Paragraphs, please.

Grammar isn't my strong suite. Anyway, back on topic- right now I am actually leaning toward a decent used .30-06 and a nice used leupold. Might be able to get gun and scope for less than $600. The savage hog hunter is still awefully attractive at $400 with a nice set of irons. I don't know if it's available in catridges other than .223 and .338 however.

Another thing when you talk about shooting "ridge to ridge", you're probably talking at least 500 yard shots. You're going to have way, way more tied up in glass than you will in the rifle. A good distance scope will be around $1000. You need quality glass to ID the target and make an ethical shot at that distance. Quality binos, several hundred to well over a thousand. Quality spotting scope might well be over 2k. These are needs if you want to take big game at long range. Plus the rifle will need to be pretty accurate. Accuracy costs a lot. Most likely looking at a custom rig do something like that comfortably. There are some very accurate out of the box guns, but a lot of time you have to get lucky.

Dangerous game hunting is not something to jack with. Don't go out with a rifle you can't trust your life with. Make sure you have a big bore revolver on your hip too.

If you're only hunting Texas for now, get a .25-06, .243, .30-06, .270, etc. etc. When you know it's going to be time for Alaska, then get a second setup. You'll be much happier in the long run with two rifles that do both their parts very well than one that does everything kind of well. Also, since you're somewhat new to hunting with centerfire rifles, I'd stay away from a magnum right now. You're going to want to shoot it alot and they'll wear you out. That's my opinion anyway.

Back when I was still in the GunBidnizz repping for Stoeger I got a non cataloged SAKO shipped to me for a private showing at the Dallas Safari Club Show the last year they were still at the Airport Conv Ctr. It was a 375H&H Mickey stocked carbine that weighed a tad over 7lb's bare nekkid and had a Williams Ramp set of Iron Sights. I met the customer, supposed to be a rep for the Alaskan Professional Fishing Guide Assc as I remember and closed the Sale for a couple 2-3 dozen, with some minimum & doable alterations, including moving the rear Sling Stud as far back on the Toe as possible so the gun could be carried muzzle down and the butt not protrude over the Shooter's shoulder. when I asked the client why the Sling Stud location was so important, the client sez...we are having trouble with Big Bears that decide to try and eat our clients when they are fly fishing, so we need to be able to cast a fly rod and carry a Grizz capable stopper at the same time as a 12guage and slugs won't turn one, a 44 Mg pistol won't turn one but we believe that a full out Charge from even a Kodiak, much less a mountain Brown Bear can be stopped with a 375 H&H at just under 20 feet as long as the 1st shot is taken farther than 50 feet. Later I shot the little bear stopper and loved it off sticks...but it kicked my butt bigtime seated on a concrete bench at the old Winchester Elm Fork Range in Dallas...laid me out flat on my back the first time I shot it off a bench...and after I figered out how to place my feet BEHIND me it would lift me about 12+" off the bags and I only weighed about 225 @ 5'10" in those days...I wish I could only weigh 225 again in this lifetime!

Came home one Friday nite from out of state dead tired and the Carrollton Cops were chasing a pair of Home raised Mountain Lions in the creek bed across the street that had escaped the Home Owners "facilities near where the creek ended at the south side of The Bush Tollway and Midway. The Cops were stomping down the creek bed 'tween Kelly Blvd and Marsh Lane in Far North Dallas that had 8-10' tall Johnson grass in it, yelling & thrashing the grass with their night sticks like they were Game Beaters in Africa or something.

I offered to walk with them to provide some better protection than their Issue 9mm Glocks,'cause they'd left their riot guns in the Patrol Cars, when the Sgt running the detail freaked when I pulled a couple cased guns out of the hidden long gun compartment I had built in the back of the Suburban and had a box or so of 300gr'ers in the range bag that I showed the Leo Spvr, and unzipped the lil black bear stopper...liked to got thrown in jail for my helpful efforts on that deal and PO'd me immensely once again with the Carrolton LEO's. They never did catch the Lions as I expected but later we saw the big cats several times dusting on the Home Plate area of the softball diamond 'tween the creek bank and the rear entry alley ... my kids saw lots of rabbit and small dog/cat kills on the back trail to School for months after that until the weather changed after Halloween, which was a little subdued that year.

