following:7 rem mag,300win mag and 300wsm are common to find in New Zealand gun shops including the Hornady precision hunter line of cartridges. Your hunting distances will be reasonably short ( certainly below 500m) so these three rounds will perform well for the conditions and the animals you will chase in NZ. If you are going to bring your own reloads, make sure to test the feeding of every single round in your rifle prior to departure so as to ensure no nasty surprises when you arrive. Second thing: I think that if you are going on the last trip of your lifetime,it is imperative to have a second scope ( it can be a slightly smaller and cheaper one but with a similar balistic turret graduation or system ) onto a reliable and repeating mounting system pre sighted in. The blaser mount works well as well as the picatinny mount. So if your primary scope fails, you have a second one to replace it and that can be zero checked with just a few rounds. Regarding going to NZ with your rifle, as mention before, you need to be well prepared in advance with your outfitter who will sponsor you for getting your firearm visitor 's permit . Getting in at the Auckland or Christchurch airport with a rifle used to be a straight forward formality, but with the government anti gun agenda of late, a few people got there firearms stuck at the airport police station recently. The situation got sorted out at the end in some cases but with lengthy phone calls to the relevant people at the Wellington police headquarters. There are elections in September that will hopefully will remove the current anti gun government in place and make things easier .
And hopefully also, the borders will reopen for tourists to come in with out too lengthy quarantine periods.
With your budget , you could easily get a second barrel chamberd in a more powerful or exotic round (like the 300 ultra mag) for your elk shooting at long range. If you choose to go that way, you can go with the blaser system ( although I don't think they offer that particular clambering on their catalog) or a custom action with switch barrels . If you go that way, it is easier to have an action with a fix recoil lug . Defiance, lone peak , terminus ...etc would work well. It is preferable that the gunsmith who does your work do fit the two barrels in your action and help you to get a small barrel bench wise ( I think Sinclair makes one) and wrench for when you want to change from one to the other. Good luck your project.
Thanks for your advice. I was advised that it would be ill advised to take my own rifle into NZ as it is currently confiscated and put on hold for up to three weeks while they do something called integrated background and sponsor checks (assume that is your guide service?) Doesn't seem inviting to me to spend the amount of money and go through this process.
Thanks again!
 
I read through most of the recommendations and here's what I would do. You already have a RUM that you like. You stated this may be your last hunt and you want to build a rifle up to 12K in cost.

If it were me I'd use the RUM and book some really nice hunts. Buy an awesome landowner tag or two and go out with a bang.
Hopefully after having so much fun on these hunts you'll decide you know what? I think I'm going to hunt again next year. Best of luck to you with whatever you decide.
Thanks so much! I have the desire but health issues are eating my physical abilities away. I believe in miracles and always hope, so we'll see.
Thanks again!
 
Thanks for your advice. I was advised that it would be ill advised to take my own rifle into NZ as it is currently confiscated and put on hold for up to three weeks while they do something called integrated background and sponsor checks (assume that is your guide service?) Doesn't seem inviting to me to spend the amount of money and go through this process.
Thanks again!
no personal experience but I have been told there is some pretty good stag hunting in argentina may be worth a look I know its not NZ but you have to do what you have to do
 
If I were in your fortunate position, I'd spend some time researching not only the outfitters in NZ but the sources of ammo and base my decision on what is available. My Kiwi cousin swears by the 308 win but obviously that's not going to cut 1200 yard shots. Having said that my cousin lives there and keeps his family topped up with venison etc so you don't have to take long shots.
If I could convince myself that I could get my rifle into and out of NZ I'd take my $12000 and buy a Mannlicher-schoener in 7x64 with the 26" barrel off the shelf then top it off with a zeiss v8 asv 2.8-20 bar mounted scope.
By the time you've filled the magazine on the rifle it'll be slightly over the max weight you've specified but not enough to make me worried and I'm older than you. I'd probably have it threaded for one of the titanium moderators which would add just about half a pound to the overall weight but just about cut the muzzle blast and and recoil, making it possible to hear the bullet strike which would help you and your guide know if you'd hit meat or not.
With the $5000 odd left over I'd buy a decent set of sticks to shoot off, some spare mags and a box of ammo and set that gun up just so with 175 grn RWS HK ammo, I'd also buy a decent set of binoculars. I'd also buy enough of the same ammo in NZ for delivery to my outfitter so I could rest easy that my rifle wouldn't have to be used as a club.
A 7mm rem mag might just have the edge but it'd only be a small edge as M-S barrels are second to none.
 
