Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New production .270 ($1,000 budget) - Recommendations?

M70 Ext Weather and be done...

Am I the only one not wanting to say the "C" word?

C word?

This is extremely good advice......Hb

Excellent rifle but it exceeds the OP's weight limit of 6-6.5lbs bare rifle.....Hb

No thread about rifles can exist in 2018 without mentioning 6.5 Creedmore.

NO NO Not the Creed!

Kimber would be my last choice because of customer care....

Formidilosus corrected me (in part) and said
" It’s super hard to get a T3 bolt.... especially with them being in stock at Brownells"

Well that was news to me. I repaired a lost extractor just last November and had to make it from bar stock. There was one business that sells them as an aftermarket part, but none were available right then and the elk season was on. The man needed his gun "now" so I made the extractor for him

Anyway I went to see the Brownells sight and sure enough, they are now carrying (in theory) some Tikka parts. I assume they are actually Tikka parts too, not after market.

But you were not correct about them being in stock.

Look right on the site and it says in print that it is a "special order item", and takes 5 weeks to get.

So I will concede that it's a huge step in the right direction, but I am still not convinced that having them tell you they will not fix a broken bolt is good business, and especially when you see that part will cost you about 1/2 the cost of the original rifle.

What causes them to break?
They are just fitted too tight. And the steel on the back of the bolt body is quite thin. The last one that I was asked about fixing broke in front of me when a man opened the bolt at the gun shop in Riverton Wyoming and the handle came off in his hand, and the rear of the bolt hit the rug.

I expect the female dovetail is cut undersized so a press fit can be used, but such a press fit should be maybe .001" undersized on the female dovetail and I am going to guess Tikka is cutting them about .003"-.005" under. I don't know for certain. What I do know is that they break off sometimes and when they do (or did in the last 3 years) Tikka will not do ANYTHING to help.

I don't believe it's because of defective ammo and hard extraction because 2 of the guns brought to me were fired with factory ammo. One was shot with handloads but those loads were done by a man who doesn't push the pressures, and the last one broke when it was unloaded and still had the price tag hanging on it's trigger guard.

In any case, I know of NO other gun company that would tell you "tough luck" if one of their bolt bodies BROKE and EVERY other one I know of would replace the bolt or the gun is such a thing happened. Tikka should too.

Even if Brownells stocked them (they do not) the customer should not have to pay $439 to fix something that is NOT his fault after he already paid about $750 for the rifle in the 1st place. Would you disagree?

If they have changed their policy and are now doing so (I have not heard in 7 months, but as of last November they would not) then that's good. I would have to guess that the word is starting to get out, and sooner or later they would HAVE TO change of go out of business, but so far, what I know from calling them is that they will do NOTHING to help.

If they do change their policy I will be the 1st to tell people, but until I hear it from the Rep at Tikka, I am not going to believe it. But I am hoping they prove me wrong soon.

A Ruger Hawkeye for $449 would be the way I would go for a .270.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/270-hm77rgh-22-mat-grn-hogue.html?___SID=U#.WupL7dMvzGI
I'd ditch the the Hogue tock, call Ruger and get a regular synthetic stock instead, about $125.


What I did do was get an All Weather Ruger Hawkeye .280 instead. These are available with a standard synthetic or Hogue stock, your choice, for $449.

https://www.cdnnsports.com/280-hm77rp-22-syn.html?___SID=U#.WupMhNMvzGI

My Ruger .280 has proven to be very accurate with a variety of bullet weights but I primarily use it with 140's. If you don't reload a .270 may be a better choice.

midwest gunworks has T3 bolt's (full assembly) in stock for $369.....I know Beretta CS sucks azz as I tried to get them to fix My brand new Sako 85 with the straight up ejection issue....I have never had or seen an issue with any of the 2 dozen or so Tikka's I have either owned or buddies have, I doubt your really rolling the dice too much when you buy a Tikka like say when you take a spin at the Kimber roulette wheel.......Hb

X-Bolt Stainless Stalker or a plain-Jane 700 ADL Stainless.

I'd also get a Ruger stainless in a their plastic stock, which will come in right about 7 pounds. If you need to lose that extra half pound, then get a LAW/High Tech/Bansner stock for it. Better gun all-around for tough hunting, and will have nice balance with the lightweight stock especially.

I thought Ruger discontinued the All Weather. That one at CDNN is....blued.

They are, for now, but still to be found. My first choice, but like the Vanguard SS (only SS Howa now available), it'll be tough to make weight and stay within budget. Both are rock-solid, but with weight to match.

The Kimbers have it all, but are apparently a kit gun often enough to give me pause, just like a certain popular scope brand. I'm too old to spend time fixing new stuff.

Just saw the new Sauer 100 in the June 2018 G&A mag. It's their version of the Ruger American with MSRP of $700. Looks interesting.

http://www.breachbangclear.com/sauer-100-new-rifles-sauer-sohn/

DF

I really can't think of a better 270 rifle for under $1000 than this:

https://www.eurooptic.com/sako-85-black-270-win-jrs1c18.aspx

Guaranteed 5 shot 100yd sub MOA accurate. It's basically a Finnlite with a steel floor plate. Awesome rifle for a closeout under $1k price, normally $1599.00.

If you want to spend a little less, the Tikka would also be a fine rifle:

https://www.eurooptic.com/JRTXB318-Tikka-Tikka-T3x-Lite-270-Win-S-S-SYN-224--barrel-MP.aspx

The Sako is the upscale rifle from the same company. The Tikka has a 3shot 100yd accuracy guarantee. The Tikka is a fine rifle also.

Full disclosure is that I bought this Sako rifle (bought one in 270 and one in 6.5x55). Both are drills. Great rifles.

If you want to spend a little less buy the Tikka. If you want the best you can get for under $1k, buy the Sako!!

I also can't recommend Eurooptics enough. I've bought from a lot of vendors including the ones on this forum. Eurooptics is flat out the best. Absolute gold standard to buy from, I bought something from them earlier today!


.................dj

Still don't see the Tikka bolt issue. IIRC the last time I took the striker out the handle slipped in the dovetail rather easy.

I would love to see a picture of the broken bolt

I find it quite odd that a gunsmith with all your experience has never disassembled a T3 bolt, but has seen 3 busted ones.

Why!!! You just had to do it didn't you? We were doing so well. Just HAD to say it.