Which Current rifle manufacturer has best manufacturing & quality control

Well,
I am the OP- I appreciate everyone’s thoughts.I was curious how folks perceived things.I agree with many of you.I think that Consistent quality was better in years past - 64’ Winchester, older Sako’s, Belgium Browning’s, Older Remingtons, etc. I have a Sako from around 79’ that is so well made and finished compared to today’s rifles.I think to get the same level of finish, QC and consistency now you have to choose very carefully and it’s more of a crap shoot.As an example, even on very expensive rifles, it is getting rare to see deep rich bluing,hand cut checkering, or great furniture...it takes hand work, time,good wood,and skilled labour to do that! company’s want to pump things out faster, and with less hand work.You can create 1/2’ MOA on machines, but it ain’t necessarily gonnna look great.
It’s almost like a company that used to make great stuff, and now pumps out “a product”and says its high quality for long enough then the consumer will believe it, and won’t bother looking at the products the company made in the past( old guys that “know”eventually die off) and new consumers won’t know the difference.
Unfortunately hand made and modern manufacturing go together like oil and water today.The bean counters, advertisers and profits are winning and we seem to be stupid enough to go along.
For a company like Sako to sell a Carbonlight for $3800 when the finish on the stock peels off, is bad and wrong.Benelli selling $2100 SBE 3’s with crooked shooting barrels is bad and wrong.But,for folks to buy it,and accept it, is the real stupid problem.
 
wasrupzuk said:
In order of price;
-Howa (Weatherby Vanguard) is a solid gun for not a lot of money.
-Tikka is a benchmark. Simple, accurate, reliable. I have yet to see one that won’t perform, plastic and all.
-Sako 75/85 is all that and a bag of chips. The quality is apparent and it is worth every penny.
The list could go on but my pocketbook can’t so my list stops here...wanted to put Browning on the list but just couldn’t bounce one of the others out.
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What he said
 
rustybarrel said:
Well,
I am the OP- I appreciate everyone’s thoughts.I was curious how folks perceived things.I agree with many of you.I think that Consistent quality was better in years past - 64’ Winchester, older Sako’s, Belgium Browning’s, Older Remingtons, etc. I have a Sako from around 79’ that is so well made and finished compared to today’s rifles.I think to get the same level of finish, QC and consistency now you have to choose very carefully and it’s more of a crap shoot.As an example, even on very expensive rifles, it is getting rare to see deep rich bluing,hand cut checkering, or great furniture...it takes hand work, time,good wood,and skilled labour to do that! company’s want to pump things out faster, and with less hand work.You can create 1/2’ MOA on machines, but it ain’t necessarily gonnna look great.
It’s almost like a company that used to make great stuff, and now pumps out “a product”and says its high quality for long enough then the consumer will believe it, and won’t bother looking at the products the company made in the past( old guys that “know”eventually die off) and new consumers won’t know the difference.
Unfortunately hand made and modern manufacturing go together like oil and water today.The bean counters, advertisers and profits are winning and we seem to be stupid enough to go along.
For a company like Sako to sell a Carbonlight for $3800 when the finish on the stock peels off, is bad and wrong.Benelli selling $2100 SBE 3’s with crooked shooting barrels is bad and wrong.But,for folks to buy it,and accept it, is the real stupid problem.
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from what I have seen on the shelves in some of the shops in the big cities and smaller towns...you sir could not be more right...and as far as a John Rigby Stalking units: I say they are one of a very few of a hand full of gun maker left on earth that has any pride left in a gun builder. The rest are a production line similar to a car/truck maker....spit it out as fast as you can, Baffle the consumer with Bull S**T, Dazzle them with Daisies and make that sale!
 
adamthebad said:
from what I have seen on the shelves in some of the shops in the big cities and smaller towns...you sir could not be more right...and as far as a John Rigby Stalking units: I say they are one of a very few of a hand full of gun maker left on earth that has any pride left in a gun builder. The rest are a production line similar to a car/truck maker....spit it out as fast as you can, Baffle the consumer with Bull S**T, Dazzle them with Daisies and make that sale!
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True fer sure. Hand skills are a rapidly disappearing commodity these days. The robots are commin'.:runaway:
Sell..Sell!!
Sell, Sell !!!.jpg
 

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They all make some good guns, but if the question is about quality control? Well, the larger brands don't even have QC anymore to my knowledge. The old school idea of QC only exists with the smaller high end manufacturers now.
 
