Trainer/Wife Rifle - Ruger American / Kimber / Christensen

[treillw]

Looking for a trainer rifle and a rifle that my wife can use for hunting. I'm thinking a 6.5 Creedmoor, .308, 7mm-08, similar caliber that can take down an elk at a decent range. The rifle has to be lightweight for my wife to lug around the mountains. I was very impressed with my buddy's ruger american in 6.5 for a $350 gun. They have drop in timney triggers for them that would make the gun a lot more pleasant to shoot. Are there any other rifles out there that are worth considering? The lightweight kimber rifles are intriguing (subalpine, Adirondack) as well as the christensen arms ridgeline, but these rifles are in a whole new price class. Do the pricey rifles have any real advantage over the $350 gun that shoots ~half moa at 100 yards?

Thanks!

 

[jpspeeddemon]

I just bought a Ruger American Predator in 6.5 creedmoor. I've had it for about a month, 100 rounds through it and been very very accurate. I've shot several sub-0.5 moa groups at 100yds and shot out to 720 yards last week and did very well. There are similar accounts all over the internet about the performance of these rifles. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one.