Building deer rifle for Upstate NY
02-27-2011, 05:08 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,143
LOL, I lived in Upstate New York for 27 years before moving to Rhode Island. Upstate New York consist of a lot of WOODS and TIMBER (depending on where you hunt) Most feilds are not over 400 yds. across (Some are) Most opportunities that you will get at shots in Upstate NY will be 200 yards or LESS. There is nothing wrong with a 30-30 for hunting in Upstate NY. With that being said there is nothing wrong with a 308, 30-06, or 300 win mag. I just feel you don't need that much gun in most hunting situations in Upstate NY. I used to hunt with a 30-06 up there (near Parrish, Pulaski and West Monroe areas) The 30-06 was more than adequate and in my opinion, too much gun. I switched to a 30-30 and that seemed to fit the bill better. I could push my shot to about 185yds if i wanted to, but seeing that I would never get that kind of shot off in the forest, even my 30-30 was not getting full use of its potential. The longest shot I made at a deer with my 30-06 was about 67 yds. The shortest shot was about 11yds. Depending on where you are hunting in NY and Im going to say (more than likely) You will NOT need such a caliber as a 300 win or 338. ......There was however a time when I had to bring out my .416 Rigby in Tully.........It was the year they had the attack of the "Mountain Elephants" That was in 1996 and they say they don't come around but every hundred years or so. So I doubt you will have to dig further into your arsenal and get your 505 Gibbs with a shepard scope anytime soon.
Like Pawildman said you could use the 300win mag it's still a 30 cal like the 06 but why? Why carry the extra wieght of a mag rifle, the extra expense of ammo.
If it was the only gun the guy had and didn't have the money for another gun .....ok but he's looking to build a gun and in my opinion there's better choices than the 300 win mag
02-27-2011, 07:45 AM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Adirondacks
Posts: 1,305
Most deer in NY are taken within 50yds!If you hunt a lot of farms where shots can get longer I would go with a 7-08.Plenty enough reach,mild recoil,and available in most any action.IMO one of the best ever.
02-27-2011, 12:08 PM
#13
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 12
This can't possibly be a serious thread.
You have two PSS's and a magnaported 700 classic .338 win mag and you happen to have an "extra" Leupold Mark IV that's sitting around to top the 770 with and you are contemplating custom turrits for this rifle.
Doesn't really add up.
You have two PSS's and a magnaported 700 classic .338 win mag and you happen to have an "extra" Leupold Mark IV that's sitting around to top the 770 with and you are contemplating custom turrits for this rifle.
Doesn't really add up.
When I bought the Leupold, it came with 308 turrets and 300 winmag turrets. I unpacked my gun room and cannot find the 300 winmag turrets. I didn't have a 300 winmag before last month so god only knows what i did with those turrets.
I had 66 acres at my old house (115 at this new house) and built a nice shooting range. I have been collecting weapons (and I am a C&R FFL) for some time and own a lot of weapons but have never been a hunter prior to moving to this new home. I have lots of glass, and since I trade weapons with friends I sometimes end up having a piece of glass that doesn't have a home. Right now I have a Leupold LRT 3M 3.5-10 that used to live on a M1A National Match and I had to sell the M1A, Socom-II, and some Class 3 stuff because I moved from GA to NY. So I presently have a $1.2K Leuopold, 3 or 4 crappy Bushnells, a pair of EOTech's (had to ditch my AR15's as well), and some other glass with no rifle.
Back to the conundrum. If I use either my 20" fluted PSS or my 26" non fluted PSS, they both already have Pentax Lightseeker 30 scopes with Kenton Tuned Trajectory Compensators set for 168 grain FMJ. I love target shooting with those, and I would hate to have to ditch the match triggers or change up the scopes since both are dialed in quite well. Also, I am not sure a match trigger would be good for hunting - seems to me a hunting trigger would have more than 3 lbs of pull, no?
I got the 770 for cheap and since I didn't have a 300 winmag before that I grabbed it from a friend. The 700 Classic in 338 WinMag I bought because it was only made 1 year and is collectable (1981 was the year for that). It came magnaported. I added a 30mm Nikon Scope since I figured some day it would be a good rifle for elk hunting. Not sure how much the scope was, but I am guessing it was about $600.
For those that are weapons enthusiasts, you can see photos of most of my stuff at http://www.smugmug.com/gallery/3262101_VeeZj
I moved to NY so some stuff is different. I ditched my new AR15's for old SP1's, traded the SOCOM-II for a Gewehr-43, traded the SA M1A National Match for a preban Polytech, and traded the modern AK47 for one from the 1970's. Those additions aren't photographed yet but I may get around to photographing the whole collection again since changes have occurred. Also, no longer have the Uzi Mini or the M11A1 since NY doesn't allow Class 3 either.
Last edited by Snappo; 02-27-2011 at 12:19 PM.
