Hi I am looking to get my first personal hunting rifle and was looking for some recommendations. I have been looking at the Tikka T3X Roughtech, Super Varmint, Sako S20 or anything in that price range. I was looking for a heavier hitting caliber such as 3006 or 300 Win Mag as this rifle will be used to hunt anything from white tail to moose I live up in British Columbia Canada so we are not shooting very far. Any advice or tips is greatly appreciated!
I really like the Bergara Wilderness HMR for a 300 Win Mag. It shoots one ragged hole with 5 shots at 100 yards and easily rings steel at 600 yards at the range.
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okay i will look into that one. thank you!
Sako s20 hands down
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Okay, would you recommend just going with the basic or spend the extra bucks and going for the cerakote or hunter fusion?
Personally, I like the Hunter stock. It’s stainless so I don’t really think the cerakote is necessary unless that’s your preferred aesthetic. The s20 is an amazing amazing gun, and being that it’s a bit beefier, it’s a perfect match for your cartridge choice.
Order some Sako power head blade ammo too since they shoot their own ammo particularly well.
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I don’t know that anything beats the Sako S20 at its current price point, especially if you are picking a cartridge with more punch. Not sure how shipping to Canada would change things, but stateside it’s going for $ 1,000-1,100 on EuroOptic.
I also liked the hunter stock a lot more than the precision stock which surprised me as I typically don’t love stocks with thumb holes.
They are going for about 1400 USD up here so I gotta see if I can find a sale
Okay, I gotta try and find one for a decent price up here then thanks for the advice!
I have a hard time choosing between that s20 and the super varmint.
To be fair, I’ve never shot a super varmint, but owned a plain varmint for a number of years and that thing was an absolute tac driver.
It’s a little heavier than the s20, so it might not be as easy to carry around if you’re planning on doing long hikes for hunting. The s20 is probably a little more balanced between weight and caliber.
Regarding the cartridge selection, if you aren’t shooting far (dense forest area?) then 300 WM, etc. wouldn’t really provide any substantial benefit. You are just punishing yourself with additional recoil that is unnecessary. Looking at 308, 30-06 and 300 WM, the advantage of stepping up in power, in my mind, is basically pushing out your maximum point-blank range (i.e. it is a distance advantage). Otherwise, you can shoot the same bullet from a .308 and possibly even spot your impacts through the scope, which will be harder to do with the other two (unless you have some excellent recoil mitigation in place). All of those cartridges will kill the animal equally dead using the same bullets at closer ranges.
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