- Joined
- Jan 28, 2003
- Messages
- 13,331
First and foremost it's got to be reliable rugged and simple. With that in mind I tend to prefer synthetic stocks. Stainless is nice but not necessary as a good blued or coated gun is almost as weather proof if cared for correctly. I like a good positive strong extraction system and safety that blocks the firing pin as well as the trigger and one locks the bolt down when fully engaged. There is nothing that I hate more than having you bolt slide open while you are hiking or climbing with your rifle due to a non bolt locking safety. Mind you I didn't say that rifle need be chambered while hiking around only that the bolt locks down. An open action allows for dirt and other junk to infiltrate your chamber and your magazine box and can cause a myriad of failures. I simply don't have time for that foolishness.
Accurate is important but accuracy comes in degrees and general accuracy is OK extreme accuracy is generally not useable in field conditions but if my hunting rifle wants to be extremely accurate I'll take it! I like my scoped rifles to be around MOA or a little better. A couple of things that I've found to be consistent in an accurate hunting rifle are a good stock with strong bedding, a deeply recessed crown that is hard to bugger up and a good trigger. The other major factor in basic accuracy issue that I see are stock fit and scope mount. About 80% of the hunting rifles I see in the field have the scope mounted to high. Having a scope to high makes it impossible to get a solid cheek weld and decreases your ability to shoot as accurately as you can especially from field positions. A properly mounted scope also is dramatically better for rapid target acquisition. When you put your rifle up to your shoulder you should immediately have a full sight picture if you have to adjust your head in anyway something isn't right.
Scopes, one thing that I can't stand on a general purpose hunting rifle is being over scoped. I have seen way more game missed and wounded over to much magnification than to little. I like a 1.75x6 or 2.5X8 with a max of a 3x9 on most of my hunting rifles. The reasons are two fold. One, the lower power variables are generally lighter and more compact with smaller bells and ocular and objective lenses which keep weight down and allow for lower mounting. Two, low power allows for a wide field of vision and and fast acquisition which lets me make those close range and fast moving shots that guys who have mega power scopes are never going to make. I snap shoot a lot of fast moving game at close range due to the way I prefer to hunt. If I've got a long shot I'll have time to get a solid rest and turn the power on my scope up. You'll never have time to turn it down if you need it fast, therefore I always carry my rifle with the scope on the lowest power setting.
I like a shorter barrel 24" max but a 22" or even a 20" barrel sure makes for a handy rifle. Once you get up to the 26" and above length I find that a bolt action rifle starts to get a bit cumbersome and swing more like a heavy club than a decent hunting tool.
A few extras that all of my rifles have are a good sling. The best that I've found is the Murray Leather Latigo sling, easily and instantly adjustable it can be strung tight for walking with the rifle in hand in thick brush with no danger of snagging it on anything and in an instant can be extended for shoulder carry or to be used as a shooting sling. I haven't found anything more useful yet. The other thing that I have on all of my rifles is a good soft recoil pad. Recoil doesn't bother me getting pinched and slapped from a hard butted rifle does. So I just get rid of that problem and install a good recoil pad if the rifle doesn't come with one already.
Last is caliber selection I don't choose a caliber based on the factors that most folks do. My first concern with caliber is that it can push an adequate weight bullet at an adequate velocity with a well constructed bullet. A combination that will give me deep penetration so that I have a wider selection of shots on the game I am hunting. My general consensus on that is that I like the ability to be able to put a bullet in a quartering away animal and give full penetration through the chest cavity IE hip to front shoulder penetration diagonally. Not that I strive for that shot presentation but I've sure had it come in handy from time to time. On non dangerous game I like a .270 SD or better with a controlled expansion bullet. Here's my general opinion on "adequate" for my purposes. For mule deer and under down to varmints anything is good that meets the above requirements from 6.5MM up, for elk and larger I like a .308 diameter or larger. On elk, kudu, eland, moose I prefer a heavy for caliber .308 round like a 200 Gr TSX or Nosler PT style bullet and if I'm going bigger than .308 I really like the .375 H&H over the various common .338's due to the fact most most of the magnum .338's require a long tube. I've never played with a .338-06 but it ought to fit the bill nicely for my needs.
To me the most important aspect of caliber selection is the above parameters in a caliber that won't suffer from a shorter barrel which make the rifle handy to carry and use. I'll take handy ten fold over a bit extra range and velocity as I've killed a lot more game with a handy fast handling rifle than I have playing sniper boy.
