good factory rifle

alextm33

Active Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2012
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29
Location
newfoundland
hello, im looking at getting a new rifle for both moose and caribou.i usually walk all day so it needs to be a light but durably gun. preferably synthetic and stainless or corrosion resistant .i have my eyes set on 2 rifles.the browning x bolt stainless stalker in 300 wsm and the weatherby vanguard 2 backcountry in 300 win mag.any suggestion on other guns.my price range is to $1300 and i shoot factory ammo.i normally shoot from o to 400 yards and will probably practice at father ranges if capable.thanks
 
Of the 2 you like I would go with the wby vanguard backcountry. I have handled one and they are very nice rifles. I may grab one for myself.
 
I am a big fan of the X-bolts, I own 2 of them, IMO they have the best fit and finish of any rifle under $1000 and are also very accurate. You cannot go wrong with an X-bolt
 
Guys that have xbolts love them. I know they can be very accurate, but I just can't get past the thin metal where you mount the scope. There's just not much to screw a base into and that bumps me. This may be nothing but I can't get past it.
 
the short mags are where the Tikka and the Sako A7 excell in my opinion. they come with a short action mag so all you have to do is buy a long action mag and modify the bolt stop and you have a ton of room for the long bullets to be seated out if thats what you like. or leave it as is and its very good also. Pretty hard rifle to beat. I am an Xbolt fan but I would probably go tikka or sako a7 over either of your choices
 
TikkaMike I have a T3 Lite stainless in 270WSM. I have modified the bolt stop but I may need to cut it back more I am not sure. It depends on how long I run the Berger bullets... However I have a problem with the detachable mag. I don't think that I can buy a longer internal length magazine from Tikka. It would be really difficult to cut the inside of the mag but that is what I may have to do. Do you have any ideas? The WSM rounds are too fat to fit into the longer action caliber polymer magazines.
I will have to take a photo and post it to help illustrate what I am talking about.
 
Since you are not going to reload, I would go with the 300wsm. Although the win-mag case has more capacity, you will not realize the potential using factory ammo.

Just to throw out another rifle option, have you looked at the Savage Weather Warrior? Several of my friends have them chambered in 300wsm, and they shoot sub 3/4 moa with factory barnes vor-tx 165 ttsx ammo. I've shot a few 1/2moa groups with their guns as well. Very accurate right out of the box. I think what you sacrifice is weight ... they are a bit heavier than the xbolt and tikka.
 
X2 on the Savage. I was going to recommend it also, but it appeared the OP was looking on the lighter side.

With that said, I would sacrafice a little weight for accuracy and I get that with a Savage 300 WSM in LRH model. She ain't very purdy, but she shoots

Out of the box and with handloads, it will shoot 1 inch groups at 300 yards. When I am on, I can get it down to 3/4 inch groups.
 
thanks for the recommendations guys but i have already purchased the backcountry 2 in 300 win mag.all i can say is it is the nicest factory rifle i have ever picked up.the fit and finish is outstanding.the bolt is smooth and trigger feels perfect along with the stock.
 
TikkaMike I have a T3 Lite stainless in 270WSM. I have modified the bolt stop but I may need to cut it back more I am not sure. It depends on how long I run the Berger bullets... However I have a problem with the detachable mag. I don't think that I can buy a longer internal length magazine from Tikka. It would be really difficult to cut the inside of the mag but that is what I may have to do. Do you have any ideas? The WSM rounds are too fat to fit into the longer action caliber polymer magazines.
I will have to take a photo and post it to help illustrate what I am talking about.

You can use any long action magazine I have converted several wsm's to long action it's buy a magazine and either modify the bolt stop or buy a new one. If the mag is tight use a dry lubricant in it like graphite. And you will be good to go.
 
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