After my last post I’m Looking hard and heavy at the 6.5 cm for a deer and a target rifle for some long range shooting and maybe some prs/f class stuff just for fun and to see where it goes, currently will be shooting factory ammo but wanting to get into hand loading! What would be a good gun that will have a heavy enough barrel for target shooting but also could be used to hunt out of a blind in Oklahoma? I currently have a tikka T3x veil wide land in .270 but wanting to add another gun to the safe!
How much are you wanting to spend for the rifle? What optic are you looking at?
I have a Savage 110 Tactical that I use now. I really like the Bergara rifles. I will end up with a Bergara eventually. The Christensen Evoke line looks very interesting to me. I think I am going to get one of their Precision Models in 308 when they come out.
Probably around 1k or just a bit more.
Here are some options and prices (as of today):
Weatherby Obsidian $550
Mossberg (not a fan)
*Howa 1500 $560 Brownells has their Howa 1500 barreled actions for $450 and a MDT Field Stock is $300 if you want to build your own
*Savage $640-$920
CZ 600 Alpha $650
*Ruger American Gen II $730
Winchester XPS $730
Weatherby Vanguard Compact Hunter $760
CVA Cascade $775
Browning X-Bolt $800
Christensen Arms Evoke $900
Howa 1500 H7 Hera $900
Remington 700 SPS $925
*CVA Cascade Long Range Hunter $930
Bergara Ridge $930
Colt CBXTacHunter $1000
*Christensen Arms Evoke Precision $1050
*Bergara Wilderness Ridge $1050
*Bergara B-14 HMR $1100
As you can see there are a lot of good options. I have placed a * by the ones that I have held and would be comfortable recommending to you. I was an assistant manager at a large box store for years and so I have tried to learn as much as I can about this price range and I always felt like it wasn’t my job to sell a gun, it was my job to give the customer the best possible information so that they could select what works best for them.
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I love my bergara HMR but I’d love to compare it with a tikka ctr. Have you thought about one of those? Lots of stock upgrades available as well
With regard to the Bergara HMR vs. Tikka CTR, I think it’s no contest–Tikka wins between these hands down. I have one in 6.5 CM and it is a legit 1/2 moa gun. Plus, it is lighter than the Bergara by at least a pound. Less bolt lift too, if that matters to you. This is the same rifle as the “Arctic” basically but without the wood stock or iron sights. That rifle was adopted by the Canadian Rangers–and they chose very well among the candidates. Oh, and it is the same rifle used in their TAC A1, as well.
The CZ600 is a sleeper too, for the price it is hard to knock it. I like the 600 action and magazines quite a bit–I own two of them now. You can lock the mags in place and even top load them like a floorplate. The trigger is externally adjustable just like on the Sako 90. And they shoot very well. Ergonomically they feel quite good in the hands and well balanced.
But, it’s just so hard to beat a Tikka–there really isn’t another action that feels that good for so cheap.
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Everything he said plus the HMR is heavier by a pound
I have a Tikka T3X Lite Veil Wideland in 6.5 CM that I really like. It is Scoped with a Swarovski Z3 4-12x50 BT. If you hunt from a stand you might look at the Arca Plate for Tikkas. It mounds to the stock screws. It also works on the T1X stock. Also a Backstop is always nice. See Photos
Who makes the ARCA plate?
Most of my hunting is done via rifle with a Arca rail mounted to a swivel ball atop a BOG tripod. I had been looking for a Arca rail to mount to my T1X .22LR, and mt T3X Lite Veil Wildlands in 6.5cm. I was able to find a company Mountain Tactical located in Bozeman, Montana that is making a 9" Arca rail that mounts to the existing Tikka Mounting holes. The rail is also slotted to be able to mount M-Lok attachments. If you look at the photo of the T1X, I have a Sightmark Wraith 4k Mini and was able to add a short Picatinny rail on top of the Arca via the M-lok slots. Rails run about $80.00 each.
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Depending on the use I don’t necessarily see the weight as a negative. It’s a chunky rifle but I love my HMR and it shoots lights out. But I know the CTR is a great rifle as well. I saw the HMR as the one stop solution as I do like the stock quite a bit and the ctr looks like it definitely needs a stock upgrade. So I was in the HMR for 1100 rifle only and to get the ctr where I wanted it, it would have been several hundred more for a stock upgrade in my opinion.
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