If you bought a 308 bolt action for target shooting and want another rifle that's a little cheaper to shoot/practice with why would you be looking for a rifle like an RDB? For the cost of an RDB you can have a nice 223 bolt action with decent glass that will shoot smaller groups than an RDB any day of the week. Plus, once you buy the RDB for $1500 you still need to buy it an optic which pushes you over the $2000 mark if you want anything at all decent. So is this really about buying something cheaper to shoot or is it just an excuse to buy a fun rifle? If it's to save money you're not saving money in any category, but if it's just an excuse to buy a fun rifle then I completely get it but don't try to fool yourself into thinking you're going to save money shooting a 223 semi auto because the rounds are cheaper. A semi auto gets hungry and can go through a lot of ammo very quickly.
Bullpup rifles are not great bench rifles, due to their short length and weird shapes they are hard to shoot consistently from a table, they do however excel at shooting standing unsupported and shooting while moving thanks to their weight balance. Shooting an RDB is not going to be any sort of practice for your 308, ergonomics are completely different and the trigger will also be entirely different.
Don't buy a non restricted semi auto bullpup for target shooting. I'm not going to call anyone a liar but very very few factory built non restricted semi autos actually shoot 1 moa or better with any ammo no matter what anyone claims their rifle will do unless we're talking about a once a day lucky group.
I've owned or at least shot most of the non restricted semi 223's we're allowed to buy and other than the HK SL8 which was just barely 1 moa with match grade factory loads or tailored handloads none of them would consistently shoot 1 moa or better. The HK is definitely the most accurate factory built semi auto 223 we have access to. Custom barrels will get others there (like the Bushmaster ACR) but consistent 1 moa is not what you should expect with any of the rifles we can buy.
This is not a flaw in the rifle and it doesn't make them overpriced, you're not paying for the accuracy, you're paying for the engineering and materials that went into developing a rifle designed originally to be a battle rifle but made for the civilian market.
If you want something consistently accurate you need to spend a lot more on a barrel than any manufacturer throws into their rifles.
For me when someone claims their rifle is a sub moa shooter I expect that to mean that it can shoot 1 moa or better all day every day, not just one lucky group every once in a while. Consistent 1 moa is rare, if you want proof of this check out the "my rifle can shoot 1 moa all day" challenges that are posted in the sticky section, you won't find many factory barreled rifles in the winners column.
Edit,
Must not have been enough entries to warrant it being a sticky, have to search back a few pages to find it in this section of the forum, used to be at the top.
Edit 2,
I went 40 pages back in this forum and 10 pages in the main battle rifles and couldn't find the threads I was thinking of. Here is one of the challenges from the precision forum. This one is a 1/2 moa challenge but I'm sure we used to have a 1 moa challenge in this forum.
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/for...uot-groups-100-yards-all-day!-Really-Prove-it
Have a look through and see if any semis are in there.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way trying to discourage you from buying a semi or an RDB, just saying that if you're doing it for the reasons you posted in the first post then you are looking at the wrong rifle. If on the other hand you like the looks of the RDB and just want a fun 223 semi then go for it. You're not buying a target rifle with the RDB and if that's what you want you will be disappointed. Everything I've read so far about the RDB tells me it produces decent accuracy for the type of rifle which is more than accurate enough for varmint/predator hunting and general fun but you won't be sitting at the bench practicing trigger control squeezing off tiny groups all afternoon.
I think the X95 has made it's own compromises too. I assume in order to gain all of it's functions some compromises were made that impacted accuracy. in the end the Israelis got a very compact rifle that is perfectly good out to 200m which in an Urban environment is more than enough.
That being said when I can drop $1000 on a WK180C that does 1.5 - 2moa ammo dependent I can put a $400 optic on it and still end up with $1000 to drop on ammo. It's a no brainer.
There were no compromises, it's a $200 rack grade barrel in a platform that uses the barrel as the "backbone" of the rifle with all components hanging from it.
The design is battle rifle which brings with it a requirement for 4 moa or better. It does exactly what it was designed to do which is to operate reliably in any situation.
The difference between the WK180 and the X95 is that the WK180 is an entry level toy and the X95 is a proven battle rifle that is built by an established company known for making quality firearms that work 99.9% of the time. Your WK180 will probably only last 10000-15000 rounds before it's in need of major repairs/ parts replacement while the X95 will just keep truckin along probably needing only a couple springs and maybe a new barrel after 20000+ rounds.
For the budget limited buyer, new buyers, or really anyone who isn't going to be putting thousands and thousands of rounds through it the WK is a fine rifle for every day plinking and general fun but if you're serious about firearms and want something that will last, and if you're someone who wants to know that parts support will still be there in a few years you spend a little more money up front to buy the proven platform from the established company.
