loghead

Well from my experience most guns will shoot different with different bullets. I always try different rounds or reload to find the perfect round for the gun. When I shot silhouette I try numerous powder and bullets combos before I found the perfect combo for the gun. Sure it takes a lot of time and a little money but that' s the fun part of buying a new gun. Enjoy the experience. If all else fails....get you a Henry!!!

Mykey

Every gun i' ve ever owned needed a little tweeking to become a real shooter for my personal standards. Most will shoot acceptable right out of the box for hunting situations and out to 200yds. I have a friend who has a Sako that he bought many years ago and he says it shot good out of the box but he had it bedded and the barrel floated and it shot even better. Every rifle i own has had the action glass bedded and the barrel floated along with trigger work but all are shooters. The only rifle i have that was a real shooter right out of the box without any work is a Remington Sendero which would shoot anything i fed it under an inch at 100yds. I have since put a timney trigger in it and it doesn' t really shoot that much better but it feels much better to shoot with the lighter trigger. I think my next rifle will be a Sako because i' ve always wanted one and the first thing i' ll do is have the action bedded and the barrel floated before i even shoot it. I personally don' t think every gun needs to be worked on before it' s considered a hunting rifle and most if not all will do fine right out of the box for most hunting situations. I think it just depends on each individual and what kind of accuracy they' re trying to achieve. As for myself i' m just an old accuracy nut and i' m not happy until my guns shoot the way i think they should which is as accurate as i can get them.

LARRY338

I guess one mans junk can be another mans treasure, but I have to agree with Wolf killer in some regards. Its almost shameful to compare any of the middle of the road sporters today with rifles from fifty years ago. Pick up a springfield or a mauser or a model 70 and then look at your tikka or browning and tell me straight in the eye that the quality is comparable. I know it will shoot straight, but for how long? And after how much alteration? And what kind of rifle will you have ten or fifteen years from now if you actually use it more than twice a year? But, you might as well wish in one shoe and $hit in the other one if you think you will ever get a fine rifle for five hundred bucks at walmart. Its not going to happen. There were junk rifles for sale in the fifties too. Savage model 340?? anybody remember that one? Sweetgum stocks and crude manufacturing all the way. Pressed metal parts that would fall apart in a year, just like today' s five hundred dollar rifles. Nothing has changed, then and now, you get what you pay for. Provided you would know a quality piece if it bit you on the nose. Otherwise you can go on singing the praises of ruger and savage in total ignorance and bliss. There are fine rifles to be had today, just not for five hundred dollars.

mlaubner

I am probably setting myself up here, (but what' s new?) have you even considered the T/C Encore? No bolt to work in, have it any caliber you want, good finish, accurate, and a decent factory trigger to boot.
But looking at your post you have probably already " been there, done that" and just forgot to mention it.

bigcountry

For over a decade, I was so used to getting a rifle, shooting, being unhappy, then taking to the gunsmith for the typical fix' s, trigger, free floating the barrel, and glass bedding. I always stayed away from the brownings cause I considered them " Jap junk" . Finally a guy had one for sale for a steal. So I picked up this Medallion in 308Win, and was pleasently surprised. No work was needed. Barrel was floated perfectly, I liked the 3 lug design, trigger was nice and crisp. Accuracy is great. And its design is very nice. (Beside the crappy safety). So I guess I have changed my ways. I have had about every brand, and this is one that is worth the money. I like the sakos and Tikkas, but cost a bit more.

oldelkhunter

Hmmm I have seen some Cooper rifles never fired one and the quality that I can see and feel is great but I have heard some rumblings from people that have them and are not quite satisfied with them. Kenny Jarrett is living on his past reputation ...there are plenty of custom builders out there that make a better rifle for 1/2 the cost...David Gentry overprices everything that comes out of his shop ...he did a trigger job on a Model 70 for me 8 years ago and it was unsafe but he has a great reputation at least Outdoor Life and Field and Stream say so. From an investment standpoint a Custom rifle may be the worst investment you can make. Buy one and by the time it comes out of the shop your lucky you can get 1/2 its price back. But its your money and one has to spend it as they see fit , if it makes you happy then by all means do it. Everytime I get fired up about buying a custom and look at the price tags I ask myself the same question. Is it going to shoot that much better than what I currently own and worth the 2 thousand dollar difference ? I can buy six of these rifles for the price of that one. The Short answer is Yes it will shoot incrementally better .. but maybe who knows it may not and by then after waiting min 6 months or more your really going to be pissed. I am not that big a fan of Remingtons as some may know but I still like the looks and feel of a 700 I have a few in the closet and they are all shooters ...some have had adjustments others are pretty stock and others were no good and had to find another home(yeah that soured me some on Remingtons). The same applies to most other brands of rifles. I find that by buying a Remington,Ruger, Winchester,Weatherby and then making minor adjustments that they are all suitable for hunting as we know it. Another thing Wolf Killer I am pretty tired of going to hunting camps and finding a guy there with a 40 year old Model 700 BDL in 30-06 with a 40 year old weaver scope on it that kills everything he sees and then 1/2 the rest of the hunters packing some and bragging about their wonder rifle/cartridge that costs more than some ATV and go home empty handed because they expect the rifle and scope to do all the work and have been bs' ed to death by very effective marketing .

Superpig

Try taking a look at the Kimber 84 or 8400. Very good fit and finish. My neighbors is a tack driver in 308. I do understand the statements you have made. I have several rifles from Remington and Browning. The fit and finish of the Browning' s is much better than the Remington. Although of the rifles I have all shoot very well with the exception of one old 700 ADL 30-06. I do reload and this cures many accuracty problems.

On the subject of only owning custom rifles, if you have the cash go for it. However, almost all of my rifles are semi custom. Meaning trigger job, barrel floated, and receiver bedded. I guess I expect to do these things to make the rifle a real shooter. Just my opinion.

drh1175

Tikka or Sako, end of story!! I just bought a Tikka because of the reasons stated in your post. I was looking at browing, but I couldn' t be happier with my tikka. I have the T3 and am pleased with the composite magazine. If that is something that concerns you. Go with the White tail hunter which isn' t composite. Now for sako, if you have the money, there isn' t a better rifle on this planet in my opinion. I will someday definitly own a few of those. Worth every penny. My T3 shoots around a half inch 3 shot groups and the trigger is awesome. Can be adjusted with a allen wrench, and very crisp.

James B

I bought a 700 Synthetic 257 Roberts. Sure nothing fancy but 1/2 inch groups from the box with factory ammo 3/8 inch with my first hand loads. Same holds true for my 700 Synthetic Rem in 22-250. I have a couple Savage rifles that shoot as well or better. Fit and finish? I don,t know. When they shoot that well I sure the hell don,t care and niether do the Game animals I hunt. I had a few custom rifles that shot that well and looked a little better for five times the price. Not worth it to me. Give me one that put the bullet where I put the cross hair and I am a happy man.

charlie brown

RELAX Wolfkiller!!! To me it seems that you are mad at one rifle and just feel like letting off some steam. It seems like you just want something that you can show off to everybody and are using the " bad rifle" syndrome as your excuse. I have a Savage with a 3 3/4 lb. trigger. Not great, but for a hunting rifle it doesn' t need a hair trigger. Everybody I know that has factory rifles has not done anything to them and they shoot fine and do the job. Thats a lot of rifles. I have never even heard of people who have such bad luck that every rifle they own is " junk." So what I am saying is shut up and quit wining. If you need to show off how much money you have, fine, just let us buy our " junk" rifles in peace and live happily ever after.