lancetkenyon

Going in for Cerakote tomorrow. Possibly be shooting it this weekend.

Brass life is totally dependent on loading practices. I am on reload #6 on a lot of my Remington brass, and still have tight primer pockets and no case neck splits or excess stretching. I have not run crazy hot loads, but 3100+fps with 210/215, or 3300+fps with 175/180 grain bullets. They have lasted since 1999 so far.

.300 RUM brass is available. You just have to look for it. Normally brass costs more, but it crazy high quality. I doubt you would ever need to replace after your initial purchase. If you are going to build a custom rifle, why are you worried about spending $2/each for brass that will last a lifetime? As for a 7wsm, 7rsaum, 6.5rsaum, that is like comparing apples to grapes with a .300RUM. Great cartridges, but no where close to a .300RUM. 210 Grain bullet at 3100+ capability? Not even close with the others.

Of course with that many points.

First time ever applying online. I am in, my wife is in, and Taylor is in. My last elk tag was 1999.

High quality 10x42s on a good shoulder harness at all times. Used 70% of the time. High quality 15x56 in my pack. Used 30% of the time. Always have a tripod when glassing, with both the 10s & 15s. You see way more game with a rock steady set of glasses.

Wonder why they went back to a 4X mag range? A 6X mag range, which they are using on their Razor Gen II series would have been a lot better usage of their technology. something like a 4-24, or 4.5-27. Even a 3-18 or 5-30. Even a 5X 5-25 would be more well received in my opinion. And 50mm objective down from 56mm? List of $3400 means shelf price of $3K, meaning direct competition with the Kahles K624i. I sure hope it weighs less than 3#. The Razor Gen II are pigs @ 48oz.

Interarms Mark X in .270 Win w. Swift 3-9x40 scope.

Harley, I am good for H1000, but if you have some Winchester headstamped 7RM brass, I would buy some from you.

It is too early for a grown man to be crying. I firmly believe there are saints walking the earth, and you and your wife are living proof. Seriously one of the most selfless, loving acts you could ever do. Bless you and your family, and God is smiling down upon you all right now. Best of luck, and keep us informed. Thank you for the motivation, and for putting our first world problems in perspective.

You have to think of minimum magnification power for close or moving shots too. I have hit running jackrabbits at 30 yards on 4X, and standing coyotes at 1327 on 16X. About as varied or ranges as it gets.

If I would have had any inkling he wanted me to keep it factory and not "fix it up", I would have just cleaned it and worked up a load. But since I want it to be a rifle I will take on every future hunt as either a primary or back up rifle, it has to shoot lights out to my standards. It would do me no good to have a 1+ MOA rifle that sits in the safe or just gets loaned out. I want to hunt with this rifle until I can't hunt anymore, then pass it down as an heirloom. I am sure it will still get loaned out to my kids over the next 30+ years too. I know some might not agree, but my best way to use this gun is to "fix it up" and hunt my butt off with it and remember Bus every time I shoulder it. I can't do that if it sits in a safe because it is not as accurate as another gun. I owe it to Bus and the animals to put every shot where it needs to go. I appreciate all of the responses, on both sides of the decision. Keep up the responses and suggestions.

