tikka t1x 16 vs 20 inch barrel?

[hoytcanon]

I don't practice shooting a particular rifle; I practice shooting. Trigger control/squeeze, breathing, sight picture, stance, position shooting...shooting any rifle will improve competence in these areas. Of course it is essential to also learn the individual characteristics of each rifle to be completely comfortable with it, but that requires only a tiny fraction of the amount of practice needed to simply learn the mechanics of producing a good shot.

If you were to find yourself without a rifle on a hunt...due to damage suffered in travel, a possible theft, or even the impossible logistics of importing a rifle into some foreign country on an exotic hunt...and a rifle were handed to you on the spot, would you refuse it because you didn't have the opportunity to put 500 or 1000 rounds through it? Of course not; you would cycle it a few times, dry fire it a few times to become acquainted with the trigger feel, fire a few shots to confirm the sighting, and then you would go hunting. If you had spent a lifetime shooting other rifles, even rimfires, you would be able to adapt to the new firearm very quickly and effectively. Without that background...hmmm.

Frankly, the main thing about shooting a centerfire for practice instead of a rimfire, aside from learning drop, wind, etc. (which will differ for each rifle/cartridge combo) is learning to handle and accept recoil and muzzle blast.

I think that my point is being missed... I am ONLY referring to those that build "TRAINER" rifles to mimic centerfire rifles under the mistaken belief that they are learning about the centerfire rifle by shooting the trainer copy... they are not... they will learn just as much shooting with a Cooey 60 as they will shooting a mock rimfire black rifle that is made to look like their centerfire black rifle.

Again, I am not knocking rimfire practice.

Also, I think it is misguided to believe that you don't need to practice (significantly) with your primary centerfire rifles, those employed for big game hunting. I can't tell you how many times I have taken guys to the range prior to a hunting trip to check their rifles out and have found significant issues with their equipment and their ability to accurately use it, because they have not spent time shooting "that" rifle. Many of these folks have done a significant amount of shooting with rimfire and other centerfire rifles, but neglected to spend the time with the one rifle that was most important, the one they planned to hunt with. I could relate a range story that took place before this years deer hunt; a club member brought in his hunting party of eight to check their rifles... the shyte show that ensued would have been comical if it had not been so sad, suffice it to say, they had not done their homework on those hunting rifles.

This is not to say that an experienced shooter can't be handed a rifle that has been zeroed by someone else and successful put it into service... we did exactly that twice this year alone, when issues arose with a partner's rifle... but anyone would be well advised to shoot their own rifle and to learn it's nuances intimately... it will vastly aid in it's successful application.

I am really not into a p*ssing match on this thread, just expressing an opinion on one specific aspect that I see presented on a regular basis. Everyone is entitled to whatever system they want to employ.

 

[jjohnwm]

I admit, I did misunderstand your point after your first post, Hoyt. I didn't really get it until I read this last one, and by that time I had already laboriously pecked out my long comment above.

I don't think I had ever heard of the idea of a trainer rifle as you have described it. The closest I have ever come to that was when I purchased a T-bolt to serve as an understudy for a straight-pull Blaser rifle. I agree that the idea is pretty useless, with only one exception: I like the idea of a rimfire whose trigger pull closely mimics that of a specific hunting rifle.

 

[hoytcanon]

I admit, I did misunderstand your point after your first post, Hoyt. I didn't really get it until I read this last one, and by that time I had already laboriously pecked out my long comment above.

I don't think I had ever heard of the idea of a trainer rifle as you have described it. The closest I have ever come to that was when I purchased a T-bolt to serve as an understudy for a straight-pull Blaser rifle. I agree that the idea is pretty useless, with only one exception: I like the idea of a rimfire whose trigger pull closely mimics that of a specific hunting rifle.

No issue... likely my inability to communicate clearly...

 

[RangerPark]

No issue... likely my inability to communicate clearly...

I does seem we're mostly in agreement here. Sometimes the message does get lost when expressed only in the written form. Sitting around a table with some drinks the discussion would have been much shorter and too the point. Cheers!