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Nathan Foster

Hi Ted, quite often guys will have a two gun set up consisting of a simple rifle like the .270/ .308 / .30-06 etc- versus a more dedicated long range rig which is somewhat heavier as Bob mentioned. A case of horses for courses.

When I am asked to set up a guy with one rifle for everything, close and long range but without too much weight, we often end up at the 7mm Rem Mag. One of the main reasons for this, is to keep the rifle weight down a bit for hard climbs. Its a fine line between rifle weight and felt recoil. So thats one way we can solve problems.

The other common chambering we arrive at is the .30-06. This can be very useful for guys hunting relatively heavy bodied animals at closer ranges, but with the ability to reach out ridge to ridge down south. You can build or buy quite a compact .30-06. It is harder to connect on game once you get out to very long distances with the .30-06, but it is still highly capable. My cartridges book covers the pros and cons in detail.

An example of a simple .30-06 would be a Tikka T3. This could be fitted with a relatively heavy optic, perhaps the NF NXS 5.5-22 x 50 MOAR. The weight would be acceptable, recoil acceptable, accuracy optimal and the scope can handle both closer range shots and full on ridge to ridge shots down south. You would not need to fit a suppressor to such a rig.

There are many ways to skin this cat. Some guys would want a .300 Win Mag, middle weight rifle. this is certainly highly effective on Thar and Red deer. In some instances optimal.

My question to other readers- does my cartridges book help you narrow down your selection or- even with the step by step process, do some of you still feel like kids in a lolly shop?

Anyone weighing into this thread needs to understand that Thar are tough- I mean really tough. A good bull will weigh 150kg / 330lb but is tough to the core. The ball joints are the size of oranges. When you shoot a Thar, you want the animal dropped on the spot, not running for cover as you may never retrieve him. You want to throw everything you have at him. But at the same time, you don't want to be climbing a near vertical rock face with a TRG or 32" barreled wossname.