I was out trolling for "deals" last weekend and found a few: Sako blued A7's in .243 for $469, Tikka blued T3's in .308, .338 Federal, and .338 Winchester for $449, and Ruger Mark II compacts in .260 Rem. in blued and stainless for$459-$499.
The ones that really caught my eye were the .338 Win Tikka and the .260 Rugers. Can anyone comment on the recoil in the T3 in .338? Just curious how severe it is. My medium bore stable has never been "full" and I've been impressed by the 'Fire members loyalty to these guns. Secondly, how accurate are the little Rugers with the 16.5" barrels? Seems like they would be pretty loud as well.
Thanks for your input!
Lundtroller

Having bench fired 338 Wins on numerous occasions (not a T3), you can expect alot of recoil similiar to say the 300 Win or 300 Wby. T3s are somewhat lighter in rifle weight, so expect the recoil.

Got a little 16.5" barreled Ruger Frontier compact myself, and if the 260 Ruger you`re considering is anything like mine, they are very accurate using handloads the rifle prefers.

Yep! You can expect more noise from the shorter barrel. But imo, there is not really alot more noise from the 16.5" tubes vs the 18.5" and 20" barrels. But regardless of barrel length, one should always wear good ear protection designed for field use when hunting and muffs at the range.

My Ruger Frontier is chambered in the 300 WSM. My hearing is still in great shape. By comparison, a 260 chambered in the new Ruger compact is childs play.

Ruger compacts are wonderful to carry, very fast`n handy, and are highly manuverable rifles for field use under any circumstances or terrain.

A 260 Ruger compact will easily take care of any deer out to 300-400 yards, and you can probably throw in an elk into the hunting mix as well.

I'd grab that A7, AI the chamber, and shoot the chit out of things. Smokin' deal..

+1

I've shot a few of the Tikka T3 Lites and must say they are some of the most unforgiving rifles I've ever fired in terms of recoil.

My guess is stock design and rifle weight are the culprits here. All I know is I wouldn't want to shoot one in 7mm Rem Mag, let alone .338 Win Mag.

The Tikka (even with a Limbsaver) will punch you. With the way that action is designed, along with their relatively light weight, they seem just right in 25-06 and 270. The 30-06 is OK (what I have in stainless LH) but I wish they would have chambered them in 280.

As far as Rugers go, I've always preferred the Ultralight over the Compact.

I'll add another +1 to the A7 being the best deal.

I also say the A7 is the best deal. But the best deal is usless when its not what you want.

my tikka t3 has less recoil than my rem 700 and the remmy weighs a full pound more. both in 270win.

Thanks for the replies on the different rifles! I too thought the deal on the A7 was too hard to pass up and picked up two of those!!! I think I'll save them for my daughters after I get them "broken in" of course. I can hold on the T3 .338 Win. if the recoil is going to be that bad. I already have a 300 Wby that I like a lot but I acknowledge doesn't get used much any more for the same reasons... too many things that kill just as effectively that don't recoil as much. Looking for a reason to try a Tikka I guess! Ditto for the Ruger Compact... don't know much about the rifle, but would like to try the .260!!!

FYI, the Tikka's are on sale at Gart Bros./Sports Authority. The Sako A7's are on closeout at Sportsman's Warehouse... only .243. Most of the ones left are in Alaska and they will charge you shipping to get them to the lower 48 stores.
Lundtroller

I have a T3 in 338 Win Mag. The recoil is pretty stout with full-house 225 grain loads. However, the stock fits me well and I find the recoil to be quite manageable. With 180 grain Accubonds at 3150 fps, the the 338 WM recoil feels lighter than that of my 7mm Rem Mag with 160 grain bullets at 2900 fps (Rem 700 BDL). My 6'4" frame favors the T3 stock design.

I have also had a Ruger Compact, but mine was chambered in 7-08. That 16.5 inch barrel made a terrible lot of noise and the rig bucked like a wild horse. I sent that off on a trade in short order... I'd rather shoot my T3 in 338 Win Mag with full-house 225 grain loads than that little Ruger 7-08 with 139 grain loads. Go figure.

