Thread: Make me a recommendation

Think you might be on the money with the 6.5mm rounds. 6.5CM, 6.5x55 have the most available factory ammo, while the 260rem is right up there for those that tend to reload. All have very little recoil, especially when suppressed.
Tikka seems to be the go-to rifle for a large number of hunters, and for good reason. Not overpriced, shoot very well, and hold their price pretty well when it comes time to onsell. You also have a lot of aftermarket stocks, triggers, bolt knobs, shrouds, pic rails etc for them, so can customise as you see fit.
Lugging a 12lb 26" heavy barreled rifle around NZ bush to hunt with tends to seem like a good idea at the time, but you will get bored with it pretty quickly (from personal experience). Just having a long barreled rifle regardless of the weight is a pain in the butt in the bush. Hence why you often see the 12-14" .308 bush pig's used for tight bush hunting.