Looking for advice

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I'vebeenduped

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Please, I know that this is subjective. I am SERIOUSLY considering this purchase;

A Savage 112 stainless
.30-06 detachable box.
26" fluted bull barrel, crowned
Accustock and Accutrigger (apparently there is a special accutrigger for varmint rifles that is slightly more adjustable?)

This is a special order from Savage and will take 8 weeks. I will be using this for hunting, of course, as well as long distance shooting... Well, what I consider long distance anyway. This has about everything that I want on a rifle besides being cerakoated and scoped. Does this sound like a good deal at $1,300 (final price, tax included)? This will take up all of my savings and will be sans scope until I can afford one of those. Any advice?
 
Look for a cheaper 308 version that isn't a custom order to save some money.

The 30-06 is a fine round, but it is easier to tune a 308 for long range accuracy and the animals won't be able to tell the difference at all.

Jimro
 
What kind of long distance shooting?

Really nice, accurate target rifles make poor hunting rifles.

For deer hunting a standard Savage ought to be more than fine. You could buy the standard version and put the savings towards good glass.

Cerakoting stainless steel isn't neccessary at all.
 
Colt46; Thank you for responding. This is actually from their line of Varmint rifles, just in a larger caliber. So it seems to come from a proven hunting rifle. I could be wrong, thus, the reason I am looking for input.

Brian Pfleuger; I am considering the .30-06 because of the availability and lower cost of the ammo. That and it seems to be the middle of the road between .308 and 300 Winmag. Why would you not use the .30-06? Is there a thread I could read on this?
 
The short answer is that the .30-06 doesn't do a thing that a .308 won't do just exactly as well unless you're shooting really heavy bullets.

The .308 was shown decades ago to be more inherently accurate. You'd never know the difference in any factory rifle but what advantage does the -06 have? None.

.308 is the definition of ammo availability.

Honestly, I have no use for a .308 either but I'd take it over the -06 every day and twice on Sunday.
 
I will take the stance opposite of Brian on this topic. This is a phrase coined by an individual much more savvy in the way of firearms than I:

"The 30-06 is never a wrong choice"

The truth of the matter is that the '06 will do loads more than the .308 in terms of big game harvesting. Bears (polar and grizz), elephants, hippos, lions, cape buffalo...the list goes on and on.


Whether or not one will actually use said firearm for such endeavors is a different topic.

And to top it off is ammo availability.
 
MidWayUSA has 10 choices in stock for .308 "Big Game" ammo, 8 for .30-06.

One of the .308 options is over 185gr, 2 of the .30-06 are over 185gr. There's no effective (energy/performance) difference between .308 and .30-06 under 185gr.


TOTAL choices? They have 42 .308 choices available and fifteen (yes, one five) .30-06 choices available. Based on that, .308 ammo is nearly 3 times more available.

Cliches are amusing but really provide no information at all. The .30-06 might not be "wrong" (though even that's debatable) but I'd be a lot more interested in why it's "right".

If you're talking about a target gun, there is absolutely *ZERO* reason to go -06 over .308. None.
 
Here's some numbers using handload.com recoil calculator and Hodgdon's load data.

A 24" barrel .308 will get a 180gr bullet up to about 2,625fps, some loads slightly faster. A 24" barrel .30-06 will get the same bullet up to about 2,750, some loads slightly faster. The difference between the two fastest was 2,840 for the -06 and 2,683 for the .308, 187fps, all the rest were less.

The .30-06 uses somewhere near 56gr powder to do it, while the .308 uses about 46gr. Some loads for both use less or more but that's about normal for both.

At those numbers, the -06 has 19.7% more recoil energy and 9.5% more recoil velocity but only 3.7% more velocity. The difference of fastest loads in both is 5.8%
 
I'm not really sure...

I can't find a reference for that exact model for sale. Bud's has a similar one for $1,254 if you pay cash, then you'd have to pay a transfer (probably $25-$50) so you'd be right about $1,300.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/...5/Savage+12+Benchrest+.308+Win.+29"+1:12+LLRE

Honestly, my first and highest advice if you want to shoot targets is to become a handloader. Free. Your. Mind.

