Building 7mm Tikka mtn rifle

[rentalrunner22]

Hey everyone,
I'm building my first mountain rifle, upgrading from grandpa's .06 with a steel butt plate.

I have a T3x Tikka with a 24" SS fluted barrel. I live out west and do mainly day hunts. Trying to build a mtn rifle that's very accurate out to 7mm range (600-800 yds?) For elk, deer, and bear.
I originally got a vx5hd 3-15 and wish I had more zoom at the range and for counting horns. It's probably enough zoom for shooting big game but I'd like more.

Looking for advice to outfit a good mtn rifle. I want a very functional lifetime elk rifle and am willing to pay for it.

Looking at hatch bipods for shooting in terrain. Have a magpul bipod for bench, might get Evo.

Scopes:
Want ffp
More than 15x zoom
decent fov, but could add a red dot to help in timber?
Want a lifetime scope that can be hunted with (bumped into branches, dropped on the ground and tracks reliably)

Considering
March 3-24
NF atacr 4-20 or 5-25 with a red dot
Is it realistic to hunt close range with a red dot on the rings?
Any other decent recommendations that are a little cheaper?

Is upgrading to a McMillan stock going to really help field accuracy with the ergonomics?

 

[rentalrunner22]

Another note, I'll probably get a 300 win mag at some point. So I'd like to get a scope that could swap to 300 hunting rifle as well. And if I got a stock or chasis, it'd be nice to share the T3x long action. But I'm not sure if there's better 300 win mag action, barrel, stock options than T3x. I assume there is but maybe T3x is good enough.

 

[mt100gr.]

Rifle is fine as is. How much have you shot it? If you haven't added the vertical grip, add it. Replace your scope with a Nightforce in very good rings - 15x is plenty, its not a spotting scope. Find good ammo for your purposes and either buy a bunch or the components needed. Buy a good rangefinder if you need one and a quality chronograph. Learn either MIL or MOA corrections and go burn through a few hundred rounds at all distances over the next few months as you get familiar with all of the necessary parameters to dope your particular load. Forget the 300 for now....

 

[Lytro]

I have a T3X 7RM I did a custom build on a couple years ago that shoots lights out. I have a 3-15x44 VX5HD on it that has worked well. I really like the Spartan Javelin Pro Hunt bipod for hunting.

I'm currently in the process of building a 300WM off a T3X. Only downside of the T3X in 300WM is that the mag length can potentially limit your ability with handloads. I already picked up a Trijicon Tenmile 3-18x44 for it, and I will be using the same bipod.

 

[VernAK]

When I think "mountain rifle", I think of a very light rifle for packing back in for game. A large heavy scope on a light rifle is a PIA, IMO.

 

[rentalrunner22]

Thanks. I'll go through some of the shooting drills with my 10-22 and 7mm tikka to become a better shooter. Then I'll focus on upgrading equipment as needed.