Looking at getting a rifle primarily for whitetail. I’m wanting some insight on what yall have tried. I am wanting a 308 with a threaded 16-20 inch barrel, detachable mag, pretty lightweight, and would prefer a cerakote or some type of protection as far as rust goes. I would like to keep the gun price $1000 retail. I could see myself spending $1500 if I run up on a “prefect like” gun for me. I am mainly focused on accuracy. I do not want to drop $1500 on a gun that is popular and looks cool if it doesn’t hold 0. I tried a Bergara b-14 wilderness ridge and I’m just not in love with it. The hinged floorplate is a big dislike for me. Some of the guns I have looked at are: Browning X-Bolt 2 Speed SPR (In hopes that the DLX trigger is a good trigger. If anyone has used this and has an opinion please let me know), CVA Cascade SB, & maybe Ruger Gen 2.
Any suggestions or favorites that yall have or have used in the past? Any help is appreciated.
My buddy has a Gen 2 in .308. It’s his elk gun, but he gets them at about 100yards. I swear it looked like a 16” barrel, but it’s probably 18. Would be perfect as a deer stand rifle.
You think the Ruger Gen 2 has the CVA Cascade beat? Can I get your insight on why? I can get firearms and hunting related stuff below retail so the price difference may be different for me than your average person depending on how much mark up certain company’s allow/enforce.
I don’t own a Ruger American Gen 2, but I did handle one a bit. I still think the CVA is better. The action is noticeably smoother, and the trigger is much crisper. Ruger has always had an excellent CHF barrel, and now it’s fluted, etc. I dunno, it’s not enough to convert me.
Can’t wait to see some honest reviews on the X Bolt 2.
$1500 gets you into Tikka territory. CTR has 20 inch barrel, Roughtech and Veil have 22. All threaded 5/8.
Those are rifles that will work perfectly out of the box. But the good thing of them compared to the x-bolt, is that there is so much more aftermarket products available in case you want to update, upgrade in the future. But you might not want to upgrade as again it’s going to work darn well as it is.
That’s pretty much how I felt. I’ve handled several Ruger Gen 2’s and I do think they are a great improvement over the gen 1 model but I’m not sure that it would sway me over the CVA. If it swayed someone else, I would like to hear their thoughts and opinions on it though.
I have heard a lot of good things about tikka! I looked at the CTR but it weighs 8-9 pounds just bare gun. That’s what has kept me from trying it out. Not going cross country or anything with the gun where an ultra light is needed or anything but idk that seems a little heavier than I would want.
I have looked into the roughtech but didn’t want that long of a barrel. I plan to use suppressors. I have heard/read that some tikka guns don’t take recoil well. Wherever I got that from may be 100% false and they could have been talking about a specific model but IF that’s true I would sure hate to pay that much for a gun and it beat me to death.
You may call me cheap but I think once I pass the $1000 (maybe even less) range I shouldn’t have to do anything to it. lol
You can get the Tikka Roughtech black/tan model for $1100. The gun naked is 6 lbs, 4 oz. I have one in 300 WSM and love it.
We all have different recoil tolerance, but for me it is very managable in a much heavier chambering with the factory brake.
I know a lot of guys are looking for that short barrel to run with a can (not an option for me in CA), but I wouldn’t let the 22" barrel stop you from considering a great gun.
Also, if you otherwise like your Bergara rifle, except for the hinged floorplate, I think they sell magazine conversion kits.
I have the CTR in 20" barrel (stainless), in 6.5 CM. It’s an awesome gun, one of my most accurate, and it is more like 7.5 lbs. naked. The weight isn’t a big deal for me, especially since it is well balanced. It’s not a full varmint profile, it’s just medium contour, but still a lot of folks are wanting like 6.5 lbs. and sporter contour barrels. To that end, I also have a regular Tikka T3x Lite which meets that spec, and which I had cut to 18" and threaded via Silencer Central–this was a quick turnaround, and cheap, like less than $200, and it’s threaded 1/2x28 due to that sporter contour, but it works just fine with a Banish Backcountry suppressor. This gun is also a tack driver, though not as consistent as the CTR. Even with the aftermarket threading the T3x Lite comes in just under $1,000.
They may be great rifles but as mentioned I’m looking at $1500 max and I really don’t want to pay that much lol. I would rather keep it under $1000. It might be worth keeping my eye out for a used one though!
Yeah I looked into that CTR before when getting the bergara. Spec wise it’s really close to weight as the Bergara but it may feel different. I need to get my hands on one.
With me planning to run a can I really don’t want to look into 22 inch barrels. 20 is pushing it. That’s good to know on the recoil. I did look into that and considered doing it, but read on some forums (never know about those. could be true or false) that it adds to the weight and that’s one of the reason I am considering a change. It’s possible that I may go that route though.
You might look at the savage 110 ul with the proof barrel. Under 1500 I’ve seen them as low as 1200 ish
Mine in 6.5 prc is very accurate. I might get one in .308 myself.
Edit i think the barrel length requirements may exclude this one actually.
Actually, I took a couple of photos here and have another suggestion for you to check out. Notice the weight of the Tikka CTR, and this is without a scope. Then note the weight of my Bergara B-14 Hunter FSP (Fluted Special Purpose), and that is WITH a scope. The FSP is a limited run, and comes in just a few popular chamberings like .308, 6.5 CM, 6.5 PRC, they have 18" barrel, threaded 5/8x24. You can still find some out there. Search Bergara FSP on GunBroker, for example.
