Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Give advice on two rifle battery

Same boat. Faux Ti 260, Faux Ti 6x45. I've got an itch for another 270 though. Maybe Faux to round out the bunch, but lopping a 270 Montana to 22" is becoming an intersting idea.

Had both my Faux's at the range and one had yellow tape on the muzzle, the other red. Fella asked if thats how I tell them apart.

Yup....(?!?!)

If you wanna play LR games, shoot 22LR at 300+ yards. Cheap fun...

This is sorta what I was looking at, except the I am likely going to start with an RC varmint gun that I found at about half price. It has the precise stock I want, channel is the right size for the heavy barrel, same trigger I want etc. I'll shoot it in 308 for a while, eventually will swap the barrel for a 260.

I actually got to handle one today while looking for a couple Savages I wanted to check out. I liked it even better in person, so I am 90% sure this is the way I am going to go. Just need to go ahead and sell a Winchester rifle I have and I should be golden.

BTW, the reason I am not keeping or using the Winchester is that it is a long way from what I want right now, wood, sporter barrel etc. It is worth more sold as is than to chop it up for parts.

I MISS Gary Sitton. He was an excellent writer and general rifle looney...

Regards, Matt.

Going AI on BOTH of those chamberings make this so much more interesting.

I'm reminded of the 7mm-08 AI that Mule Deer wrote about awhile back from Kenny Jarrett... Was a heavy contour short tube and if memory served it was one of the most accurate rifles he had ever shot...

Regards, Matt.

Cat, here's my two cents for what it's worth. You obviously have had numerous rifles and have shot the larger calibers. After reading this thread from front to back it truly seems like you are just hell bent on getting a RC Vanguard from a custom shop but you are only torn on it because of the price.

From experience, you will never be happy without following your heart. Just about everything presented to you could be and often is the best of the best for the person who suggested it. And like you, they would not be seeing it any other way my friend even if they nod and say they appreciate each others choices.

As you're selling off yet another gun to justify paying for this upcoming purchase along with numerous other comments you've stated, it sounds like price is a huge factor for you. Even though you seen content to be around the $1300 price point. I would question how much money you have set aside for optics. Given that for most long range applications that most folks tend to spend about twice what they paid in rifle on their optics. And fine shooting rifles can be had or even built in your garage from $500 up to $5000. Depending on your tax bracket and what your wife will let you spend without divorcing you on the basis of insanity.

Do you already possess said scopes, or will that need to be purchased as well. At $1300 per rifle X 2, and that would probably suggest about $1500 per optic X 2. That's mighty close to the $5K range for a guy who's selling one rifle to buy another. I'm sure every single person on this forum bleeds out for you as they've all been in this situation before. No one wants a cheap rifle and everyone would LOVE the really exotic of the species. But fantastic rifles are a lot like sports cars and hookers. If you have to ask how much, then you can't afford the finest ones. This isn't to bash your infinite pondering, but at some point as someone eloquently put it you're beating yourself up.

If you can't realistically just drop the cash for the rifle (and that's the lower cost of your equation) how are you going to properly dress this doll and then feed it. As 1000yrds is nothing to sniff at you're definately stuck in the range of finding something friendly for getting that job done. Seems like that's the more important reality that keeps popping up, with hunting as a secondary.

I grew up and was raised in the middle of a swamp in south louisiana. Had a .22 in my hand before a bb gun. They moved me up to a bb gun because it was cheaper to feed. When that finally gave out they moved me up to a pellet gun, as it was cheaper to feed than the .22. Christmas gifts usually came from the more generous family members of something along the lines of a sweatshirt and a box or two of bulk .22 ammo. When I'd go out critter gittin, I took a .22LR. A hand me down that was old and wore out by the time I'd seen it. To this date, even though sometimes it'll barely feed from the underbarrel magazine I can still cover 10 shots with a dime at 75yards long as I do my part. What's a .22 good for in the hands of a kid, or any other hunter from down in that area. Everything from squirrel, rabbit, deer, gator, and ex-wife. They shoot coons out of trees and knats off a dogs ass. Same can be said of the old .22 pistols. Fast forward 30+ years, and I've got a .22LR and scope combo for under $500 that'll shoot golf balls at 300+ yards. I thought big rifles were 30-30's for the longest. And much of the hunting I've been around my whole life, I've seen far more animals of any size and shape walk away when shot with the bigger guns. Point being, that horespower doesn't trump finesse and experience.

