As many of you know about six months ago I started looking for a stainless steel rifle to hunt antelope to elk, better make that antelope to moose now, and I also wanted it to be lighter that the 9 pound Winchester I hunt with now.

I looked at the WSM line, but after reading about feeding problems and being concerned about finding ammo ANYWHERE, even though I handload. I decied the WSM wasn't for me.

Then I looked at building a custom rifle, in .280AI or .284win, but decied I didn't want the cost and all the problems of building a custom. Then theres that finding ammo problem. On top of that I want to go hunting, not spend thousands of dollars building a custom rifle. Which was reinforced on my recent bear hunt on New Brunswick, more on that in a minute. So I decided on a factory 280rem. I even found a good deal on some used brass, 400+ at $60 and bought it.

But somewhere in this time frame my dad and I bought him a rifle, he retired a couple of years ago and I got him into deer hunting last year. He wanted/needed a rifle for deer hunting and I wanted to set up a rifle for the bear. I found a good used model 70 winchester in 30-06 on the internet with a leupold scope for a great price and we bought it. This was my first 30-06 and wouldn't have been my first choice but this was to be his rifle, I was only going to use it on the bear hunt, so sure if thats what he wants. I sent the scope back to leupold and had a german # 4 crosshair add, which worked great on the bear hunt and is easier for his 64 year old eyes to see.

So anyway after working with it at the range, I loaded some 200gr Partitions at 2500fps, and shooting a bear with it I was impressed. At 50 yards it put the bear on the ground!! I broke the left shoulder taking out both lungs with a complet pass through. I saw several moose while bear hunting and plan to try drawning a moose tag for next year. The 3 guides I talked to said it was a great bear gun and more than enough for moose. Add to all this on my flight home US Airways LOST my gun case! BTW US Airways was a nightmare, a joke and I hope to NEVER fly with them again. Like a lot of you I'd read horror stories about airlines losing your guns but in 5 trips this is the first problem I've had. They finally did find it, after I made a few phone calls, 20 hours later! In one phone call I asked what would happen if it was stolen or they couldn't find it? The lady said they would pay up to $1250. Which got me thinking, theres no way I'd trust them with a $2000 custom rifle. So for now on when I fly I plan to take a cheap factory rifle. Which helped me make my final decision.

With all this in mind yesterday I finally bought my antelope to moose rifle. Its stainless, its lightweight, I can find ammo anywhere, it can be replaced cheap and I thought it was a good buy at $425. Its a used Browning A-bolt Stainless Stalker in 30-06. I can load 150-165gr bullets for deer and antelope. I can load 180-200gr bullets for elk, bear and moose. I've already got dies and brass. So I guess I'm a 30-06 convert

Anybody want to buy some 280rem brass? I got 400+ pecies.

Now lets talk scopes. I'm thinking a 2.5-8x36 matte leupold or a 3-9x42 kahles. Anybody got a good used one they want to sell?

A fellow has a Kahles listed in the Classifieds on this fourm. Good luck with your project!..Tim

With regards to the airlines, you can declare a higher value than the $1250 and buy insurance at a nominal rate. I sometimes think the bunny hugging baggage guys misroute the rifles just to jerk the owners around.
In another thread, a fellow asked for a single N.A. rifle and the 06 won going away. As Jim Carmichael sez: you never make a mistake picking a 30-06.

Mark... might I suggest a smaller scope, like a fixed 4X or 6X. Another might be a 1.5X5 variable. Many of these models come in a compact and despite what many people believe, they are very well suited for even your long shots.
For the life of me I have never understood why people mount these huge scopes on big game rifles.
just my two cents
congrats on the 06

It was Col. Townsend Whelen that said, "The 30-06 is never a mistake." From his book, THE HUNTING RIFLE, circa 1940.
I agree with Smallfry's remarks regarding scopes on rifles. While most of my rifles have 3x9X scopes on them, that's because that's what they came with. I buy most of my firearms secondhand, and if the scope on it works, it stays. If it doesn't, they get replaced with Leupold M8-4X or in some cases with 1.5x6X Simmons Whitetail expeditions. They seem to hold up quite well. (Got 'em at a good price so I figured I'd give them a try.) Some rifles get the Leupold 4X compact.
Just out of curiosity, what would you be asking for that .280 Rem. brass? I might be interested.
Paul B.
phrogge1@aol.com

A 30-06 is hard to beat. You have the right idea on the scope for your all round rifle. I have a couple of the 2.5x8 Leupold's. I like the heavy duplex [or a custom Premier] as it is easy to see in dark woods and does not hamper long range shooting. That size scope is compact, will fit in a saddle scabbard and does not make the rifle top heavy. 2.5x is good for close range and 8x is plenty when you make a long shot or are being sure you shoot the right animal among several if they are feeding or walking together.