Birdhog, this must be a fit thing. I've had the opposite experience you've had. I'm 5'10" (and a half!) and my T3 270 kicks worse than the other 270s I had. (I do like the stock feel.) However, a lot of that could be the lighter weight of the Tikka.

I also have a 260 compact and it is really mild to me (but loud).

Those are some great deals. I paid $630 for my stainless compact, then some $10 background fee, then $25 shipping. I would have liked to have found your sale!

IDMilton,

I agree- stock fit. I never had my 5'9" wife fire the Ruger Compact. She may have found it quite tame.

Use the Ruger for a tomato stake and buy the Sako, second would be Tikka. Ruger isn't even in the same league with these two, especially when it comes to smoothness, accuracy, resale...and on and on. Flinch

.....................It is interesting to read how others can determine how potentially owned new Ruger rifles shoot,,,, especially ones that they will never see or own themselves! Nevermind of course, that usually in most cases when the handloads are found that the rifle prefers, rifles somehow out of the blue, become more accurate.

Well Mr. Flinch. My two "tomatoe stakes" otherwise known as Rugers, shoot moas and less using the best handloads they each prefer. No bedding work was performed on either. And as others have posted here, there are alot of very accurate Rugers floating around.

Also, neither of my "tomatoe stakes" have cost me a kill.

I don`t think you would want to volunteer to place a nice round bright yellow circle smack in the middle of your chest and stand 400 or 500 yards downrange from my two Rugers.....Ooooops, I meant "tomato stakes.".............

I'd grab a Ruger .260. All my Rugers, whether purchsed new or used, shoot great. All I do is float the barrels and polish the triggers.

Who had the Rugers on sale?

Depending on your use, and assuming that it is general big game hunting, the Ruger .260 is a dandy. I'd much prefer this cartridge to a .243 in any get up, and the Ruger MkII action is great. Trigger can be easily worked on to give a superb pull. Safety cams the striker back in a simple and positive way.

I have had no less than 10 tomato stakes and worked on a bunch of others. They don't hold a candle to other brands in the fit and finish, engineering, smoothness, nor resale. I didn't say they weren't functional. They go boom just fine, but there are FAR better rifles out there. Sako and Tikka, just to mention a couple ;o) When did you own your last Tikka or Sako? So keep your tomato stake and go paint a "BIG YELLOW CIRCLE" on someone elses chest (that was a really lame comment, by the way). If you were shooting any other brand, it would be a small orange dot ;o) Flinch

...........I guess you own some "older" Ruger tomato stakes" then? Older ones did have their issues.

Fit and finish you say? Care to engage in a durability contest under any weather condition between a Ruger and any other rifle? Oh sure, there are rifles that have somewhat smoother actions and perhaps a few more subtle refinements. That`s no big deal for most. Never has cost me a kill nor accuracy.

Engineering? Stronger bolts? Stronger actions? Did your Ruger`s break by chance? My two Rugers, are not your Rugers my friend.

I`ll settle for any sized colored circle you wish!

I'd take 1 Ruger before I took 3 T3's.

Somebody has to buy cheap, ugly, rough rifles. Oh and squeeze, I have owned new, old, older and newer. All turds...every one of them. Yes, they shoot, although not very accurately. They feed well, but scuff the heck out of your brass and the bullet tips. They are rugged, yet sloppy and rough. Great triggers (yeah right). Wonderful angled action screw, now that is a wonderful brain fart and a half. You can have them...keep buying them, love them forever. They aren't for me, never will be. Flinch

OP LundT, who has the Ruger .260s?

..........Sorry pal. Ain`t buying your analysis.

Both my Rugers feed very well, don`t scratch the brass or the bullet tips, are not sloppy and rough, and both are extremely accurate. I did however replace the trigger assembly on one of them.

Don`t mind if I do take them, brain farts and all.

So I guess that I have the only two Rugers in existence that,,,,"don`t" do anything that you say they do??.....Imho,,,bullcrap!

