Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 1000 -1500 dollar rifle

Hey guys birthdays coming up and I'm looking to get my self a rifle for about a grand, definitely not more than 1500. This is not including optics as I have a conquest 3-9 x 40 I will be putting on it. Though I've hunted for years I have always been very frugal with my choices. My t/c venture in 270 has been awesome but I want to buy something "nicer" just because I want to. Confusing the search is the fact that I will continue to hunt primarily from treestand in new england with shots under 75 yards but often having to act very quickly . Deer are by far he most common target with a bear hunt and predator hunt occasionally. However I want to start doing more out of state hunts and want to do more practicing 300 -400 yards. I had the opportunity to briefly hunt in hawaii his year and axis deer around 300 yards away were beyond my comfort zone. I want to change this.
I''m most strongly considering a howa barreled action or vanguard and then throwing it in a mcmillan or manners. Can I do better? The not yet released weatherby weather mark intrigues me for some reason as does the vanguard back country. As you can tell I am biased towards weatherbys but not stuck on them.
Though I do not post here often I lurk a lot. I encourage sarcasm, hateful and off topic responses. Just to set the tone there is no a ay I'm gonna put a 20 ounce plus scope "stuck" in 6x on my rifle. Nor will I buy a poorly put together rifle requirig hours and hundreds of dollars in work because it's named after a state with mountains.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=556016569

Lot to like there for the coin. Slap that Zeiss on top and you're good.

Remington 700 KS Mountain Rifle hands down. There's one listed here in the classifieds. Worth every cent and they ain't going down in value. Already comes mounted in a McMillan to boot...

But you will buy a rifle that needs a new stock for $500+, right out of the box?

If you're talking about a Montana, they're not poorly put together. And they don't take hours and hundreds of dollars in work.

Buy a used Montana for $8-900, and even if you get one that doesn't shoot, you can re-barrel it to whatever chambering you want, and have a rifle that comes in under $1500 that will no doubt shoot. In other words, spend the money you would have spent on a McMillan on a custom barrel.

Well this is no fun at all.

Surely there are some unspoken requirements to ridicule, such as controlled round feed or a fondness for walnut and blue steel? A lurking unjustifiable caliber obsession? A prejudice toward European steel or against it?

Surely an opportunity to segway into our own hardware and related accomplishments?

Or you can just say you want a .270.

In other words, it can't be as simple as suggesting a Tikka T3.

Those are the rules. Sheesh.

I think that you can buy a CLR in 270, 30-06, 7mm Rem Mag, or 300 Win Mag for under $600 and send it to Mel Forbes at NULA for a new stock and trigger for another $600, for a total of around $1,200, right in the center of your proposed budget.

I've never heard of anybody who has had Mel Forbes put together a CLR/NULA hybrid and didn't like it or feel that it was a good value.

Maybe you could put the remaining $300 toward a cerakote job on the metal.

I would buy one of Melvin's rifles used. 260 or 7 08. There is no reason in the world for a magnum with the OP's original specs, or even for a long action caliber. And many reasons not to.

That's if I were committed to spending the whole $, which won't happen with the T3.

These posts again having me leaning towards a light/ultralight rifle which may be a better for the hunting I'm actually doing. I am surprised I have not yet bought a stainless t3. Not only are the reveiews very consistent but they fit me great. However, I have hundreds in the bank and not all my credit cards have hit their limits and I want to splurge. The Forbes ClR I am intrigued by and will have to research. Any link to the service Melvin forbes offers or do you just contact him? I'm looking at a kimber adirondock for 1350 but then thinking I could custom bed a howa into a mcmillan sako classic for that price. Heavier obviously but would almost have to be accurate. So conflicted on the montana. Love the concept but worry about q/c.

But a tikka stainless 260 and drop in a McMillian hunters edge.

Do you want the hybridizing, customizing and dikking around to result in a rifle that is a) lighter; or b) shoots better than a factory T3?

That, my friend, is a loaded question ...

If you can't stand to not spend the $, get Melvin's stuff. I mean used, not having him butter up another maker's rifle. If you are going Melvin, go full Melvin.

In decades of treestand hunting, my rifles kept getting lighter and shorter, and I liked them more and more. Now after a decade of open country hunting, my rifles are getting lighter and shorter again ...

Was browsing gunbroker a couple of years ago and came across one of the new M70FWT in 270 made by FN. Yeah I know it's boring but you could do worse.
It's the one I grab leaving the custom stuff in the safe.
Either buy what fits you or have it fitted.

It's funny how things come full circle. For years I have considered the t3. Whenever the wife is shopping I wander into gunshops and fondle their rifles. The q/c on the Tikkas is amazing. However going from a venture to a tikka seems like a latteral move. Same thing only lose a pound and gain stainless. The venture shoots lights out and no reliability issues. Maybe I should derail my own thread by recommending a 1000- 1500 dollar hunt.

Have you handled a Kimber Montana? I would take an 84M or 84L over any stock McMillan makes. Kimber Montana is a STEAL when comparing what you get.

If you decide you want your crosshairs align w/ POI you may change your tune about 20oz scopes. A SWFA SS 3-9x42 is a perfect match for a Kimber Montana. Throw in a Sig Kilo 2000 and all you need is some practice.

David

I'd buy a 700 CDL SS. But that doesn't sound like what you're after.

rcarr,

For decades I hunted locally and made wildcats. Now I figure I finished with wildcats and spend my money on hunts. Take photos and enjoy the hunts with a good enough rifle.

Lately I have been playing with scopes. They are cheaper than rifles. After Swarovski z5, Nightforce, Leupold VX-6, Minox ZA 5HD, Nikon Monarch 3, Ziess, I have narrowed it down to Bushnell 6500 4 1/2-30X50. The glass is better than the z5, as good as the VX-6 and low light performance as good as either one. And it has more magnification than any except the Nightforce which was ten ounces heavier.

By the way, welcome to the 'fire.

Chuckling here as I see so many of my own memories in your post.

What you want for your budget cannot be measured in fit and finish, lightness, or accuracy. Figure out what it can be measured in and buy it.

One day two or three decades ago I wandered among the vendors at a 'large' outdoors expo event at the State Fair Grounds in Raleigh, NC. There was a gentleman sitting among his custom rifles, and my impression was that he knew how to sell them, but that his deeper talent was in making them. I picked up one off the rack.

The experience was something like Oh my God and it was created by a rifle not merely light but perfect. It must have shown on my face because he smiled.

There was a balance and execution to the whole requiring a deep gift of the maker, and a belief similar to mine of what a complete rifle should be. The man was, of course, Melvin Forbes. In a lifetime of shouldering rifles, it is the only time I have ever felt that way.

So I have 'figured it out' for myself, and revealed all prejudice.

Thanks for all the input guys. Looking like its a three way tie between the t3 stainless, the Montana and a hunt. I have handled the montana a thousand times in a store but never fired a shot. I LOVE how it handles and love the concept. I had a marlin xs7 for a bit and like
Blind magazines. I also like the stock ergonomics and the idea of a Kevlar stock. However the q/c and support has me nervous. I am fairly certain this question is allowed on this forum but if not let me know and accept my apologies. Any good deals on close out Montana's. Would never use the threaded barrel. Definitely would want a short action at that weight. 7mm/08 would be ideal.

Go hunting.

pm Darrik, Aka Shortactionsmoker of Whittakers Guns:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/users/34076/shortactionsmoker

David

Agreed.

NULA is worth the $.

David