In the market for a new bolt gun

P

PatrickKnight

Joined
Jan 24, 2012
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So I will be in the market for a new bolt gun shortly. I have had to sell off all my guns save my EDC Glock 19 due to medical issues. I am getting things back in order and will be looking at getting a new bolt action soon. Now living in Ohio I have no use for one here since we cant use them in this state however having family living in Texas and coworkers with land in both Idaho and Montana the chance for me to use it is pretty good. I am trying to figure out what to get but I am having a heck of a time at it. I need a gun to basically hunt everything in North America short big brown bear however it cant have a lot of recoil incase the wife wants to use it (she thought my old 270 kicked to much). So give me some ideas guys because right now I feel like I am banging my head against a wall. Also another thing I have noticed is it seems like most production rifles have gone to crap since I have been in the market the Remington 700 and Ruger I looked at both felt very cheap not like the ones I used to own from those same companies (my former do everything gun was a Ruger M77 MKII in 270).
 
A lot of places don't seem to have the BDL version of the Remington 700 on the wall anymore. The BDL doesn't seem to have suffered as much from the production line fast and furious, slam it out the door approach. Still a pretty nice production rifle. I ordered in my last one, and had a little wait to receive it, maybe a week or so.

Not sure what to suggest that would give less recoil than a .270 but still be enough gun for everything short of brown bear. I have killed several elk with a .243 but it is not my go-to elk rifle. It is however very pleasant to shoot which has caused my wife to lay claim to it, lol :) Maybe a .25-06 would fit the bill?? I don't have one currently but a .25 is a fine little all-arounder.
 
30/06 is always the right answer. There are reduced recoil loads available for your wife. Have a good recoil pad installed and she's good to go. I have a left handed stainless Ruger and added a Timney trigger and it's the last gun I'd sell. Savage rifles are great shooters. Some folks think they're ugly but they look fine to me and the trigger is good to go. I have one in .223 (another lefty) with a sporter weight barrel that thinks it's a bull barreled varmint gun.
 
Hey buddy, why dont you try a little Savage trophy hunter in 25-06? I have that gun in a polymer stock (i usually prefer wood but its alright). Its a great little rifle for shooting small animals but has enough power and punch (with the right ammunition) to take down most deer. If you dont want something that small, try a Browning X-Bolt in 270. I have that one too with a Ziess Conquest scope and absolutley love it! Its possibly the best bolt gun we've got. The recoil from the 270 is manageable and can be reduced with a small recoil pad.

I hope this helps you. Its good to talk to another fellow hunter here.

Thanks and keep huntin! :thumbup:
 
30-06 if you really intend to be able to shoot anything in North America. I grew up on 25-06, which is great for deer and hogs, and now I am an avid elk hunter and i just think it's best to step up to a 30 caliber at least, and you won't feel "as" limited. You could probably kill anything with 25-06 and people tend to build their egos around whatever caliber they own and argue in circles about shot placement. While these arguments are somewhat valid and there have been coutless elk taken with 25-06, 270's, etc., most of the people that are burning boot leather doing real do-it-yourself hunts have found it more efficient(recoil aside) to settle on cartridges that will break large animals down. When I do more open hunting or hunt somewhere that I'm not as familiar with I use my 300win mag. My wife is a small woman and uses a 300WSM. When I hunt elk or bear at home Im usually packing a 45-70 with heavy hard cast bullets and have found that combo to be perfectly effective. For a bolt gun I would recommend the newer Winchester model 70's. They are made in America, very well finished, and very solid. The ruger M77's are very well put together and in my opinion better made rifles than the Remington 700's. 30-06 is good for anything from whitetail to moose. For large animals like elk and moose I really like the 35Whelen. It really bridges the gap between my favorite cartridges, but thats beside the point.
 
