Bolt Rifle Recommendations, Range Only ( Bench ), Out To 1,000 Yards?

[JEFFPPC]

That’s terrible. Very surprised they didn’t offer to replace it. Talked to a guy who had the same results with a higher end Christensen Arms rifle a while back. Said the bore looked like a dirt road would not shoot worth crap but was within their “specs”. Guess their specs aren’t the same as ours! Haha

From the guys I have spoken with buying these high end, not a Cascade, hunting rifles it's about 50/50 if it's good or crap. I always found a used BDL at a gun show, put a quality barrel on, had the stock cut to fit me with a winter coat on and good to go. My T3 Tika this year was 299.00, 90.00 to get fitted to me with a rubber butt plate. Fits me like a glove and every load I have shot in it shoots well under an inch. Extremely not fussy. Bore is beautiful.

 

[jepp2]

Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions.

I've not owned a Tikka (yet). But a rifle that has shown me a lot of the Bergara B-14 Wilderness HMR. It is heavy, but a Remington clone, so triggers, stock, scope mounts, etc are all the same. They have the best factory trigger I have shot other than my Coopers. At the lower end of your price range. HMR mini chassis stock. fluted bolt, side bolt stop, muzzle brake, AICS bottom metal, and Bergara barrel accuracy.
Here is my 6.5 CM

 

[k80skeet]

I have to agree with all the Savage shooters I have (5) LRPV and they all shoot in the low 2's or high 1's range. Nothing to do except adjust the trigger and shoot. I have a lot of custom built rifles with Bat, and Kelby actions and Krieger, Brux, Bartleen and Lilja barrels all in custom stocks and those old Savages shoot every bit as good and sometimes better than the best money can buy. Buy a Savage and you won't be disappointed. It is a lot of rifle for a little money.

 

[DGP4]

I had a friend ask me the same thing a few years ago. I had good luck with a heavy barreled Howa 1500 in .308 recently. So, I told him to buy the Howa 1500 HCR in 6.5CM which was on sale at the time for $700. He consistently shot 1/2 MOA out to 600 yards with factory ammo and loved it....so much so he shot out the barrel. He replaced it with a Savage and can't get it to shoot as well. I do think the Tikka will probably shoot a little better, but you are more likely to get a deal on the Howa. Brownells has Howa barreled actions on sale for about $450 which you can then pick your favorite stock or chassis.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I had a friend ask me the same thing a few years ago. I had good luck with a heavy barreled Howa 1500 in .308 recently. So, I told him to buy the Howa 1500 HCR in 6.5CM which was on sale at the time for $700. He consistently shot 1/2 MOA out to 600 yards with factory ammo and loved it....so much so he shot out the barrel. He replaced it with a Savage and can't get it to shoot as well. I do think the Tikka will probably shoot a little better, but you are more likely to get a deal on the Howa. Brownells has Howa barreled actions on sale for about $450 which you can then pick your favorite stock or chassis.

How many rounds do you think he had on the 6.5 Creedmoor when the barrel went South?

 

[DGP4]

He told me his accuracy started to decline around 2,400 rounds and he sold it to a friend that was going to re-barrel it. He is a bit OCD so the decline might have been very minor!

 

[Kracken McGraw]

He told me his accuracy started to decline around 2,400 rounds and he sold it to a friend that was going to re-barrel it. He is a bit OCD so the decline might have been very minor!

That still speaks well for the Howa barrel.