One more issue is weight and I'd rather have a rifle that is a bit heavy than bit to light as to light equals harder to shoot well. Most of my hunting rifles come in at the 7.5lb to 9lb range loaded. The way I look at is if you can't carry 9lbs on your back all day you probably need some more physical conditioning and losing 3 lbs off you rifle isn't going to help much. Better to loose 10lbs off you gut.
Accurate is important but accuracy comes in degrees and general accuracy is OK extreme accuracy is generally not useable in field conditions but if my hunting rifle wants to be extremely accurate I'll take it! I like my scoped rifles to be around MOA or a little better. A couple of things that I've found to be consistent in an accurate hunting rifle are a good stock with strong bedding, a deeply recessed crown that is hard to bugger up and a good trigger. The other major factor in basic accuracy issue that I see are stock fit and scope mount. About 80% of the hunting rifles I see in the field have the scope mounted to high. Having a scope to high makes it impossible to get a solid cheek weld and decreases your ability to shoot as accurately as you can especially from field positions. A properly mounted scope also is dramatically better for rapid target acquisition. When you put your rifle up to your shoulder you should immediately have a full sight picture if you have to adjust your head in anyway something isn't right.
Scopes, one thing that I can't stand on a general purpose hunting rifle is being over scoped. I have seen way more game missed and wounded over to much magnification than to little. I like a 1.75x6 or 2.5X8 with a max of a 3x9 on most of my hunting rifles. The reasons are two fold. One, the lower power variables are generally lighter and more compact with smaller bells and ocular and objective lenses which keep weight down and allow for lower mounting. Two, low power allows for a wide field of vision and and fast acquisition which lets me make those close range and fast moving shots that guys who have mega power scopes are never going to make. I snap shoot a lot of fast moving game at close range due to the way I prefer to hunt. If I've got a long shot I'll have time to get a solid rest and turn the power on my scope up. You'll never have time to turn it down if you need it fast, therefore I always carry my rifle with the scope on the lowest power setting.
I like a shorter barrel 24" max but a 22" or even a 20" barrel sure makes for a handy rifle. Once you get up to the 26" and above length I find that a bolt action rifle starts to get a bit cumbersome and swing more like a heavy club than a decent hunting tool.
A few extras that all of my rifles have are a good sling. The best that I've found is the Murray Leather Latigo sling, easily and instantly adjustable it can be strung tight for walking with the rifle in hand in thick brush with no danger of snagging it on anything and in an instant can be extended for shoulder carry or to be used as a shooting sling. I haven't found anything more useful yet. The other thing that I have on all of my rifles is a good soft recoil pad. Recoil doesn't bother me getting pinched and slapped from a hard butted rifle does. So I just get rid of that problem and install a good recoil pad if the rifle doesn't come with one already.
Last is caliber selection I don't choose a caliber based on the factors that most folks do. My first concern with caliber is that it can push an adequate weight bullet at an adequate velocity with a well constructed bullet. A combination that will give me deep penetration so that I have a wider selection of shots on the game I am hunting. My general consensus on that is that I like the ability to be able to put a bullet in a quartering away animal and give full penetration through the chest cavity IE hip to front shoulder penetration diagonally. Not that I strive for that shot presentation but I've sure had it come in handy from time to time. On non dangerous game I like a .270 SD or better with a controlled expansion bullet. Here's my general opinion on "adequate" for my purposes. For mule deer and under down to varmints anything is good that meets the above requirements from 6.5MM up, for elk and larger I like a .308 diameter or larger. On elk, kudu, eland, moose I prefer a heavy for caliber .308 round like a 200 Gr TSX or Nosler PT style bullet and if I'm going bigger than .308 I really like the .375 H&H over the various common .338's due to the fact most most of the magnum .338's require a long tube. I've never played with a .338-06 but it ought to fit the bill nicely for my needs.
To me the most important aspect of caliber selection is the above parameters in a caliber that won't suffer from a shorter barrel which make the rifle handy to carry and use. I'll take handy ten fold over a bit extra range and velocity as I've killed a lot more game with a handy fast handling rifle than I have playing sniper boy.
One more issue is weight and I'd rather have a rifle that is a bit heavy than bit to light as to light equals harder to shoot well. Most of my hunting rifles come in at the 7.5lb to 9lb range loaded. The way I look at is if you can't carry 9lbs on your back all day you probably need some more physical conditioning and losing 3 lbs off you rifle isn't going to help much. Better to loose 10lbs off you gut.
