Tactical Bolt Actions

no, what is "meaningless" is rehashing the old fudd vs. mall ninja debate. the OP gave 3 very concrete examples of what he is looking for. do you see anything in common about all 3?


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There's nothing "tactical" about those rifles. Those would never be used in an actual "tactical" application.

And FYI I'm not rehashing anything about fudds or mall ninjas (notice I didn't use any of those terms in my prior posts). The term "tactical" as its being used in this context provides no specificity in regards to the OP's goals and objectives.

What I see in common is 3 rifles that have very poor ergonomics (stocks, grips), no potential to upgrade (unsupported bolt action patterns), poor/limited mounting options for bolt action applications, and compact (what is the driver behind that, if any?).

I have no idea what the OP's objectives or preferences are. I can't recommend a "tactical" bolt action if I have no clue what the objectives and intended uses are. There's much more to a bolt action rifle than being "tactical" (whatever that means) - see post #19 for what I mean.
 
The OP needs to further define what they are looking for in a bolt action rifle - the term "tactical" in the context of the OP is so ambiguous that it's essentially meaningless and makes it impossible to provide suggestions for the OP's objectives.

No. His post was just fine.

Nobody cares if you don't like it.
 
well other people seemed to get it, per my recommendation of the Fix by Q and the others of Maccabbee, TROY PAR and SPR etc.

anyway i am not interested in getting into a philosophical debate of "what is tactical" for the millionth time nor do i want to hijack this thread with that topic.

RL
 
well other people seemed to get it, per my recommendation of the Fix by Q and the others of Maccabbee, TROY PAR and SPR etc.

anyway i am not interested in getting into a philosophical debate of "what is tactical" for the millionth time nor do i want to hijack this thread with that topic.

RL

Well, there's no way of knowing if 'The Fix' is suitable for the OP's intended uses or not given the lack of objectives.

I can recommend lots of short/compact rifles if that's the only goal for the OP. There's way more to a rifle than if it's "tactical" or not.

If someone asked you for a suggestion for a "tactical knife", I bet you would have a lot of questions for that person. Weight? Price? Is it going to be used for every day carry? What are the intended uses of the knife? Do you prefer folder or fixed? Is it going to be carried in a sheath or in your pocket? Serrated or straight edge? Maybe combo? Preference in handle materials? Etc.

Sure, you can recommend a knife based solely on it's "tacticalness", but with the lack of any other objectives, you can't really hone in on specific knives that will really suit the person and what they are looking for.
 
I would think that a "tactical" rifle is a rifle that is designed entirely to be functional, without concern for traditional styling or materials. I also tend to agree that asking a couple dozen questions to nail down what the OP wants is a bit silly; let's be realistic, when someone asks for a tactical "anything", we all know the look and style they are seeking. That's the funny part: tactical should not be concerned with styling, but the majority of tactical stuff is chosen almost entirely based upon the style. I guess buyers want to look like they care only about function rather than style...which results in its own style...

I think the Fix is the ideal tactical rifle; there's no way that a rifle could get that ugly by coincidence alone. There is some serious effort involved there...:)
 
I would think that a "tactical" rifle is a rifle that is designed entirely to be functional, without concern for traditional styling or materials. I also tend to agree that asking a couple dozen questions to nail down what the OP wants is a bit silly; let's be realistic, when someone asks for a tactical "anything", we all know the look and style they are seeking. That's the funny part: tactical should not be concerned with styling, but the majority of tactical stuff is chosen almost entirely based upon the style. I guess buyers want to look like they care only about function rather than style...which results in its own style...

I think the Fix is the ideal tactical rifle; there's no way that a rifle could get that ugly by coincidence alone. There is some serious effort involved there...:)

A rifle having certain aesthetics provides no guarantees that it's actual performance will be suited for the tasks it will be used for.

The reason for such questions is to evaluate the options and find an optimal rifle suited for the goals in which its intended for. We can easily accomplish the "tactical" aesthetics goal, however other (much more) important characteristics of a rifles performance can only be determined for mission if the mission is better defined.
 
A rifle having certain aesthetics provides no guarantees that it's actual performance will be suited for the tasks it will be used for.

The reason for such questions is to evaluate the options and find an optimal rifle suited for the goals in which its intended for. We can easily accomplish the "tactical" aesthetics goal, however other (much more) important characteristics of a rifles performance can only be determined for mission if the mission is better defined.

