Ruger and Tikka

The remington law enforcement series sure has some interesting rifles. They are high preformance all right, but too heavy for me to be carrying through the bush all day. I think I will have to visit a few gun stores around here to try some rifles and see what fits my hands best. Remington, Tikka, and Savage, will be on my list of rifles to try out. Out of the box accuracy is still big on my list though, don't want to go tweaking with stocks, trigger mechs, bolt action, etc before I try out my new rifle. If I goto a gun shop would they actually let me hold a rifle to try for fit even though I don't have my PAL yet, or is it strictly verboten until I have my magic card?? I'm in Halifax right now, so if you know of a friendly gun shop, i would like to hear.
 
prosper said:
Prioritize. My priorities usually look like this:

1: Accuracy
2: Accuracy
3: Price
4: Aesthetics/Feel

Therefore, I am a Savage fan.
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Being a hunter accuracy is important but not as important as reliability.

I've lost animals to malfunctions with the Savage. Just little things like a shell jamming and a trigger malfunctioning. I don't find Savage more accurate than the T3 and I like the T3 trigger better than the Accutrigger gimmick.

If you only had "X" amount of $$ to spend, but a Savage. If you can afford the $150 more for a finer rifle, but the T3.
 
Reliability is important to me too. I'd hate to line up the perfect shot only to have a problem with the trigger mech or action. The T3 by Tikka sounds reliable, I haven't heard any bad things about their action. Wouldn't mind spending a bit extra for a more reliable rifle if I really have to.
 
Interesting - I don't hunt big game with my Savage, but I do hunt rodents - which means I put thousands of rounds through it every year - and I've never had a fail to feef (FTF) or fail to extract (FTE), or any trigger issues.

My rimfire savage even manages to extract 90% of the time with a broken extractor!


My Ruger on the other hand - feeds extremely poorly. Although after hearing Mystic's write up, I think I'll try polishing the feed ramp and see if I can't fix it. But Hornets by nature as a small rimmed cartridge do not feed well from a box mag.
 
Oh, and another thought just occurred to me - if 100% reliability is a requirement, maybe take a look at the Winchester 70 Classic - with the Mauser-style claw 'controlled feed' mechanism. There may be other rifles out there with the claw, but I can't recall off the top of my head.

Remington's making some mauser-style rifles new for this year as well.
 
I agree with the reliablity of the M70 and even my "crpf" feeds flawlessly.

I've owned dozens of rifles. The only ones that have failed to load or any other problem have been my 2 A-Bolts and 1 Savage.
 
Good suggestion with Winchester's model 70 lineup. I hadn't looked at Winchester rifles until now, and their model 70 laminated coyote gray stainless 308 grabbed my attention big time!! Their model 70 stealth sounds nice too, but at 10lbs I think it's too heavy to lug around all day. I will have to dig up some info on this rifle for sure. Thanks for the great suggestion on the model 70 series.
 
johnny rotten said:
Good suggestion with Winchester's model 70 lineup. I hadn't looked at Winchester rifles until now, and their model 70 laminated coyote gray stainless 308 grabbed my attention big time!! Their model 70 stealth sounds nice too, but at 10lbs I think it's too heavy to lug around all day. I will have to dig up some info on this rifle for sure. Thanks for the great suggestion on the model 70 series.
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I had a Winchester Stealth 1 ( the better of the two ;) ) in a .308 and it was a wicked shooter. It shot groups I could easily cover with a dime but I made the mistake of doing a mule deer hunt with lots of climbing and walking ...it was not enjoyable to say the least:( . Great shooters but best left on the range or varmint field.
 
