ORIGINAL: oldelkhunter
Until they break? I've never heard of that. I never had any gun break before
You must not been around a lot of brands of rifles that is all I can say. If none break why do you think major manufacturers have repair departments with a few weeks backlog?
Browning Abolt has the worst magazine floorplate system ever designed and it is made of cheap pot metal. The bolt is non field strippable . That is an absolute must on any rifle I buy. It was good enough for the mauser and so it must be on my rifles. The trigger is a contraption that can't be tuned correctly unless a gunsmith that knows what he is doing gets to it that little set screw is just a tease. But it is gold plated so that must make it special.Thankfully they have redesigned the trigger completely in the new X model but the rest from what I have seen remains the same. Browning by the way has excellent customer service on both Browning and the model 70 they returned to me last week that had a misaligned bolt handle. Bought the gun before they went out of business and left it in a box and when I go to set it up for this season find that problem. No charge for the service ,.they are to be commended for their service.
The tikka has a quality barrel..insufficient sized receiver port for putting in or removing cartridges by hand. It is best done by removing the magazine and loading that way. May not seem like much to someone in the south but if your in cold weather reloading your rifle with gloves on have fun. The Steyr has the same exact problem although it is a cadillac compared to a Tikka. Tikka has a one size fit all action that has a spacer in the magazine so your stroking an extra whatever distanceto load unload/extract the cartridge. The magazine is polymer and has a little 3/8" wide plastic lip that keeps it in place. Plastic bolt shroud. At least the older 695's had a recessed magazine. Berettas customer service is hot and cold. Lately hasbeen getting better but too many guns go there and return unfixed both mine and others. Luckily I have never ever sent a Sako back for anything. Tikkas were a buy when they were 450 dollars but Beretta has seen to charge and get more for them. They are not my cup of tea but plenty of satisfied owners use them.
I like to buy quality and I don't like to fix what a manufacturer should have done in the first place. Do you honestly think a Jarrett won't break ..do you know anything about them other then their name? There are 100 gunsmiths out there that can make the same rifle for 1/3 of what he charges and shoot as good if not better.
Yes the pre64 winchesters were the best rifle ever made in the US and anyone that denies that is silly .Their resale value should tell you that. Compared to them anything would look bad that is why the post 64's got such a bad undeserved rap. All they had was fit and finish problems and some cheap bottom metalbut the guns were accurate and should give good service.
To each his own but I work very hard for my money and don't pi@@ it away and I don't mind paying extra for something and gladly pay it when its worth what is charged. I hunt a lot whenever possible and I try to keep up with guns and Lord only knows how many have come and gone thru my hands some sold to people on this forumbut that is the only way to find out if it is good or bad.It's to the point where I am only buying Sakos and Model 70's anymore even though I have the occasional Remington sitting around. Sorry to diverge from the original subject which is the Beretta Mato.
Well, I'll be damned. Finally someone with some damn experience telling me the stuff I want to hear. You mean you're not going to bitch me out about choosing a 30-06 as my next rifle? Thanks. Now that all the bs is out of the way, give me some more dirt. Non field strippable bolt doesn't seem that important to me, so give me the rap as to why its so important. Pot metal, ok sounds like crap. Im not a big fan of any detachable mags at all unless its on my 1911. And no, I don't know anything about Jarrett rifles. Looks like an overpriced model 700, but I don't know. And don't worry about the Mato. I had read somewhere it was a sleeper, but it sounds like there is a reason nobody messes much with them.
OK Bubba, here's the deal. Most of my experience is shotguns and competition pistols. Citori and STI. No problems, ever. Hunting rifles have been a ruger 280, and ruger 6mm, and a 94 that was a gift from my wife. Maybe Im lucky. My model 70 in 270 is my undesputed champ. Rugers are gone. Leupold VXII, Talley mounts. Never a problem.Just recheckered and refinished the stock this year. Lookseven better than the stock on myCitori and most rifles I've seen on the rack. No joke.The gunbelonged to my late uncle who would crap himselfifhe could see it now. She takes a pretty good beating inthe field so Im looking to leave her in the safe a bit. Sentimental, I guess. So now, its in your lap. Here's my list, you fill the bill:
Synthetic stock, a real synthetic, not that plastic factory remington crap
30-06
prefer stainless barrel, blued will pass.
floorplate mag
must be accurate
You tell me the rest. Sounds easy, but I've been looking for 2 years and cant find the right rifle to fit the bill. Remington Titanium model had my eye, any experience with that? Kimber? Not a fan of Weatherbys either. Price, dont really give a crap. I figured a grand would cover it. So far, the only thing that comes close may be the new Model 70. Im looking for quality.
Balls in your court, Im all ears. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming.