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  • MrWhiteRabbit

    Firefighter Gone Awry
    Sep 23, 2007
    1,122
    A friend of mine is looking for his first rifle. Although he's prior service and a handgun owner, he's being very careful in the purchase of his first rifle. Therefore, I'd like your advice on the topic and maybe we'll get a new member out of the deal. :) Please keep your comments limited to the two rifles and the two calibers listed below, lest I have to listen to another year of him agonizing over the purchase. :)

    Which combination of rifle and caliber would you choose and why?

    Would you choose a Weatherby Vanguard or Tikka T3? And the would it be chambered in .30-06 or .308?
     

    DorGunR

    R.I.P.
    Mar 7, 2007
    1,259
    Severn
    Any particular reason for that choice?

    I just happen to like Weatherby and the .308 is a very accurate round, not a better round than the 30-06 but just as good and a shorter stroke when cambering a round.

    I was a M-60 gunner in Nam and came to appreciate the .308.
     

    Redneck

    Ultimate Member
    Jan 29, 2007
    7,547
    Sparrows Point
    Can't really go wrong with either. IIRC Beretta makes Tikka, so it's obviously not a bad gun. Go with the .308, not that the .30-06 is a bad round, to me its usually overkill.
     

    JeepDriver

    Self confessed gun snob
    Aug 28, 2006
    5,193
    White Marsh
    Tikka T3 Varmit Stainless in 308.

    Triggers are pretty good out of the box, accuracy is very good, and the Tikka Rings are built like a tank. The current ones come with the rings as well.

    As for the caliber, 308. Feeding it BH 168 or 175's will usually produce some very tight groups. 30-06 is a great round, but finding target loads may be a little tougher, and the 308 will take any game on the east coast, and most in the lower 48.

    Give me a call if you want to talke a closer look at one.
     

    BlackBart

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Mar 20, 2007
    31,609
    Conewago, York Co. Pa.
    Any of the above are good choices, Weatherby in 06, surplus ammo can be had for a song through CMP, just as accurate, overall length isn't going to matter at all in your case so why not the edge in power ESPECIALLY in heavy 200 or 220 gr bullets?
     

    MrWhiteRabbit

    Firefighter Gone Awry
    Sep 23, 2007
    1,122
    Thanks, all, for your opinions; keep them coming! I'm sending him a link to this thread and encouraging him to chime in with his own questions.
     

    Jimbob2.0

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 20, 2008
    16,600
    Go .308, I like .30-06 but there just isnt enough of a difference in performance to justify the difference in price (at least for a first rifle). Plenty of cheap .308 floating around on the market.
     

    Jimbob2.0

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 20, 2008
    16,600
    Have you seen those CMP rounds, buddy bought some and had to toss about one out of 4? At least I am not impressed given the degree of corrosion. Not great odds.

    Not really getting into an ammo price arguement but can still pick up 200 rds of decent recent battle pack production .308 for $85 to $99 at any gunshow.

    I love .30 06, have two or three of them probably will pick up a garand at some point. Just wouldnt be my first choice.
     

    BlackBart

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Mar 20, 2007
    31,609
    Conewago, York Co. Pa.
    Have you seen those CMP rounds, buddy bought some and had to toss about one out of 4? At least I am not impressed given the degree of corrosion. Not great odds.

    Not really getting into an ammo price arguement but can still pick up 200 rds of decent recent battle pack production .308 for $85 to $99 at any gunshow.

    I love .30 06, have two or three of them probably will pick up a garand at some point. Just wouldnt be my first choice.

    I wouldn't be bragging on CMP if I didn't buy from them, out of at least 1,000 rounds bought to date I needed to throw out zero. I have found that for whatever reason the ones in the enblocs are cleaner then those in boxes.
     

    Caeb75

    Full fledged member
    Sep 19, 2007
    1,054
    Aberdeen
    If you're leaning toward a Vanguard, you may want to check out a Howa 1500.
    This is the company that makes the Vanguard for Weatherby. While I don't own one, I've never heard one bad thing regarding them. Also, going with a Howa will allow you to choose from a variety of models in a given caliber as opposed to the out of the box weatherby.
     

    xd40c

    Business Owner-Gun Toter
    Sep 20, 2007
    2,067
    East Earl, PA
    I have a Weather Mark V Deluxe in .257 Magnum. I have nothing bad to say about the gun. This gun fully lives up to Weatherby's reputation.
     

    Jimbob2.0

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 20, 2008
    16,600
    Cant remember if .257 is WBY mag or "another mag" but I would opt for another. Great caliber but non-standard, one of my favorite shooters is my Rem 700 in .300 WBY mag that I inherited from my grandfather but after I ran through his stock of ammo I havent been able to justify buying the stuff!
     

    alucard0822

    For great Justice
    Oct 29, 2007
    17,643
    PA
    I have a howa 1500 and love it, adjusted the factory trigger to "20oz glass rod breaking". There is an anti bind rib in the reciever, and the action is very smooth, definitely a great gun for the money. I have also heard good things about the Tikka, handled a few, and saw one at the range, never fired it though, and it is equally well made and accurate, the only gripe I have with it is the tiny ejection port, makes loading single rounds hard, and top loading impossible, the top of the reciever has an integral dovetail mount, and comes with matching rings, the howa/vanguard uses a conventional bolt on mount.
     

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