Great question, I'll follow this as I haven't bought a new bolt rifle in decades.30-06
At least a 22" barrel
Not over 7.5 lbs
Less than $1k
5/8x24 thread
MOA guarantee
Recommendations?
Open to either. I have been scouring the pawn shops. Unfortunately, I blew my budget on a like new Remington 11-87 20 gauge.New or used?
Exactly! I keep getting folks suggesting rifles with no threads or 1/2x28. I like a nice medium contour barrel.Barrel contour/muzzle diameter will be a consideration for a 5/8-24 thread.
This is a very good point.You have a high probability of getting an excellent rifle if you go the Tikka route. I have and have had several and they all performed flawlessly. The new modular stock design is a nice feature. I replaced the sporter pistol grips with the vertical grip which enabled me to shoot them significantly better by providing better trigger finger alignment with the trigger.
However, one issue I would consider is the recoil with the Tikka T3X Lites in 30 caliber offerings. I had a 308 that was, at least for me, brutal with recoil. But I am a small guy, under 170 lbs. and old. If the rifle is intended strictly as a hunting rifle, then recoil isn't that big of a deal. However, if you intend to do a lot of shooting off the bench, be prepared to deal with some stiff recoil.
The 30 06 is one of the greatest hunting cartridges of all time in my opinion. A little more than needed for eastern white tail but more is better than less. However, if you plan to hunt bear, elk, moose, etc., along with deer you are in good hands with the 06.This is a very good point.
I have had the t3x in 308, 270 and 30-06 in the light synthetic stock platform. This is with the Sporter barrel profile that they offer. The 308 and 270 sure were whippy, but not the end of the world. An after market limbsaver made all the difference. The 30-06 with the factory barrel was hard hitting. I ended up epoxying in lead weights in strategic areas. I think it was about 8-10 oz that I put in there but it really helped. However I ended up finding a wood T3x stock cheap. And did my own bedding and now that 30-06 is wonderful.
If you are going to just shoot it to develop a hunting load and then shoot 10 shots a year (verify sight on and then hunting) the synthetic stock is no problem.
Also, for what it's worth, I did not even do load development for my 270 and 308. The Hornady whitetail factory loads both shot 3/4 moa out of the box. 3 shot group. The 3/4 inch part was a cold bore shot and a follow-up shot. A third shot always went into or covered half the hole for the 2nd shot. For the 308 this was even before I bedded it. So I bought 5 boxes of the same lot of factory Hornady whitetail ammo. Shot 2-5 shots per year. 2 rounds to verify zero. 0-3 shots in the field depending on how many deer I took.
For the 30-06 I did load development because I had specifical load requirements that did not meet any factory load options.
Nowadays I'm just down to two Tikkas. The 30-06 and my 270 that I rebarreld to a 7x57 McGowan prefit. Sits in a B&C m40 style stock with a bartelin 3b ish contour. It's a 5/8 moa gun. It's done better, but I'm not as consistent as I should be.
It has a 1/2x28" thread pattern.Howa Gamepro.,
I don't own one but they're very affordable, with sub moa with premium ammo warranty.. Threaded barrel and Houge overmold type of stock. Not sure about the weight but I assume no more than 8 lbs... probably 8 and a little with scope.
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I seen Howa's do MOA groups with the cheapest ammo.