I understand where you guy are coming from on leaving the rifle alone. And I was torn with just doing some minor work to it and leaving it close to factory spec. But, he asked me to "Fix it up nice and get it shooting like yours are". I am sure he will be smiling down on me when I am out in the field with it, and when my daughters are using it too. Not sure on the stock painting yet, but it will have military style stencils with a memorial tribute to him. Something like "IMO: E BUS R 1-4-16" (In Memory Of: Elby "Bus" Robertson January, 4th 2016) As for the Leupold scopes, I have looked at the Mark 6, but at $2700-3300, they are not on the short list right now. The Mark 4 ER/T or LR/T FFP are a 3.5-10 or 4.5-14. Even though 4.5X on the low end is close to my 4X minimum, and the 14 is close to my minimum high end magnification, they run $2000-2800, and they don't really meet my criteria. I can meet all of my goals with other scopes in that price range if I choose to spend that much money. With a 3X magnification range they get surpassed by most other companies with either a 4X or 5X magnification range. Good glass, but just not what I am looking for. I also looked at the VX-6 3-18 & 4-20, but not FFP or MIL. The Mark 8 3.5-25 would be awesome, and I have wanted one since they came out, but at $4500-5500, and weighing in at 37 ounces, they are out of the race right now. Good question though, and thanks for the suggestion. Last question, the Berger Hybrids. I will be honest, I have only ever shot one thing besides paper with a Hybrid. A coyote took a 6.5mm 140 Hybrid, and he did not like it very much...at all. He hated it to death. But it was not as damaging as the HVLDs I have shot coyotes, and deer and elk, with. With a thicker jacket that the HVLDs, they are not "intended for hunting use" by Berger. But I have read a lot on about their on game performance. Those who use them have mostly sworn by them. But like the HVLDs, you get some stories of them not performing. Some will say, and many members here do too, "Why not use a bullet that works 100% of the time?" Well, even though most people never have had their bullet of choice fail, it has happened to someone, somewhere. I think a majority of bullet "failures" or loss of game are from one of several possible factors. Poor shot placement (#1), bullet tip damage (plugged, dented, or pointed meplat), lower than optimal velocity at impact, not enough remaining energy on impact, and probably others that I am not thinking of right now. I have used match bullets that are "not intended for hunting" to take a lot of animals, from jackrabbits to coyotes, to deer and elk. From 18 yards to 1327 yards. All have worked great. I personally think you hear more cases about Bergers not performing because so many more of them are being used than most other bullet types. And everybody thinks they are magic, so they take less than optimal shots, or shots are taken by people who have no business taking the shot and then blaming a lost or wounded animal on the bullet, rather than the shooter. It is really easy to blame the bullet for a failure when you cannot recover the animal and see where point of impact was. I am not saying this was your case at all Hunthard. If it was before 2011, Bergers had a much softer jacket, and had complaints of bullet blow up either on impact or even in flight from tight twist/high velocity guns. I am also trying to get my hands on the 183 Sierra Match King, but Unicorn tears are hard to come by. I really like the SMK performance on game too.

It is out there, you just have to look hard and buy quick once you find it. All of my brass were once factory Remington loads.

Once I finish CJ's stocks, I have to do the .300RUM stock, and the 7mm I am having built right now at Phx. Custom Rifles.

I keep track of everything in a note pad for each rifle. All of my reloading data, conditions, rifle info, brass info, round count w. dates, seating depths, sizing die settings for different bullets, etc. I am at 47 rounds through the .300RUM, and 467 through the 6.5 SLR in less than a year. My AR has approximately 3200+ since I bought it in Sept. 2013. I know the 6.5 SLR picked up about 50fps once I got 100 or so rounds down it. The AR picked up 30+fps. So if I get 30-50fps with the RUM, it should put me right at 3100+ for my sweet spot. I can live with that...but the elk won't.

600 yards or less? I would go with the 4-16x50 Viper HS or HS-T, even the PST, which is what I will be putting on my 7RM I have down at Phoenix Custom Rifles being built as we speak. I plan on shooting out to 1K, and hunting out to 800 or so if the need/opportunity arises. I have shot my .223 at 850 yards with a 4-16x50 very easily. Plenty of scope for that distance, and the 4X gives a much wider FOV for quick target acquisition when hunting and something jumps up close. I also shot a coyote at 1327 with another Viper HS 4-16x50 on a .250 Ackley. While the target was not huge in the scope, it was big enough to put a bullet in him where it counted.

1.5 Billion divided by 19 people after taxes ($900,000,000 +/-) equals $47,368,421.05 each. Yeah, I can live on that.

I'm in.

CJ beat me to the post.

OP said "no PayPal".

You are killing me Smalls.... Do you take CC?