Straight Pull Rifles?

[Frontman44]

I've decided on 30-06 chambering for the rifle I'll take on my PG hunt. The straight pull Rifles, particularly the Beretta BRX1 have been been intriguing me lately.

For those of you who hunt with one, how do you like it compared to a standard bolt action?

Are there other makes, models I should look at?(also considering a Browning Maral 4X. A Blaser is likely going to be cost prohibitive for me)

 

[Whit]

Heym SR21.

 

[Rimbaud]

@dogcat1 is selling a few different R8s. I’ve bought from him before, as have many other members. He’s great to deal with. I have been hunting w an R8 for about 7 years. I love it. It’s accurate, the bolt is super fast, and it is hard to go back to standard bolt actions. I have three barrels, and I really appreciate the muscle memory aspect of the rifle. The different barrels make the overall rifle feel different in terms of weight and barrel length, but the stock/optic just fall into place.

 

[wesheltonj]

You might also look at the SAKO 100.

 

[V.Veritas]

Heym SR21.

SR 21 is classic turn bot action.
Heym SR 30 is a straight bolt action with a "ball bearings" locking arrangement. Quite different than anything else out there.

Merkel Helix, Blaser R8.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I've decided on 30-06 chambering for the rifle I'll take on my PG hunt. The straight pull Rifles, particularly the Beretta BRX1 have been been intriguing me lately.

For those of you who hunt with one, how do you like it compared to a standard bolt action?

Are there other makes, models I should look at?(also considering a Browning Maral 4X. A Blaser is likely going to be cost prohibitive for me)

Extremely fast to operate. My relative Nawab Shafath Ali Khan culls 15,000 Nilgai & wild boar in India per year on government orders. He owns 10 firearms including seven rifles, two shotguns & a handgun. But he exclusively prefers his two Blaser R8s in .30-06 Springfield (one of which comes with a spare barrel in .300 Winchester Magnum).

Either inbox me or @Sarg , and we’ll show you a video of how fast he is at culling Nilgai & wild boar with those beautiful R8s.

 

[Bandera]

I was looking at a Savage Impulse. Thinking I might need a new light caliber rifle for yotes.

 

[Rafiki]

I was looking at a Savage Impulse. Thinking I might need a new light caliber rifle for yotes.

I'm sorry but that thing is butt ugly.

 

[30-06Ken]

Extremely fast to operate. My relative Nawab Shafath Ali Khan culls 15,000 Nilgai & wild boar in India per year on government orders. He owns 10 firearms including seven rifles, two shotguns & a handgun. But he exclusively prefers his two Blaser R8s in .30-06 Springfield (one of which comes with a spare barrel in .300 Winchester Magnum).

Either inbox me or @Sarg , and we’ll show you a video of how fast he is at culling Nilgai & wild boar with those beautiful R8s.

Wait - he actually kills Nilgai with a 30-06 ? According to the people in Texas I talk to anything less than a 338 Win Mag just bounces off them. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Probably the same people who think a .243 is only good for ground squirrels.

 

[Datchew]

Wait - he actually kills Nilgai with a 30-06 ? According to the people in Texas I talk to anything less than a 338 Win Mag just bounces off them. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Probably the same people who think a .243 is only good for ground squirrels.

I've always heard you need a howitzer for nilgai.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Wait - he actually kills Nilgai with a 30-06 ? According to the people in Texas I talk to anything less than a 338 Win Mag just bounces off them. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Probably the same people who think a .243 is only good for ground squirrels.

To be fair, he doesn’t really have a choice. The only rifle ammunition which gets imported into India, is the Sellier & Bellot 180Gr round nosed soft point for the .30-06 Springfield. He (on average) needs around 3 body shots on a big bull, if he can’t get them with a clean neck shot.

But this is in no way the problem of the caliber. The ammunition is ill suited for such huge animals (we’re talking Asia’s heaviest antelope here), because the cup & core bullets frequently tend to break apart when striking heavy bones of male Nilgai (such as the scapula/humerus/ball-and-socket joint/shoulder bone).

I myself have successfully taken multiple Nilgai with my 7x57mm Mauser, to put matters into perspective (albeit obviously nowhere as many as Shafath does professionally).

.243 Winchester is a favorite cartridge of mine especially loaded with the venerable 100Gr Winchester Super X Power Point). Very ideal for up to Axis deer sized game and the smaller African antelopes (bushbuck, impala, reedbuck, springbok). I obviously don’t advocate it’s employment for boar shooting, although the wife of one of my white hunters has used it to down more than a few large bush pigs.