Thread: $5k plus rigs, what do you have? Favour?

Originally Posted by Trout

I cant read,is that 200k.?

287 ?

Originally Posted by shift14

287 ?

You know the saying
" if you have to ask the price you can't afford it "

On another side note tangent lol

It's insane how dependent on gadgets we are now, range finding binos, dial scopes, ballistic phone apps etc


A "friend of the forum" recently boned all his mates out regarding this n sold all his fancy shit. I kinda see his point for basic sub 300y shooting ( & thats all he's doing ) there is a certain pleasure of going for a hunt without all the distractions etc


Think I'll start a "Bare bore 2024" thread & everyone can post up their "no frills - bang - flops"

Originally Posted by Philipo

On another side note tangent lol

It's insane how dependent on gadgets we are now, range finding binos, dial scopes, ballistic phone apps etc


A "friend of the forum" recently boned all his mates out regarding this n sold all his fancy shit. I kinda see his point for basic sub 300y shooting ( & thats all he's doing ) there is a certain pleasure of going for a hunt without all the distractions etc


Think I'll start a "Bare bore 2024" thread & everyone can post up their "no frills - bang - flops"

when i was a teen in the 80s- i remember old nzda bush hunters, their opinion generally of "slip" hunters was very poor- they hated anyone that needed to shoot past 100m

Bugger. I'll have to buy another rifle now.

5k on a rifle is nothing if that what you enjoy, I have no problem spending what you're comfortable with on a rifle, fitted nice shot guns are crazy money and they are not used to shoot long range or mostly even birds, most are just range toys.

Personally, I would rather a small selection of really nice toys than lots of cheap rifles, but everyone is different.

Look how many 100k boats are sitting in garages doing 10hrs/yr. No one is telling them they should have a 12foot tiny.

Here’s mine Blaser K95 in 7x65R with a Leupold VX6 2-12x42

I'm just back from the range - a guy very keen to sight in his "Christmas " rifle - an "as new" Howa 6.5 CM $700 with suppressor. He'd put a Vortex crossfire or something like that on it. Seemed like a knowledgeable sorta guy.

We bore sighted it. He fired a shot at 100. Just as well we used a big sheet of paper. Miles off. He adjusted. Mostly the wrong way. At my suggestion he held the rifle while I turned turrets. He fired another shot. An inch low and the same to the right. He adjusted. Smack through the dot. Try another one I suggested - he put it about 15mm away. I asked if he wanted to be an inch or two high at 100 so he had a 175ish zero. Nope was the reply, I like to dial, the can we go to 200 and shoot a 6" gong?. Yup sure. He dialed and shot. Ding. Can we go to 300? Yup sure. He dialed and missed, just a hair right, but it was windy and he'd held centre plate. Try holding left edge I suggested. Bang. DING!

He went home. He's going hunting.

Originally Posted by Tentman

I'm just back from the range - a guy very keen to sight in his "Christmas " rifle - an "as new" Howa 6.5 CM $700 with suppressor. He'd put a Vortex crossfire or something like that on it. Seemed like a knowledgeable sorta guy.

We bore sighted it. He fired a shot at 100. Just as well we used a big sheet of paper. Miles off. He adjusted. Mostly the wrong way. At my suggestion he held the rifle while I turned turrets. He fired another shot. An inch low and the same to the right. He adjusted. Smack through the dot. Try another one I suggested - he put it about 15mm away. I asked if he wanted to be an inch or two high at 100 so he had a 175ish zero. Nope was the reply, I like to dial, the can we go to 200 and shoot a 6" gong?. Yup sure. He dialed and shot. Ding. Can we go to 300? Yup sure. He dialed and missed, just a hair right, but it was windy and he'd held centre plate. Try holding left edge I suggested. Bang. DING!

He went home. He's going hunting.

Gotta love those Crossfires....

Originally Posted by Tentman

I'm just back from the range - a guy very keen to sight in his "Christmas " rifle - an "as new" Howa 6.5 CM $700 with suppressor. He'd put a Vortex crossfire or something like that on it. Seemed like a knowledgeable sorta guy.

We bore sighted it. He fired a shot at 100. Just as well we used a big sheet of paper. Miles off. He adjusted. Mostly the wrong way. At my suggestion he held the rifle while I turned turrets. He fired another shot. An inch low and the same to the right. He adjusted. Smack through the dot. Try another one I suggested - he put it about 15mm away. I asked if he wanted to be an inch or two high at 100 so he had a 175ish zero. Nope was the reply, I like to dial, the can we go to 200 and shoot a 6" gong?. Yup sure. He dialed and shot. Ding. Can we go to 300? Yup sure. He dialed and missed, just a hair right, but it was windy and he'd held centre plate. Try holding left edge I suggested. Bang. DING!

He went home. He's going hunting.

Given what you describe, do you feel he should be dialing or trying longer shots under non perfect conditions while hunting?

Of course it's almost given that if you spend $5k on a decent rifle with a good scope it should do what it says on the label !
I've guided guys with $10 -20k rifles all new and set up by supposedly the best gunsmiths in the world and they couldn't hit the back stop on my range.

But maybe ( and M.D would like this ) the better question is whats the cheapest bestest rifle out there ?
My collection runs from stupidly expensive to cheap and fun.

