Good Morning All,
I am looking , probably after the new year, at purchasing a new rifle. I currently have a 30/06 and would probably prefer to stay with that caliber but looking for suggestions on brands, composite vs. wood, etc. I have done research and heard that Remington is not what it used to be. Your thoughts please? Thanks in advance.
Tom

Tikka.

At least 1 MOA barrels, good triggers, pretty good composite stocks. I'm not a fan of wood stocks on hunting rifles. I want the stock to not expand and contract 12 months of the year. I'm a Savage fan, as well, but unless it's got an Accustock, their tupperware stocks suck.

Sorry Sir, but what do you mean by MOA barrels?

Whats your budget and your accuracy requirements. That will dictate what you should be looking at.

looking to spend 650-800 for the rifle. Was looking at the tikka web site. Dose anyone know if here is a difference in the Tikka t3 and tikka t3 lite. Specs are the same.

I will never again buy a Tikka! I got a very sweet .25-06, had an aftermarket stock installed and bedded by a good gunsmith. I tried MULTIPLE very expensive brand/types and bullet grain ammo, and the gun was erratic and all over the target. I tried everything, nothing fixed it....i got rid of it, won't ever buy another one!

REMINGTON 700!!!!!

adl or bdl?

Winchester model 70. IMHO. The feather lites are really nice

What model savage would you recommend?

Savage or Tikka all the way in your price range. Mfloski got the only Tikka in the world that won't shoot, but he did say the stock was changed out and bedded so I wonder if it shot before.

For Savages if you like wood stocks get a Model 14 American Classic. I you prefer synthetic get the Model 16 Weather Warrior.

Any of the synthetic stock guns will be a "Lite" series at 6lb 2oz's in a non magnum caliber.
Tikka uses a SAKO barrel, comes off the same machinery at the same plant and built by the same people as SAKO. They have a 1 moa Warranty they'll honor as long as the gun is not altered with any mechanical aftermarket work.

And Yes, Beretta can be "difficult" to work with on warranty issues but Tikka is generally acknowledged as the best "Off the Rack" shooter in it's price range. I've owned 3 Tikka's, 1 695 Model 270 Hunter that never saw a reload, I was travelling 33 states & 5 National trade shows a year from NY to SF at the time and did not have time to reload in those days, and was scary accurate with Fed Premium Sierra Game Kings and MOA on most everything else I fed it. Of the 2 T3's, the 6.5 Swede Hunter Grade was a one hole shooter in 120 gr SPH's & 130gr NAB's over RL19 and the current Lite SS/syn 270 is a one hole/MOA shooter in 3 loads, but the best load is an ancient 1960's Nosler design 130gr FB SP I paid 14 cents each for in blem 2nds bullets that again is a one hole shooter at max max MV's when my BP allows the crosshairs not to do an Irish Jig. Enough Tikka T3's been sold now in the 5+ years they've been on the market that aftermarket upgrade stuff is now hitting the market. FYI Remmy 700's have been around since the 1960's...and yes the across the board in all models quality IMO is not the same today as it was 20+ years....or even 5/6 years ago.

If you want to diddle with aftermarket upgrades buy a Remington, if you don't then several other brands like Ruger and Weatherby Vanguards also come to mind as they are both better brands than in years past. Biggest recent upgrade in overall quality has been with the FN owned BACO aka Browning Arms Corp of Morgan Utah Winchester M70 series IMO. Can be Pricey'ish but great guns line wide in all models & warranted for accuracy. Parts are built in a new FN Mil Spec Parts plant in South Carolina and the guns are now assembled in the same Browning plant in Portugal that the O/U's, pistols and pump/auto shotguns have been built at since the 70's.

" Minute of Angle" aka "moa" means that the bullet will strike a target in MOA equivelents at 100 yards, or about 1" from Point of Aim at 100 yards, and is the benchmark term for accuracy at any distance.
IMHO & YMMV
Ron

I've seen more than one tikka that wouldn't shoot, they make lemons just like every other brand on the market.

I personally like rem 700 due to all the aftermarket options you have. I never can leave a rifle stock for long.

...and why they have warranties for...Dunno and don't care what it is today, but Remmy at one time had a warranty that their 700's WOULD shoot 5 shots in CoreLokt's at 100 yards in a 6" group' and that was satisfactory since a Deer's KZ is 9"s at 100 yards. Savage's at the time was worse than that but that was then and this is now...and Off The Rack shooters are supposed to be better made than that...but not always as you know. I hear less complaints about Tikka's accuracy than any other brand...but I am not a big fan of lots of the Tikka's features, but understand the price arguments on both sides of that table in Factory Management & Sales-Marketing meetings, BTDT with SAKO in the '80's.

OBTW ask an honest gunsmith what the term "Pipe within a Pipe" means with respect to Remington 700 receivers.
JMHO & YMMV
Ron

Shoot at least 1" groups at 100 yards, 2" groups at 200.



The best they have is in the Military/ Law Enforcement line, but I'm pretty sure they don't make a 30-06. Their actions are all the same, barring the Axis line, which you shouldn't buy.

If it were me, I'd be looking at the barreled action, (the least expensive rifle in the chambering you want) then I would promptly change the stock. I've done this with two Savages and they were damn good rifles.

It did not shoot before that, which is why I put an aftermarket stock on it. The synthetic factory stock had ZERO aluminum under the action! Just plastic with a little square "key" that acted as the recoil lug! Can you say el CHEAPO!

When people ask me for my $0.02 about bolt rifles, I usually respond by saying it's all about budget and what your looking to get out of the rifle. You've obviously answered the budget part. For next part, my 3 suggestions are:

1. If you see yourself highly likely to modify/customize a rifle to make it all your own one day, then Rem 700 is clearly the best choice. Not only does it have the most aftermarket stuff, but the trigger is so aweful out the box that you're gonna have to get trigger work/replacement done.
2. If your sort of on a budget or want to spend more on the glass (which I personal reccommend) but want a "more than good enough accuracy rifle" without any bells or whistles, then get the cheapest Savage with an accutrigger.
3. If you want the best value rifle with not good but great accuracy and some of the bells and whistles that most importantly u don't want to spend extra money on, then I suggest a wood stock (mostly because it's classy IMO) Tikka T3.

There are certainly other manufacturers and choices, but these are the rifles I've shot a bunch and the experiences I had with them. So I try and suggest what I would do if I were in their shoes knowing. What I know now.

Quite honestly, given your OP I would go option 2 and move to the harder choice of what scope to get.

I have several rifles from Savage, and all shoot 1.5 moa or less (some far less) out of the box with the cheapest ammo I can get my hands on. My Savage 30-06 with accutrigger averages 1.25 moa with an $18 box of Remington core-lok @ 180 grn, and .75 moa with the $22 box of Hornady 150 grn Interlock. It wears a 3-9 scope and nothing aftermarket.

I just bought a FN Special Police Rifle in .308 with a 1:12 20" heavy barrel. After playing with some pieces of broken clays at 225 yards we decided to move out to a badger hole at 785 yards away up on the side of a hill. I put five out of five 168 gr HPBT match from CDC in the 10 inch hole. The 150gr FMJ HMS I tried were 2 wide to the left +/- 12 inches and one to the right 6 inches with 15 mph wind. It has a Shepherd V2 6-18x40 scope on it. My wife was tracking the hits through a telescope. There was too much recoil for me to stay on target to see the hits. The problem is that it weights about 15-20 pounds. I was considering either a Savage 11 or a Remington 700 SPS Tactical.