My idea for the ultimate western rifle

Short action or long action? Doesn't make a dink worth of difference, just depends on what you like. Tang safety? Well maybe, if that's what your used to! Otherwise just learn to use what you have!

There are no big secret's, sorry. I'd bet if I took my longest barrel rifle to a brushy state and found deer, I'd kill them regardless ! My longest barrel rifle is a 6.5x06 with 25" barrel and a 41/2-14x scope. Not exactly a brush gun but the animals you hunt don't know that! My old mod 660 in 308 with it's 20" barrel and 2 3/4x scope has killed more than it's share of deer in the wide open spaces of Central Oregon! So has my 25-06 with it's 24" barrel and 3-9x scope!

Read about guy's that believe they need something that can really reach out there and then the next guy use's a bow!

6.5x284 Norma pushes a 140 bullet to 3000 but I understand a lot of you guys keeping your choices 7mm and up

*Don, for me it's honestly just a confidence thing. I'd rather take a shot at 300 knowing I'm good to 1000 vs taking a shot at max range and taking a chance wounding a critter

You are getting some good feedback on the sub-$1000 goal. I will toss a couple of curveballs.

I have 3 custom rifles built off actions I scavenged from otherwise crappy rifles. At most were 50% more when the dust settled than if I had bought new. I do not go for pretty as can see from the picture. I focus on function.

Once I got the first custom elk rifle, I stopped using my "off the shelf" rifles then got a custom deer rifle and later a custom pronghorn rifle. Using the custom rifle was more enjoyable. More accurate. My ability to select the trigger, stock, LOP, bolt type and through distance and rotation, barrel length and turn rate and finish, sling swivel placement, bi-pod connection placement, scope mount, scope, recoil pad, safety style, choice of magazine, etc, made it worth if for me. Private gunsmiths made each rifle and was around 2 years to get each rifle completed. The trigger along with custom LOP were likely key factors in my improved accuracy but the stock is rigid and does not swell so that is good when I am in the rainy stuff. I shoot off the shelf ammo but buy 200 - 300 rounds from the same production run so that may help with the good results I get even without hand-loading ammo. Each custom rifle has a nice "balance" to them. Usually am not swinging the barrel for a shot but if a follow-up shot is needed then all bets are off on using a solid support for that shot.

I used to worry a bit about the rifle weight after reading about mountain rifles but I usually have a day pack so knocking 3 pounds of a rifle that then kicks 25% harder is not where I decided to lose 3 pounds in my gear. The elk rifle is a .338 Win Mag and have never weighed but is noticeably heavier than the .308 Win which is noticeable heavier than the pronghorn rifle. The .338 seems to recoil about like the .308 and shoots tighter groups at 300 yards even with a heavier bullet which handles stiff winds nicely.

Another item to ponder is optics. If you have nice optics then could shift gears to focus on upgrading a suitable rifle into a better rifle. Otherwise, optics pay bigger dividends in big country hunts. Out West I spend 6 hours behind the spotting scope for every hour behind my binos or for every 1 minute behind my rifle scope. Good optics are like night vision for catching the first bit of light and last bit of light when some critters may only be on the move.

I like where you're going with that and I have explored that option quite a bit. I've debated rebarreling my savage mod 11 and replacing the bolt head and going with a short mag or SAUM with a carbon fiber barrel and muzzle brake. Its an idea that I'm playing with but I could probably get a new Xbolt for what it would cost for the new barrel... decisions decisions

johncushman said:

dilly dilly!!

Click to expand...

dilly dilly!!!

What I’ve come up with Rem 673 in .300saum with Leupold 3.5-10x40 and 180 Scirocco handloads. I’ll put up with an extra pound cause I don’t care for a plastic stock.

elkhnter said:

View attachment 79725
What I’ve come up with Rem 673 in .300saum with Leupold 3.5-10x40 and 180 Scirocco handloads. I’ll put up with an extra pound cause I don’t care for a plastic stock.

Click to expand...