You are not helping the guy with your semantics at all. Just post it in OT and go from there.

Derailing a topic= trolling.

I just tried to sell a gun on gp and the prospective buyer wrote me like 20 messages in 30 minutes why I should accept his low ball offer. It was so tiring, I blocked him. Do you feel it?
 
You are not helping the guy with your semantics at all. Just post it in OT and go from there.

Derailing a topic= trolling.

I just tried to sell a gun on gp and the prospective buyer wrote me like 20 messages in 30 minutes why I should accept his low ball offer. It was so tiring, I blocked him. Do you feel it?

How is trying to drill down the OP's specific requirements so that we can suggest optimal options "not helping"?
 
How is trying to drill down the OP's specific requirements so that we can suggest optimal options "not helping"?

Because everybody (including you) already knows what type of rifle he is looking for.

Posting endless semantics about "What it means to be tactical" is just stupid and annoying.
 
Because everybody (including you) already knows what type of rifle he is looking for.

Posting endless semantics about "What it means to be tactical" is just stupid and annoying.

No I don't.

Because the term "tactical" is ambiguous. I don't know what "tactical" means for the OP. I don't know what the OP's specific preferences in rifles are. Nor do I know what the OP is going to use the rifle for.

If the OP even answers just a couple of the questions I asked in post #19, it would be much easier to provide a recommendation specific for his/her uses. Rather then just throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, which is what everyone is currently doing in this thread.
 
Anyways, I genuinely want to help. Which is why I'm asking the OP what his/her preferences, objectives and uses for the rifle are.

It's impossible to provide a meaningfully specific suggestion for his/her quest when the only criteria is "tactical".

I don't know why wanting more specific information in order to hone in on so that we can all provide more specific suggestions is controversial on here.
 
On my list is:
CZ 600 Trail (seems super nice and well built but the one I held at Cabelas has an extremely sticky bolt, it was dry however. Normal?)
MRA Renegade
Black Creek MRX Bronco PDS
Anything I may be missing

All come in 223/556 which is what I was looking at for med-long range target as well as coyote/varmint hunting.

There ya go. The OP gave us three examples of guns that interested him; he specified the chambering he wanted, and that it be a bolt action; he provided info regarding what he intended to do with the gun.

Apparently, everyone else who read it got a pretty good idea of what he was seeking, and commented on those guns or suggested alternatives.

And then there's you...

50/50 vs 100/0 cocking? Night vision? 60 vs 90 degree bolt lift?

Even if he had answered all those questions you posed...the odds of any individual model of firearm fitting whatever exact combination of specifications were made is virtually zero.

Sorry...I gotta stick with my original assessment: silly.
 
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Answering these 3 questions would be really helpful:

- what, specifically, do you like about those 3 rifles?
- what is your budget?
- what will you use the rifle for?
 
There ya go. The OP gave us three examples of guns that interested him; he specified the chambering he wanted, and that it be a bolt action; he provided info regarding what he intended to do with the gun.

Apparently, everyone else who read it got a pretty good idea of what he was seeking, and commented on those guns or suggested alternatives.

And then there's you...

With all due respect, these are all pretty different rifles.

One is not even a bolt action, and the other doesn't come in the chambering the OP wants.

And none of them are optimal for med-long range target shooting or varmint hunting.
 
If the goal is truly medium to long range target hunting and varmint/coyote hunting, while keeping it in .223, the OP would be much better off served with something like a Tikka T3. The OP can go straight into a CTR or Varmint rifle, or get a base T3 model and customize it to his/her liking (chassis, etc.).

The OP will want to consider if this will be a rifle that he/she will upgrade over time, or if this rifle is going to stay in OEM configuration. Other things to think about is what bipod is going to be used and how it's going to be mounted. Is any shooting going to be done off of a tripod, as is commonly done for coyote hunting? If so, the OP may want to consider a chassis' that uses the ARCA mounting format, it's becoming the new standard in precision rifle shooting.

The good thing about Tikka's is that there's a lot of aftermarket support. This means that the rifle is upgradable, from aftermarket triggers to stocks and chassis', to configure the rifle to the way you want.

The OP can go the custom rifle route, this will obviously cost more. Countless options here. From $$ to $$$$. Sticking with R700 footprint actions will keep options open. I have no idea what the OP's budget or preferences are, so it's impossible to spec a custom rifle for him/her, if it's even in the budget to begin with.
 
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