Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which rifle?

I have sold most every rifle I've owned in the past 3 years due to some economic circumstances. Things are better now and I'm looking to rebuild my hunting rifles. My replacements will be:
22-250
260 or 6.5-06
26 Nosler
270
280 AI
308
300 mag
338 Federal
338 Win Mag
35 Whelen

Which rifle do you think is the better out of the box? Montana Rifle, Nosler, or other? Thanks!

Just get that 26 Nosler in a Montana and call her good.

For the money I'd go with a Tikka. Accurate right out of the box and still have some coin left to apply towards a good scope.

But, since that wasn't one of your choices, I'd probably go with a Nosler of the Montana

Sako by far....and why bother with 338 fed??

CZ-550, .270 WCF, FX3 6x42. No, mine isn't for sale.

I'd buy used. 5 digit Classic stainless model 70. Something is also wrong with your list. There's no 30-06 in there... That's unpatriotic...

I'm not sure what part of the world you are from, so you need could be different from mine.

From you list, here's the order in which I would rebuild:

.308 Win: General purpose medium rig.
22-250: Varmit rig
.338 Win Mag: Thumper
26 Nosler: Dedicated Long Range rig.

Everything else on your list is already covered with the above 4.

Then I'd probably add a good hunting handgun in .44 Mag and a good lever gun. If you want a .35, I'd make it a 35 Remington. An alternate would be a .338 federal in an AR platform, but that's the only reason I'd own a .338 Federal, especially when I already have a .308 and a .338 WM.

Those are just my preferences, guns selection is about what makes you happy.

My thoughts exactly BSA. Also I don't see the need for all of the duplication on the list. A varmint rig, medium big game rig and thumper would cover everything from squirrels to moose. What else is there? 223,308,375 Done!

What's happened to being a rifle looney? I realize the overlap I have in my choices, but I love rifles and loading for different applications and not tinkering back and forth in the same rifle.

Okay......forget caliber or cartridge choices.....production rifles, which?

Montana Rifle Company
Kimber
Sako
Tikka
Nosler

OR ANOTHER ONE I HAVENT LISTED, THAT YOU MIGHT CHOOSE?

For the money tikkas are nice.

Without hesitation, Steyr.
Honestly, any solid repeating rifle with 20-22" barrel, firing a .30 caliber projectile between 2500-3000 fps that has a scope of no less than 2x and no more than 10x magnification, a free floating barrel, adjustable LOP via spacers, 3 position safety and dual position locking magazine will suffice.

You have 10 calibers on your list.

Why not all of the above?

Just as long as they're used in a Mauser........ sorry, just old school.........

i agree with antelope sniper that group of rifles will cover everything..........

You need to buy 10 rifles to replace the ones you sold, and you need advice on which brand is best?

Winchester might as well be on the list, along with Remington.

You need to decide what it is that you like to play with.

Some of the rifles I sold they don't make anymore. There is always a rise or decline in most manufacturers product. Kimber, Remington, Winchester, etc.... Have always gone through changes and goods and bads. I haven't purchased a rifle in over 4 years, so I'm trying to get opinions from the board on who is making a good product right NOW, for the money.... It's not about cartridge or caliber overlaps, it's about the rifle itself. Thanks.

You don't say anything about what kind of hunting you do, so it's hard to make a recommendation. In general, I'd suggest you start with the one you'd use the most, likely the .22/250 or the .308, and go from there. That one might best be a stainless/synthetic model so you will be comfortable using it in any weather.

I would strongly suggest that you go slow so you don't find yourself back in the mess that took your guns. Build your battery back one at a time, getting each one completed to your satisfaction before adding any more. You may find that you really need fewer rifles than you first thought. The money you save can pay for hunting trips, good boots, quality hunting clothes, and other stuff that may give you more enjoyment than just having more guns to tinker with.

Think about adding the Ruger Hawkeye to your list. They're all-steel, CRF, and the quality on the ones I've examined has been very good. I bought a Predator in .308 last spring, and it's already a favorite, especially the 2-stage trigger.

I also would suggest that one of your long actions should be a Mauser. Good solid rifles built on FN and Zastava actions are plentiful and very reasonable. Like pre-64s, they just plain work, and are very satisfying to carry and shoot. There's just something about all that forged steel....

I wouldn't want to be rebuilding a gun collection with newly manufactured guns right now. Gun sales have been at record levels for the past few years and you can bet your azz all of the manufactures have been pushing production/employees to the max so as to slurp up as much of the pie as they can. These last few years will be known as some of the absolute worst in history for firearms quality.

I will second BSA's suggestion. Low numbered 5 digit Winchester Model 70 Classic' I would consider that a great way to start building back up. This is what I mostly have in my stable. Some were used as the basis for a custom version. Latest one heading my way is a G10xxx in 270 Winchester. Of course I realized I just lost half the audience by mentioning that caliber.