For example I have built a few cheap cheerful Baikal shotgun / rifle conversions for around $400 to $600 including scopes.
Baikal 12 gauge singles run around $100 usually
Cheap take off barrel off forum
Suppressor off forum
$50 Simmons 1.5-5 shotgun scope
Mounts off forum
The only new parts in the build was a Weaver base $35
Sub moa capable with cast lead PC bullets and jacketted

The 30-30 was passed around through forum members for some fun along the way.
Now with a friend in Southland and out there dropping multiple deer with ease.

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Of course it's almost given that if you spend $5k on a decent rifle with a good scope it should do what it says on the label !
I've guided guys with $10 -20k rifles all new and set up by supposedly the best gunsmiths in the world and they couldn't hit the back stop on my range.

But maybe ( and M.D would like this ) the better question is whats the cheapest bestest rifle out there ?
My collection runs from stupidly expensive to cheap and fun.

For example I have built a few cheap cheerful Baikal shotgun / rifle conversions for around $400 to $600 including scopes.
Baikal 12 gauge singles run around $100 usually
Cheap take off barrel off forum
Suppressor off forum
$50 Simmons 1.5-5 shotgun scope
Mounts off forum
The only new parts in the build was a Weaver base $35
Sub moa capable with cast lead PC bullets and jacketted

The 30-30 was passed around through forum members for some fun along the way.
Now with a friend in Southland and out there dropping multiple deer with ease.

again i applaud -a study in wisdom-in fact almost green hunting in that you take what others may see as discards or rubbish and with thought build something that dont cost the earth but hey will still bring home the bacon .bravo. at the end of the day shooting is no different to a million other things in life "different strokes different folks"

Way I look at it is..... If someone can spend 50k+ on some shitbox WRX that they basically only show stationary, then you spend what you want to on kit of any sort that gets you out in nature, helping conservation and most important.... feeding the kids etc. It is quite literally your money to spend how you see fit. The only difference is the scale of spending based on available funds. Of which I clearly don't have enough

Christensen Arms Mesa Ti 6.5PRC, Zeiss Conquest V6 3-18x50, DPT suppressor, Blacklanz bipod.
Hated AR2213sc - pressure all over the show. AR2217, put 7 shots into .75" with 3.0 grains of powder between the first and last shot (0.5gr increments). So it shoots and isn't fussy with that powder.

Does nothing more, nor more accurately, than something a third the price. But I like different and find using, reloading, shooting, and just general tinkering with lots of different rifles half the fun.
I have many redundant calibres and rifles if we're only considering necessity for hunting. But what the hell does necessity have to do with it .
Does shoot tasty fat velvet stags just fine.

Id used my dad’s 303 for 30 years and it was starting get hard to source projectiles. Plus deer would always walk a bit before dropping and I was gradually taking shorter snd shortr shots, seldom more than “100” (no range finder then). My mate bought a Finnlight in 7mm08 and got me to help sight it in. My first shots were the best centrefire group I’d ever got and I was impressed with the rifle.

Finances were temporarily good and I spotted just the gun I had wanted: Sako 85 stainless synthetic in 7mm 08. $2800. It took months for the right ammo to arrive (Norma w 140gr NBT).

I transferred my current scope off the 303, the VX1 2-7 and set out hunting. Within a few months I had killed all I shot at and taken the two longest shots Id ever done (just over “200”). It was a fantastic weapon.

No scope was on the horizon but I bought a RX 1000 rangefinder which was $800. Essential part of the kit. Perhaps not always functional beyond 500m but ultra rugged and still going strong a decade later.

I ordered a S&B PMII in 3-12 with $1000 deposit and after more than 6 months it arrived, total cost $3400 plus several hundred for 34mm optilocks. The scope does exactly what its supposed to: clicks move just 1cm straight up and down and back to zero; I can hold by mildots if Im in a hurry and they are exact. The cross hair is a bit fine at 3x but when you use that you dont need it.

Next it was reloading gear and an experienced mate pointed me to the buy once cry once gear: Co-Ax press, Redding dies, ( went halves on a Chargemaster). Result was straight in to a good load that Im still using to this day. It replicates the Norma factory components and is just as deadly. Trajectory verification and ballistic app setup went easily and have proved correct on gongs at many different ranges. Interestingly, this gun has always struggled to group under m.o.a. Yet it is very stable and effective.

A few years later, suppressors came in and I bought an ATEC (another $800) and had it fitted by Dean Maisey.

Ive used it a lot, including some field target shooting and its done 3000 rounds over a decade. That gun just feels good in my hands. The 3 lug bolt is easier to use than many other actions; the 5 shot steel drop out mag is easier, feeds well and is just better to use than plastic or rotary. Also, rounds seldom jam in the mag like they did with the SMLE. Its great to be able to take the bolt and mag apart for cleaning with bare hands. The optilock ring system is good for an ordinary hunter to set up and maintain himself.

The experience is like holding a bullet in my hand and placing it in the deer, not always 100% successful, but its like I’m not even aware of the gun when I use it.

The stock’s deeply scratched, the rubber grip panels worn smooth, the bore fire cracked, suppressor full of coke. But its still going strong, still shooting deer and punching targets.