Affordable but accurate hunting rifle?

Question

I am torn between a few different rifles.. so Ill ask the experts. What is an acurate, affordable and upgradeable(eg. stock, bipod etc) 30-06? The catch is I want it to be capeable of hiting a target (elk ) at 1000m. Also Im looking for a scope that can be used to range also. Any help would be great.

Answer 1

Affordable is the key term in your question and at least by my definition will hardly fit in terms of a rifle that you are describing. A 1000 meter shot on an Elk, is not something that someone does every day, and requires a lot of dedicated practice, as well as some background in shooting skills such as would be the case of someone with past Military training or Law Enforcement Tactical training, or at the very least formal competetive shooting experience at long range. I will list what I would recommend but it might vary a little bit from what you have asked for.

I would buy a Remington 700 SPS, but in 308 caliber and not 30-06. No need to limit yourself on the bullet weights available for 30-06 when you can have a more varied number of different styles and bullet weights in 308. A Leupold Mark4 6.5X20X50 ER/TI Mil-dot Scope. A good set of 100% Steel Heavyweight rings and bases, A Harris Bi-Pod (Hardly an item to cut corners on and buy cheap). The Remington's now come with an adjustable trigger, that you can replace with any number of commercially available triggers, should you wish to. You can always upgrade to a Heavy Weight Match Grade Shillen-Hart or Schneider comparable Match Grade Barrel.. You will also need to glassbed or aluminum block the receiver and free float the barrel regardless of what rifle you get. This to me would be the "ideal" starter package that you would want to fit your needs and uses. Affordable as I said isn't an issue when it comes to making those 1000meter shots...You can't really expect to be able to have the rifle you want and cut corners on price too. I wouldn't even consider the Savage rifle as a close second.....

Answer 2

I'm going to assume that you are a reasonable person and that the 1,000 meters that you included in your question was a typo. You must have meant 100 meters. Nobody in their right mind would shoot at an animal that was 1,000 meters away. If you had the rifle and training of a military sniper, you might hit an elk size target at 1,000 meters but the average shooter with the average off the shelf gun literally couldn't hit a barn at that distance.

Anyway, let's assume that you are a person of average financial means and are not looking for a custom made competition rifle that costs in the several thousands of dollars. I would recommend something like a Remington 700 VS or a Savage Arms bolt action rifle chambered for one of the 30 caliber rounds. .30-06 and .308 are good out to at least 500 yards and that is farther than you should attempt a shot. Keep your shots less than 300 yards and you stand a chance of killing what youare shooting at. If you feel that you absolutely must have something hotter, then consider the .300 Winchester Magnum. It's a big game getter but it also has a noticabley greater recoil than the rounds that I previously mentioned. Both rifles can be upgraded by such things as replacing the factory trigger, replacing the factory stock wiht a synthetic stock, etc.

Scopes are one thing that you don't want to go cheap on. A cheap scope is a waste of money. Your scope should cost at least as much as your rifle. Swarovski is about as good as you can find but it is also pretty expensive. If you can't afford one of them, then consider something like a Leupold. Either way, a 3 X 9 is plenty of scope. The really high power scopes are very difficult to hold still enough to hit anything. The higher the power the more the natural movement of your rifle is magnified. If you had a 20 power scope on your rifle the shaking would be so bad that the target would just be a blur. The mount and rings that I like best are made by Conetrol. They are on the web. Their rings and mounts are a bit more expensive than other mounts and rings but they are the best.

I have a Remington 700 VS chambered for .308. I have a 3 X 9 Leupold scope and Control mount and rings on it and I can keep a five shot group inside 2 1/2 inches at 300 yards with ammo that I load. I use a 165 grain Match King bullet in once fired brass that has been fired in my rifle to shoot these kinds of groups. Of course these groups are fired from a very solid bench rest.

I hope this answers your questions.

Answer 3

A 1000 meter shot?? Not with anything mentioned by previous posters, all too light to throw enough bullet to kill an elk at that range. You are going to have to move up to the 30 caliber magnums to even come close.