They are all yours! You rock, you Da'Man, you win, your weiner is bigger than mine...bla bla bla...happy now? You are like a woman, no sense arguing with you. You are always right, based on two meager samples you had to "fix". I bow before you ;o) Flinch

..........Knock it off with yer crap. That`s how you reply? Never said I was always right. And I only replaced the trigger on one. No work done on the other. Can`t read a post uh?

But you are wrong in stating that every Ruger is a tomato stake.......Even though that is your opinion, it is nonetheless a very idiotic comment. And "that" is my opinion.

Go bow in front of a mirror.

You have owned two. I have PERSONALLY owned 12. I would say that is a lot more experience than what you have. I think I have more than given them a fare shake. I have worked on a bunch more. ALL were complete turds. Yes, they went boom, yes they fed, but were rougher than a cobb. They all scratched the heck out of my brass. I had two with WAY over sized chambers and case head separations were normal with FACTORY ammo. Fit and finished sucked with HORRIBLE triggers. Only two would shoot under 1.5" with any consistency, but they had so many other problems, I had to dump them. Two wouldn't break the 4" mark at 100 yards, with bedding, tweaking, you name it. One went back to Ruger and they rebarreled it. It now shoots exactly 4" at 100 yards. The owner I sold it to is "okay" with that, since he seldom shoots over that range. I doubt I was the unlucky one that got so many turds. I know SEVERAL guys in the club that have had the same experiences. Ruger makes a lot of lemons. Sure, they get some good stuff out once in a while (the two you have...maybe). Go try to find any smith worth his salt that will work on a Rugers over any other brand. I have never met one yet that has a good thing to say about them. Hmm...yup, tomato stakes. How many Tikkas and Sakos have you owned? That is like comparing a Moped to a Harley. You can have your moped ;o) Flinch

..................And in what years were these Rugers made???

1986 to current. Makes no difference. A turd still stinks no matter what year it was born. Flinch

..........`86 to current uh? Well I be willing to wager, that most of your Ruger turds were made in the earlier years, when during those earlier years, Ruger outsourced their barrel making and quality control and bedding was somewhat less than desireable?

It seems to logical to me, that if you had so many issues with the earlier Rugers, then why did you continue buying them up to this current point? You did state 1986 to current? So why do you own any current Ruger rifles?

Just a curious thought!

Cuz there are MUCH better rifles out there. I finally saw the light. My first couple of rifles were Rugers and I killed many arks full of elk and deer. Then I bought a couple of Sakos, Many Remingtons and even a Winchester or two. I won't EVER go back to a Ruger rifle, unless there was NO other brand out there...and I mean NO other brand. They are the bottom of the pile in my book. It was hard to part with the ones I cut my teeth on due to sentimental reasons, but I did. I kept hearing and reading all the hype that their barrels were outsourced, so kept thinking I might get one that wasn't. Nope, same [bleep] and a crap shoot if you got a good one. So now you are telling me that some were good and bad...you keep buying them and singing that same old song. Flinch

............If I`m reading your post correctly then, you have never owned one that WASN`T OUTSOURCED, where Ruger did make the barrel? Or the only ones you owned, were the ones which were outsourced??

Oh sure! There WERE some bad Rugers. But since Ruger started making their own barrels and doing many refinements over the last few years, the bad Rugers from a percentage standpoint have gone way down.

In what year was your latest Ruger made?

Yeah, I will keep on buying them as the need arises because as far as I`m concerned with my two Rugers (1st bought in Mar `07 and the 2nd in Feb `08), mine are consistently and extremely accurate, both feed very well, and neither have any problems to report.

Curiously, were any of your later turd Rugers purchased on or after Mar `07 with serial #s showing manufacturing dates of late `06 to early `07?

At what point in my post did you miss "I sold them all"? How would I look up the serial numbers for guns I don't and won't own???? Are you really that dense? "Your imagination really is all you have"! Get out and shoot once in a while. You might even borrow a real rifle some time in your life and actually shoot it. Your ignorance is bliss. Keep it up. Some day you might actually get to shoot something outside of your dreams. Flinch

............Flinchy.......First off, you can kiss my azz!!!!!