Blargon, have you owned a tikka before, and if so what type and calibre? So many nice rifles to choose from, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed... Looking forward to getting my PAL, studying hard for my non-restricted tests next week.
 
johnny rotten said:
Blargon, have you owned a tikka before, and if so what type and calibre? So many nice rifles to choose from, I'm starting to feel overwhelmed... Looking forward to getting my PAL, studying hard for my non-restricted tests next week.
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Don't panic over the test..:) I wrote it in 15 minutes, and there's 50 questions.
I got 1 wrong.:rolleyes:

Both Tikka's I've had were T3 .300 WM. I had the wood/blued, which shot great, but I wasn't impressed with the "matte laquer" finish, so I sold it and got the stainless synthetic model. Now I'm thinking about the camo or synthetic in .308 too. The deluxe model wood has an oil finish, but for the $$ I'd go with the stainless.

Good Luck!
 
The stainless synthetic tikkas look very nice but are big $$$. I am hopping over to Newfoundland this weekend and will ask my uncle for his opinions, as he has been hunting for some time. I did visit a gun store in Halifax today, but not having my PAL sucked, as I wasn't allowed to try any rifles for fit, ie too long or heavy for me... bummer
 
Here's a good read. I'll be picking mine up next week sometime.

Rifle: $1 190
http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/Rem_M700_StainlessSpecial5RMilspec.asp

.....and here are some other links for you since I've been on the same path

Scope: $740
http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/Nikon25_10x_TacticalScope_II.asp
http://www.snipercentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4260

Rings & Base: $200
http://www.tpsproducts.com/proddetail.php?prod=30571&cat=37
http://www.tpsproducts.com/proddetail.php?prod=20102&cat=84

Accesories: $270
Harris bipod:
http://www.riflescopes.com/products/SBRM/harris_ultralight_bipod_brms_series_s.htm
Trigger job:
http://www.smithtac.com/gunsmithing.html
Sling
http://turnersling.com/miva/merchan...ode=TS&Product_Code=NMSRAWS&Category_Code=PTS
Bolt handle knob
http://triadtactical.com/tab1/store/category/a7na/Accessories.html%3Fcategory_id%3Da7na

It's kind of blown your budget (like it did mine), but I think it's worth the stretch for A+ gear with no regrets. Whats a thousand bucks a year from now anyways!

Also if you prefer to have a black action ect.:
http://www.amperemetal.com/

......and down the road one of these:
http://triadtactical.com/tab1/store/category/a7na/Accessories.html%3Fcategory_id%3Da7na
 
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johnny rotten said:
I checked savage arms out, what a gold mine!! Their varmint series 12FVSS sounds great to me, anybody own one??
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I use to own a 12fvss in 22-250. Sold it because i needed money for something else.

pro's...
- very very accurate
- sweet acu trigger
- cheap to buy as compared to remmys or sako's

cons..
- very barrel heavy. Good for bipod rest, not good for carry
- stock sucked
- did i mention this is a very heavy barreled gun to carry????
 
prosper said:
Prioritize. My priorities usually look like this:

1: Accuracy
2: Accuracy
3: Price
4: Aesthetics/Feel

Therefore, I am a Savage fan.
Click to expand...

My priorities in a Hunting Rifle are this:

1. Reliability
2. Accuracy
3. Asthetics/Feel
4. Price

In a target tirfle, Accuracy may take over the top slot.

I have owned and/or shot just about all the common rifles, and Savage is really still at the bottom of the list.

Savages are accurate and inexpensive. The Savage Stevens 30-06 I own now is very accurate, but it's not my idea of a rifle I want to put alot of faith in, take on a remote hunting trip or anything. For hunting, I'd take a Ruger or Tikka before a Savage, anyday.

If I was mostly shooting targets, I may choose the Savage, but then again, I'd choose the Remington before the Savage, as well.
 
I'm going to have lots of questions for my uncle. I seem to recall he got himself a new rifle last year, so I will have lots of questions for him. Hopefully I will actually be able to handle a few rifles while i'm on the rock, and get some more info. The tikka is pricey, but I am finding more good reports on them. Not that i'm biased...... not quite yet.
 
It's hard to be biased -there's so many good guns out there. It all depends what you're looking for, but they're all good - tikka, ruger, savage, remington, sako, winchester/browning, weatherby, etc. They've each got their own strengths and weaknesses
 
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