Easy question -Nosler Patriot

[ktmguy]

Hey this is my first post on calguns!!!! I have been shooting shotguns(sporting clays) since I was young and now I am looking to get my first bolt action rifle but wanted to get the opinions of seasoned riflemen first. Has anyone here tried out the nosler patriot and is there anything that would make this rifle "illegal" in california besides democrats?
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge with the new guy. Also I intend to use the rifle for plinking (learning and understanding bolt rifles) then maybe deer eventually a couple seasons down the road. www.nosler.com/m48-patriot-rifle/

-ktmguy

[toby]

It's all good.

[Masterdebater]

Welcome!

[devster55]

Welcome looks like a very nice rifle. But for a learning rifle I would get a rem 700. I have my plinking/ target rifles that I do not care about round count then there is my hunting rifles. I keep a low round count less than a box a year. It may be my own preference but on a expensive hunting rifle like that I would prize that gun and only use it for hunting.

[ar15barrels]

Welcome looks like a very nice rifle. But for a learning rifle I would get a rem 700.

The Nosler action is a 700 clone.
It appears to be a 700 clone built with high quality parts, but not a lot of features that more expensive guns would have.
It looks like an HS stock.
The action has a side bolt release which is nice, but it uses a fixed magazine bottom metal.
That can easily be changed out for a few hundred more though.

The BIG problem I see is the choice of barrel twists for each of the chamberings are more appropriate to hunters (the likely target market) than target shooters.
The barrel contours being sporter contours seems to bear this out.
I was so happy to see the 243 and 260 choices in the lineup until I saw that the twist rates won't stabilize the good target bullets.

Basically, it's a really nice hunting gun.
Make mine a 7-08.

[ar15barrels]

Hey this is my first post on calguns!!!! I have been shooting shotguns(sporting clays) since I was young and now I am looking to get my first bolt action rifle but wanted to get the opinions of seasoned riflemen first. Has anyone here tried out the nosler patriot and is there anything that would make this rifle "illegal" in california besides democrats?
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge with the new guy. Also I intend to use the rifle for plinking (learning and understanding bolt rifles) then maybe deer eventually a couple seasons down the road. www.nosler.com/m48-patriot-rifle/

-ktmguy

There is no "do it all" rifle.
A rifle that's the most fun to plink with will be heavy.
A heavy rifle is no fun to carry in the field.
A rifle that's good for carrying in the field will be lightweight.
Lightweight rifles are no fun for plinking more than a few rounds a day with.

Get a heavy target gun for shooting all day.
Get one of the Nosler rifles for hunting.

[JMP]

OP, bolt action rifles generally don't have nearly the restriction that semis have as they aren't subject to the AWB.

ar15barrels said it exactly right. It looks to be a solid line for hunting. The barrel specs aren't favorable for target or longer ranges. It appears that they selected one spec per caliber. On the .30cal, they use 1:10" across the board, and you'd not likely want the same in a .308 Win as a .308 WM, but that's what would work. 1:10" is a poor choice for a 24" .308. However, it might be good for CA hunters with the lead bans. 1:10" on a 24" .308 Win starts to make sense with solid bullets. Under other conditions, there isn't a real need to use anything other than a jacketed bullet for .308 Win. On the smaller calibers, the twists are on the slow side.

[toby]

I believe the actions are actually made by Howa.

[ktmguy]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the vast wisdom that has just opened my eyes to the difference between a plinking/range/target rifle and a hunting bolt action. I really had not considered the fact that a typical light weight hunting rifle would not be a good plinking gun but it makes a lot of sense now that it is pointed out to me. I have made my decision and its obvious I need two rifles. I bought a Nosler Patriot in 270 winchester for hunting(lower annual round count) and now will start looking for a good range gun for the majority of my plinking.

So my next question is can you recommend a good caliber for plinking? Should a plinking rifle be higher magnification than a hunting rifle? I was thinking of a 3-9 or 3-10 for my Nosler Patriot, does that seem about right? Again thank you all very much I appreciate you guys taking the time to help me build a balanced collection.

Also after some research on nosler.com's forum, I found that the Nosler Patriot action was designed by the same guy who designed the Howa action but it does have some differences and is made in the USA.

[ar15barrels]

So my next question is can you recommend a good caliber for plinking? Should a plinking rifle be higher magnification than a hunting rifle? I was thinking of a 3-9 or 3-10 for my Nosler Patriot, does that seem about right?

As for calibers, do you reload?

A 2-7 or a 3-9 power scope is a great setup for a hunting gun.
Lower magnification gives a wider field of view which makes it quicker to find game.
There's always time to turn the magnification UP at longer distances, but never time to turn it down when you spook game 20yds away.

