Recommended attachments or accessories for hunting rifle?

tree.bobby

Private
Minuteman
Sep 20, 2019
25
7
Howa Bravo 6.5 Creedmoor, Vortex Viper 6-24X50, Harris Bipod. This is a coyote, deer, elk, bear, rock chuck, steel gun. I have never had a rifle with M-Lock. Came with the 5 slot pica tinny rail So I put it on for fun because I have never used m-lock. I am wondering if there are useful accessories for my hunting target purposes.

So far I love this rifle. I am selling my 300 RUM to fun this rifle. The 6.5 Creedmoor is just so fun to shoot. I didn’t hate the RUM but I love this gun.

The steel mag that came stock didn’t feed well, especially the last couple rounds. But the magpul 5 round mag feeds perfect so I have two of those now.

I am getting ready for deer season so I am shooting the Hornady 143 ELD-X - box ammo shoots very tight groups.

I bought some cheap ammo that should have similar velocity for shooting paper and rock chucks so I don’t burn out my entire paycheck on ammo - havent shot it yet but will tomorrow - I will see if it is close at 300 yards, if it is I will shoot it when not hunting.

What I still need to do is switch the scope base to a 20 MOA (accidentally bought a 0 moa) and get a sling set up for hiking in. As I am new to M lock and qd mounts I plan on mounting the sling on the left side but I guess I can switch it any time.

Any recommendations?

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Couple of questions OP: ...What type of terrain do you have where you hunt? Can you hunt with a suppressor in your state?

Buy quality made ammunition or reload your own if/or when you can. But if the cheap ammo is all you can afford right now, then its what you have. The deer won't know the difference. When you can...Definitely buy more 5rd magpul magazines since they work well in your rifle.
 
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Good to go as is.
But, I would definately get a sling.
I also like my little Triad sling dope card thing. Doesn’t get lost or in the way.
I’m a fan of stock packs also for spare rounds, mini flashlight, tools, snack, jerky, whatever.
 
I would recommend a level, level because making that precise shot is important and having a canted gun will throw your round left or right of the target. And even a cosine indicator, cosine for corrective range shooting down steep terrain/mountains. Always prepared easy to put on.
 
I don't like bipods on a hunting gun. It's a good chunk of weight up front and another thing to snag on things. I have not found myself in a position where I could have used a bipod when hunting - they're great when you're precision shooting from prone or a bench but inthose positions don't really work in hunting. If I needed a bipod, like setting up to view a valley and calling animals in, I'd set the rifle on my pack.

Get a comfortable sling. I run a Blue Force padded sling on my AR I've hunted with and it was very comfortable and easily adjustable. I've got a Ferro Concepts Slingster here to try out as well. Not sure what I want to do for a sling on a bolt gun so I can't give experience there. I'm looking at one of the PRS style slings, maybe that style would work for you. I like having a sling that is useful in aiding shooting positions where I don't have good support.

I like a light hunting gun. I'm setting almost the same gun up as you have with a Tikka in the Bravo. If you want to get into angle indication and such that's not necessarily a bad idea, but I think that the money would be better spent on a few boxes of the hunting ammo you're going to use and some practice using the reticle on your scope at different ranges to see where the bullet goes. I can pretty easily put a bullet exactly where I want it with the reticle on my AR up to 500 yards, and your 6.5CM isn't a slow round that's going to drop a ton within most hunting distances.
 
A hunting rifle like you have already weighs enough to carry around all day. I'd ditch the bipod, get a good sling and add a suppressor (if you can hunt with it). You'll be money ahead just shooting it to familiarize yourself with it.
 
Depends on the kind of hunting. Some ranches I go to its a lot of up and down into talll stands so a sling that cinches down tight goes on. Some are stalking in brush and Ill do a bipod with leg extensions or carry shooting sticks. Some are literally drive around and shoot pigs out the truck window and Ill strap a bag to it to shoot off the door window sill. Night stalking/calling pigs and predators gets all the cool guy toys.