Which would you pick for a higher-end bolt rifle?

[EJG]

Up to now I have not reached the peak in rifles I put together for myself which are down the line of carbon barrelled lightweight stocked well balanced rifles. The ambition is to have a rifle that is very easy to shoot even to longer ranges and does not weigh too much so that quick off-hand shots can also be taken. Latest being a Snowy Mountain Rifle carbon barrelled action in 7PRC. I am extremely happy with this rifle.
If for some reason I would win the lottery my dream would be a Westley Richards rifle. I have great respect for craftmanship of this company, was fortunate enough to have spent a full day in their workshops and gunrooms.
edi

 

[Warden70]

Everyone will have a different take. I like a wood and shiny blued rifle with CRF, so the new Model 70's get me every time. CRF is important to me in a hunting rig, because it just has to work under the most severe conditions. This is why Mauser 98's were such legendary rifles. CRF will have more cam-back (Primary extraction) than push-feed designs. If only Husqvarna and BRNO still made rifles.... Anyway, lots of good ones out there. Every once in a while a real gem will pop up on the EE and they are worth it!

 

[Joel]

Shoot a rifle that is actually consistently accurate. Year after year. Zero’s don’t wander, groups stay consistent, cold bores produce results inside the group, etc. Accurate junk isn’t generally a thing. It’s still just junk.

Lol Ok

 

[Joel]

Everyone will have a different take. I like a wood and shiny blued rifle with CRF, so the new Model 70's get me every time. CRF is important to me in a hunting rig, because it just has to work under the most severe conditions. This is why Mauser 98's were such legendary rifles. CRF will have more cam-back (Primary extraction) than push-feed designs. If only Husqvarna and BRNO still made rifles.... Anyway, lots of good ones out there. Every once in a while a real gem will pop up on the EE and they are worth it!

They really are that highly regarded for a reason but I'm not sure modern push feeds (say Tikka based on the TRG rifles and the AI rifles) are any less reliable?

 

[Grizzlypeg]

Anyone have a Benelli Lupo? From the reviews, they shoot well.

 

[track]

I was originally interested in buying a Rigby but went with Chris instead. The price was lower and you pay a premium for that Rigby logo.

I've never been one attracted to "brands" so the rifle I bought was inline more with what I wanted.

Yes, you're right. There is extra cash to dole-out for the brand name.

 

[pathfinder76]

Yes, you're right. There is extra cash to dole-out for the brand name.

And consequently more resale value.

 

[thewoodsrunner]

Depending on the gunsmith you choose and the quality level of the finished rifle, $4000 probably would not buy it.

Chris Griesbach charges $10,000 for a nice custom 98 but not over the top. BTDT a few year ago before his prices went to this level.

You might be better to buy a nice pre64 M70 in 30-06, have it worked over and stocked in a nice pc of English walnut.

+1 for Chris Griesbach. Chris was trained by Ralph Martini and his own work is to my eye as nice and sometimes nicer.

Anyone who's done their share of gun reshaping/refinishing with the goal at least of getting results that could be mistaken for professional level gains a swift education into why custom rifles go for the prices they do. The hours add up fast. Which of course are over and above the $7000 you may have paid for a choice blank/modern Mauser action before any work even started. You realize a new $2300 Winchester 70 is a very sweet deal for what has to be in the top 3 professional rifles carried over the past hundred years of hunting. Model 70, Rigby, BRNO/CZ. Rifles carried by folks with zero tolerance for anything less than flawless performance. The CZ/BRNO's and Model 70 may take some basic tweaking to get to that level... Rigby does the tweaking before the guns hit the market. I've heard some Model 70's require no tweaking, which is extraordinary for the price.

 

[ShrtRnd]

We had some whiskey and you know, the girls get prettier.

Ha! Three shots of Tequila and anyone can find love..

In all seriousness (and Savages aside ) if I’m looking at high end, I’ll by-pass Factory offerings and start looking at something along the lines of Alpine Rifle Craft

 

[thewoodsrunner]

They really are that highly regarded for a reason but I'm not sure modern push feeds (say Tikka based on the TRG rifles and the AI rifles) are any less reliable?

I have never heard nor read of any professional hunter on any continent carrying a push-feed rifle where their backup gun is a bolt action. They insist on controlled-round feed. I have come across them suggesting quality push-feed is fine in a client rifle.

