mmeehan97
New member
I'm new around here, but been lurking for awhile. All the posts/threads/knowledge you guys share greatly influenced my decision to upgrade my rifle. I had an old pre-accutrigger Savage 111 in 7mm Rem Mag. I just really didn't enjoy shooting the caliber. I don't know if it was just the rifle, but it kicked like a mule. I'd get headaches from sighting it in. It had a whopping $60 Sightron scope on it.
In addition about 99% of my tags are deer/antelope tags. Takes 10-15 years to draw an elk tag here in SD. I wanted a rifle that I would actually enjoy shooting and I could maybe start working to really improve my shooting through practice.
I was looking at 308, 270, 7mm-HT. I thought any of those would maybe be easier to shoot, and could still handle an elk tag - when I eventually draw it.
Traded in my old Savage for $250. Walked into Scheels and they just so happened to have Howa in Predator camo with the Cerakote burnt bronze action/barrel for $499 - regularly $649. As soon as I picked it up I liked how solid it felt when I compared it to the Ruger American or Savage Axis. And it just so happened to be in 270 caliber - which seems to be a highly recommended caliber. Then they had Vortex Viper HS LR 4-16x44 on sale for $419. Couldn't pass it up.
When all was said and done I walked out with a pretty slick setup for about $800 out-of-pocket. It's a lot of money for me - but I feel like I did pretty good!
I'm both excited and worried about taking care of such a large investment (for me). Any tips/tricks/suggestions for breaking in the rifle? Cleaning dos/don'ts? Maybe any upgrades you'd recommend? I know you have to experiment with factory loads, but are there any that you'd avoid?
I'd like to thank everyone here. The info I found on this forum has been invaluable. You guys rock!
In addition about 99% of my tags are deer/antelope tags. Takes 10-15 years to draw an elk tag here in SD. I wanted a rifle that I would actually enjoy shooting and I could maybe start working to really improve my shooting through practice.
I was looking at 308, 270, 7mm-HT. I thought any of those would maybe be easier to shoot, and could still handle an elk tag - when I eventually draw it.
Traded in my old Savage for $250. Walked into Scheels and they just so happened to have Howa in Predator camo with the Cerakote burnt bronze action/barrel for $499 - regularly $649. As soon as I picked it up I liked how solid it felt when I compared it to the Ruger American or Savage Axis. And it just so happened to be in 270 caliber - which seems to be a highly recommended caliber. Then they had Vortex Viper HS LR 4-16x44 on sale for $419. Couldn't pass it up.
When all was said and done I walked out with a pretty slick setup for about $800 out-of-pocket. It's a lot of money for me - but I feel like I did pretty good!
I'm both excited and worried about taking care of such a large investment (for me). Any tips/tricks/suggestions for breaking in the rifle? Cleaning dos/don'ts? Maybe any upgrades you'd recommend? I know you have to experiment with factory loads, but are there any that you'd avoid?
I'd like to thank everyone here. The info I found on this forum has been invaluable. You guys rock!