Re: Lighter Hunting Rifle -- Who makes the best?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: edi</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: fdkay</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: edi</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Not a great friend of factory rifles for hunting, don't think they have the reliability that is needed.
Had my rifle made by roedale, based on an old sako action. Fitted with a Lothar Walther 1450 22" barrel which seems a good compromise between weight and accuracy. Saved some weight on the stock and used one of our carbon stocks at 700 grams.
Shot about 60 deer with this setup now and am convinced it is much more reliable than the remmy and tikka factory rifles I use for shooting fox and vermin.
edi </div></div>
Really, so the literaly millons of folks that use factory rifle to harvest millions of deer, and other assorted medium, large and small game have just been lucky?
Like the fellow at the range today, next to me with a 40 year old model 700 that he inherited from his father, that has killed deer every year for the past 40 years?
A custom is nice, there is certainly pride in ownership, but to say a Model 700, Model 7, Tikka, winchester, savage or what have you is almost certain to fail? I think you might be overstating things a bit. </div></div>
Obviously it depends on the terrain too, under 100yds it is not so critical especially on body shots.One thing is for sure, a light barreled hunting rifle with a cheap plastic stock as it comes out the box is not up to consistent accuracy under hunting situations. When the shooting postion varies, pressure on the barrel varies. On the bench these rifles might shoot under an inch but not in the field. I know of all the deer shot with all sorts of kit, but keep in mind how many deer run away wounded that no one owes up too.
I prefer a reliably accurate rifle because, we sometimes shoot at slightly longer ranges around 400 yds. We very often have to head or neck shoot because high grass covers the body. Often shoot close to roads/house and don't want any runners dying in a tree huggers garden.
Another point, how much fuss do we make about building or setting up a 300yd target rifle, which is only for paper. For deer at the same range a quick run to Wal-mart is good enough?
By the way I also inherited a 40 year old sako in 308, which had belonged to a PH in South Africa.
This rifle had shot over 1000 kudu and I'm sure wounded half as much. On one occasion my father tracked one of his runners and put it down with his mauser pistol. When I got the rifle it wouldn't hit a frying pan.
edi </div></div>
Edi I'm going to have to dissagree with you here. Hunters here where I live deal with some of the toughest terrain and conditions in the world, and of all the hunters I know, including professional guides, only one of them uses a custom-built rifle. I myself fall back on a Ruger 77 in .35 whelen and a Tikka M695 in .338wm when the season comes around. Both are light and handy and get the job done very well indeed when push comes to shove in the Alaskan bush.
And I'm confused how we got from "lightest hunting rifle" to "I have a 40 year old, abused Sako that won't hit anything anymore, so there." Seems like a bit of a jump. Of course your old Sako won't shoot well anymore after all the use it's had. Are you trying to tell me that a custom rig put through the same conditions will fare better? I think not.