One of my favorite Old Time gun writers was famous for this sayin'...USE ENOUGH GUN ...Elmer Kieth.
Ron

I guess I am taking the wrong route to shopping for a rifle by picking one caliber and looking for a deal- and should narrow it down to three or four different cartridges that would suit my purposes and look for a great deal on a reliable platform in good condition. Looks like there are a lot of guys shooting the Remington 700 that are pretty happy with it. My stepdad shot them and so did my stepbrother, stepdad used his .22-250 to hunt g-hogs in his youth and stepbrother hunted everything in Texas with his .223. I understand the importance of shot placement above all else- as long as you have "enough" gun but that's relative. A lot of people wouldn't dream of using a .223 for a deer rifle but like i said my stepbrother used his for everything. I probably wouldn't. A friend at work also brought up .300 RUM, and reccommended it to me. He drew a dall sheep tag one year and chased the same herd for three days before he got close enough to take a comfortable shot with his .308, nearly 400 yards, and it was a ridgeline to ridgeline shot. Claimed to pass on plenty of shots around 500 yards that he would have made with confidence if he were shooting a .300 win mag. So i guess if I had to pick three they would be .30/06, .300 win mag, and .300 RUM... still open to suggestions. even the 9.3 mauser is pretty interesting but I don't know if it's necessarily the one for me. Used remington 700 in decent shape and used leupold optic. I have heard that leupold will honor the lifetime warranty on a scope, even if it was bought second hand. Like a forever warranty, if you have a bad leupold you can send it in to fix for free no matter what. Is this true?

Many will tell you you can kill big bear with a 30-06. I would be one even though Ive never done it. If you can do it with a '06 you can do it with a 270 or 280 also.

I would find a major brand Remington, ruger, Winchester, savage, tika, wby vanguard, howa etc in one of the following:
-270 or one of its variants(wsm etc.)
-280
-30-06
-7mag
-300 win, wsm, rum

All will do what you need with proper bullets and shot placement. People carry a 44 mag for a backup on bears... a 44 pales in comparison to any of those. Stick a nosler partition, swift a-frame, barns ttsx etc. in any of them and you got a bear killer. Make your shot count, Id rather make a good shot on a griz with a 243 100 grain nosler partition than a gut shot with a 375 and 300 grain partition.

well, you know your way around a gun then. and know how to shoot

don't short change yourself by buying cheap gear. buy quality

Yessir. That's the twist of my 7 Rem Mag.

Go to JBM Ballistics.com. input

180 gr 7mm
2935 fps muzzle velocity
G7 BC .337
Sight height 2.1"

See what you get.

In density altitudes we have in Texas it's still delivering 2000 ft/lbs at 500 yards. Tell me something in North America that won't kill. In the mountains I'm in even better shape, DA of 10,000' +

what ever you choose, make sure it's
something you can afford to shoot a
lot in practice and that won't wear you
down to the point of flinching. if
you can't practice a lot, it won't
matter what you pick because your
chances for success will be low.

300wsm 185gr Berger hunting vld @ 3020fps I wouldn't feel under gunned for anything on this continent.

Yea NS dude, hes probably put more rounds down a range than you have.

THe 300wm will do everything you need, no problem with grizzlies. Used to be an old government trapper that lived out close to us, and my dad use to hunt with him. He was in Alaska for years and all he used was a 223 for bears.

The 30/06 will do what you want, I would have no problem using one on a grizzly.

All you got to do is use a good bullet and put it where it goes

and now I will give you my answer for ridge to ridge to ridge....:)

Just get you a towed 105mm howie...and a good 1 ton, that will handle the ridge to ridge on most north american game.

If that is not possible an .06 or 300 win mag or 338 depending on what you can find as a good deal. It has been my experience that find a "deal" on one of the more popular calibers is easier than finding a deal on say a 300 RUM.

Just my 2cents, but then I am a sissy dog with a shoulder that took two major surgeries to repair and cost the insurance company a bundle....if a .308 or 28 gauge won't kill it then I am not interested in shooting it. Actually a .243 is more to my liking...sissy dogs unite.

P.S. best of luck in your quest..I hope you find a good deal on a gun that works for you.

In thinking about the OP's initial parameters, and reading some stuff on another channel about GunSmiths whining about not havng access to cheap and easy receivers anymore to do builds off of...it occurs to me that mebbe I've missed an opportunity to add to the Knowledge Pool again.

In my "spare time"...lol it's ALL spare time now that my DiL is past her multiple cancer procedures starting last May with only 1 major surgery in mid August that took 6 weeks in the hospital to get over, but with no chemo or radiation required "'cause all the Big Nasty stuff from multiple organs went in the Burn Bag" hallejah... and right now I'm BORED Again until I can sell this house ... and all hell will break loose again until we move and get settled for a Last Stand.

Anyway I've been looking at Gun Broker too much and was struck with the number of inexpensive "Commercial Mausers" available that have been customized to some degree in the hey days of the Post War boom in Hunting Rifles from the 1950's thru the 1970's & early '80's.

Commercial Grade & NOT MilSurp refurbed '98 Mausers are Cheap, easy to work on with myriads of custom goodies available that'd make a Remmy 700 jealous, tough, dependable, rugged, but stuck in a 1898 Mauser design Long Action that is by nature heavier than most American Hunters will tolerate these days.

Looks like there are now only 2 manufacturers left making updated "Modernized '98 Mauser's", CZ and Zastava. CZ is no longer making export receivers for other companies to build on and have dropped the beautifully finished euro style BRNO label that was banned for US importation during the Cold War, and have formed the CZ-USA Inc operation in Kansas City to market their own brand name. Built in Urb, Czech Repubic in the world's largest small arms plant. I got one in a 9.3x62 Mauser and it is scary accurate...but getting too expensive with the US Dollar x Euro exchange rates to be competive.