Accurate, affordable, and upgradeable equals a Remington or a Savage. The 30-06 is a good all around rifle from either of these makers. The 1000 meter shot is out of the question but it should easily do the job at 500 meters.

A Range Finder scope is not cheap. Especially if you are looking to make long range shots. You need high magnification and superior optics. That puts you into the Leopold and Burris category, certainly no less than a Nikon. Expect to pay as much for the scope (or more) as you did for the rifle.

A good rifle and a good scope will not make you an expert shot at long ranges. That will require a lot of practice at the rifle range.

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Answer 5

I second the Tikka t3. I have one in .270 and it is awesome. I strongly discourage buying a firearm online for two reasons: 1. You always want to hold a rifle, see how it feels on your shoulder, work the action, etc. before you buy it. For example, when I bought my T3, I found I liked the feel of it alot better than a Kimber that was twice the price. I also reccomend going to a store that specializes in hunting, like cabelas, gander mountain, or a local gun store. Most of the time, the people there will be more than happy to help you find the right rifle. 2. If you buy online, you have to have it shipped to someone with an FFL, i.e. your local gun store. Point being, you will have to go there anyway so you might as well buy it from them, rather than a website. Also, if its a local place you bought the gun from, they will usually be happy to help if you bring the gun back with problems or questions. It really helps to establish a relationship with this type of buying

Answer 6

To realistically be able to drop an elk at 1,000 meters you need something bigger than a .30-06. The .338 Lapua comes to mind. That or the .50 Caliber Browning (and I am NOT a proponent of the fifty BMG round for hunting) but really, you should consider much closer shots at elk.

Best.

H

Answer 7

Don't use anything under 30 caliber on elk; forget the 1000 m shot as that is generally a movie type thing and is not something you find in the real world of hunting. 30-06 and 8mmJS are probably the two most common elk and moose rounds; but there are many other good calibers out there. You just have to chose one and become proficient with it.

Answer 8

I've met guys who don't go into the woods to hunt deer, they have some very impressive long range rifles, and they're very good at hitting where they want at that kind of range. I don't know what what they're using, but the rig I have, of similar accuracy, consists of:

Savage 10FP: Cheaper and more accurate than the ubiquitous 700 right out of the box. Get a Choate or McMillian stock for a little extra accuracy. Mine is in .223, but for deer at that range you'll want to get the .308 model.

SWFA SS 20x42 Scope: Not the best glass in the world, but all the features and accuracy of the more expensive optics. Repeatability, which is going to be very important on this kind of work, is superb. It's often compared to the best of the Leopold's, but the picture will be a little foggy, as they don't grind their lenses quite as far as Leopold or Nightforce. Still, you're not going to touch anything similar in it's price range.

Rock Mount Bipod: It's not quite as nice as a Harris, but if your life doesn't depend on it, it's something you can save money on and maybe not notice. I own three, and the leg came off one once, but a dab of Loctite took care of that.

You may also want to consider getting yourself what's known as a Mil-Dot Master. It's used to range targets using Mil-Dot scopes. I use my own specific set of charts, but carrying a Mil-Dot Master would be much easier than a small notebook. You'll want to have a list of bullet drops at specific distances, as well. There are some that mount to the top of the scope, or a scope ring, and pull out like a measuring tape, and others that stick in your scope caps, the choice is up to you. Speaking of scope caps, I have the ubiquitous Butler Creek caps on all my good scopes. You should too. They're much better than the 'bikini' covers that come with most scopes, and ordering an SWFA SS scope will let you order matching covers right along with it.

Now, you said accurate but affordable, and while I don't know what your definition of affordable is, this is certainly accurate. The whole setup was on about $800, maybe a little less. Savages are pillar bedded from the factory, and the good aftermarket stocks all have a full-length bedding block, but a full action bed and larger recoil lug could get me a little extra accuracy. The heavy bull barrel is already free floating, so there's really nothing to do to increase it's accuracy with bedding.

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Answer 10

I wouldn't recommend trying to take an Elk at 1Km away. Especially with a 30-06.