Which long range rifle??

[sikahunter]

i am going to purchase a long range rifle but am unsure which to get.
my options are...
Sako trg 42 in 338 lapua mag or
Blaser lrs2 in 338 lapua or
HS Precision tactical in 338 or possible a big 7mm( 404 jeffreis)
the other option is custom ie Kreiger/tru flight barrel, nesika or barnard action on a macmillian stock.

which do you rate the best or are there any other options.
We need to remember i am in New Zealand and we don't have the range of options.

cheers for your input.

sikahunter

[fabsroman]

I am interested in this thread and am wondering what these guns cost.

I was at an indoor shooting range this weekend looking through the Beretta catalog at a 687 EL Gold Pigeon o/u shotgun, the PX4 Storm hangun, and the TRG 42 in green. The guy behind the counter told me that the TRG 42 costs $12,000, at which I almost started laughing because the catalog has an MSRP of $3,999 on it. I am just wondering what the other guys recommendations are and which rifle gives the best bang for the buck. Can anybody post the prices of these other rifles?

[royinidaho]

i am going to purchase a long range rifle but am unsure which to get.

Sounds like you are definitly going to spend your money one way or the other so......I'll give you my thoughts

I'd rearrange your list of options:

Keep the sako first then comes the HS precision.

The TRG 42 is a pretty fair (that's real good) weapon.

The HS in 338 something would be accurate but possibly less of a performer unless you could get it in a 338-300RUM. Then you'd be talking.

I know nothing about the blaser other than they cost alot and I don't know of any "longrange" shooter using one.

I really don't think you can go wrong with the TRG.

Would have bought one myself, about $2800 US but there are too many good smiths around that getcha what cha want a lot less expensively.

Maybe you could get one to ship to you but I'm not certain of the international firearms shipping regs.

Hope this helps.

[BILLY D.]

I WOULD GO THE HS PRECISION AND SAKO ROUTE TO. I READ A WRITE UP IN A RAG SOMEWHERE THAT THE BLASER WAS AN OVERCOMPLICATED EXPENSIVE PIECE OF CRAPPOLA.

I'VE SEEN AND SHOT HS PRECISION AND THEY ARE QUALITY FIREARMS AND ARE ACCURATE.

[sikahunter]

cheers for the replies. i haven't beenon here for awwhile as i have been working to try andafford these weapons. i have decided to put the big rifle on hold for a while and concentrate on getting my sako finnlite 270wsm shooting upto standard first. it is currently shooting just under one inch but ihaven't done a lot of development yet. i want it to shoot half inhand to shoot700-800 yards.
in terms of the 338 i think i will wait and see how my mtes blaserlrs2 in 338 lapua shoots and probably godown the custom road.
what would be your recommendations on components for this project??
stock - macmillan
barrel - kreiger or tru flite?
action - barnard or nesika
trigger - jewell or timney
scope - nightforce or swarovski

i have a swarovski 6-18*50 on my 270wsmand my longest kill so far was a himilayain tahr at 523 metres.
cheers for your opinion.

sikahunter

[wildworks]

I agree with roy that you will get more gun for the money with custom gun. and from you list of parts it looks like you are not afraid to spend some serious coin on a gun! first see if you can get a usa custom gun in to NZ. if you can then call Kirby Allen in fort shaw MT. and have him build you a 7mm allen mag! with your parts list! A5, nesika, 30 Lilja 1-7 tw shooting 200gr wildcats! you will have yourself a true long range killing machine!

Kirby just bulit the first 7 allen mag with this list of parts and the owner is here maybe he can add his 2 cents! SS7MM?????


good luck with the project! keep us posted!

[ss7mm]

sikahunter:

I was looking for the ultimate (to me) long range hunting rifle. The end result, after a lot of looking, reading and planning was the 7mm Allen Magnum. This is a round that is based on the 338 Lapua case but is blown out and improved. The gun components I used are:

Nesika Action
Rifle Basix trigger
HS bottom metal w/DBM
McMillan A5 stock w/2 flush mount swivel cups and one stud up front for bipod. It also has the Adj. Cheekpiece.
Lilja 3 groove, 30" 1-7 twist barrel w/Holland QD brake
Nightforce 5.5-22x56NXS-NPR2
Nightforce rings
Nesika 20moa base
Harris bipod w/PodLoc

I received the gun in the middle of deer season this year. I took my deer with it at 862 yards and my elk at 690 yards. Both were one shot bang flops using the 200 grain Wildcat ULD RBBT bullet. Accuracy is fantastic with one ragged hole grops at 100 yards and 1" at 400 yards. These are with fire form loads. The 200 grain Wildcats worked fantatic and Richard Graves of Wildcat Bullets has even better bullets coming soon. I have a shipment of new jacket style 200's coming and this spring there should be an even better, heavier, bullet available which will make long range stuff even more fun. This is a round that retains enough energy for game out to over a mile.

