looking for a new LR sporter stainless

[rivercat]

NEWBIE and first post so sorry if im kicking a dead horse,

Looking to upgrade my safe with a new sporter in 7mm

My two favorites are: browning a bolt stainless stalker or x-bolt stainless stalker in 7mm WSM

or tikka t3 lite stainless in 7mm rem mag.


my questions are for more serious expirenced shooters/ owner of either are:

is the x-bolt worth the extra $ and do you like the upgraded stuff ?

Is 7mm WSM the best choice for long shots on eastern whitetails or would 270 wsm or even 300 wsm be more preferred.

I like the WSMs because of the shorter more handy barrel

The grip on the tikka feels smaller than either browning. and the tikka's only wsm offerings are 270 or 300.

does anyone own the tikka t3 and want to start a browning vs tikka rant?

 

[300WSMMAD]

Yep sure Ill start! Tikka 300WSM Stainless Laminate.

178 gr AMaxs, its like a magic wand!! they just fall over.

Im sure you will find a rather large amount of replies you will get will have nothing but good things to say about "Tikkas" smooth, well priced, good rings IMO, good weight balance,well bedded etc.

I cant comment on the Browning I have played with one breifly but never shot one.

BUT I will say that I think no matter what breed rifle you buy in any of the WSM calibres you will find its accurate, more because of the science behind the case design rather than the quality of the rifle.

My Tikka shoots 3/4" grps @ 200 yrds all day.

I took mate of mine and his twin 15 yr old boys out for a goat shoot last year, we didnt see much to start with, but I picked up a mob @ 550 yrds.
I got the first young fella down behing the rifle,bipod with a sand bag under the rear of the stock,we picked out a big billy, I showed him how to and how much to adjust the elevation and the paralex, which he did himself.
The billy was broadside,I told him just to hold on the shoulder and to shoot when he was comfortable,while I looked through binos, few seconds later BOOOOM.... FLOP! The mob didnt move so I ushered the other brother behind the rifle he lined up on aother billy BOOOM.... FLOP, the mob just kinda milled around at this stage but didnt move off so I got me mate be the Tikka he got comfy BOOOM..... FLOP! they got the message then and moved away!

3 good billys 550 yrds 3 shots with 3 different people who had never ever shot 1;that rifle and 2; that far ever before. All where extatic and sadly their old man is now being pestered to death about buying a Tikka 300WSM so "we can go out and do that Dad!!!!"


So yep, I rate them!!

Regards 300WSMMAD

 

[britz]

I'll Chime in here too. I own a Tikka T3 Lite 300wsm and I really like it alot. I truely believe they are one of the best buys for the buck out there. I was truely impressed with it once I found a good load for it. Started off shooting 165 gr Scirocco's, BT's, Barns and hornady with nothing shooting better than MOA. Then I switched to 180 bt to get to .75 MOA and the 180 AB to get most in the .5 or better MOA. It is a True .75 MOA shooter with (guessing here) 85% of the time being better than .5MOA. It will outshoot my savage varmint 22-250 any day of the week.

I never owned a browning, I think you pay a little for the look. However, I have shot them a few times and the two that I shot were real good shooters (not as good as my tikka, but the didn't go through the load development that I did either.)

Tikka's trigger guard is cheezy, the clips are hella expensive - so expect to pay about 65 bucks for a replacement, the trigger IMO is better than standard rem 700, Browning, win, Savage accu, Ruger... the best I have seen in a factory rifle. Barrels are very very good for a factory rifle, stock is light yet fairly ridgid, recoil padd sucks (replaced w/ a limbsaver) and I added a raised cheak piece. The rings that come with are scrap! replaced w/ leupald/burris sigs.

If you are looking for a good shooting factory rifle that you intend to leave the action and barrel as is.. than both would be excellent but my vote is for Tikka. Both can have the barrels changed out by gunsmiths, but the Tikka I hear is a little tricky to cut threads for by inexperienced smiths.

Also Tikka's system of the recoil lug is different than most and I guess it is very hard to have a good bedding job done. because of this I wouldn't buy anything but a synthetic stock in a tikka. Also, Tikka aftermarket stocks are not very common.

If you intend to have a custom barrel installed very soon, than I'd go w/ a Remington or a Savage due to the readily available aftermarket parts and stocks.

Bottom line though... neither is a bad option -> I just have much more experience w/ the T3.

Hope this helps, Mark.