I asked you some perfectly legitimate questions, that apparently you won`t answer. Ya know why? Because you were called on the carpet.

You had all these Ruger rifles which you say were all "turds", and yet you can`t at the very least, even report when you approximately bought at least ONE or ANY of them??? So damn what if you sold them all! Do you have that bad of a memory problem? Now look at who the dense one is!!!

While you condemn all Rugers past and present, which btw is your choice to do so, it is very interesting that you can`t come up with any approximate dates of your Ruger purchases, whether you purchased them new or used. Having approximate dates for past purchases for new rifles, can help determine approximately when the dates of manufacture were.

If the approximate dates of manufacture for all your turd Rugers were "about" or before Ruger was still outsourcing barrels, then the percentage of turd Ruger rifles would be higher. That`s why I asked my queations.

But I guess you didn`t think of that. Instead, I get an "azz hole" and im-mature type response from you.

Again! Kiss my azz.

PS. Read your other post on the other thread. If at any time, you wish to participate in a shoot-off with me using my two "turd" Rugers as you call them, you just let me know. I`ll be willing to put up some big money. Free hand, for speed, for accuracy, prone, bench, gongs, paper punching; you name it there pal.

Don`t be a coward like (your buddy?),,,,,,Big Stick.

Big sneeze, you are such a little whiner and a blowhard. Where in my post did you fail to read when I bought them? Tell your momma to slow down when she reads the posts to you so you can comprehend what I write. I purchased them from 1980 to present. Are you really that stupid? So you are telling me that Rugers are a great rifle, but I have to cipher manufacture dates, serial numbers, where they were made and if Pedro was the one the assembly line that day, in order to hopefully get a good one? Then I need to replace triggers and polish them up to make them functional? That is like trying to roll "a" dice and come up with a 7, or is that too high for you to count????? I would rather buy ANY other brand and not have to roll the dice and hope for a rifle that isn't a turd. You keep playing with your [bleep] and run along little boy. Go pound your chest and stomp around. I wouldn't waste my time or bullets shooting with a prick like you. There are already FAR too many chest pounding, inexperience idiots at the range. Why would I subject myself to the torture of even being in your presents? That is the dumbest thing you have said yet...well, almost. You still amaze me with your shoe size IQ in every post. All you do is cut people down and challenge them to shoot offs. I am sorry you are so lonely and insecure. You remind me of the bully in my neighborhood growing up. I knocked him on his ass one day and the bully went away. (This is where you will come back with another childish challenge). Can you for ONCE in ANY post say something sensible without digging on someone? Is it even possible for you? Nobody likes you here. Go away! I know your daddy beat you as a child and your momma ignors you, but jeez, get a friggen life away from the potato chips and remote control whistledick. Flinch

Jeeeezus, he's a twatbag whiner... You typed way more to reply to his dumbass than I would have! Maybe he will send you a ticket a fly you to cali to whoop yer lil ass!!

.....................A 1980 to present generalization does not narrow down the approx maunufacturing dates when Ruger had their problems. And, I never stated that Rugers were great rifles.

My momma died years ago and my late dad never beat me up. Nice little added comments and nice try there by someone who can`t answer a simple question or two? Ever heard of paragraph breaks? Guess not!

Don`t think it`s really all that stupid or out of context to ask when someone bought a rifle or two that happened to be turds in order to approximate a manufacturing date. Not trying to play around with crap or running around like a little boy either.

I`m so disappointed that you wouldn`t waste your time shooting with a prick like me. Amazing that when comments are called to account, challenges go unheeded by those whom originally made them. But that`s ok! I guess in person challenges and shoot-offs, would be way too evidencary and truthful in person.

In my "presents" you say? You gonna send me a present next Xmas? Correct spelling is,,,presence! But I digress!

Lonely and insecure? Well, not really. But nice try there too.

Bully in the neighborhood? Nope! Not me! In fact, just the opposite. Are you on strike three yet? No challenge there to you, but you`re welcome to try though.