Bergermiester said:
Hey buddy, why dont you try a little Savage trophy hunter in 25-06? I have that gun in a polymer stock (i usually prefer wood but its alright). Its a great little rifle for shooting small animals but has enough power and punch (with the right ammunition) to take down most deer. If you dont want something that small, try a Browning X-Bolt in 270. I have that one too with a Ziess Conquest scope and absolutley love it! Its possibly the best bolt gun we've got. The recoil from the 270 is manageable and can be reduced with a small recoil pad.

I hope this helps you. Its good to talk to another fellow hunter here.

Thanks and keep huntin! :thumbup:
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My intentions above are definitely not to crap on the 25-06. I think is is a great cartridge....the deer cartridge of the 90's for sure. I used to have an A-Bolt stalker in 25-06 and used that from the time I was 14 til' I was 30. I was shooting literally hundreds of hogs a year (not an exaggeration at all) from 2008 - 2012 with that rifle and 2 other smaller chambered rifles. I killed a whitetail every year with that gun. I finally sold it to fund another rifle, but I did happen to notice at a gun show one year there was a Remington Sendero SS chambered in 25-06, which is a bit of a rarity. They only made so many for that cartridge, and if I hadn't been so broke at the time, or had a thousand dollars in my pocket I would have given every cent of it to get that rifle. 25-06 rocks! I just think it is a bit of a stretch for some game in North America....especially grizzly and elk. I've noticed moose will fall easier than elk and it's worlds easier to get within 50 yards of a moose than it is an elk...if you can find the moose.
 
Metal, both of your posts make sense to me. I believe Patrick decided to go ahead with a .270 after all.
 
LOL I did decide to go with a .270 its just to perfect not to be my choice for an all around gun. I cant think of anything it cant do as long as I do my part. I barrowed a friends .270 and let my wife shoot it with the Horandy Custom Lite ammo which she shot well and I cant think of anything she cant do with a well placed 120 grain SST.

However I am going to basically build this gun from the ground up so I wont have it for a while due to cost but when its done it will be MY perfect gun.
 
Great choice. Building a gun from the ground up is awesome. No better way to get in tune with you rifle than to build it yourself.
 
Late to the party .... But did I read right ? OP said he can't use a bolt in Ohio? If so, why?

I thought Canadian gun laws were strange..... But this sounds absurd ....
 
Noxious Fumes said:
Late to the party .... But did I read right ? OP said he can't use a bolt in Ohio? If so, why?

I thought Canadian gun laws were strange..... But this sounds absurd ....
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I work with a lot of guys from the northeast...Boston, etc. and they can only use blackpowder or slugs up there. I enjoy some black powder sometimes too but it would suck a little to be limited to it.
 
Noxious Fumes said:
Late to the party .... But did I read right ? OP said he can't use a bolt in Ohio? If so, why?

I thought Canadian gun laws were strange..... But this sounds absurd ....
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Well this year was a first for OHIOans.We were allowed to use rifles for the first time in about 100 years (had to be straight walled cartridge). We could always use pistols but everyone knows that a bullet from a rifle goes farther :confused: :D :thumbdn: so being that the area is mainly flat, some believed that using a rifle would be dangerous for hunting deer. Yet here is the kicker my friends, you can use a 50 BMG :eek: :D to hunt varmints and it is perfectly legal. This is what happens when uninformed people make the laws.
 
Good thing about not being able to use rifles here in Ohio is I got really good with my bow :)

Josh you are so right on people who make the laws in this state. Being from Texas when I moved here and found out about the goofy laws I was shocked but since we can now use straight walled maybe bottle necks will be a couple years away.
 
That is what I am hoping. I too have gotten quite good with a bow because of the laws. :thumbup:
 
Just get an out-of-state permit and go to WV. You can use a bazooka down there and they have 2 weeks instead of one for OH.
 
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I have thought of that. I do go to Kentucky every year and plan on making it down to North Carolina next year.
 
I can sometimes make some very long shots with my "12 guage" in the back yard. LOL
 
Nice, if I tried that I would have the police at my house so quick my head would spin. I truly hate living in the city.
 
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