What velocity are you getting with that load? 22" barrel?

okie_hotrod said:

I like where you're going with that and I have explored that option quite a bit. I've debated rebarreling my savage mod 11 and replacing the bolt head and going with a short mag or SAUM with a carbon fiber barrel and muzzle brake. Its an idea that I'm playing with but I could probably get a new Xbolt for what it would cost for the new barrel... decisions decisions

Click to expand...

but a new x bolt wouldn't have controlled round feed. if you can live without that, run out and buy an x bolt speed in 300wsm, but they only have 23" barrels so I guess its still out. i think the only two non custom rifles out there for close to $1000 that have all those requirements are the Montana Rifle X2 and Legendary Arms works professional, Closer and Capra. the LAW Professional or Closer is the way to go if you can swing the extra money.

okie_hotrod said:

6.5x284 Norma pushes a 140 bullet to 3000 but I understand a lot of you guys keeping your choices 7mm and up

*Don, for me it's honestly just a confidence thing. I'd rather take a shot at 300 knowing I'm good to 1000 vs taking a shot at max range and taking a chance wounding a critter

Click to expand...

Just a guess but I suspect the chance of a wounded animal goes up the farther away it is!

I just want to point out how excited I was that the first 3 rifle photos were LEFT handed.
As a fellow southpaw that made me smile!

I'll play.

For your criteria, I wouldn't go with a Ruger action. It's heavy and the scope mounting system is heavy as well. They're robust actions and the one I've kept is finally shooting well after getting rebarreled but it's not a lightweight rifle. It's a 7mm Mauer AI that's shooting the 140 grain TTSX at 3050 in the Ruger 77. That takes a long action though.


I'd look at a Winchester Model 70 or the MRC rifle in 7mm-08 if it has to be a short action - if you're a right handed shooter, then the Kimber fits as well. If you really want to soup it up, then look at the 7WSM or AI the 7mm-08 to increase case capacity and velocity.

If you bump up to a long action, then I'd say the 280 AI or the 300 WSM.

Throw out the CRF and the options are endless. mtmuley

mtmiller said:

Is a backwards bolt required for a "western" rifle?

Click to expand...

Yep. Bunch of dummies.

Adhering to the price criteria only, I'd go with the blued 700 CDL in 7 or 300 mag. DIY tinker the bedding and sand the fore end pressure point off and seal the relieved barrel channel. Martha Stewart some agreeable speed/POI loads, keep it clean, & hunt the hell out of it. I've not had an issue with push feed.

N2TRKYS said:

What velocity are you getting with that load? 22" barrel?

Click to expand...

22” barrel. 2850 with H4350

elkhnter said:

22” barrel. 2850 with H4350

Click to expand...

Very nice.

Thanks for all the suggestions gentleman, I'll look at what options I have available and see if I need to change up my criteria. Regardless I love talking guns and it's nice to see some nice rigs

The Winchester extreme weather is a great rifle that is under 1k with a short action, I picked my 325 wsm for 700 bucks after being a stalker on gunbroker. Way less bullet selection then a 300 wsm but pretty much the same ballistics. 200 gr partition are the perfect elk round and for anything else in the lower 48. I also have a custom 6.5 saum which is similar the 6.5 prc, tack driver with the 143 eldx but i would want something bigger for elk. i dropped a muley at 250 yards, shooting 3100 at the muzzle. What would your range be? That will play into cartridge selection.

if stainless isn't an issue i'd opt for the standard m77 hawkeye in either 308 or the 7mmHT. you don't need a 24"barrel for either one. believe it or not when our military was asking for a new cartridge, one of the design specs was that the best velocity needed to be achieved with a minimum barrel length of 18" and max length of 20". the "new" cartridge born was the 308(7.62x51mm). so a 22" barrel would more than satisfy your needs for velocity and you still have the CRF you desire.

To my way of thinking the perfect Western rifle is a single shot and, from among those, almost certainly an 1885 Winchester. My selection of cartridges is quite different too, but any cartridge is adaptable to a singleshot action. The advantages of a single shot can include weight reduction or putting that weight in other places (like a long barrel), simplicity (which often correlates with dependability), and ergonomics.

I have never understood the attraction of a bolt action, but I guess that's just me.