Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles If you had $1200 - what new hunting rifle would you buy today?

Still a few Ruger Hawkeye African in 6.5x55 available. They only made 250, best handling/ shooting gun in my safe. Cabelas still had a few last I looked and a few on Gunbroker.

I like to reload and I love to shoot. Not for competition, i just like to shoot a lot, since I was 5 year old kid. This is long but I’m watching a movie with my daughter we’ve both seen about 6 times so…

Not super compact but the stock has a removable “section” to shorten the length of pull about 1 inch. I have the 450 BushMaster and just got the 350 Legend. I have cast bullets for pistols for about 37 years and never once considered shooting them in rifles. A couple of years ago I bought a Marlin 1894 in 44 Magnum so that was my introduction to shooting cast in a rifle. When I starting casting some bullets for rifles I started powder coating them at the same time. There are as nice to handle as jacketed so no more lube on your hands and no “lube smoke” when firing them and the guns are MUCH cleaner after shooting.

The Marlin is an odd 44 magnum with the barrel being .431 instead of the .429 for pistols. Nothing I shot in it produced acceptable accuracy. I tried 4 different bullets, sized up to .432 and 4 different powders. Best groups I got were worse than what I could do with my S&W M29 with 8 inch barrel and I’m not a great pistol shooter. So, I sold it giving full disclosure about why I was selling it. Also decided I was done with levers because I had some other issues with the Marlin and decided I was getting a bolt.

Pretty sure I wasn’t going to find a Rem 788 in 44 mag, I gave up on that cartridge and starting searching for a another similarly sized cartridge in a bolt action. Was reading good things about the 450 BushMaster and decided that was what I wanted. Now to find a rifle. A buddy that runs a local gun shop had one in the Mossberg Patriot and he said it shot great. I had picked one of those up in another shop and wasn’t a fan, hated everything about it actually. Starting seeing videos about the CVA Cascade and really liked it. My son had bought a CVA Hunter in 45-70 and it was (is) rather impressive! Smooth action release and the trigger really surprised me. So, I told my buddy to order me a Cascade in 450 BM. Another thing I liked about the 450bm is that it has a small primer pocket. I was caught with my pants down in the last reloading component shortage with few primers except small pistol. So the small primer pocket in the 450 would allow me to shoot as much as I want.

Cascade uses Savage bases so no difficulty in mounting a scope. I haven’t measured the weight of the trigger and would guess it’s around 3 lbs with zero creep. It’s as good as any trigger I’ve pulled. The bolt is smooth and is easy to remove for cleaning. Stocks feel better than the budget line Savage Axis or TC Compass. Barrels are threaded at the muzzle and my next one, 308 I’ll put a suppressor on it.

The 450BM is fun to shoot but it goes through a lot of lead. Having cast bullets for 357 and 9mm and lots on hand, I thought the 350 legend would be a gun that would make my lead last longer until I get more. It also uses a small primer and cases are easier to come by and about 1/4 the cost of the 450bm. And it is chambered in the Cascade so that was the rifle I was going to get it in. It hasn’t disappointed me. Bullet it likes is a 127 gr 9mm TC sized to .358.

So, I like the Cascade so much I’m going to sell off the two 308s I have and replace them with a Cascade.

I would probably be looking for either Kimber Montanas (if they are not going to make them anymore, and I currently have my eye on one if I can get another gun or two sold) and I would also consider Browning BLR rifles. i just done see them around used anymore for what I viewed as a reasonable price.

In hindsight, I wish I had bought a truck load of those old JM marked Marlins in pawn shops and gun shows for $300 last year or so. They are going for triple or more now.

New BLRs have been floating around online the last few months. ECAA had quite a few. The Marlin prices are insane.

70 Featherweight.

Throw a few hundred more and go into Supergrades or Kimber Classic Selects.

Or buy some nice used.

Curious to see Winchesters 2022 Shot offerings.

Used. Maybe, few and far between at that price, but there are some. New, no.

Henry Long Ranger

What happened to the "fast twist 22-250" part?

Have been on the lookout for one for months. Do point me in their direction!

Thanks!

Think I just did a slightly used Browning "Hells Canyon " in 6.5 creed with a warne pic rail, vortex rings and a 4x16x50 vortex viper with bdc reticle complete for a grand. Mb

325 WSM XPR with nice glass, maybe a stock upgrade. No-brainer... duh!

Me as well.

That would tempt me. American made counterpart to the blr. Do they have decent trigger pulls and are the triggers workable?

^^^^THIS^^^^

Or keeping looking for a Tikka fast twist 22-250 until you find it

I think I’m about there as well. Been upgrading optics and tweaking this and that, but the core is solid. Will probably pass on a couple to my progeny, and my cousin wants to buy one that tickles his fancy, but unless I stumble onto a nice old Mauser or some such, it’s about time to just shoot the damn things and use up some ammo and components.

.22s are another matter, but even with them, I’m well-covered for the shooting I do.

Damn pappy 348 you must be my other brother from a different mother...mb

mod 70

Could it be we're triplets? Was looking at mine trying to figure what I want to give to who.

Browning BLR in .308

would buy another 'new to me' pre 64 Win 70., or older Savage 99 .