02-27-2011, 12:17 PM
#14
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 12
LOL, I lived in Upstate New York for 27 years before moving to Rhode Island. Upstate New York consist of a lot of WOODS and TIMBER (depending on where you hunt) Most feilds are not over 400 yds. across (Some are) Most opportunities that you will get at shots in Upstate NY will be 200 yards or LESS. There is nothing wrong with a 30-30 for hunting in Upstate NY. With that being said there is nothing wrong with a 308, 30-06, or 300 win mag. I just feel you don't need that much gun in most hunting situations in Upstate NY. I used to hunt with a 30-06 up there (near Parrish, Pulaski and West Monroe areas) The 30-06 was more than adequate and in my opinion, too much gun. I switched to a 30-30 and that seemed to fit the bill better. I could push my shot to about 185yds if i wanted to, but seeing that I would never get that kind of shot off in the forest, even my 30-30 was not getting full use of its potential. The longest shot I made at a deer with my 30-06 was about 67 yds. The shortest shot was about 11yds. Depending on where you are hunting in NY and Im going to say (more than likely) You will NOT need such a caliber as a 300 win or 338. ......There was however a time when I had to bring out my .416 Rigby in Tully.........It was the year they had the attack of the "Mountain Elephants" That was in 1996 and they say they don't come around but every hundred years or so. So I doubt you will have to dig further into your arsenal and get your 505 Gibbs with a shepard scope anytime soon.
02-27-2011, 12:23 PM
#15
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 12
I don't own a 7-08. I had a Winchester 270 WSM I bought some time ago for my son, but I traded that to a buddy of mine recently because I figured it would never get shot. Right now it seems I can either buy an XCR on gunsamerica, use one of my 700 benchrest rifles, or use that 700 classic. Though the 700 classic is rare and I would cry if I damaged the wood accidentally.
02-27-2011, 01:44 PM
#18
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,679
I was wonderin if it was even legal to put a mark 4 on a 770, a 1000.00 scope on a 200.00 rifle
RR
RR
I am new to this board and going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you aren't trolling. If I am wrong, so be it.
I would honestly take that 770 and try to get your money back out of it and put it into something like a .308, 7mm-08, .270, etc... Rem 700, Howa 1500, Winchester 70, etc... The cheapest 700 is ten times the rifle that the 770 is.
Since you are familiar with the .308 and the PSS/LTR type of rifles a great inexpensive rifle that would feel very similar would be a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .308. I think it would be perfect for your needs.
If you are fine with the recoil I would use the .338 Win mag I would use it until you purchased another rifle. The big heavy bullets of the .338 actually create less meat damage than a .243 would. My .338 RUM causes very little blood shot meat compared to my smaller cartridges with more fragile bullets.
Last edited by bigbulls; 02-27-2011 at 01:47 PM.
02-27-2011, 06:09 PM
#20
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Upstate NY
Posts: 12
I once mounted a Swarovski on top of a Remington 710 for a customer a few years ago. No ****, You can't make this stuff up.
Since you are new to the board and this was your first post I was wondering the same about you. We get a lot of trolls here that ask very similar questions their first time around and never return or just continue the charade until they get banned. It seems that you actually are quite serious about your question though.
I would honestly take that 770 and try to get your money back out of it and put it into something like a .308, 7mm-08, .270, etc... Rem 700, Howa 1500, Winchester 70, etc... The cheapest 700 is ten times the rifle that the 770 is.
Since you are familiar with the .308 and the PSS/LTR type of rifles a great inexpensive rifle that would feel very similar would be a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .308. I think it would be perfect for your needs.
If you are fine with the recoil I would use the .338 Win mag I would use it until you purchased another rifle. The big heavy bullets of the .338 actually create less meat damage than a .243 would. My .338 RUM causes very little blood shot meat compared to my smaller cartridges with more fragile bullets.
Since you are new to the board and this was your first post I was wondering the same about you. We get a lot of trolls here that ask very similar questions their first time around and never return or just continue the charade until they get banned. It seems that you actually are quite serious about your question though.
I would honestly take that 770 and try to get your money back out of it and put it into something like a .308, 7mm-08, .270, etc... Rem 700, Howa 1500, Winchester 70, etc... The cheapest 700 is ten times the rifle that the 770 is.
Since you are familiar with the .308 and the PSS/LTR type of rifles a great inexpensive rifle that would feel very similar would be a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .308. I think it would be perfect for your needs.
If you are fine with the recoil I would use the .338 Win mag I would use it until you purchased another rifle. The big heavy bullets of the .338 actually create less meat damage than a .243 would. My .338 RUM causes very little blood shot meat compared to my smaller cartridges with more fragile bullets.
I will take your suggestion and work on the 338 WinMag. I just know I wanted to put a JP Recoil Eliminator on it eventually since it was a magnum, and I am worried that I can't do that because the rifle came magnaported already.
Tomorrow is my birthday, so I told my wife I would like to get a Remington XCR this summer, and I can move the Leupold over to that rifle. I might get it in 30-06 because I bought two huge wooden cases of 30-06 when I lived driving distance to the CMP in Anniston. So I think that's 1,800 rounds or so.
I heard Swarovski is really amazing glass. I never bought one of those or a Zeiss. Pretty much the most I spend is $1.2K for a Leupold or $700 for a Pentax. One of the most beautiful scopes I own is a Springfield Armory scope. Those were made in Japan and they are very bright and have a build in level inside the scope. They were so wonderful that you can't get them anymore. ;-(