Now that I'm older and can afford a couple toys (but keep it light because my job has me living away from home) my closet has 2 .22's I've had for years, a 20guage, a 30-30, and a hand built .260 for [bleep] and giggles. I was all set to build a custon .338 lapua and sat on the fence for over a year because of the cost. Then a friend turned me onto the .260. When my shooting partner returned from a tour in Germany we had the chance to shoot together. And that bastard has a .338Sako TRG 42 with a US Optics scope. A couple days later I bought the parts to build the .260 (Under a grand) and through my Vortex Viper PST on it. Sure... NOT EVEN CLOSE to a dream gun. But it'll shoot sub 1/4MOA on the best day and 1/2MOA with me behind it most days. And yet I still find room to bitch and complain and want more. But there's nothing and I mean nothing more exciting than ringing steel about as fast as I can cycle them in and get back on target... while my buddy is doing his damndest to get back on tgt with the .338. And after a few shots, he stops to check out his handy work. Sometimes I'll happily follow his shot with 3 or 4 ringers before he gets his 2nd shot on target then follow up with one or two more. Point being, bigger isn't always better. But it's fun to BORROW his from time to time and blast a hundred dollar bill away in 20 shots. But day to day, I'll stack a .260 against a big boomer any day of the week.

Back to the animals, because you said you wanted to hunt. We all want to hunt. But most of us shoot more than we hunt. That trusty ole 30-30 goes with me everywhere. From 4wheelin up in the mountains (protection from the weed growers), and out hiking (protection for bears and big cats), and occasionally when the freezer gets low it comes out and sees some fur. Eskimos quite often ONLY have these to use on everything they hunt up there. Don't all too often hear about someone who hunts for subsistence ever saying that anything they use is too small for the job. Back to the .22LR. It was quite hard for the game warden to reason with me that the .22LR was too small for deer. Hell it killed 'em deader then schit many nights.

Bottom line, buy what you want. You've probably already got a gun to handle anything realistic you're planning to do, so everything past this point is a want.

But if you're wanting to play at 1000yrds in unknown distance territory, then the rifle is the single cheapest aspect of your purchase. To quickly answer your question I would find a stock design that I liked, then pick a caliber that I want to shoot. Then just fill in the gap by finding a stock with a solid barreled action attached that fills your caliber needs. Hell, build one GREAT rifle and SHARE with your kid something epic. Build it yourself WITH him in the garage. Spend the rest of that hard earned money with the kids and the wife... doing something you enjoy together. But at the end of the day, the caliber choice is easy it's the choosing to spend the money that's killing you.

YEP... I rant, I rock, I leave you with a book to read.

22LR at 300 yards would be fun with no wind.......... My 100 year old BSA Martini Model 12 is a favorite, but 300 is not particle for a 22LR. 6.5X55 and a 9.3X62 will do just about what ever, but only two would be no fun.

One other quickie (yeh, that doesn't happen).

One of my besties and co-worker to boot had a brown bear tag for this year up in Kodiak. His cousin/huntin partner for life got injured and couldn't make the trip so he asked if I would go with him to help him make the hunt. Deer tags are easy to get and I'm more than happy just to eat well and enjoy the camping, but he needed someone else on the trigger besides him in case something went horribly wrong. It's a fly in trip, and we get dropped off for a week then a float plane comes back to get us. He does this every other year (minus the brown bear tag) as the yearly getaway trip.

After I said yes, he asked me what I was going to bring because we had to pack light. I said, I'll let you help me sort through most of my gear but I'll be bringing the .30-30 and a .22LR bolt action. He laughed because he see's both as being severly undergunned. I told him, if I had to take the shot things were bad. Really bad and if I were going to live to tell about it then I wanted an epic story hence the .22 or the .30-30. In reality I would have brought a borrowed 45-70 as his intended shot would be 100yrds. Why take a longer shot when you don't need to. On several of his doll sheep trips, he's had close encounters with big bears but still he only totes a .243 and a .308 because they're adequate and light enough to carry. The brown bear was going to be shot with a .338WM borrowed because it's a one time use and his second rifle for that trip was his trusty old .243.

