Boomlemons - a beginner's guide to firearm avoidance

jparent said:
In general, Tikka T3's disappoint me. Other than the smooth bolt that feels good in the gun store but does nothing to help you in the field, the stocks are meh, the mags are expensive and they don't shoot any better than a rifle that costs 1/2 as much. Are they a good rifle? Sure. Can you spend less and get the same performance and have $ left over for a better optic, sling and ammo to practice with. Absolutely.
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OK, you have hooked me and I cannot wait to hear your recommendations. My first and only Tikka T3X in 6.5 CM has been a stellar performer, turning in half-MOA 5-round groups at 100m with the SAKO 143gr FMJ "bulk" ammo sold in the 50-rd boxes. i paid $1200 for the barreled action after I sold off the stock in order to switch to a KRG chassis. It has been utterly reliable in terms of feeding and ejection, and you just cannot beat that glass-smooth bolt-throw.

I've owned several Rem 700s, Howa 1500, Christensen Arms MPR, SIG Cross, CZ Trail, and have handled most of the major brands to get a feel for the bolt-throw, trigger, etc. Not having found much at all that would match the quality, "feel" and performance of my Tikka barreled action, I am genuinely curious to hear your list of rifles offering more value for $$. Please educate me regarding bolt-guns, as I am admittedly much more of a semi-auto guy.
 
jparent said:
I, like Joel own a bunch of Ruger Americans. I have owned several more that i have since sold for various reasons.

What i have gleaned from this experience, is that like many other plastic stocked rifles (Savage Axis, Remington 783, Tikka etc.) is that once you get to a certain cartridge size/recoil level, their performance drops dramatically. In my experience, 308 is about the very top end of that scale. Feeding, accuracy and other issues crop up. The RAR is fantastic up to about 6 creed and OK at 308. They really shine with the intermediate cartridges 556/x39/Grendel etc.
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Well there might be something to your theory. I have had three Sauer 100 xt classic rifles. First was in 6.5 Swede that shoots quite well. Later bought another in 7mm Rem. Mag. no matter what load combination I tried, would not shoot worth a hill of beans. Sent back for warranty due to poor accuracy, the rifle was replaced with a new one. Replacement rifle was not much better than the first one. Both rifle bores looked good through the borescope. I was thinking along the same line that for whatever reason maybe that particular combination of barrel, length/contour with that particular synthetic stock with that cartridge was just not a good combination for accuracy. Don’t know how else to explain two dud rifles in the same model and calibre. Other people seem to have had better accuracy in some of the larger calibres but my particular experience does not make me want to buy another one.
 
Since they've come up, the Zastava M70 has been the "nearly every one I've had came with issues" rifle for me lol. None were unfixable, but then they shouldn't need fixing.

When it comes to the Tikka stock, that always seems like one of the subjective things. Can totally understand people not liking the shape, or feel of it etc. But it definitely seems more rigid and like it works as well as any other factory synthetic on the market.
 
I've hated every Remington 700 I've ever owned, except for the vintage one with a good trigger and a bolt-lockdown feature. Mostly I just try to avoid low-end stuff completely now - cheap wood, plastic everywhere, crappy plastic stocks, blueing that turns plum colour, cera-whatever paint that looks like $h!t when it gets scratched on a hunt. ... I've now disqualified just about every recent-production bolt rifle under $2000 sold today.

You really do get what you pay for in this past-time. There's a LOT of junk out there right now.
 
These are just observations of some I’ve owned and hunted with over the years.

Rem 700 - MSS & 700P currently

I like the Chevy/Ford comparison mentioned on 700’s. It’s fitting given the vast amount of aftermarket support the platform has. Easily workable/fixable almost to the point of boring some would say. I ditch the X Mark trigger right away and move to a TT Primary usually. Ya, the quality has gone down, the SPSs are gritty in fit/functionality blah, blah, yet you can still build out a 700 to run with the $2500-$4K name brands like Kimber, Fierce etc quite easily. It remains my first choice when shopping solely for these reasons.

Tikka T3/X - T3 SS & T3 LSS

As well known both were accurate OOB and didn’t take much fiddling with load wise. People should just know if you’re buying a Tupperware version T3/X you’d better budget for an upgraded stock of choice at some point from the get-go or buy the Hunter/LSS versions. Ya the T3 bolt shroud sucks, but there are aftermarket ones to fix that. Another platform with a solid aftermarket following.

Browning A-Bolt (1st Gen) SS

Loved the rifle, just not it’s issue of over throwing it’s bolt lift stop if cycling too fast locking it to un-functionality in the field. Stock was an actual solid synthetic version, not the hollow or hollow filled stuff of today’s rifles. As much as I want to like Brownings current X Bolts this one misfit and it’s bolt issues It had keeps me away.

Savage/Stevens - Predator 10, Predator Max1, 110 Tactical (whichever had the pinned brake on it) and 116)

All were insanely accurate, but they were roughly ‘11-‘15 models before their take-over/demise and well known for their accuracy. Clunky and a heavy bolt cycle, stock that felt cheaper then the T3’s of the same time frame and overall heavy. I just couldn’t get my head around them. If you can find one with the Indian Head logo on the grip of the stock you’d do well if it was just to be a utilitarian type rifle.

