Re: starting over! long range gun
All in all do your research on the rifles what you get stock and how easy they are to upgrade and work with and get the best bang for your buck.
When it comes to caliber....i tend to find i am not happy unless i get what i want. When i listen to other people and go the other route i always wonder what if?
So in short, do your research and listen to what people have to say about rifles more than what they have to say about calibers, everyone tends to be a little bias myself included
My 2cents on 300wm and the 230's, I shoot the 230's out of my 300RUM, i am loading them a little hot with H1K (91.5gr) in my rifle and am getting right around 2990fps 26" barrel, 2900fps out of a standard 300wm, like someone else said i would be skeptical unless barrel is 30"
But you mentioned you want it as a hunting rifle, what kind of hunting? if you plan on hiking/stalking with it, weight is an obvious issue and since i would like a stalking rifle or anything i have to carry into the woods to be light which then recoil can also be an issue. But that being said in the field you rarely shoot from a solid position and you are not shooting 20 shots like at the range and i think most people can brush off 1 or 2 solid punches from a high recoil gun especially if you are not prone. And if the gun does kick that hard, at the range you can always add some cushion to ease the punch so IMO recoil is of little concern unless doing competition
My 300rum has a brake and it weights damn near 20lbs, recoil with the 230's is non issue, it is actually one of the most pleasurable rifles i have ever shot, but i have no plans of ever....ever carrying this thing into the woods. Any hunting with this,and it is driven to the spot on a quad