The 30-06 is akin to plain old vanilla icecream & i do love vanilla icecream!

Hi D.,

Vanilla icecream Well I guess your right but I'm no big fan of it. Unless its on top of a piece of apple pie But it is cold, its wet, its sweet, you can buy it anywhere and after all its icecream. So yea your right the old 30-06 is sort of like Vanilla icecream.

The 30/06 is a great round boreingly so. I have recently shot 2 feral horses with the 30/06 and it worked boreingly well even with 165 gr Nosler BT's

I bought a rifle 9 years ago to use with all of the big game hunting opportunities I'll have here in British Columbia. That includes open sagebrush hills, dense rainforest, high alpine meadows, marshy bogs and everything in between. The game I could encounter spans from small coastal blacktail the size of a German Shepherd, through big grizzly bear and moose.

My rifle of choice is a Remington 700 Stainless Synthetic Mountain Rifle in .30-06. Loaded and topped with a Bausch & Lomb Elite 2x-7x, the whole unit weighs about 7.5 pounds and it will put the first three shots into an inch at 200 metres from the bench. What more could a person need?

Mark,

why don't you just neck up your 280 brass to 30/06? that way you won't have to ditch it.

All that is wrong will be the head stamp, saying 280, but if you don't have a 280, it won;t be a big deal keeping it seperated.

I used 7/08 and 308 Winchester brass for my 260s. I don't care for Remington brass when I can use Winchester And they don't make 260 brass. but i don't shoot 7/08 or 308, so I don't have to worry about mixing it up.

P17: Love your choice on your Rem Mtn Rifle and the scope. Great minds think a like!

Mark, congrats on a great buy! I never cease to wonder what it is that makes some cartridges "un-cool" just because they are commonly found - yet they are proven designs, that have worked to everybody's complete satisfaction for the last 100 years. Beats me why that should be cause for "un-coolness"???

Anyway, you overcame the "snob effect", and you got a gun that will do practically anything for you in the world of hunting. IMHO, the .30-06 is the better choice than either (my beloved) .270 or the .280 (which I also like) for an all-around rifle. Simply because it will handle heavier bullets, yet does not give up much of the flat trajectory otherwise associated with its smaller caliber cousins. Wanna hunt plains game in Africa, bring a 30-06, wanna hunt moose, bring a 30-06, wanna hunt deer, antelope, sheep, goat (you name it), bring a .30-06!

"Yeah but the .30-06 does not have as flat a trajectory as a .280 does" - we hear the chorus in the background. Yup, probably true - in particular on paper. In reality it matters very little in the field. You get to know your load, and you know your hold-over. Besides the differences between .270, .280 and 30-06 are minimal - we are talking about distinguishing maybe a 6 vs. a 7.5" holdover at 300 yds - something nobody can realisticly do in the field.

Last summer, there was this one-horned Impala that had been having us on for a couple of days. Every time he heard the car, it was off into some bush and we could never get a handle on him. So the next day we found him again, but he was waaay out in the open, where we simply could not hope to sneak up on him. We ran out of cover, and started discussing our options. There was this nice rock right under the last tree, just made for a prone shot, so we tried to estimate the range (the range finder naturally having been left in the car). Hmmm, probably about 280-290 yds. I held accordingly (just an inch or two above his back), and squeezed one off. He ran like something stung him, stood still, wobbled and fell over. Shot was just a tad lower than I like - heart - but we had misjudged the distance, it turned out to be more like 320 yds. Not bad for a 100 year old, "un-cool", cartridge...

About sights, I like the Leupold 2.5-8x32 very much. I have and have had several, mostly customized with a heavy Duplex reticle (although these days maybe a German #4 would be the better choice) for better low light performance. That scope has never let me down. It has provided me with low magnification (big field of view) when I needed it, and the 8x comes in handy for range work and long shots with time to power up from the 4x, where I normally carry the scope. Great choice. I also like the old Zeiss 3-9x32 and the new Zeiss Conquest series (e.g. 3-9x40) can normally be had at ridiculously low prices on e-bay.

Good choice!

- mike

[ 06-19-2003, 17:56: Message edited by: mho ]

Damn, hit the wrong button again....

[ 06-19-2003, 17:54: Message edited by: mho ]

Well done Mark. As a note, you can buy extra ins. through the airline for a nominal charge, something like $25/$1000. Worth the cost if you take a rifle over $1000.

Regarding the comment on running the .280 brass through a 30-06 die and making 30-06 cases. Be very sure to check the length of the finished case. I believe that will come out a bit longer than the maximum allowable overall cartridge case lenfth, and you'll probably have to trim them. Other than that, they should work just fine.
Paul B.

I've done it and you do have to trim the cases.