After four I wouldn’t go out of my way to source one, but would consider it based on the previous sentence if it was decent price (not todays current inflated prices). Sadly I missed the Stevens 200 craze when they were about $500 for the reg version or about $399 for the flame stock variant.

Like I said, just observations, trials and tribulations of various brands I’ve hunted with over the past few decades. Just keep in mind EMMV (everyones milage may vary) on a given unit, brand or model and there is no “best” out there.
 
Bad Bob said:
I stand by my statement. Over the years I`ve owned an awful lot of rifles (probably close to 100 or so) and the Ruger American was by far the worst rifle I had ever shot.
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I shipped my unreliable Ruger American 17HMR to Gravel a few weeks ago due to about 2 fail to fire’s out of 10 and then those fail to fires wouldn’t extract so out comes the cleaning rod to do the extraction. A piece of junk. Just got word today that Ruger will replace the rifle at no charge but no ETA for that.

I knew I was buying an entry level varmint rifle but it was going to live on my Bad Boy Buggy (golf cart with a dump box) so wasn’t looking for a beauty, just a work gun. Actually it was a beauty as the fit and finish was top notch but looks like the beauty was only skin deep.

Got a Ruger GP100 and a Mk3 and they both function perfectly so I’m still a Ruger fan but won’t be buying a Ruger American any time soon….
 
Legacy lemon: The proprietary 'Third generation' Universal Carbine of the 1960's. I suppose at one point they were legit for hunting in Canada. The magazines were crappy plastic that usually cracked at the magazine lips. The operating rods were proprietary junk which were hard to replace. The safety was weird and proprietary. The rear sights did not hold up that well. On the one I examined the windage adjustment screw (unknown thread) sheared off. The only good thing about them was that you supposedly had an adjustment screw to turn off the gas. Forward thinking design lol. They supposedly could be equipped with a side mount base for regular Weaver rings. Instead of the traditional plug screws they gave you a black piece of plastic with four pegs which pressed into the holes for the scope base. Never seen very many surviving Universal carbines in Canada in the modern era. I would classify them as parts guns or an advanced gunsmithing project to bring up to a useable standard.

One other failing of this creation was that it is said it could fire out of battery. What an improvement! I wonder who the designer was?

Here is more information as to why you should avoid these artifacts today:

http://www.m1carbinesinc.com/carbine_universal2.html

To be fair, the designer of the gun knew what he was doing, the support he was getting from the company owners was crap. Three hundred and fifty thousand 3rd generation Universal carbines were built, which says something.
 
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Bad Bob said:
Ruger American. There is absolutely nothing good about it, worst piece of crap I ever (very briefly) owned. Second place would be a Savage Axis.
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I had a Savage Axis and it was great after I gave it a Rifle Basix trigger treatment and a Boyd's hardwood stock. That plastic piece of junk was awful. The trigger wasn't bad but I like thewm lighter than what the stock one would go
 
Guns I owned that had problems!

Mossberg semi auto .22, jammed first magazine, sent into gunsmith for warranty, thankfully they lost it.

Savage 11 in 7 08, brand new bolt came apart on second round, shell jammed in chamber, Savage warranty gunsmith at first said head space problem verbally, then written report blamed Federal ammo

Savage 111 accutrigger model 338WM, every second shot, magazine would drop out.

Rossi Ranch hand .44 occasional jam, unreliable feed.

Sako A7, magazine feed lips needed to be squeezed together [minor]

Zastava Stainless 9.3x62, bolt was way too sloppy for reliable feed.

Remington 770 300 win mag package rifle, scope would blow off after a couple of shots, bolt sometimes would not pick up a round [friends rifle]

TC Encore, brand new 25 06 barrel, would not extract

Winchester 94 Canadian Centennial model 30 30, jammed a lot, good collector lousy rifle.

When I think of the rifles I have owned this is a pretty short list, like Connor I still like A7 rifles, I may have missed some, but for the last quite a few years I have bought Vanguards, Husqvarnas, Ruger and Winchesters and have not had an issue, I did just buy a Ruger American in 6.5 Creedmoor so I may get disappointed again. Good guns I just don't, like for no good reason, Remington 700s, Tikkas, CZs.
 
https://www.huntinggearguy.com/rifle-reviews/ws-mcr-review/

SPECTRE WS MCR

Original Armalite 18: built to a milspec standard - intended user - third world army conscripts.

modern iteration: intended user is someone who wants an expensive wall hanger which fails with light usage. Arthur Miller is not pleased.

The AR 18 was designed for heavy steel stamped upper and lower reciever. Surprise, the Aluminumish reciever parts are failing on this new iteration.

Machinist Ave did a revealing dissection of the Spectre WS MCR a few years back. Very revealing.
 
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I had a Winchester push feed circa 1970’s 30.06 . Firing pin problems more than a few times . Then one day sighting in before a hunting trip the wooden stock split . Bought a Remington 700 in the latter half of the 80’s and touch wood it’s been an excellent firearm .
Leavenworth
 
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