I see, and understand, the benefits of carbon fiber stocks, carbon fiber barrels, titanium actions, etc. Short of full custom, are their any semi-customer production rifles out there (wood stock, blued action) that are consistently sub-MOA? I have been wanting a classic Winchester Model 70 Featherweight, but than I search accuracy reviews and see that most shoot 1.5-2 inches. Is wood just unstable for an accurate platform? Are the days of classic rifles behind us? The closest I have found is Alamo Precision that builds a rifle with a synthetic “wood look” stock. TIA.
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I don’t have any experience with it personally, but you could take a look at the Tikka t3x hunter. The T3x has a good reputation for accuracy and reliability.
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I agree, Tikka makes a nice rifle, I have had the Superlite and T1X, never handled a hunter.
Wood shrinks and grows due to the weather and humidity, that is why a wood stick kind of hurts accuracy. If you are wanting to keep the wood look but not sacrifice accuracy you should try going with a laminate stock. They have the wood grain look but with all of the benefits of a composite stock. For a reference you can check out ultimate reloaded YouTube where he replaced a synthetic stick with a laminate stock on a cheap savage rifle. It made a huge difference to the rifle in appearance and function.
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The Tikka T3X line will give you sub moa. I was reluctant to buy one just purely because I didn’t know much about them other than the reviews were great. Well I love mine. I agree with Jim that Tikka should give you a threaded barrel on their lite and superlite T3x models. To tell you the truth all brands should. Anyway since I purchased mine I now know several people with Tikka’s and they all shoot under an inch. I got under 3/4” a couple of times with reloads and I’m no marksman.
Laminate will do it but it will be heavy. I would try the Tikka. I have guns from the 40’s and 50,s that still shoot sub moa so it’s not impossible. Just have to keep them out of the rain as much as possible.
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Maybe something like the Bergara B-14 Timber, Sako 85 Classic, or even the wood stocked version of the Tikka T3x? Oh, a Browning X-Bolt medallion would also fit that bill.
I grew up in the 1980s and love my 1911, wheelguns, and wood stocked rifles. I have, nevertheless, adapted with the times and next to that 1911 is a couple of polymer frame handguns and my two hunting rifles wear synthetic stocks. I understand the benefits of modern rifle construction. The next rifle I acquire is likely to be a Tikka T3x, probably in 300 WSM, again synthetic stock. Still, for my eye, it is hard to beat the beauty of a wood stocked rifle. I have also looked at that Winchester Model 70 Featherweight, but from what I can tell, it has never offered superb accuracy by today’s standard. I would guess you probably could find a semi-custom wood stocked rifle that will shoot sub-moa, but I have a question. If the rifle is intended for hunting, at the distances say out to 400-500 yards (about my limit), would it make that much of a difference? Now I can hear the keyboards starting to clack. Don’t get me wrong, I like accurate rifles. When it comes to rifle accuracy one could say there is no such thing as too much. From a practical perspective, though, in most hunting situations, I would think the Model 70 Featherweight would do just fine. My current 270 Win will be going with my oldest son when he moves out of the house. When that time comes, I might just give a nod to Jack O’Connor and get that M70 Featherweight in 270 Win to replace it.
Mark, you are spot on, I grew up with Winchester 94s and Remington 7400/7600s and we were happy to get 2" groups. I/we have just become obsessed with sub-MOA rifles. I typically sell rifles (including Tikka’s, Brownings, Bergaras that won’t shoot sub MOA using four or five factory loads. It is a conundrum that Ruger, TC, Savage,etc. can pump out three hundred dollar bolt action rifles that shoot one inch or less groups, but I have not seen the $1K plus Model 70 featherweights pull that off. In full disclosure, I have never shot/shot at a big game animal over 300 yards - so it may not matter. I will probably end up with a Featherweight in 30-06 because it was the first bolt action rifle I handled in 1985 and it was love at first site.
I have a newer winchester model 70 featherweight in .308 and it will shoot 1"(sometimes better) with factory ammo. I am a big fan of the sako rifles. I have 2 75’s and 1 85. My 75’s are the hunter line and my 85 is the Bavarian. I have always loved the look and feel of wood stocked rifles. I have to admit I am coming around to the new rifle styles but i hate a basic synthetic stock. Just does not look good to me. I am getting my son a Tikka T3X this year (probably 7mm08) and I will probably get the hunter again because I love the wood. But I am looking for a tikka to do a build with and will put a modern chassis on it. Also, to my knowledge Sako’s new model will not have wood stocks. I may be wrong but that is what the dealer in Dallas told me. I guess I would not shy away from the winchester, not that you can’t get a bad one but in my experience they are respectable shooters.
I have two 300 win mag rifles in classic stock Tikka M695 that are sub MOA and I love them.
My neighbor bought both a 270 and a 243 of that same Tikka model at the same time and all four would drive tacks.
Wood stocks still live and are not incapable shooters with proper bedding, and quality barrel and action.
I don’t know how available things are today as I build my own now but there are 4 of the same model in different calibers that always drive tacks.
Good luck with your search…I love the classic look!
You might want to consider going the modern chassis route. I just finished putting a Howa barreled action in 6.5 Creedmoor into a Woox chassis. Kind of the best of both worlds accuracy and wood beauty. The picture is from the Woox website. Hopefully the upload worked.
Weatherby Vanguard Sporter or Sporter Laminate (which is also nice); seriously, you can’t go wrong with this classic beauty, and under $1,000 too. You can even use their configurator to order it from their custom shop, and then you can get an engraved flooplate too (might come out just over 1K then).
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Haha, as a hobby we can get kinda carried away with our toys, but its totally NOT necessary. I was out hunting the other day with my Winchester Model 94. I think we forget that people were hunting pretty damn well 100 years ago.
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