Looking to purchase a rifle, mainly used for 4-500 yards on mule deer and elk. Have a chance to buy a Browning mountain TI in 300WSM, or a Christensen arms Mesa in 7mm Rem Mag. What say you guys?
Whichever one fits you best, both great cartridges. I’m a 7 mag guy, but have 300’s too. There really isn’t all that much difference.
Right. Not having a hard time with the chamberings, thinking about the rifle choice more. Both lightly used. I shot a friends Christensen Mesa a few weeks ago in 7mag, very pleasant and found a load that shot a 3/8" 3 shot at 100 yds.
Which one puts the biggest grin on your face?
Not sure if any of this matters to you, but a couple of subtle differences between the two i can think of are that the browning is made in japan, the christensen in USA. The browning has the feature where the bolt is locked on safe, the christensen does not.
Regarding my above post, that is assuming the browning is an A bolt 3 or x bolt
I think the brownings are bit more refined as a mass production rifle compared to the CA’s, but thats my opinion.
Weatherby Vanguard S2 in 300 Weatherby? Available in stainless for under $700.
Ammo is more expensive, but it is also a top performer. No ammo maker lives up to Weatherby's performance. They use blended powders which they will not release to reloaders due to the issue of liability.
Looking for something lighter in weight than the Vanguard.
I've a Mesa in 6.5 Cm and have had a few Brownings. I'd happily buy another Mesa.
I think the brownings are bit more refined as a mass production rifle compared to the CA’s, but thats my opinion.
I haven’t owned a newer Xbolt but the CA Messa is more refined than the Abolt II I owned. But like you said it’s just an opinion and rifle likes/dislikes can be very subjective.
My two main elk rifles both wear Leupold VX 3i 30 mm scopes. My primary one is a .300 Wby Vanguard in Fancy walnut with an 8 oz recoil reducer in it's stock and weighs just under 10 pounds. My foul weather rifle is a stainless Rem 700 in 7 mm RM that weighs just under 9 pounds. My primary deer, antelope, and the rifle that I shot all of my sheep with is a Mauser Mark X chambered in .257 AI that wears a Leupold VX 3 scope and weighs under 10 pounds with it's Fancy walnut stock. I'm only 74, but if I thought these rifles were too heavy I'd look into getting in better shape.
WStrayer posted that .300 Wby ammo was expensive, and factory ammo is. But as a reloader, my .300 Wby ammo only costs $0.04 more to reload than my 7 mm RM and $0.06 more to reload than .30-06 ammo.
Having hunted elk for almost 50 years and killed almost 3 dozen of them, I've never had to shoot an elk at over 300 yards, but I practice out to 430 yards, and I'm confident that either my 7 mm RM or .300 Wby would kill an elk at 400-500 yards.
A Christiansen Arms fiber barreled rifle has interested me for many years...