Help picking out a Christmas rifle for My Boy coming back from deployment

[stlusn30-06]

I appreciate all the kind words. We are very proud of him and can't wait to have him home even if only for a short while.
I gotta say I really miss having him with Me on hunting days. Started him out when He was 11 just walking behind Me taking it all in. He got access to facebook at some point during the late hunt last weekend. He made several comments about how much he was jealous of his little brother getting to hunt with Me this year. I'm telling you I soaked up and appreciated My hunting season with My middle boy Carson this year (Senior in Highschool). Having the oldest gone for a couple seasons now has made me realize what I have now with My middle one and what I miss about not having the oldest around.
I know it's selfish but I look forward to him coming home and returning to our little hunting group once his time in the Marine corp in finished.

Enough with the sappy stuff. Next question for the guys who have been helping. I know he's going to ask Me what scope I suggest once He gets to receive the new rifle. What are Your recommendations?   

https://www.leupold.com/scopes/compact-scopes/vx-3i-3-5-10x40mm

[jrebel]

I appreciate all the kind words. We are very proud of him and can't wait to have him home even if only for a short while.
I gotta say I really miss having him with Me on hunting days. Started him out when He was 11 just walking behind Me taking it all in. He got access to facebook at some point during the late hunt last weekend. He made several comments about how much he was jealous of his little brother getting to hunt with Me this year. I'm telling you I soaked up and appreciated My hunting season with My middle boy Carson this year (Senior in Highschool). Having the oldest gone for a couple seasons now has made me realize what I have now with My middle one and what I miss about not having the oldest around.
I know it's selfish but I look forward to him coming home and returning to our little hunting group once his time in the Marine corp in finished.

Enough with the sappy stuff. Next question for the guys who have been helping. I know he's going to ask Me what scope I suggest once He gets to receive the new rifle. What are Your recommendations?   

Nightforce or Leupold would be my two choices.  In the nightforce scope I would go with the SHV model which is really affordable and will last a lifetime.  I have 3 of them and couldn't be happier.  Given the rifle you purchased, I would lean towards the 4-14x56 or 5-20x56 with MOAR reticle. I have two illuminate and one non illuminated and I would not spend the money on the illuminated again.  The glass is good enough that illuminated is not necessary in my hunting scenarios.  I was and still am, a leupold fan.   I own many leupold scopes and love them.  For the money of their higher end scopes, I would purchase the nightforce first.   

[h20hunter]

There is a NF in classifieds that I believe just had a hundred dollar price drop.

[hunting4sanity]

I prefer first focal plane scopes. I'm using a Vortex Razor AMG currently and really like that scope, but they're spendy. Two others that I like are the Nightforce SHV F1, in a 4-14x50 I've seen them new for $1,290; the other is a Burris XTR II 4-20x50 for around $960. If you don't want first focal plane or that much money spent, look at the Leupold Vx3i or Vortex Viper options.

[D Coates]

Not the same but similar, Bear with me long story. Few years back I drew a late tag for mule deer but I still had my brother couple good buddies and my 15 year old that I planned to pack in horse back to our favorite spot for general season. Well took some convincing and a little sacrifice to get my 15 year old to want to go, at the time with football and all the girls chasing him he just wasn't sure he wanted to miss any of it for a weekend trip into the wilderness with the guys. Well the time was getting near so I asked one last time! Getting packed up you going or what? Well you See I bought a new Browning X bolt just due to this tag I drew that summer and put a nice Zeiss on it. My boy was using a rem 7600 pump at the time and of coarse he ask Dad since your just going along for the ride what would you say to me using that nice new shiny rifle you bought this summer!! I instantly replied heck yeah and would give up way more then a $1600 Rifle to spend the weekend hunting with my youngest son who is growing so fast. Well as we get camp set up one of my buddies says hey corbin how the heck did you get out of the house with your dads new rifle?? Of coarse he explained to the guys some one that could really hunt should prolly use it any way. ha ha. So as the guys laughed and threw a few more jokes at me I suddenly replied, Tell you what corb and these guys are your witness. You kill a buck tomorrow and tomorrow only with that rifle and its yours!!! Guess what? I had to borrow my rifle from my son for my late tag ha ha. Short time later bought a new one. With that said I believe the first response you got here was to give up your rifle? I have a similar experience with what that means not only to my son but to myself as well. I could recite to you the entire week leading up to that weekend the hunt we were on and the memory of everything to do with that rifle since. I would agree with who ever made that suggestion that that rifle of yours would mean more to your boy then any others that could be bought. Thank him for his service from the rest of us as well please and have a great Xmas.

[slowhand]

Thank you.
I enjoyed reading that very much.
Can’t wait to see him soon.
His flight lands on the 20th.

[sticky]

I too have an xbolt 06 that I really love. Left handed hunter, wood stock. I picked up a Zeiss 3x9 Conquest that was on sale the day I bought the rifle. I added a Pelican 1750 case and a Nikon rangefinder and got out of Sportsmans Warehouse for $1650. Had the setup for ten years maybe?  Best gun purchase I've made. Shoots like a dream. Still love 30-06, best hunting cartridge ever.


