New gun and scope.....

First let me say I read aldeer a lot just don't post much.
I'm about to pull the trigger on a new Tika 30-06. Simply for the availability of factory ammo.. The scope I'm looking hard at is the Meopta Meostar 3x12x56 with the 4k rect.Just looking for opinions from some of you that's possibly had a setup close to this. Good and the bad.

I bought a Tika, back several years ago in the 7mm-08 with a Nikon scope they no longer make. It shoots the sst's real well just never get much for blood trails. Thus my excuse for a new gun and scope.

"...availability of factory ammo." Take a good look at a .308, too, in that case!

That's a bullet issue,not a caliber issue. You'll kill any deer with the 7mm-08 that you'll kill with the 30-06 and do it with a lot less recoil. I'd try a better bullet in your 7mm-08 before I sprung for a 30-06. Admittedly I'm not a 30-06 guy simply because so many other calibers do everything a 30-06 can do but with less recoil and oftentimes with better performance

I’ve got that scope mounted on my old .270 A-Bolt and it’s very nice. I’ve got at Tikka T3 .300WM as well and have been really impressed with it. It has the best factory trigger I’ve ever hand on a gun. A 30.06 is a good choice. Ammo is easy to find and there’s a huge selection. I’d recommend trying a 165gr. Federal Fusion in it.

A 7mm 140gn Accubond is hard to beat for a deer bullet. But then again, a .30 150gr Accubond might be the ticket. It’d be nice to have both to compare .

Check the classifieds Ron.

DeadorAlive I've hunted with a .308 and have considered that also. And if I did change at the last at minute it would be to a .308.

Also thought about trying a different style round guess I may need to get some 140's for the 7-08.

Sonny which rectical do you have on you're scope is it that 4k, and what color cross did you go with?

Do y'all think the recoil will be that much more significant than the 7-08? I can shoot the gun I have now one handed, while the front end rest on a trigger stick, and my front hand holding the stick handle.

I really appreciate all the input here, thanks to all.

The only excuse you need to buy another gun is... I want another gun.

I’ve got the 4K with the red reticle.

I'd pass on that scope. I had one for awhile and yes it's nice but that first focal plane crap is annoying as hell.

Just based on observation from two outdoors stores, the selection of 30-06 factory ammo kicks the snot out of 308 ammo. Both places I went you couldn't hardly find 308 HUNTING ammo. Seems like it's everyones choice for the woods right now. And right to the right of where the 308 stuff would be was a veritable wall of 30-06 ammo in every weight and bullet type you could imagine. I bought the 308 partially because I wanted to spend less on ammo and have less of a hassle getting good quality ammo locally compared to my 7mag. Total fail on my part. I am sure my timing was bad, but take it FWIW.

I put a Nikon PROSTAFF 4-12 BDC on my sson's Tikka for his 12th b-day and he took this cull buck. 6 years later to the day I let him use my T/C .300 Win. with a new PROSTAFF 7 scope and he tagged this nice buck. I had used the rifle in KS where I needed the .300 Win for a buck that weighed 209 pounds dressed out. A big difference then this small bodied TX deer. I am all about using a BDC reticle for hunting unless I am hunting timber and know my shots will be under 200 yards. The 30-06 is a heck of a round for anything you want to hunt in North America. Looking down some tubes is going to be your best bet. Nikon's PROSTAFF scopes are known for their low light performance abilities. The PROSTAFF 7 on my T/C has a 30mm tube so perhaps the PROSTAFF 5 would work better for you. Side Focus Parallax adjustment is a great feature for shooting longer distances.

http://i1216.photobucket.com/albums/dd363/bman940/Screen%20Shot%202018-01-04%20at%209.05.01%20AM.png

My Meostar is second focal plane?

Depends on the rifle and load. My 7-08 with 139/140s kicks pretty much on par with my 30-06 with 150s. With 165s that 30-06 is much more noticeable, not punishing, but it's there.

I am all for buying new rifles, but the one you got is fine. I never had problems with blood trails with SSTs, however the interbonds were another story. On ammo, it is interesting to note that 7-08 is about 1.5-2x the cost of equivalent 270, 308 , 30-06 etc.

Does your reticle "grow" when you increase magnification? If it does not, then your scope is second focal plane. If it does, it is first focal plane.

I think you have a good choice.

Don't get butt hurt by this, but I've never understood the justification for a rifle purchase based on availability of ammo. I see it cited all the time, but just don't get it.

I spend so much time and money getting a rifle/scope/load worked up, I would never consider not having ammo available all the time. Whether its reloads or factory ammo, it seems that it is a small expense to put 20-40 rounds in your hunting "kit."

Yeah mine is second, i just didn't realize they made a first in the Meostar.

56mm r1 is first. They briefly made a 56mm in an r2 but good luck finding one

If you decide to part with the 7mm08 let me know. It would be perfect for my daughter in law.

Mine is a R2.

Chuck Hawk's recoil table:
Rifle Weight Recoil energy Recoil velocity
7mm-08 Rem. (120 at 3000) 7.5 12.1 10.2
7mm-08 Rem. (140 at 2860) 8 12.6 10.1
.308 Win. (150 at 2800) 7.5 15.8 11.7
.308 Win. (165 at 2700) 7.5 18.1 12.5
.308 Win. (180 at 2610) 8 17.5 11.9
.30-06 Spfd. (150 at 2910) 8 17.6 11.9
.30-06 Spfd. (165 at 2900) 8 20.1 12.7
.30-06 Spfd. (180 at 2700) 8 20.3 12.8

In my experience that jump from 12.6 to 17.6 doesn't seem like much but it is. Plus if you are waffling even a little why go to all the hassle? Even at 150 grain 30-06 you only gain 10 grains of weight and 50 fps. I realize these are basic comparisons but I have referred to this a lot. As others have said I would bet there is 7mm-08 ammo out there that would perform as well or better than the 30-06 without the extra beating, gun length and weight.

Can I have it?

For the right price.

I have a Meopta (thought not the exact same), and I have a co-worker with a Meopta. We both are very pleased with the scope.

I have mentioned it before on here, but for me good quality glass does not exactly add time to my hunt. When its too dark to see, its just to dark. But with my Meopta and Swaro scope those last several minutes I can not only see a figure but also distinguish the rack or other details where with my Nikon's or Leupold's I'm just looking at a figure.

Meopta is a very nice brand of optics. The main issue for me with the r1 series is tunnel vision in extreme high and low magnification. It cuts way down on the f.o.v.

Thats same thing they've been rambling about for ever and a day with the 308 vs 30/06. How it's capable of performing as good or even better then the 30/06. It's possible where they fail to test is it's not a apples to apples test. You can shoot a 180gr out of the 30/06 and compare it to a 150gr. Out of 308. The 7/08 will perform it has light recoil with a light bullet. To say it'll out perform a 30/06 shooting a the exact same weight bullet is not possible. Each caliber is designed for a purpose and if the 7/08 fits what you need and are comfortable shooting it then it's the gun for you. My go to rifles are my 30/06 and my 45/70. And shooting a deer the recoil never noticeable