Ammo and optics and cost of hunting will quickly surmount the price of your rifle. Find what fits, appeals to you, and that makes you giggle like a school girl for whatever reason it happens to do that. Then go out and expend some rounds of happy time. Find that happy place. Otherwise, no friggin gun in your cabinet will ever make you happy. Save $50 of that and get a bb gun and a bucket of bb's. Then pound clothes pins off then line until you run out of yard, then move to the neighborhood backyards and shoot down the ditch, then find a field and go shoot that thing in the wind. You'll have a blast and make lots of cost effective memories with your kiddos. Crack open that firestick whenever you realize your midlife crisis solution of buying a vette and a harley are precluded by the sanctity of marriage

22LR at 300 is as practical as a 7RM at 800. Too many wannabe snipers want to shoot dinks at long range so they've something to "brag" about. In all actuality, 90% of what they shoot at is steel, paper, or rocks. Decent hunting rig will take care of business at 500 easy peasy. And further for many.

If that's the game a fella wants to play, have at it. You're paying the bills.

LR is a fad, just like AR's.

ARs have been a fad since 1961 or so.....

They've been around, but the mall ninjas and metro commandos made them a mainstay. I can remember when seeing them in a shop was rare. Now they are at Walmart.

Please refrain from the use of the word "besties."



Thanks,
Moderator

Thanks for stepping in, 'Flave. Some of us were disgusted at that.

Yes, I agree. Don't use that. It's up there with shotties, meterosexual, anything Remington and 270s.

For best results, spend double on the .308 of your dreams and shoot it twice as much.


There won't even be any ammo mix-ups. ;-{>8

Talk about a fox guarding the henhouse!!

Too funny 'Flave. Of All the things I'm likely to say that become insightfull, besties tops the charts. A couple of years ago I'd have left myself outside overnight in the cold for ever having said that. Add in a few more years and spend time around teenage daughters and you'd be suprised where you sanity goes.

As far as the use of guns, hell we all do things that are beyond reasonable. And most everything we buy is because we want it to play with, and not because it's practical or needed. If that were the case there would be a lot less ownership.

Bottom line is that the dude is suffering from wanton gun anxiety. I'm probably only here because of all the threads on here that I read, this one hit close to home because of how much time I spend pondering what would finally be my choice before I plopped down my cash. Sure there is money to spend but never an endless supply and it's that process of making the choice to leap one way or the other that rivets us on the edge of insanity. Then we buy and we either make ourselves happy or we sell and repeat.

Either way we have fun. Use them in good health be it too close or too far or just right. If you choose to shoot a prairie dog with .416 Rigby or a Muley with a .223. Or maybe you have a rifle for each species you hunt. I've never seen paper that needed a 7mag to kill it, but I've seen a lot of it shot with one.

Let the drink flow, the banter be colorful, and choot dem guns!

]

Thread needs more pics. An actual two rifle battery, of the non-magnum variety, that could cover about anything the planet over.

Top, 243 Win used for varmints and yotes through mid-sized game.

Bottom, 9.3x62 to cover any big and large game chores. Have not killed an elephant with this one, but some have killed a heaping pile of elephants with this very chambering. At least one professional currently active, swears by this chambering, even for killing an elephant, so it should be up to the task for anything large, except professional follow up as a stopping rifle.

Best

Wow, again, I am stunned that this thread still lives!

Nukem, you have some great insight there. You are right in that I have had lots of different rifles, and as my life has progressed, what I get out them and use them for, and what I can afford continues to evolve. Not sure I can address it all. But a couple points. First general:

You point about everyone having an opinion that fits them is exactly on point. I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of details that simply cannot be covered in postings. And that's true. Every one of these posts come with a book-load of background that makes them right for that person, but no one else will totally understand.

As to the buying process, it drives me crazy, as you mention. But I actually still enjoy the process. It feels like building something which, for someone mechanically impaired, is pretty fun. I love the research and trying to get things 'just right'. The fact that I am financially challenged ;), is sometimes frustrating, but also an additional challenge, I suppose. At least, that's what I tell myself to assuage the irritation of not being able to get exactly what I want! But, yeah, I know exactly what I want. But it would probably cost me 10k or so for just the rifles. We are all that way, so have to find a way to get as close as possible within our means. It's part of the challenge, I guess that's one way of looking at it, but it's certainly part of life!