"Can I for ONCE in ANY post say something sensible without digging on someone" you ask? Do all the time. You must be confusing me with Big Stick. And if you read this thread starting with our conversations, who was it who first started with the im-mature digs? It was you and not me!

Nobody likes me here? Not here to make friends, none of whom I`ll never meet nor see anyway. You might be suprised at how many PMs of support I do get when these little debates pop up. Not really worried there. But another good try though.

Don`t eat many potato chips (its bad for training), and my remote control gets little use. So all your little adds ons, were nothing more than a bunch of nice trys.

Lets not forget,,,"whistledick."..........Now that really hurts!......

..........I don`t recall any conversation with you on this thread.

But I guess that airlines tickets can always be arranged for those who wish to visit Caleeee-fornia. LOL!

can you guys please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! start shortening your posts.... i'm losing intrest...


Thanks!

................OK!............

better.... thanks...

I wouldnt lower myself to Californicate standards if the ticket was free and Charlie Sheens entourage was pickin me up at the airport...

So you are a big, trained in the "arts", and a sniper wannabe... Oh, and is that a trust fund thats gona but all of our tickets so you can dole out the AZZZZ whoopins????

..............You gracefully eased yourself out from that one uh?

No trust fund. Never said I wanted to be a sniper wannabe. Don`t know where you got that one from.

By no means, would I want you to lower your personal standards by coming to Caleeee-fornia.

Nope! Can`t do that!

Gracefully eeeeased outa what?? Like I am scared of an internet badazz!

Yikes!

................You are the one who stated, that you wouldn`t lower your standards by coming out to Caleeee-fornia.

Though I could be wrong, looked like an easing out of some sort.

No bad azz! Just a real nice guy!

gay...

..........By asking me if I`m gay, shall I assume you`re interested?

However, to fit you in, I would have to call my girlfriend first to get her approval.

She`d probably say no, so I will decline your advance.

Thank you for asking though!.........

wasnt a question.... as we all know the answer...

Wanna bet that bigwhiningbitch's first picture,is gonna be of her girlfriend's Adam's Apple?!?

Bless her heart..................

...........Sure you do!

So if I bought a couple of turds a year from 1980 to 2009, would that help you decipher anything of importance? Do I need to get you some crayons and paper to cipher on? My gosh you are dense.

Here is your paragraph break mr. "I'm in training". That is funny. You training for a weiner eating contest? Biggest loser challenge? You got my vote for both.

I'm sure you get out and shoot a lot in California...uh uh...yup, definitely a hunting/shooting state. I know you read a shooting magazine once. Everything else you parrot from other people. I like how your posts always start out with, "My buddy did this, or I saw it once, or I read it..." Geez, do you actually have any personal experience with anything gunny related? (This is where you make up another stupid challenge and pound your chest)

Keep the stupid comments coming. You are great entertainment. Are you the old "DFC" that frequented the board here? Flinch

Sorry Paul, I really did try to shorten up the post. I will do better, but I got a live one on the line and she's a fighter! Flinch

............Tell Ya what Flinch!..............Nevermind as certain things are just too complicated for you!.................I`m done!

No worries. It happens.... grins

..............A she you`ll never forget there pal!

..............A she you`ll never forget there pal!

That made a lot of sense....like everything else she says. I'm quite sure I will forget you very soon with ease. You offer nothing memorable to the board or to anyone for that matter. Big Sneeze the parrot. Repeats everything he reads or hears. "Sneezy want a cracker?"

Her mouth must be getting sore from the hook in her mouth...lol. Flinch

........Yep! Please do forget very soon and with ease! And better yet, use that round knob on your mouse to keep right on going there,,,Flinchy. I`ll keep on posting just for you!

Get that user nickname because you`re a whimp behind a powerful rig?.........."Flinch" alot?

Did you come up with that comeback all by yourself? You are priceless....laffin. Flinch

.............Why thank you! Like that one uh? Yep! I did think of dat and all by myself too! Laffin too!!...