 

[pathfinder76]

Ha! Three shots of Tequila and anyone can find love..

In all seriousness (and Savages aside ) if I’m looking at high end, I’ll by-pass Factory offerings and start looking at something along the lines of Alpine Rifle Craft

Alpine would be an exceptional option.

 

[pathfinder76]

I have never heard nor read of any professional hunter on any continent carrying a push-feed rifle where their backup gun is a bolt action. They insist on controlled-round feed. I have come across them suggesting quality push-feed is fine in a client rifle.

Lots do actually. Lots of push feed Model 70’s it seems.

 

[Joel]

They're definitely out there in professional hands, the Winchester push feeds, yeah.

Not that I'd say the white hunter is the best person to ask on which modern push feed actions are the most reliable Tikkas and the Accuracy International rifles aren't really well represented in the dangerous game calibers for example.

 

[45ACPKING]

I wanted to build a simple custom rifle on a budget..... after everything is said and done that rifle still costs 3800 with mid level glass and was built on a remington 700 stainless action (new)
I don't dabble in the custom bolt gun game too much so other guys are better for advice but for 2500 I'd probably be looking for something off the rack versus a custom build. I had to go custom simply because the caliber i wanted wasn't availlable in any current production rifle offerings and I didn't want a used rifle. I got the leupold scope from a friend for 650 of that budget.

 

[milkbone96]

We had some whiskey and you know, the girls get prettier

Whiskey - turning the Bow into Wow since the early 1400s

 

[Warden70]

They really are that highly regarded for a reason but I'm not sure modern push feeds (say Tikka based on the TRG rifles and the AI rifles) are any less reliable?

Not at all. Sako, Howa, and Bergara are all good examples of modern push-feeds that are reliable. Depends on what you value. People often say a REM 700 extractor is weak, but I’ve not had one fail or seen one fail in any training I’ve been on…. Nor have I observed a bolt handle fall off on either lol.

 

[thewoodsrunner]

Not that I'd say the white hunter is the best person to ask on which modern push feed actions are the most reliable...

Why not? They are the one group of hunters who have not only hunted the most, but hunted the most in areas where multiple species encountered in a single day may be known for homicidal tendencies. They are the one group of hunters that I am aware of that have been relied on for cull work requiring the hunting of hundreds of individual dangerous game animals yearly, a mishap with any one of which could mean death. Who have done such work day-in and day-out as their bread-and-butter, their job. The most experienced hunter, probably in all human history, was a white hunter in the mid-20th Century, who personally shot at least 3,000 cape buffalo ("the black death") during control work. He killed so many that he refused to discuss it, it became so distasteful for him - and him a man known for his braggadocio, no less. That's just the one species he was called upon to cull, nevermind the lions and elephants etc.

Who anywhere else would have this sort of experience with hunting arms under the most exacting conditions than a white hunter? I'd say they are precisely the ones you should listen to most closely when the subject is firearm reliability, however it feeds. They make every single hunter on this continent and most if not all of the other continents to boot into a rookie by comparison. They are the one group to experience the Pleistocene in modern times, armed with modern arms, tasked with the agenda of clearing out the megafauna to make way for the exploding human hordes.

 

[Joel]

Why not? They are the one group of hunters who have not only hunted the most, but hunted the most in areas where multiple species encountered in a single day may be known for homicidal tendencies. They are the one group of hunters that I am aware of that have been relied on for cull work requiring the hunting of hundreds of individual dangerous game animals yearly, a mishap with any one of which could mean death. Who have done such work day-in and day-out as their bread-and-butter, their job. The most experienced hunter, probably in all human history, was a white hunter in the mid-20th Century, who personally shot at least 3,000 cape buffalo ("the black death") during control work. He killed so many that he refused to discuss it, it became so distasteful for him - and him a man known for his braggadocio, no less. That's just the one species he was called upon to cull, nevermind the lions and elephants etc.

Who anywhere else would have this sort of experience than a white hunter? I'd say they are precisely the ones you should listen to most closely when the subject is firearm reliability. They make every single hunter on this continent and most of the others to boot into a rookie by comparison.

Because the guns I mentioned don't exist in DG chamberings? LOL. Kinda makes asking the white hunters pretty pointless dude.

But yeah I'm sure the AI actions like the Artic Warfare rifles have are not reliable enough for African hunting Get a guy killed by a charging Dik Dik faster than you can say "eina"