Remington .308

Finally back in NZ after 6 months in Afghanistan and have told my wife that I am getting a new rifle (that's right, I told her, put my foot down and told her I was spending a couple of grand on a new rifle). I am looking at a Remington 700 Tactical in .308. Bushnell Trophy XLT 6-18x40 scope, Gunworks surpressor and a bipod. Mainly be hunting in the N Island and predominately for deer, all types, but I live in the middle of Sambar country so will hopefully snag a few of them.

Any thoughts on my choices? I'm pretty new to hunting, I've been shooting all my life, but only just caught the hunting bug so any advice would be good.

Do you hunt bush or open country? Something in the 2.5-16 or 3-15 type magnification would keep all your bases covered if you do it all. 6 is pretty up there for mag for in the bush. I started with a 3-10 and shot that successfully to 800

Both bush and open tops. You reckon something more in the 4-12x40 range might be better then?

check the for sle section, Steyr .270 with muzzle brake,

You realise the tactical has the 20 inch heavy barrel? Will be fairly front heavy with a suppressor and a bipod on if it's a carry gun.
I've got one in .223 but it's always shot off the ground so not so bad.

The Rem tactical is a heavy pig of a thing, would be bad enough carrying it from the car into the house! As above you need to be starting at 3X if you will be hunting in the bush at all

Cool, so general consensus is to review the scope and go for a minimum of 3x. Not too worried about the weight, I'm used to carrying heavier weapons, Steyr with a 203 mounted, for days on end. Now if I could only get rid of this jet lag !!

:ninj:

yea need lower than 6 power at the low end. 3-9 is good for out to about 500. 4-12 beats it by a little

my dad shoots with a straight taper heavy barrel for everything and loves it, horses for courses. if thats what you like go nuts.
just handel one first and handle a standard rifle just to see the difference.

look at the rings they try to stick you with and ask if you can have better, no name rings are not good enough.