If I were in your fortunate position, I'd spend some time researching not only the outfitters in NZ but the sources of ammo and base my decision on what is available. My Kiwi cousin swears by the 308 win but obviously that's not going to cut 1200 yard shots. Having said that my cousin lives there and keeps his family topped up with venison etc so you don't have to take long shots.
If I could convince myself that I could get my rifle into and out of NZ I'd take my $12000 and buy a Mannlicher-schoener in 7x64 with the 26" barrel off the shelf then top it off with a zeiss v8 asv 2.8-20 bar mounted scope.
By the time you've filled the magazine on the rifle it'll be slightly over the max weight you've specified but not enough to make me worried and I'm older than you. I'd probably have it threaded for one of the titanium moderators which would add just about half a pound to the overall weight but just about cut the muzzle blast and and recoil, making it possible to hear the bullet strike which would help you and your guide know if you'd hit meat or not.
With the $5000 odd left over I'd buy a decent set of sticks to shoot off, some spare mags and a box of ammo and set that gun up just so with 175 grn RWS HK ammo, I'd also buy a decent set of binoculars. I'd also buy enough of the same ammo in NZ for delivery to my outfitter so I could rest easy that my rifle wouldn't have to be used as a club.
A 7mm rem mag might just have the edge but it'd only be a small edge as M-S barrels are second to none.
I don't think you'd like to be in my position with the health issues I'm experiencing but I am sure you are taking about the money. I appreciate your comments and thank you for your advice.
 
You gentlemen have all (except one) have been so helpful. Just another great example of the expertise available for anyone who is desirous for helping answers. Although each of us have our certain reasons for the way we do things it is such a great place to compare and communicate contrasting ideas. No other sites give you the ability to make friends and acquaintances sharing such great ideas and stories along with suggestions. You are a very special group of people and I could take your advice to the bank. Thanks for allowing me to join in with you and special thanks for your suggestions.
 
At your age and with your budget I would look hard at a Blaser...multiple barrels, extremely accurate and reliable, very nice overall rifles with endless options and configurations.

But, if you're stuck on a traditional bolt rifle...I would build a 7mm Rem Mag on a Lone Peak Razor TI with a fluted #3 or a carbon barrel in a McMillan Hunter stock and top it off with a Huskemaw 3-12 in some Talleys.
This has my attention as I like that action and you can't get better in my experience than McMillan stocks. I also miss my 7mmRemMag that I gave to my son. Thanks
 
If I were in your fortunate position, I'd spend some time researching not only the outfitters in NZ but the sources of ammo and base my decision on what is available. My Kiwi cousin swears by the 308 win but obviously that's not going to cut 1200 yard shots. Having said that my cousin lives there and keeps his family topped up with venison etc so you don't have to take long shots.
If I could convince myself that I could get my rifle into and out of NZ I'd take my $12000 and buy a Mannlicher-schoener in 7x64 with the 26" barrel off the shelf then top it off with a zeiss v8 asv 2.8-20 bar mounted scope.
By the time you've filled the magazine on the rifle it'll be slightly over the max weight you've specified but not enough to make me worried and I'm older than you. I'd probably have it threaded for one of the titanium moderators which would add just about half a pound to the overall weight but just about cut the muzzle blast and and recoil, making it possible to hear the bullet strike which would help you and your guide know if you'd hit meat or not.
With the $5000 odd left over I'd buy a decent set of sticks to shoot off, some spare mags and a box of ammo and set that gun up just so with 175 grn RWS HK ammo, I'd also buy a decent set of binoculars. I'd also buy enough of the same ammo in NZ for delivery to my outfitter so I could rest easy that my rifle wouldn't have to be used as a club.
A 7mm rem mag might just have the edge but it'd only be a small edge as M-S barrels are second to none.
Great info! That's quite a firearm, thanks!
 
28nosler would be a solid pic since you have a 300 run. Would go with that or do one of the terminator rounds from Defensive Edge with a +P throat. The 300 terminator shooting the 245 Berger EOLs would be sweet. And I have always been a Leupold guy but would like to one day buy a nightforce atacr 5-25x56
Great suggestions. Thanks heaps!
 
Do you know the energy required for a clean effective kill at 1200yrds?
Its a lot different to hitting steel!!

I know a lot of you guys one here are well versed in this sort of thing as far as knowing the knock down power at those distances but an Elk if a pretty big animal & I my thoughts are something that would retain a lot of energy like .338 Lapua?
I wouldn't even entertain the idea of a 6.5 doing the job at that distance, most of them excluding say the 6.5x284 are nearing the subsonic realm about then.
Aussie, I have seen videos of guys shooting red stags down under at 100 meters. I have also heard that in some parts of New Zealand, a hunter can shoot and tag two stags. What do you say?
 
Aussie, I have seen videos of guys shooting red stags down under at 100 meters. I have also heard that in some parts of New Zealand, a hunter can shoot and tag two stags. What do you say?
I kind of thought it funny that after shooting 34 elk, 59 deer, 9 antelope,1 mountain goat 4 bears and a moose in my lifetime and shooting long range shots before Gunwerks ever made a rifle I was being schooled by someone that reminded me of something my wife tells me at times. Then again I don't really need a brain because there are so many that know everything? Good reply!
 
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