Geoman said:
CZ in 22 gets my vote! I have put about 8000 rounds through my 452 Varmint in the last 2 years with zero problems with the rifle apart from a very few ftfs due to ammo quality. While this is not a large calibre rifle the magazines, both polymer and steel, while showing some wear are holding up well. The wood stock is as good as the day it was bought and the rifle works well in -20 and +30 temperatures. Price is reasonable and it comes in a variety of models. Our club 22 CZ's have handled thousands of rounds and years of abuse and are still going well!

If the government were to take my semi auto 7.69 I would definitely consider the CZ bolt action rifle!
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Just love their 22's well made with old school quality
 
If you want perfection without an asterisk, there are options for that, like the Rigby or a bespoke by Ralf Martini. For everything else there’s production rifles, and they’re good enough 99% of the time. But if you’re considering the 1%... you’re in for a lot of pleasure and expense. My preferred flavours of 1% are Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, and Rigby.
 
Smokinyotes said:
For the money- TIKKA.
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^this. I've never owned one, but have now shot 3 of them, and a brief bit of time with a Sako 85 in a gopher patch. :) I think for the best performance/price...Tikka would be hard to beat. I've owned a couple of Savage centerfires, and still have one in .223 that is a laser with hand loads. With that said, pretty much every bolt action I've handled (except maybe Mossberg) seemed to have way better fit/finish than that Savage 10 does. I recently inquired with my LGS to see if they have one of the new Mauser M18s, very curious about those in .243. The only 2 rifles on my radar right now are THAT M18 (assuming I like what I see when I get my hands on it) and a Tikka T3x Varmint in .204 Ruger.
 
Ardent said:
If you want perfection without an asterisk, there are options for that, like the Rigby or a bespoke by Ralf Martini. For everything else there’s production rifles, and they’re good enough 99% of the time. But if you’re considering the 1%... you’re in for a lot of pleasure and expense. My preferred flavours of 1% are Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, and Rigby.
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what about the House of PURDEY, Joseph Lang, maybe Joh Outschar & Son (to name a few of the SUPER elite) that are in the same realm as H&H, John Rigby, and Westley Richards
 
Ardent said:
If you want perfection without an asterisk, there are options for that, like the Rigby or a bespoke by Ralf Martini. For everything else there’s production rifles, and they’re good enough 99% of the time. But if you’re considering the 1%... you’re in for a lot of pleasure and expense. My preferred flavours of 1% are Holland & Holland, Westley Richards, and Rigby.
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I am firmly and happily ensconced in the 99%... Ruger M77 MKII's and Ruger No.1's... with a smattering of Pre-64 M94's, Pre-81 BLR's and a couple M70 Super Grades.

Off the rack today... I would say the M70 Super Grade is the way to go.
 
hoytcanon said:
I am firmly and happily ensconced in the 99%... Ruger M77 MKII's and Ruger No.1's... with a smattering of Pre-64 M94's, Pre-81 BLR's and a couple M70 Super Grades.

Off the rack today... I would say the M70 Super Grade is the way to go.
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Great place to operate, I have three tiers in the safe, factory with improvements, customs I do myself, and the silly end of perfection. I use group 1 & 2 by far the most, with group 1 taking most of the work.
 
The T3 production seems quite stable. Outside action tolerances seem so good that one can use any T3 to bed stocks with. T3's can be swopped around between different bedded T3 stocks. We have quite often helped out competition shooters out that quickly needed a good stock for next days comp. Just gave them my stock.
I had three 308 T3's more or less at the same time, one with a 22" Lilja Barrel 1/13 twist and two CTR's 20" stainless. Using Hornady 168 BTHP there was virtually no difference in speed between the two CTR's. We shot several 3 shot groups between 3 and 6mm with all three rifles, no accuracy difference between any of the three at 100m. The three stocks used on these rifles were bedded with our workshop bedding T3 rifle.

CTR 1.



CTR 2.




T3 Lilja 1/13



Not only were the two CTR's so close in performance but also at least my Batch of Hornady BTHP 168 Match factory I had (roughly 200 rounds) seemed so incredibly consistent. They shot under 1/2" from all my 308's also a 1/10 Lothar Walther barrelled Sako, a 1/12 Lothar Walther barrelled Mauser and 1/13 Bartlein on a remmy.

Overall I think Tikka have their QC fairly well in order.


edi
 
the Remington 700 5R Gen 2 has been amazing so far. The action and barrel ( full stainless and with tactical bolt) are great quality and have been worked on by the Remington Gunsmiths. You pay more money but they are very nice! It prints 1/2 inch groups or less all day long
 
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