The gun was built by Kirby Allen of Allen Precision Shooting in Fort Shaw, Montana. When Kirby and I designed and specd. the rifle it was done without money being a consideration. I've always wanted to do one this way and it was fun. The result is exactly what I wanted and if I did it over again I wouldn't change a thing.

Don't know what your access to parts would be, or if you could import a gun from here but at least this is another option for you to consider.

[Skinny Shooter]

ss7mm, welcome to the Hood.
That's a nice looking rig you've got. I was on the phone with Richard yesterday and he does have some interesting bullets planned.

Allen

[sikahunter]

that is one awesome looking weapon. i would love to have something of that quality in my gun cabinet.
i have emailed Kirby for more details and his recommendation but it looks like im going down the right path.
Outof interest what sort of coin did it cost to have it built??
if you don't want that to be public knowledge you can email me at alpineoutfittersnz@hotmail.com.
I would love to see more pics if you have them and any associated data you may have.

Cheers
Sikahunter

[ss7mm]

sikahunter:

I sent you an e-mail with some of the specifics on the rifle. Here are a couple of additional pics of the gun and it's work.




This is a buck I took on the last day of deer season this year. I received the gun in the middle of our one week deer season. We'd seen a lot of small deer during the week and I know he's not a trophy size deer but with the new gun and on the last day using fire form loads, I'll take him. Range was 862 yards. Bang flop.


This is the elk I took this year with the new gun. A spike was all I could legally shoot. Range was 690 yards. Bang flop.

[wildworks]

ss7mm

what does your gun weigh ready to hunt?

thanks

[ss7mm]

wildworks:

All ready to hunt it weighs 15#. Just heavy enough to be really stable but not so heavy that I can't hunt with it.

I'll be hunting in Idaho next year so this keeps it under their weight limit also.

[sikahunter]

cheers for the info. i have emailed kirby and we are looking at some options. basically all the spec i have already said.
how many rounds have you fired thru it so far and hows the bore looking??
what sort of barrel life are you expecting?
does the nesika action come with a hinged or fixed floor plate and is there any particular reason you went with the hs box mag??
if im going to do it there would be no better time than now with the way the dollar is at the mo. i looked today and saw our dollar at0.73 to the usd.
plenty to think about.
what range are you zeroedand what is the drop at 1000yrds?
thats probably enough questions for one post.

Cheers
Sikahunter

[ss7mm]

sikahunter:

Glad to hear you have hooked up with Kirby. He'll do you right. I don't know the exact round count without doing some checking and reading of notes but I do know I've got about 100 rounds or a little more through it. I only used 2 rounds hunting. One for my deer and one for my elk. Haven't looked with a borescope but it's still new. It broke in fast and cleans like a dream.

I only have Kirby's and my estimates of what accuracy and barrel life will be but since this is a hunting rifle and not a bench rifle I would think that somewhere between 1000 and 1500 rounds and it'll probably need a new barrel. I'll just play it by ear and when the time comes, I won't hesitate to put another 7mm AM barrel on it. I built it to shoot and plan on going through several barrels.

The Nesika action actually comes with the action only, no bottom metal. You can use a Rem 700 ADL or BDL bottom end but I went with the HS bottom metal and DBM just based on personal preference.

I have it zeroed at 300 yards. I do that because the point blank range of this setting gives me the advantage of taking a quick shot if I don't have time to range etc. from the muzzle out to 350+ yards and not worry.

I received the gun in the middle of our week long deer season. I took half a day to do a break in and get it sighted in at 300. I'm still shooting fire form loads because the original J4 jacketed Wildcats can't handle the velocity this round can produce. I have some of the new heavy tapered jacket 200's coming and they will handle anything I can dish out.

I haven't even had the time to do all of the drop tests I usually do but I have put it in all of my computer programs and used that data in some shooting on moa sized rocks out to 1440 yards and the data I am using gives me first round hits.

As soon as I get the new bullets I will do drop test to 1000 yards and recheck all data and then she'll be ready to run.

At the velocity I running now with the fire form loads, and sighted in at 300 yards, it takes me 17.75 moa to be dead on at 1000 yards. The software predicts that the full power loads will take about 15 moa to get me on at 1000 with a 300 yard zero. Again remember I haven't done all of the drop tests etc. so a lot of this is conjecture on my part but the data I have is good and I know what the bullets will do so I fully expect the full power loads to be very close to what I listed above.

Kirby has used the data that I developed for my gun to get his new 7mm AM up and ready in time for his Canadian hunt and the data was right on for him as well.

[sikahunter]

nows lookinglike as good a time as any. with the dollar being good for me to buy from overseas. it won't take much to get the rifle in to NZ. Just some paper work and i rifle will be inspected by an armourer here.

Iliking the sounds of this 7AM it would do the business on long range tahr.
I will try and scan a pic of a reasonable bull tahr we got last year. 25 06 does the job.560 yards