Hunting Rifle Advice

If you're looking for bolt actions, the most accurate out of the box packages I can think of are going to be the Savage 10T, the Tikka T3, or the FN SPR A1 from least to most.
The SPR A1 with decent glass is a sub-$1k 1,000 yard gun. Best bang for your buck in a bolt action without question.

 

Do you know anybody with an 06 bolt gun you can try? The recoil is not bad at all. Might consider a 270 as well if you are thinking 30-06. I would always go bolt if you don't build an AR-10

 

Yes, I'm a Cali native. Gun laws here disqualify about 50% of the one's you listed. lol.


Simply stated, I want a reliable, accurate hunting rifle with low recoil. Ideally, it would be chambered in 30-06. That's all.

Some considerations:
Budget is a concern, but I'm not the type to skimp on a quality product I expect to own my entire life.
Ideally, it would be light weight since out here in SoCal you have to ruck for miles to see any wildlife.
It must be rugged as it will take a beating, that's a guaranty.
Hope that's specific enough.

 

Not trying to be a dick (I'm automatically one now that I began my sentence like that) but have you personally owned semi-auto guns and had them unreliable?
Most of my firearms are semi-auto (All but my 30-30, .308, and one of my 12 gauges) and I have not had reliability issues, out of ~4,500 rounds down range I have had less than 10 failures out of my 6 (?) semi-autos, a couple of those were from a bad magazine (Caused other AR's to malfunction as well).

My Dad used to have the same mentality, all of his recent purchases have been semi-autos because people just aren't having issues anymore (The designs are getting older and more "Tuned").

 

http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...57785_757784_757784_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

 

People felt the same way about semi-auto pistols in the era of revolvers. That said, I have many semi-autos with no issues and TWO of my revolvers have indexing problems.

 

I've owned a few different recoil pads, and while they drastically reduce recoil, they're horrible for accuracy IMO. Also, they tend to get snagged by vegetation. Do you know of any reliable pads?

 

The internets. lol. Seriously though, most hunting articles I've read state the AR is only good to about 300yds chambered in .223. I'm not sure how much better they would be in 30-06.

 

You can easily get around that, it's not difficult.

I don't know if you're cut out for what you're up to, bud, you want the perfect recoil-free-shoulder-fired-.50-cal.

 

I do not. I haven't used any aftermarket recoil pads. Maybe look into shirts with recoil pads built in? I'm not sure if those would affect accuracy.

 

Negative. I wish there was a place where I could go "try-on" guns. lol

 

Maybe you are trying to fix a problem that might not exist. If you only shoot the rifle a handful of times per year sighting in and while hunting, would the recoil be too unmanageable to warrant modifying your rifle?

 

I have not personally owned a Semi Auto rifle. However, many of my hunting buddies due. I should qualify that statement by saying that they're very unreliable when you're hiking through brush, dragging up the sides on mountains, and on occasions droping them while you trip and fall. lol. I've never had an issue with my Bolt.

 

My buddy had this done to his .308, while it helped with the recoil, he hates shooting it because his ears ring afterwards. lol. Not worth it IMO.

 

X2- just heavy though

 

In regards to exterior ballistics, the 308 is very close to the 06. So close in fact that as far as hunting mule deer goes there is no difference whatsoever. Once you start considering low recoil 06 ammo its miniscule advantage disappears. And ammo prices for quantities less than anyone but a competative shooter would use are also inconsequential.

I have hunted for decades across the western US, where ranges can often be long for whitetail, muledeer, black bear, and elk and wouldn't hesitate to use any of the modern .27 to .30 caliber rounds. You are really over thinking this and unnecessarily limiting your options.

 

No, but I think that not shooting my rifle enough is the issue. I have "The Flinch". I dry fire plenty while I'm in my stand and notice I flinch every time.

 

Sweet, thanks!

 

You need to break that with training not buy a bunch of stick on gadgets to bandaid it.

 

This ^^^ Everyone is different, but I have read about many different ways people train to rid themselves of the flinch. Just try different things until something sticks.