Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Cheap rifles, inexpensive scopes, filled freezers....

Been killing small stuff since the �50�s and big stuff since the early 80�s. Didn�t know back then and still don�t what the �"preferred" boutique rifle and scope combo� is. And I couldn�t care less.

That said, I once owned a Mossberg shotgun that was a true POS. The chances of me buying a Mossberg rifle for more than pocket change are about zero.

For the first 20 or so years I hunted with a $39 Bushnell 3-9x SportView. Much as I disliked the optics the scope was what I could afford at the time. It could and did take a beating without ever losing zero and never cost me a head of game. Still, and God willing, I�ll never hunt with such a scope again. These days I have a few Leupolds, most purchased used, and a bunch of Burris Fullfield II�s with Ballistic-plex reticles. None are �top shelf� scopes but they serve nicely.

Most of my rifles have been purchased used, some for under $250, most of the rest for under $400. I did buy a new Ruger Hawkeye in .300WM for $404 December 31st of last year at Dick�s and a used Ruger MKII stainless/laminate in .223 for $435 earlier this year at Cabelas.

This year I will be hunting elk with a Ruger American .30-06 with a 3-9x Burris FF-II Ballistic-Plex scope. Hardly a �"preferred" boutique rifle and scope combo� but it shoots 1� groups with Winchester 180g Power-Point ammo.

Daughter #1 will be using my 1989 Ruger M77 .257 Roberts, purchased used in 2004, with a Burris FF-II 3-9x Ballistic-Plex scope in the rings. She was shooting 1� groups with it at 100 yards last weekend and 100g TTSX and although she couldn�t hit the 8� steel at 600 yards due to wind, her bullets consistently impacted just off the right edge. Should work for antelope.

I�m surprised you didn�t espouse the �virtue� of using cup-and-core bullets, or whatever is on sale this week. This will be my 33rd year of big game hunting, the first in which I�ve used factory ammo and only the second in which I will have used cup-and-core bullets in a bolt rifle. Color me satisfied only if the Power-Points work as claimed.

If fact, that holds true for just about everything I purchase. The expression �You get what you pay for� isn�t always accurate but �cheaper is better� is less so.