I am looking to buy a fairly expensive rifle that I can plan to use for any hunt that I go on in the future.....so I would like to know what caliber you recommend buying? Again primairly the gun will be used for ibex, Markhor and Blue sheep etc. but I am hoping if the caliber is right - it can be also used for just about anything else I want to carry it for.

Thanks for your help!

I assume you mean inexpensive rifle.

Given your game choice, seems like a 300 win mag or 7mm rem mag are the most ideal calibers. Both have plenty of range, knock down power, and a fairly common round just in case you have to search for some during the midnight hour. As for a rifle, I would think you do not want to go any lower than a decent marlin or mossberg in a bolt action (both aroud $350 to $400). However, it is probably in your best interest to spend a little more for a savage ($470 at Academy) or even up to a tikka T3 or weatherby vangaurd (around $500 to $600).

If you feel the 300 win mag is too much and don't think you will be taking the really long distance shots, the 270 or 30-06 are very good alternatively as well. With the right bullet selection, they can do almost anything the 300 win mag and 7mm mag can do.

I would go ahead and but a Remington or a Browning so if you decided to sale it you could get back a reasonable amount of what u paid for it. But more important than the gun it's what you put on it that matters. I agree with the post above as far as the .270 for any animal in Texas all of ours seem to shoot the best with a 130 grain. I personally shoot a 7mag they tend to like the 139 grains the most

If you're looking to spend money I would go with a Kimber 300 wsm or 7mm wsm. These are both light weight hunting rifles and will have some decent recoil. The browning m1000 eclipse 7mm WSM is a great choice if you don't mind the extra weight to carry. This gun has a heavy barrel (don't get the boss) and thumbhole stock. Besides looking cool it shoots just as good as the kimbers and the weight greatly reduces recoil. All of these rifles will knock down anything on the north american continent. Remember whatever you spend on the gun spend at least 1/3 that amount on the scope. My friends shoot kimbers and stay under an inch with winchester ammo. I shoot the m1000 with federal and it touches. The 140 grains for WT. and the 160's for Muleys, Elk or whatever.

everettc.....What is the benefit in your opinion of going with a short mag....Does that not shorten the barrel life by a ton.....Have you shot one enough to know?

They always say a 30-06 is well suited for any game in North America. I've used it for deer, elk, and nilgai. Ammo is easy to find in 30-06 and won't break the bank.

If your budget is tight, I'd recommend buying used and putting the money toward a good scope. Maybe even better to find someone selling a used rifle with a good scope. You could search on here, or search gunbroker.com for something like "tikka leupold," which would find people selling tikka rifles with leupold scopes.

I have an old semi-auto, but I think almost anyone would recommend a bolt action instead of a semi-auto. Each of the brands recommended above are good choices -- I think my next rifle will be a tikka, Browning, or Sako.

I presonally like wood stocks, but that's just my preference. Leupold or Nikon offer good scopes at respectable prices - others are good too, I'm just not as familiar with them.

I shot several regular mags before buying a short. The difference in accuracy was very obvious. 1 inch to touching. I shot my first bull elk last year with the 7 SM @ a little past 300 yds. Granted, that's like shooting at a sheet of plywood, but without perfection I probably wouldn't have been excited about taking that shot. As for barrel life, I honestly don't know. But I don't know anyone who goes pleasure shooting with a mag anyway, so barrel life shouldn't be a concern.

30.06 Ruger Model 77

'Nuff said.

u dont need a rifle, just get a pointy stick.... but if i was going to get one, .270 Rem model 700..... but really spirited, this is one of those threads that u will get 10,000 dif answers, it will ultimately be up to whatever u want! welcome to the forum!

I agree with brandon the best thing to do is go shoot what you can before you buy.

they had a talk about guns on Bucks of Tecomate and they all agreed they liked the 300 mag... That is what I am going to look for next....i held a Tikka T3 and liked it a lot, also held the Vanguard and Savage and like all three...all were in the 5 to 6 hundred range

i second that notion.
if youhappen to live near Houston, I would be more than willing to let you shoot a few rounds through my remington 700 30-06. I aint nothing fancy, but has served me well.

You might want to look into the T/C Encore rifles. Get whatever caliber you want now, and then subsequent calibers are much cheaper than buying whole rifles. Plus that, they're shorter and lighter than bolt guns because they have no action (even better when you might have to tote the rifle several miles in a day).

If not the Encore, I'd be getting another trusty old Remington 700.

That being said, if I HAD to shoot factory ammo, I'd be looking at the 7mag, 30-06, .280 remington, maybe even a 270. But not necessarily in that order. I'd probably look at the 30-06 or .280 as my first choice. That's me. And I reload, so my choice was the .280 improved as my all around rifle. if it ever gets here.

I'll put on my asbestos suit before making the next statement.....................................................OK...Probably the vast majority of people who own magnum rounds couldn't tell you the true bullet drop at 300yds (true drop, not quoted from a book or software) even though they bought the magnum for it's "flat shooting" capability. OK fellas, flame away!

With today ammunition and bullets, you can't go wrong with a 30-06. You can hunt anything in North American plus a lot of the plains animals of Africa.

http://www.legacysports.com/products/howa/index.html

A howa 1500 great gun for the price and if you can swing it get the axiom

I think that a great caliber would be to go with a 280 rem., a lot less recoil than a 7mm mag or 300 win. and a wider range of bullett grains than a 270 win. I'm a Remington 700 fan, you can get a quality gun for around $500.00.

I vote for the 7mm Rem Mag. I say that because it is my "go to" rifle for deer, hogs or most anything decent size. The other choices are valid too, that it just my preference.

270 rem or more money for a 270 thompson center

Browning A-Bolt Eclipse hunter in 270wsm or 270win

if i where me i would get the tc pro hunter, u can use the same stock for all diff.calibers which will save you money in the longer run. all u need for a new caliber is the new barrel and scope?

I would go with a 300wsm, if a 300wsm wont kill it then your hunting dangerous game.

So I give a +1 for the kimber 300wsm with a leupold varix-III 3.5-10x40mm