Thread: Tops Gun Advice

Morning Team,

I have been going round and round in circles trying to figure out what to do for a tops gun. After my last couple of trips into the tops I have decided my bang stick is too big, bulky and heavy to carry around on multi-day trips with lots of climbing. So the gun that is getting replaced (up for sale if anyone is interested) is a 7mm Rem Mag Win Mod 70 in B&C stock, Shilen fluted barrel, wearing an SSRNZ Magnum suppressor and a VX6 3-18x44. It shoots 186VLDs at 3050fps and is very accurate with great killing power. Only thing I don't love about it is the size/weight for the type of trips I do.

Options I have considered have ranged from a custom build (with a budget of $5k plus glass) probably in 7mm SAUM, to an 'off the shelf' Tikka superlight in 7mm Rem Mag. I am swinging more towards the cheaper options but still can't decide finally what I want. Front runners at this stage are:
Sell current T3 in 22-250 and buy a new Tikka T3 chambered in 7mm Rem Mag with factory length fluted barrel, Stug stock, T2 brake, Talley rings, and a VX5HD 3-15 (or VX3i 4.5-14, nearly 200g lighter).
Re-barrel/re-chamber existing T3 22-250 in something (probably 280AI) and do the above stock, scope, rings brake etc.

Which option will work out better/cheaper? Any other wise words?

• Rifle needs to be as light as possible (not overly worried about recoil as I will not be firing many rounds)
• Needs to be able to kill reds/tahr to 600m
• Needs to be accurate enough to kill confidently to 600m (ideally around .5 -.75MOA with handloads if I do my bit)
• Needs to be affordable ($5k absolute max and even then I am hesitant as I will be selling other rifles to fund it)