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[slowhand]

I too have an xbolt 06 that I really love. Left handed hunter, wood stock. I picked up a Zeiss 3x9 Conquest that was on sale the day I bought the rifle. I added a Pelican 1750 case and a Nikon rangefinder and got out of Sportsmans Warehouse for $1650. Had the setup for ten years maybe?  Best gun purchase I've made. Shoots like a dream. Still love 30-06, best hunting cartridge ever.


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I have to admit the .30-06 is an exceptional round. I would love to say that it has never failed me but...…
The Year I won the Washinton hunting lottery and Drew both the Peaches any Bull rifle tag and Peaches cow rifle tag it let Me down. Not the X-bolt, but the model 760. I honestly still have PTSD from it. Seriously
I had a large group of Elk on the other side of a valley at about 360 yards and could not connect. I shot 7 rounds stopping because I saw what I thought was the bull I had been targeting go down. It had dropped over a small ledge into the brush instead. I spent the next two days of that OIL (in My opinion) tag searching for blood gridding the entire area with My Dad. only to find that I had not connected. Now I would like to blame the gun or My shooting skills but My father was laying on the ground 10 feet to my right with the same tag shooting at a bull 70 yards to the right of the giant I was trying to kill. He was also shooting a .30-06 in a bolt action Winchester model 70? not 100% sure on the rifle model as He purchased it just for this special hunt and it has never come out of the gun safe since.
He is a very good shot in My opinion as I feel I am. two days searching and same result Zero bulls hit. Both of us are long time bow hunters so tracking animals and blood I would consider us both to be experts. Zero blood. as an additional note I ranged the distance later in the week and 360 was the number. A very nice hunting guide that We spoke to about the experience said that thermals when shooting across a valley like that can throw off your shot by quite a bit. I have no idea if His intent was to make us feel better or if there is any truth to the statement but I still wonder today if I was carrying a 7mm rem mag could it have made the difference.
ok to wrap up this long long (sorry) story. neither of us punched our tags that hunt (11 days?), at the time I went home completely discussed with Myself (even though I hunted HARD the entire time), years later I look back at it as one of My fondest memories with My Dad. Me and Dad getting up for 11 days strait going to work together spending the entire day together hunting like We did when I was 12. It's a priceless memory and I wouldn't change it for the world. I had a few other opportunities during the hunt but My bow instincts took over a bit and I would try to close the gap as apposed to take a longer shot like We had done earlier.
My uncle and grand father have used the 7mm rem mag for longer than I have been alive. long shots and dropped many an elk.

[Curly]

If you can't connect at 360 yards with a 30-06, it's almost certain that a 7 mm rem mag would have missed as well. Not a whole lot of difference at that range. 

[slowhand]

If you can't connect at 360 yards with a 30-06, it's almost certain that a 7 mm rem mag would have missed as well. Not a whole lot of difference at that range. 

I wonder if this is ballisticly factual or just common opinion?

[elkaholic123]

30.06  180gr 2800 fps b/c .507  dead on 100 yards roughly 22" low at 360 yards
7mag  160gr 3050 fps b/c .531  dead on 100 yards roughly 17.5" low at 360 yards
   

Lots of variables though...

[slowhand]

30.06  180gr 2800 fps b/c .507  dead on 100 yards roughly 22" low at 360 yards
7mag  160gr 3050 fps b/c .531  dead on 100 yards roughly 17.5" low at 360 yards
   

Lots of variables though...

This is interesting? I feel Like I should have asked this info earlier. 
How much does cross wind affect the same bullet?

[bobcat]

And if you zero at 200 yards the difference in drop at 360 yards would be even less.

[elkaholic123]

30.06  180gr 2800 fps b/c .507  dead on 100 yards roughly 22" low at 360 yards
7mag  160gr 3050 fps b/c .531  dead on 100 yards roughly 17.5" low at 360 yards
   

Lots of variables though...

This is interesting? I feel Like I should have asked this info earlier. 
How much does cross wind affect the same bullet?

A 10 mph side wind on the 30.06, point of impact is off close to 10 inches at 360 yards

[stlusn30-06]

30.06  180gr 2800 fps b/c .507  dead on 100 yards roughly 22" low at 360 yards
7mag  160gr 3050 fps b/c .531  dead on 100 yards roughly 17.5" low at 360 yards
   

Lots of variables though...

This is interesting? I feel Like I should have asked this info earlier. 
How much does cross wind affect the same bullet?

I hate to be a hater here, but the miss was on you not having enough rounds at that distance, in varying conditions, with that caliber. I use 06, and regularly punch black on standard rifle targets round after round after round at 400yds. The 06 was used as the primary sniper round for ~75 years in the military first with the Springfield, and then with the M70 Winchester. Only reason I put this out there, is to encourage folks to get to out and practice, in lots of conditions with the same rifle, over and over. your story is a good lesson as to why.

That said, most important part is that these years later you have the awesome memory of getting out with your dad and going hard for 11 days. That's really what it's all about. Relish the memory.