Zastava looks like they are trying to create a line of Zastava Brand products in regional dist's across the US that sell as retailers or on line.

So I'd suggest to the OP that he look at the Zastava M70 Sporter's & M85 Mini Mauser line of bolt action sporting rifles that NIB are selling in his desired $400+ to $500 retail price range from GrabaGun in Coppell TX , Impact in ??, J&G in Prescott AZ and K-Var in Las Vegas NV. Pull those names out of Google and see what you find. Might be more importer/retailers out there too carrying the Zastava name I haven't found yet.

Up until last year & the 3 previous years, Remington was importing a Remmy'ized version designated a Model 798 of a Zastava M70 that is a great buy for the money. Well finished to US standards and shoot well too. These are the same guns that are called Mark X's and were imported for 30+ years thru InterArms in Alexandria VA, or as Santa Barbara Mausers, or one of the 5-6 top notch English companies like Whitworth, Parker Hale, BSA, etc. I sold Parker Hale 1200's imported by Jana, Denver CO in the late 70's & early 80's and they shot great -sometimes waaay better than Rugers in those days but were not styled correctly for the US market in a bad imitation of a Weatherby Mark V, and were BIG Heavy guns....not a bad thing in '06, 7RMg or 300WMg's! IMO only the FN Herstal and Mauser Oberndorff Commercial Grade products would keep me from buying a Zastava product in the same gun...and the FN/Obie stuff are getting really spendy these days as the product dries up ...and that's what the gunsmiths I was reading were whining about.

The Zastava product has always filled the hole that FN - Herstal in Belgium created in the 1950's for a Mauser bolt action Commercial Grade product before Fabrique Nationalle took over the Browning name and created the Browning Safari Grade series, that will still sell for $1000+ at over 50 years old.

Old World hand made rifles will always trip my trigger.
Ron

I believe that a 260 Rem will or already has killed every type of big game in North America. I also believe that a whole bunch of 30-06's have done the same. I'll carry my 260 Rem just because it is an AR-10 and has hi cap mags. My Win 70 30-06 CRF is still my favorite CF rifle.

Uhhh... My calculator with my current conditions seems to think that you're supersonic out to somewhere around 1,700 yards. Can that be right?

The ballistics and wide variety of bullet sizes/types make the 300 Win Mag the best all around caliber if you are going to buy one gun. Sure there are lesser or larger calibers that would work well on specific size game but the 300 is good to go whenever and wherever. That is just my opinion but I think you had it right with your first gut hunch. Like a multiple choice test...go with your first instinct and most times you will be right. Antelope to Bears to Moose...just change the bullet and fire away.

Yes, that's right. Pretty impressive, huh?

That's a lot more than what I need, but... I think that's exactly what I want now.

Well when you're pushing a bullet that's .284" wide and 1.50" long, it's got a monster BC. On the Berger bullet chart I have, in the hunting bullet line, that's the highest BC bullet available. Yes, even higher than the heavy 30 caliber offerings. Couple that with a muzzle velocity over 2900 fps, and it's damned salty!

The more I think about it, the more I believe you should go with a .30-06, or perhaps a bit smaller. Shoot it and master it first. Then, at some future date, you can add a bigger gun for bigger hunts.

In Alaska, you'll drop $20 k minimum on a brown bear hunt. A quality grizzly hunt will cost $12 k. By the time you pay for airfare, charters, hotels, taxidermy, etc, I assure you that you will buy a new rifle for that hunt.

Big game hunting is like an opioid habit. Just like a junkie, you gotta have more and more.

I'm writing this from a motel in Raton......on my way to Nevada to feed my own elk addiction.

I found myself asking the same question. Decided on a 30-06 and haven't looked back! Absolutely great all around cartridge!

If my wife found out I spent $10-$20 grand on a hunt, I wouldn't live to see it through. But sometimes opportunity knocks and you have to be ready when it does. Now i am waivering back and forth between the .30-06 and .300 win mag. What does switching a .30-06 to .300 win mag entail? Is it as simple as a rebarrel and bolt swap or is there more custom work than that?

300 Win is a bigger bolt face than a 30-06. I wouldn't own both. One or the other. They're too close together to own both, in my opinion.

What FJG said +1 ...normally.

I could see owning both if they were widely different say like a Lite 6'lb 2oz '06 in a $600 Tikka T3 or less in a UL 5lb $1500 Forbes rifle for mountain work, AND a normal sized 8lb +/- 300WMg ....PLUS the same appropriately sized 'scopes....so you could use the same diameter bullets to reload your own ammo with.
Just Sayin' a Rifle Looney can always find an excuse for buying another rifle...kinda like Imelda Marco's was withe her shoes...
Ron