Next point, why 2 rifles. Because I have two competing needs to fulfill. One is a light but very versatile hunting rifle that will be carried alot. So the barrel and rifle in general has to be 8.5 lbs with optics or so for me to be happy here. I know what scope I will put on it, I already own it from a previous rifle (Zeiss HD5 3-15, lockplex).

The other is a rifle that can be shot all day long in long range classes and general shooting, which for me, means a heavy barrel that can take the heat, and a less intense cartridge to keep the barrel cooler. This means a heavy rifle that I will not want to carry all day long, so I need two. One for carrying, one for practice/training.

I do handload, so a 7 mag for the 2nd can be loaded way down, as can a 300. But that's not ideal at all, and I'll only go that way if they are the only choices that allow in fulfilling other needs.

As to your point about picking a stock that fits and calibers...that is exactly the tact I am taking. For the stock...very high comb AND a thick cheek piece. I have a long neck/face, also a thin face. As to the mainstream stock designs that fit best, Weatherby. The wood ones (that I can't do) fit the best. Out of the synthetics, the B&C's they have are next best, and the best of all synthetics, short of the next paragraph. But what places them at the top, regardless, is the weight. Using the ultralight stock, I can have a #2 contour barrel, and still have a rifle (alone) that will be 7lbs or a little less, exactly where I need to be.

I did try one stock that fit at least as good, maybe better the other day, but it's not mainstream. I believe it was a Manners, but it might have been McMillan. It as a target style stock and I don't know the weight (I suspect it's more like the regular B&C's in that regard and, therefore, too heavy)...but I do know the price.

Caliber? 300 win mag for the hunter due to it's versatility. 260 or 6.5 Creedmore for the target rifle for it's perfection for my purposes.

An additional desire, based on advice here and from the instructor at the class I talked to, it would be valuable for both guns to share the same basic stock and trigger. That way it is easy to transmit form from one rifle to the next.

The 300, I think I have pretty much sussed out. No problem there. It's the trainer that is a problem. I can only get the B&C Weatherby stock on a weatherby or a long action remington.

If they had it for savage, I'd probably compromise on the trigger compatibility and get a Savage. It's in 260.

Weatherby only offers a 6.5 in a sporter barrel, so no good there. Remington does not offer it at all.

So that's where I have hit a snag. If money was no problem, yeah, I'd just have two matching customs built. But it is, and always will be to some degree because I want to spend as little here as I need to, so there is money left for me to take my sons hunting.

The best solution I have found, right now, is a Weatherby RC Varmint deal I have found. It's under 700, it's a 308. It has the stock I want, the trigger I want. The caliber, I can live with, and if it does the business out to 1k, I'll probably be happy with it. The caliber was the instructor's #2 choice after the 6.5's, and I'll be able to share bullets with the 300.

And in a year or so, I can have it rebarrelled with a Kreiger or whatever to a 260. That will bring the price up to 1300 total, but I think that is actually the cheapest way to get what I want.

Anything else, it's either more expensive for the same thing (Remington), or impossible (Savage due to stock availability).

Reading the most recent threads did give me some pause to think a bit more. I could get a couple Savage's and put them in Manners stocks. But I don't think they will hit the weight limit for the hunter, and cost wise, I think I'd be way over...not sure however on both those point. I guess it would depend on whether they would need to be bedded after being put in the Manner's stocks? I don't know that much about them, but I would assume so.

One last point on the Weatherbys...In both cases, both guns would be range certified by them and I would receive that information. That is another point that I like because I have had to mess with a rifle all year trying to figure out why I could not hit the accuracy I needed. Finally, the smith, who is also a nationally known Fclass competitor, said he thought it was the barrel.

Lots of people make an accuracy guarantee, including Weatherby on it's regular rifles. But in the cases here, they will test it before it ships to make sure, and I like that. Most people probably don't care about that, but I do. And in the case of the 300, the custom shop will actually be assembling it, so it's even better.

That does not dedicate me to this platform, not by any means as you can see, but it's just one of many data points that make me favor weatherby for a factory solution. Remingtons scare me in this respect...I would bet to have to spend extra to get it to shoot. Savages, I am pretty confident in. Tikka's and Sako's as well. But with the Weatherby, they promise like some, but in my case, they verify before I pay, and if there are problems, their reputation for customer service is very good, so this is also the 'safest' bet, short of a guarantee from a custom builder, it seems.