What gun, what caliber?

[bunnielab]

Ok, as sort of a 30th birthday/quitting a hated job present I want to buy a nice rifle.

What I have narrowed it down to one of these two

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/bunnielab/guns/Savagelow.jpg
The Model 12 Varminter Low Profile.
http://www.savagearms.com/12Varminter.htm

Pros:
Slightly less expensive
Faster follow up shots in case of charging groundhog
I like the pretty laminate stock

Cons:
Am never going to need a follow up shot
Might as well buy the more accurate rifle


OR


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/bunnielab/guns/savageLRPV.jpg
The Model 12 Long Range Precision Varminter
http://www.savagearms.com/12PrecVarm.htm

Pros:
If one believes what one reads, is an amazingly accurate gun
I am smitten with the right hand bolt, left hand feeding mechanism

Cons:
A lot more money
Plastic, but not very cool plastic stock



So, once the rifle is decided upon comes the choice of caliber. This is also narrowed down to two choices.

.204 Ruger

Pros:
Light recoil allows target impact to be viewed through scope.
I have a hard on for nonstandard calibers.
Less reloading data allows for more experimenting

Cons:
Factory ammo is fucking expensive and hard-ish to find.
Not super effective past 250-300y

OR

.223 Remington

Pros:
Factory ammo is less expensive and more common.
Longer range of effectiveness
Much cheaper ammo
The ammo costs a lot less

Cons:
I am a special, unique snowflake and my choice of chambering must reflect this.
I think I want to buy an AR varminter someday and don't need two .233 guns


Now, my budget for this project is around $1000. So with buying a gun and a scope and the additional reloading stuff I will need it will be hard not to go way over.

Which brings us to the “Plan C”

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v283/bunnielab/guns/Ruger375.jpg
A Ruger M77 Alaskan
http://ruger.com/Firearms/FAProdResults?function=famid&famid=60&variation=M77%AE%20Hawkeye%AE%20%20Alaskan&bct=Yes&type=Rifle

Pros:
I will not need to buy a scope.
Someday I may need to kill a man who is standing behind a cow or two.
Could be used to hunt deer
More dakka
The unique snowflake thing

Cons:
Will not do great things for my skill as a rifleman
Expensive ammo, even when reloaded.
Will take for ever to get competent with.



So, lets hear how I should buy a Mosin or a 10/22.

[Scope]

I think you should be getting a .30 cal something for your .30th birthday. You will not be disappointed with the Model 12 Varminter Low Profile. It is plenty accurate, and you'll have lots of money left over for actually shooting the gun. If you're extremely concerned about accuracy, you'll want to budget a little more money for your optics.

[bunnielab]

I think you should be getting a .30 cal something for your .30th birthday. You will not be disappointed with the Model 12 Varminter Low Profile. It is plenty accurate, and you'll have lots of money left over for actually shooting the gun. If you're extremely concerned about accuracy, you'll want to budget a little more money for your optics.

Well, as far as optics go, gimpsuitjones has been pushing the Weaver Classic V-Series Scope 6-24x on me pretty hard.

I freely admit that I dont know anything about scopes, so I will pretty much buy what ever the most people recommend.

[Clinotus]

I would suggest the Long Range Precision Varminter in .223. You could always change the stock out for something better I assume, and in .223 you can feed any later AR15 projects you might have.

[voodoorootbeer]

Low-profile varminter in .204, then give us some gel / wetpack .204 testing photos.