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Old 11-15-2012 | 09:52 PM
  #12  
ruffryder1221
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Joined: Nov 2012
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From: North Dakota
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I can't really comment on the Weatherby cuz I don't know that I've ever even shot one, but I own a .308 Tikka T3 Ultralite, and I love it. The action and barrel are the same as the Sakos, which are widely regarded as some of the best rifles on the market. Not sure if the trigger is the same, but it is a great trigger anyways. Of all my guns I like the action on the Tikka the most. I was a little put off by all of the plastic parts on the Tikka at first, but plastic is not a very accurate definition of the material. Its a very strong polymer that I have found to be much more scratch resistant than most synthetic rifle materials, and I have never managed to break anything on it. Shortly after I bought the gun, I bought an extra clip, out of fear that the rather flimsy feeling clip would break and leave me SOL in the middle of a hunt, but that has never happened. I have a friend who told me he once broke the piece that prevents the bolt from falling out the back, but it didn't render the rifle useless, and it was a cheap fix. The action is so smooth that if you leave the bolt open, it will slam back and forth bouncing around in a vehicle or when handling. Generally I leave the bolts open when I store my guns, so anyone who comes along can see that its not chambered, but with my Tikka I leave it closed to prevent any unnecessary bolt slamming just in case by friends accident wasn't a fluke. As far as accuracy goes, I am more than happy with my Tikka. Someone on this thread said that the T3 wouldn't come close to 1/4" at 100 yards, and I'll admit that right out of the box it didn't, but now that its good and broke in I know for a fact that it does shoot that accurate, or at least extremely close. In fact, when I sighted it in for Deer hunting this year using a sled and custom loads, I emptied the 3 round clip three times, and only once did it leave more than one hole on the target. And that was probably due to a poor load because I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to reloading. The only real gripe I have with the gun is that when the clip is loaded, you have to apply quite a bit of extra pressure to pop it in with the bolt closed, even though it goes in almost effortlessly with the bolt open. Not knowing this the first time I took it out hunting, I popped in the clip with the bolt closed, and didn't realize till I was about a quarter mile out that I had no clip. Luckily I found it, cuz a replacement is about $70 bucks, and if you ever held one of those clips you would know how steep that price seems. I'm sure the Weatherby would be a great gun too as I know a few people who have them and love them, but I would not hesitate to buy another Tikka T3, and I'm willing to bet you wouldn't regret buying one.
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