Target/plinking rifles will benefit from a 4-16 or a 5-20 scope.
If you want to learn to shoot longer distances, get a decent target scope with a milradian based reticle and target knobs with milradian based clicks.
If you have a budget, I can give more specific recommendations.

[SansSouci]

If I were going to buy another hunting rifle, I'd buy the best I could afford. I'd rather have one quality rifle that a bunch of lesser-quality rifles. Were it me, I' save my pennies and but a Sako. As far as I know, Sako guarantees 5-shot group MOA.

[Wrangler John]

Then there's these, with an accuracy guarantee:

http://cooperfirearms.com/our-rifles

Or how about these, some models have an accuracy guarantee:

http://www.weatherby.com/product/rifles/vanguard_2

Then again there's these (enough models to confuse anyone):

http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/models/

You get the idea, there's so many good to great rifles our there making a choice for a first purchase can be agonizing. Still you can't go wrong with anything Remington 700:

http://www.remington.com/product-families/firearms/centerfire-families/bolt-action-model-700.aspx

For many years beginning in the 1970's I hunted varmint with a Remington 700 chambered in .22-250 Remington and a Leupold 3-9x scope. I still have it, and it has been rebarreled three times, chambered for several cartridges, blueprinted once, restocked twice and nowhere resembles what it originally was. They just keep on going.

Truth is that most modern bolt actions from major manufacturers are so good today that almost any will do for a basic hunting rifle.

[ktmguy]

Omg thank you guys so much for this enlightenment, you have answered my questions completely and given me plenty of food for thought.

No I currently do not reload, I primarily shoot my 12g benelli sport ii and shells are fairly cheap I spend about 60 bucks on a case of 250 and fire around 6 cases a year give or take two cases. With the new patriot in 270 win I assumed I would shoot at most five boxes a year and if only when hunting even less than that. So I can live with factory loaded ammo for now.

My budget is pretty much anything goes but I don't what to be the guy at the range with the most fancy rifle and lack the experience necessary to utilize it.

Are 308 and 243 good calibers for range guns?

Sako's are beautiful guns too, my dad owns one older than me in 30-06. I will definitely check them out more throughly, thanks.

I must say I do like the cooper rifles, are they ca legal? I really like that model 54 Raptor special edition for plinking/target and the classic or custom classic for a second much more top notch hunting rifle. (went with the patriot due to the synthetic stock and cerakoting for durability and weather resistance)

Is there a big difference between a standard weatherby mark v and one that is "range certified"? I am considering the accumark model.

Thank you all again for being such a great and helpful resource!

[postal]

308 is an all around cartridge good for hunting and the range. It has high barrel life and readily available ammo from mil surplus to hunting to target loads.

243 is suitable for hunting and the range. It has a much shorter barrel life, but significantly improved performance and long range capability with target loads.

A lot of people start out with 308 because they're readily available and so is the ammo.

The people that reload, may decide to swap out the barrel on a 308 and run 243,260, 6mm creedmoor, 6.5mm creedmoor... etc... They are all compatible with a 308 rifle- all it takes is a barrel swap.

If the rifle you want, is available in 243 or whatever cartridge you were intending to use.... even better.... but a 308 can be changed in the future if you go that route.

Thats what I did. I went from 308 to 6.5 creedmoor.

[JMP]

My budget is pretty much anything goes but I don't what to be the guy at the range with the most fancy rifle and lack the experience necessary to utilize it.

If you can afford it, just spend the money on a good rifle and scope. It'll last forever with some barrel replacements, as postal noted.

You do not need to worry about the guy with the fanciest rifle at a public range. Most people at the range will make judgements about rifles based on cosmetic appearance. It's very common for people to throw cheap $400 rifles into really "tactical" looking stocks. At public ranges, in spite of what rifle I am using, about 80% of the other shooters just assume that all bolt target rifles are a Remington 700s or Savages.

If you can afford it, I'd recommend just getting an Accuracy International AT or a Sako TRG-22. Put on a Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56 PM II, and call it a day. That'll shoot great right out of the box without a bunch of fussing. Then, whatever issues you have are user error. Get it in .308 Winchester with a 24 or 26" barrel and a brake, and then you have a wide selection of match ammo. Then, you can get your fundamentals down, and you won't need to blow through thousands of rounds at 100 wondering if the error is you, the rifle, or your ammo.

Then, from there, you can identify what you want into more specific customized features or cartridges. It'll save you a lot of time and effort as you learn, which is a luxury if you do have the budget to get a nice rifle. That's on the high end, which will run you about $8,000 and you'll have something to use the rest of your life. If you want to spend less, you can get solid intermediate rig (rifle, scope, mount, bipod, etc.) for about $4,000 that'll also do very well.

That's what I'd do if I had the money.