New Rifle Day

Or Brian Got A New Toy Day as Mrs. Shooter would say.

Ruger American with a Nikon Buckmaster II 3-9x40 chambered in 7mm-08. Caught a good deal at Rural King ($299.91 plus taxes, background check) on the rifle. Got the scope for $109 at Academy. It's no Tikka with a Vortex DB but she should serve fine for my deer excursions. Sling on order and range trip coming shortly.

I was thinking about overall cost:
Rifle - $351 all in
Weaver Rings - $22
Soft case - $16
Nikon Buckmaster II 3-9x40 - $119
Sling - $13

So that's a pretty good budget setup (I think) for under $530 after taxes.

Thanks, guys. I grew up shooting a Marlin 336 chambered in .35 Remington (my dad got it on sale after the last .30-30 flew off the shelf). In adulthood, when I returned to hunting, I carried a Mossberg 100 ATR in .270. It's a great shooting gun, but there are some things I don't love about it outlined in some other posts (simply: recoil, bolt throw, molded in plastic sling attachments, hollow stock, long action). I had decided on the 7mm-08 as being an improvement on recoil and it's a short action, and the American has proper metal sling attachments and a 70 degree bolt throw (versus the 90 degrees of the Mossy). It does have a hollow stock, but Boyd's makes a number of designs that can be ordered to replace it, so it's got good aftermarket support. I ALMOST opted for a 6.5 Creedmoor and fear I may have made a mistake in not choosing it, but I've been told too many times that some caliber or another was the greatest thing ever to see support for it fall apart (my cousin swore to me the .260 Rem was making a comeback some years back and my dad was the proud owner of a .280 Remington in a Model 725 once upon a time). Ballistically, the Creedmoor and the 7mm-08 are close and the Creedmoor is now a military round for SOCOM snipers. So maybe a miscalculation on my part, but I got a great deal on the '08 and it'll give me a good excuse to start reloading. I do wish I'd thought more about the 6.5... recoil is even lighter than in the '08 and most gun writers say they're virtually interchangeable. Still, I'm content, and that counts for something.

22250Rem said:

Nice acquisition...... Every Ruger American I've seen has impressed. 7mm-08 is also a nice choice for your intended use. It's still a very nice round even though the 6.5 Creed now gets all the glory. They are BOTH nice rounds. Sounds like a trifecta - good rifle, good cartridge, good glass.

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Thanks! I also am proud of the overall price. Confessing my bias, I'd argue that it's a pretty good deer rig for $521. It won't make anyone drool with envy, but I like to believe I was a smart shopper.

I am not sure it couldn't be better... If, for instance, you'd prefer the Bushnell Trophy XLT 3-9x40 over the Nikon (and I may... the quality of the two is very close and depends on preferences), that would save $43 (on sale at CDNNsports) and you're looking at a $478 setup (taxes, shipping, the whole shebang) -- rifle, scope, strap, carry case. That $43 would pay for two boxes of ammo.

Picher said:

Congratulation!! That should be a good hunting rifle!! The 7mm-08 is a great deer cartridge and extremely accurate. My previous boss got one for Christmas and I set it up for him. He loves it and has shot several deer with it. I don't know your shooting ability or expected kill distances, but you may want to sight that puppy in so it hits an inch high at 100 yards, which will put it about dead-on to 200 yards.

Good luck and good hunting!

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I deer hunt in eastern hardwoods, mostly. There will be occasional field hunts late in the afternoon. The average shot distance for me in the past has been under 100 yards. If I hunt the fields, I don't see myself taking shots much beyond 200 yards. I'm going to experiment with shot location based on the Nikon reticle which offers some markings for different ranges. I'd classify my shooting ability as slightly above average, but that may be generous. My peers think I'm the guy to beat shooting because of my shotgun skill (I'm pretty wicked on a dove or a duck hunt or with clay); this is quite different. With a properly sighted scope, I feel I can put a shot in the vitals effectively out to 200 yards. If it goes much past that, I won't shoot. Wounding an animal and losing it is a sickening thought.

Picher said:

Congratulation!! That should be a good hunting rifle!! The 7mm-08 is a great deer cartridge and extremely accurate. My previous boss got one for Christmas and I set it up for him. He loves it and has shot several deer with it. I don't know your shooting ability or expected kill distances, but you may want to sight that puppy in so it hits an inch high at 100 yards, which will put it about dead-on to 200 yards.

Good luck and good hunting!

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I'm going to try to hit the range soon. May be a few more days as it's hot as blue blazes (all-time record high temps for this time of year) and that makes a range trip unpleasant, but it looks like next week will be much better. I'm going to sight for a 100-yard zero and check out using the highest mark below the crosshair for a 200-yard shot. I tend to doubt these kinds of things will work, but I'd like to see how it does. If it's not to my liking, I'll take you up on 1 inch high at 100.

offthepaper said:

I have Ruger Americans in 223, 243, 30-06, & 6.5 CM.
All shoot amazingly well right out of the box. I've put lower end scopes (under $250) on all of them and each shoots better than I do. I lightened the trigger on the 223 & the 30-06, but the other 2 were set very nice from the factory. For an inexpensive rifle , they can hang with a lot of the higher priced competition. Hammer Forger barrel, free floated, adjustable trigger, bedded into the stock. What's not to like? Love my RA's.

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I've been impressed with the American's off-the-shelf trigger setting. It feels great as is, and any failures of accuracy will be due to me, not the trigger. I do find the plastic bolt shroud a little silly, but for $50 or thereabouts, that can go away, though there's probably no point. I'm pretty stoked. I keep having to push back my range trip due to other obligations, but I'm ready for that to happen.