Thoughts, please....feel like a unicorn hunter

[Jody Simcox]

I’d like to build a gun for my soon-to-be 75 y/o father. The only animal he would possibly shoot would be a coyote or hog. Will almost exclusively be shooting steel with me and my boys...we shoot at MOA-sized dots on 4 MOA-sized plates...slowly working our way to 1000 yds, which will be our max. He has been shooting guns for 50 years, but never owned a center fire rifle. My “wants” don’t seem to be meshing very well, and I’d appreciate y’all sharing any suggestions.

My wish list:

1. Low recoil- would like for him to be able to think about spotting his shots

2. Shorter length as opposed to some sort of lance for a jousting match...just for ease of handling...

3. I was hoping for something not terribly heavy...maybe MAX of 12 lb including optic

4. I actively reload, but if I didn’t have to drag him through that process, it might be more enjoyable for him if he got a case of ammo along with the gun (what about a tuner?)

Thanks again for your thoughts...would really appreciate any specifics...especially barrel length and contour

 

[Sniper338]

24 inch remington varmint 7mm-08, or 6br.

 

[Hohn]

6mm. 20-22” barrel. Factory ammo? 6mm creedmoor. .243 has no factory match/target ammo widely available.

handload? 6br or variant.

8#, viable to 1000y, low recoil.

 

[lwhaples]

If for some reason you decide on 7mm-08 I'd be happy to send a bag of new brass and some 140grn bullets that came in a buy out. Something I won't use.

 

[joshb]

24 inch remington varmint 7mm-08, or 6br.

This in 6br. Buy 100 Lapua brass and work up a load. He’ll be able to shoot all distances and maybe whoop you sometimes.

 

[357Mag]

Jody -

Howdy !

How about a .250 Savage ? Can neck-up .22-250 brass, which includes
SR primered Lapua cases.

Set the gun up to handle the heaviest .25 cal bullet you believe will work, and load accordingly. You’d have to decide whether you’d really need to go w/ the full-tilt 131gr custom bullets. Barrel twist rate would need to be faster than 1-10, if you want to shoot the long/ heavy VLD. The 24” lg you mention is one of the popular lengths seen on mid-70s Ruger M-77 .250s, and also on the Rem M-700 “ Factory Classic “ they offered chambered in .250-3000.

Gun wt: IMHO - if the gun might be going afield, try to keep all-up wt closer to 10.5lb than 12. A well thought out choice made on stock design would help w/ gun manners, for shooting out to 1,000.

Choose an action that accomodates good options on trigger pull wt.

I suspect you already have a good optic in mind.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[338 dude]

As much as I hate to say it a Creedmoor just seems logical

 

[Jody Simcox]

Awfully nice, lwhaples...thank you!

 

[CharlieNC]

A 6BR would be ideal. Even less recoil, a 223 shooting 70+ grain bullets can hold vertical well at 1000 yd but the windage can be challenging.

 

[matthias]

6br( and all the off shoots) , 243 win, 6.5 grendel, 6 creedmoore , lots to choose from.

 

[R.Morehouse]

Get him a chamber you are shooting and build the gun to suit.

Regards
Rick

 

[jghoghunter]

6 br my gunsmith has bought some really accurate factory loaded ammo for a customer in just the style rifle you are talking about. This is exactly what his customer does with it and the age is also the same.

 

[300_whisper]

Remington 700 varmint in .243

Remington 700 5R in 6.5CM or .260

Howa KRG Bravo in same calibers

Howa in 6.5G? That may be hard to get out to 1,000 but it’s small, accurate, and zero recoil.

 

[dcali]

I’d consider a .223 set up for 77s with whatever contour that gets you the weight you want, but a barrel around 24”.

 

[jonbearman]

Get him a Remington mountain rifle in .243 or 7mm-08. That would be nice and light and very easy to carry and handle with a harris bi-pod when hunting varmints.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

If you do go .223, Hornady Black loaded ammo is loaded with their 75 bthp match bullet. Accurate in a 1-8 twist.

 

[HTSmith]

I have a switch barrel Rem 700 in 260Rem and 6BR with Remington Varmint contour 26" long in HS Prec stock that would meet your requirements. If I had to do it over, I'd go with 24" bbls for handiness and if factory ammo were necessary I'd switch the 260 to the 6.5 Creedmoor. (I'm not looking to sell, just suggesting something similar could work for your Dad) Good on you for the project!

 

[Ccrider]

6br. 10tw. 87gr vmax will make the bill for sure.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

6.5 creedmoor

 

[Texas10]

Factory ammo that's not hard to find or expensive, long range capability, not too heavy, shorter barrel. IMOP that narrows the field a bit. I just built a 6.5 CM with a 24 inch X-caliber barrel, Savage action in a Savage laminate stock, inexpensive optics and it's making small groups on an 8 inch steel at 700 yds. A tuner would be very helpful with factory ammo, although the Hornaday Black has a good reputation, especially in a 26 inch barrel, it doesn't like this 24 inch barrel. I'm loading 140 and 142 SMK's over H4350 and Hornaday brass and making .3 moa groups at 300 yds. A person could do a lot worse, especially for such a small investment.

A 22 or 24 inch varmint wt barrel, add a tuner/brake and give'm hell. JMOP.