Stop buying what "they" think they should make ammo for and buy what YOU WANT.
 
On the other hand, (and as much as I respect Brian's advise) I'd choose the .30-06, simply because I'm a curmudgeon.

There's a lot to be said for the .308, and some consider it one of America's best cartridges, and I own a couple of them, but when I'm reaching into the locker for the hunting rifles, the .30-06 gets the nod every time.
 
I'm with Brian on this one. There hasn't ever been a time when I was hunting with my .308, where I had a shot opportunity/situation, and I stopped and said "man I wish I has a 30-06 right now for this shot/situation". The .308 can do everything the 30-06 can do for any normal hunting situation in the lower 48 and usually at the expense of less recoil, less muzzle blast, and from a smaller, sometimes lighter, package.

I not only hunt with .308, I also target shoot with it out to 500yds. I reload, and on average can get 25 more loads from 1lb of powder than I could if I loaded 30-06...
 
Before adding my opinion can I ask exactly what type of hunting you're going to be doing? Stand hunting, road hunting, or are you going to hike miles to get to your spot? I'm not so concerned over the cartridge debate going on here as much as what model rifle we're talking about.
 
AllenJ;
I hunt in Arizona. Whitetail mostly. Coyote too. Pretty wide open out here, at least in the southern portion of the state. Hiking... Lot's of hiking. I don't mean to come off like an arrogant individual. Rifle weight really doesn't matter THAT much to me. Some, but not a great deal. The shots can be 500 yards easily as it is rocky, yet open terrain. Google area "Arizona 36B" and you will see what I mean (HAHA just make sure your filter is on. 36B can mean something else!). http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=hunting+arizona+36b&FORM=HDRSC2

So, I'd love to have your 2 cents!
 
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You are certainly not coming off as arrogant, I prefer a heavier rifle myself. The link that Mr. Pfleuger provided though is one heavy weight rifle, 12 lbs without a scope. The rifle I hunt with know weighs in at 9 lbs without the scope and I hunt elk in CO with it. We hike in a little over a mile to our preferred area and it does not slow me down like some would think. If you have your heart set on a target rifle for hunting I've heard almost all good things about the Savage and it is on my list to get one someday.


If you have some sort of attachment to the 30-06 over the 308 Winchester then please yourself and get it, if not though I would get the 308. As Brian points out ammo is plentiful and there is so little difference in the ballistics between to two that it does not make much sense to pay the extra money for the 30-06. Just my opinion.
 
What's the gun weigh that you mentioned in the OP? I sure wouldn't want to heft a near 14lb gun under the conditions you're talking about.

500 yards isn't that far for a gun... but it's one heck of a long ways for a shooter hiking around under hunting conditions. You certainly don't need a special, expensive, heavy rifle to make that shot but you do need to be a really great, and experienced, long distance shooter to make it on an animal.

It'd be one thing if you sat at a bench and waited for a shot at 500 yards. Wandering around and doing it is another thing all together.

In any case, a much lighter gun is up to the task, if he shooter is. The gun I linked would be a great target rifle but I wouldn't want to lug it around hunting. I carry a 9.5lb rifle but not a long distance or over rugged terrain.

That lighter gun would shoot a lot farther than 500 yards too, except that shooting it off a bench might get old in a hurry, depending on how light you go.

You might need to decide which use you want to prioritize. The target rifle might be a lousy hunting gun and the hunting gun might be an uncomfortable bench gun.
 
I have to say that my very next caliber will be .308, however having drug a 3006 through these Missouri forest and farmlands for 35 years it gotta be one of my top favorites.
Precision shooter, Ive never found a cituation while hunting that I thought I need anything larger than my .270 winchester, but the truth of it isI can use anything I choose and so can the OP. Buy the rifle you want and dont let chuckleheads tell you it aint worth using.....just my buckfitty!;)
 
The link you provided to the Savage rifle. 29" heavy barrel, bench rest stock, yea it weighs in at 12 pounds according to another site that listed it. Not one I would want to heft around the mountains either!
 
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