Tough bush gun in .308 ... M305 vs Ruger Gunsite Scout vs T3 Battue?

My 7600 gets me 4" groups or less at 300yds with 165gn hotcores, can do better with different ammo but I like them. Fast on target and follow up shots if needed, will reach out well enough. I haven't read all the posts but for hunting it's hard to beat. Not a bench gun for sure but will fill freezers. I own plenty of bolts in all flavors and a couple of semi's but when I head to the bush looking for deer...it's the 7600, .308. I put that $hit on everything!

I agree. Quicker shooting than a bolt and dead reliable.
 
The T3 Battue looks nice, I really like the iron sights it has but looking at it you would have to be careful in picking a scope to fit because of the way the rear sight sits on that rifle.

True; At the same time, one would probably not want a huge scope with a large objective for a Battue in the first place. Compact and light scopes with a wider field of view, mounted with removable mounts to retain access for the excellent Battue "irons" is the way to go, IMHO. I have a fixed 2.5x one one mount, and an old ScopeChief 4x on a second mount on my Battue; No fit issues, sight line is still low, and scope comes off for transport and storage, and when walking in the bush... .
 
That Troy PAR or whatever it's called would be pretty awesome if it was in .308. Plenty of iron sights available for ARs and lots of rail space ... In a perfect world I guess.

For glass I would be leaning towards the VXR 1-4x20 or the 3-9x40. Not sure if the 40 would clear the irons.
 
I'm leaning strongly towards some form of Tikka simply because I'm not a huge fan of the Ruger action.

If you mean that it's sticky or binds if you don't work the action straight... That's a genuine problem. But the lose tolerances that can cause a bind mean that it will still cycle even when filthy. Also, I found that the action smoothes out after a couple hundred cycles.
 
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That binding is exactly what I'm talking about. It feels way too sloppy, especially when compared to the fantastic feel of the T3 actions. I will say that I prefer the safety on the Ruger.
 
I have owned more than fifty M77's and never had a single one with an action that would "bind." Bill Ruger stipulated some play in the action for reliability... every hear of a Ruger freezing up on a cold, frosty morning... ever hear of a Ruger jamming up because a bit of grit blew into the action? I keep hearing that the least play between the bolt and receiver is the litmus test for "quality"... I will be the first to admit that a tight action "feels great" at the gun counter... but that is where I will leave them... in the field, I want dead reliable... and that is what my M77's have always been.

For this thread, my submission would be an M77 MKII Frontier in .308 Win or and M77 MKII RSI in .308 Win.
 
This ^ exactly. Those who have problems with the Ruger bolt binding must have fits when they try to operate a Mauser 98 bolt...cheap, poorly-designed Euro-trash rifles, I know, but...:)
 
... Compact and light scopes with a wider field of view, mounted with removable mounts to retain access for the excellent Battue "irons" is the way to go, IMHO... .

Maybe it's bad form to quote myself, but here's a snap:



And yes, it's light, the bolt is smooth, and it's a pleasure to shoot. Mine is 308 Win; Because of the light weight, anything more potent likely would call for a Limbsaver... .
 
That binding is exactly what I'm talking about. It feels way too sloppy, especially when compared to the fantastic feel of the T3 actions. I will say that I prefer the safety on the Ruger.

I have owned more than fifty M77's and never had a single one with an action that would "bind." Bill Ruger stipulated some play in the action for reliability... every hear of a Ruger freezing up on a cold, frosty morning... ever hear of a Ruger jamming up because a bit of grit blew into the action? I keep hearing that the least play between the bolt and receiver is the litmus test for "quality"... I will be the first to admit that a tight action "feels great" at the gun counter... but that is where I will leave them... in the field, I want dead reliable... and that is what my M77's have always been.

This ^ exactly. Those who have problems with the Ruger bolt binding must have fits when they try to operate a Mauser 98 bolt...cheap, poorly-designed Euro-trash rifles, I know, but...:)

I do love my Ruger. But it would bind on me when I first got it, in part because I was applying too much lateral pressure when pushing the bolt forward, and it would bind up on the forward part of the cycle. A little practice, and that disappeared completely. And there was a touch of "grit" to the action at first, but that's looooooong gone. It's smooth as butter now, and I'm about 250 rounds in by now.

Yeah, that Ruger is a ton of fun to shoot. If I had some reason I had to get rid of all but one of my firearms (say I was broke, or got married to a shrieking hag who hated guns) that would be the one I would keep. And I would get rid of the shrieking hag before I got rid of the Ruger Scout. ;)
 
I've got to say, the Gunsite Scout with a full length XS rail with iron sight would tick all the boxes of features I would want in a rifle. I do prefer Tikkas however, but I know that with a little money I could turn the Battue into what I want. The snow hasn't even melted this way so I think I have time to decide.

Thanks for all the input folks, it's appreciated.
 
Hm, just for looks

HELIX-TRK-308_1000.jpg
 
Ruger 77 GSR makes a lot of sense as a bush gun. Readily available rifles, numerous variations, right or left handed, multiple styles of magazine configurations and you cannot beat the m77 for being a tough as #### reliable piece
 
At the end, i will always grab one of my Steyr Scout 308 for any hunting, confidence in this rifle is incredible... JP.
 
I wonder whether a detachable magazine is desirable in a "tough bush gun" ? I have both detachable mag rifles; drop floorplate and blind magazine rifles. I am thinking unless you plan to lay down suppressive fire, the non-detachable mag rifles might be a better (and tougher?) choice... for most folks going hunting in the bush...
 
I wonder whether a detachable magazine is desirable in a "tough bush gun" ? I have both detachable mag rifles; drop floorplate and blind magazine rifles. I am thinking unless you plan to lay down suppressive fire, the non-detachable mag rifles might be a better (and tougher?) choice... for most folks going hunting in the bush...

I agree... none of my hunting rifles have detachable magazines.
 
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