Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game If you had $1,000.00 to buy only one rifle/scope?

For me it's gonna be a Kahles CL 4-12 x 52mm CL,
Then what ever rifle I can find for around $300.00
Any caliber starting at 25-06 up to .270.

Here in South Carolina, we can legally hunt till 1 hour after legal sunset. Our season also starts on Aug 15th, so that means hunting soybean fields where your shots will be out to around 300 yrds. I'll take a higher quality scope that I can see with then look for a rifle that fits it.

easy:

left hand tikka t3 lite ss 270 win or a 308 $600
leupold vx11 3x9 matte $300
talley lw 1 piece $50
simple nylon strap w/ swivels $15
2 boxes of fed. blue box 130 or 150 sp $28
which leaves $7 enough for a mo. skinhead tag

What you asked for was a rifle and scope combination for $1,000. Here's my suggestion.

T/C Venture 30-06, guaranteed to shoot MOA out of the box = $500

Leupold VX-III 3.5x10x40 = $500

Included in that quote is the phrase "for the rest of your life". If I was buying just one rifle that had to last me for a lifetime, I wouldn't put an arbitrary price maximum on the package. I am habitually thrifty, so I couldn't help establishing a budget. But I think a realistic budget for an equipement package that will last a lifetime would be more like $1,500. That's primarily because if you do want it to last a lifetime, you want a stainless/synthetic rifle.

Several others have suggested buying used equipment. Again, if it has to last a lifetime, I wouldn't buy anything used.

KC

One of my new favorites is basically the same thing.

I bought a NIB Gander Special in 7mm-08 from a fellow campfire member. Paid around 700.00 shipped, no tranfer fee. I found some NIB .308's and .243's 50-70.00 cheaper, but I wanted a 7mm-08

35 or so in Leupold DD mounts

270.00 for a very clean VXIII 2.5-8 from feebay


So just a tad over the 1k limit, but for a reasonably priced factory gun I LOVE it.

A good used stainless Rem 700 preferably in either 300 WSM or 7 RM and a new Leupy 2.5-8x36 scope.
Actually, it is possible to find excellent used scopes in the forum's classified or on ebay.

New Ruger Hawkeye All Weather in .270 or 30-06, replace the handle and toss on one of my Leupolds.

30-06 Vanguard
4200 Elite..3x9
DD Leupold's
Timney Trigger on sale somewhere
call it good.

Mossberg SSI-single shot and a Tasco World Class.....grin

"Trifecta." Now that's a new word for me. But it makes sense with the way you used it. Thanks.







p.s. I only use Burris Signature rings; but they are high.

Probably a Ruger 77 or a Savage 110, with a Nikon scope, most likely in a 30-06 or 270

Vanguard in 7mm Rem Mag and a Nikon Buckmaster 3-9x40. Total cost of $710.

Also have an old 700 in 30-06 and a Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40 as a backup rifle.

If I had $1000 to spend on a rifle/scope for the rest of my life, I wouldn't squander it on just one. Instead I'd find some good used rifles.

Interesting thread. I can't imagine going with one rifle for the rest of my life, but for over 20 years, I did use a pre-64 Model 70 in .30-06 for everything (including a fair amount of scientific collecting).

I would be inclined to go with a similar rig. You can find .30-06 pre-64 Featherweights in good condition between $600 and $700. Add a Leupold VX II 2-7X, or an FX-II 4X or 6X, and I could successfully hunt everything that I have taken in the 28 years since I started experimenting with other rifles and cartridges.

I saw some parts over the past few weeks that I was tempted to put together, but did not really need to do so.

Used 700SS SPS in 7mm-08 $450
Used LSS Mtn stock $175
Used 3.5-10x40 PR Tactical Leupold $275

That's at $900 thus far. Add $40 for some Talley LW's and you are set.

For a grand? Today? Likely a Ruger Hawkeye,or M70 FW in 270,30/06 or 7RM and a 4X Leupold or Zeiss Conquest.

+1

Shot a new vanguard .243 for a friend last night with one of Doug's bargain Pentax scopes. What a nice shooter. I kinda of like the overmold type stock, too.

stumpy

How about a Marlin XL in 270 or 06' with a Bushie 3-9 for $249.00 at our local hardware? My XL 270 (with a better scope) shoots bugholes.

Lefthand Rem 700 B series in 30-06 for $320, total of around 10 rounds through it by original owner. Black/white/gray swirly off specials list for $440. $100 for bedding. And if $1000 was hard and fast, used Leupold or new Weaver 4x. Planning on a VX3 so I'll bust a $1000 but not by much.