Greetings, all!
I'm new to firearms. Not totally new, mind you, thanks to several family members, friends and the rifle ranges of several Boys Scout summer camps, but until this past Christmas I did not own a firearm of my own. Recently I seem to have developed an interest, in part due to marrying into a deer hunting family and other part due to all my college buddies seemingly developing an interest in parallel.
This Christmas I asked Santa (my wife) for a hunting rifle. I did mounds of research and went all over the place trying to handle the different models I was considering. They include...
Tikka T3 - Smoothest action I observed and reportedly the best out of box accuracy, but the safety was flimsy and there seemed to be plastic in all the wrong places.
Weatherby Vanguard/Howa 1500 - Gets great reviews, but just felt heavy and clunky in my arms.
Savage 11x - I probably didn't give the Savage proper consideration, admittedly due to my own mindset going in. I'm sure they make a great rifle overall. My brother-in-law has taken many deer with his 110.
Ruger M77 - Nothing wrong with this rifle. Loved it. Just didn't love it as much as...
Remington 700 - The Remington just seemed light without being cheap. Heavy without being clunky. It was a joy to handle and operate. The safety was idiot-proof and in a position that fit me nicely. All the best features were there... Drilled and tapped for scope mounting, an easily adjustable trigger, a nice recoil pad, etc. I knew the rifle was not without its faults, but it felt right to me.
I settled on the Remington 700 SPS in .30-06. I prefer a better stock (wood), but my wife is tight with money and I'm not complaining about that (if she knew what I spent on HER gifts she would kill me and take them all back to their respective stores). I knew .30-06 would be overkill for Texas white tail, which will probably be 95% of my hunting, but it gave me some bigger game options down the road in a tried and true caliber that should be plentiful and thus easy to find without breaking the bank.
My Christmas surprise was that when my wife told her parents what she was getting me they decided to chip in and upgrade the purchase to a 700 CDL. It's a BEAUTIFUL rifle. Being that it's almost worthless without a scope, and since I pulled a lot of overtime just prior to Christmas, I treated myself in fitting it with a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40. I told myself I wouldn't spend that much on glass, but it's only money and you only live once.
I took the whole setup down to the family farm this weekend and quickly got it sighted in. I shot groupings on three different days with several different kinds of ammo. I found myself struggling to get most groups in under 2.5 MOA, but with Federal Premium Gameking BTSP I consistantly shoot under 1.5. I'm confident that with more practice I can pull it in under 1. This is apparently the ammunition my rifle likes best. Was disappointed in the Hornady, which was all over the place by comparison. Disappointed because I had heard nothing but good things about their stuff, and because it's quite a bit cheaper than the Federal.
Anyhow, it's a nice Christmas story and I'm 100% positive I have a great setup for next season. Only problem now is we're starting to see hogs at the farm. I'm thinking I need a lever gun to carry around in the Gator for taking care of that little problem. Any opinions on the Marlin 336?
I'm new to firearms. Not totally new, mind you, thanks to several family members, friends and the rifle ranges of several Boys Scout summer camps, but until this past Christmas I did not own a firearm of my own. Recently I seem to have developed an interest, in part due to marrying into a deer hunting family and other part due to all my college buddies seemingly developing an interest in parallel.
This Christmas I asked Santa (my wife) for a hunting rifle. I did mounds of research and went all over the place trying to handle the different models I was considering. They include...
Tikka T3 - Smoothest action I observed and reportedly the best out of box accuracy, but the safety was flimsy and there seemed to be plastic in all the wrong places.
Weatherby Vanguard/Howa 1500 - Gets great reviews, but just felt heavy and clunky in my arms.
Savage 11x - I probably didn't give the Savage proper consideration, admittedly due to my own mindset going in. I'm sure they make a great rifle overall. My brother-in-law has taken many deer with his 110.
Ruger M77 - Nothing wrong with this rifle. Loved it. Just didn't love it as much as...
Remington 700 - The Remington just seemed light without being cheap. Heavy without being clunky. It was a joy to handle and operate. The safety was idiot-proof and in a position that fit me nicely. All the best features were there... Drilled and tapped for scope mounting, an easily adjustable trigger, a nice recoil pad, etc. I knew the rifle was not without its faults, but it felt right to me.
I settled on the Remington 700 SPS in .30-06. I prefer a better stock (wood), but my wife is tight with money and I'm not complaining about that (if she knew what I spent on HER gifts she would kill me and take them all back to their respective stores). I knew .30-06 would be overkill for Texas white tail, which will probably be 95% of my hunting, but it gave me some bigger game options down the road in a tried and true caliber that should be plentiful and thus easy to find without breaking the bank.
My Christmas surprise was that when my wife told her parents what she was getting me they decided to chip in and upgrade the purchase to a 700 CDL. It's a BEAUTIFUL rifle. Being that it's almost worthless without a scope, and since I pulled a lot of overtime just prior to Christmas, I treated myself in fitting it with a Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40. I told myself I wouldn't spend that much on glass, but it's only money and you only live once.
I took the whole setup down to the family farm this weekend and quickly got it sighted in. I shot groupings on three different days with several different kinds of ammo. I found myself struggling to get most groups in under 2.5 MOA, but with Federal Premium Gameking BTSP I consistantly shoot under 1.5. I'm confident that with more practice I can pull it in under 1. This is apparently the ammunition my rifle likes best. Was disappointed in the Hornady, which was all over the place by comparison. Disappointed because I had heard nothing but good things about their stuff, and because it's quite a bit cheaper than the Federal.
Anyhow, it's a nice Christmas story and I'm 100% positive I have a great setup for next season. Only problem now is we're starting to see hogs at the farm. I'm thinking I need a lever gun to carry around in the Gator for taking care of that little problem. Any opinions on the Marlin 336?
