Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Need input on new lefty deer rifle

Ok I’m looking at a new lh Tikka 3x super lite in 7mm rem mag for $800’or an excellent, used Winchester model 70 lh Sporter in .300 wsm for $300 more.
It will be a whitetail rifle for Michigan and Ontario. I do a combination of still hunting and stand hunting.
Any input is appreciated. I’m in a brain-lock on this!

There’s very little the 7mm RM can’t do and I have both. I think I shoot my 7mm RM more. If you were hunting something bug that might bite the 300 seems to me a better deal. Or if you like to shoot to the next hill across a valley then again the 300. That’s my point of view.

Both chamberings will kill deer stone dead. Which rifle fits you the best? Which rifle “flips your switch”?

Personally I would lean toward the Tikka. First because it should be a little lighter for the still hunting. Second, I just like 7RM better than the WSM’s…

Have you checked ammo availability in your area? That might make the decision for you.

They're both pretty different rifles. The Tikka has a 2 position safety and removable magazine, the Model 70 has a 3 position safety and no removable mag. I don't know much about the WSM, personally I'd rather have a .300 win mag.

I have both the Tikka, Winchester and Rugers. While I won't deny the accuracy of a Tikka, I prefer the 3-position safety of a Winchester or Ruger for normal spot and stalk hunting. My Tikka has a very specific purpose as a gun for night hunting with a Thermal. It allows for better attachment of a picatinny rail and the box mag is easier to swap when blasting multiple pigs (you can get 3 and 5 round mags.

I bought my daughter a Tikka T3x laminate/stainless in .260 rem. , but have some regrets that I didn't stick with a Ruger, Winchester or MRC. She was the first one to comment about how it's 2 position safety works. You have to chamber a round in order to put the safety on and you have to put the safety off to work the bolt to unchamber a round.

Thanks for all of the valuable input. Kinda pushed me to work through what I’ll actually be using the rifle for. I’ll go with the Tikka as I like the lighter weight and the 7mm rem mag is definitely more than enough for any whitetail or black bear. And the accuracy of the Tikka is pretty well documented. May not be as pretty as the walnut model 70 however I think I’ll be happier with it in the long run.

I had a LH Win 70 300 WSM with McMillian stock, always had a flier, and heavier than I wanted so sold it.

Bought a LH Tikka 300 WSM, Synthetic stock and SS, lighter and very accurate, not fussy at all prefer it to the Win 70.

As has been pointed out, two entirely different rifles but ballistically similar chamberings. However I am kinda disappointed in the answers so far as the correct 24HCF answer is to buy both! (Actually a LH Model 70 of any flavor for $1100 is a pretty good deal in todays market.)

Both are more than you need for deer, but I’d probably go with the 7mm

WAY more than you need for deer.

You can always use a lighter bullet weight or throttle it down a bit if you handload. Nothing magical just cause it has the word magnum in the name. It is a belted 280 AI essentially.

Tikka hands down over the Winnie, for the ease of easily finding a load it will like, with no tweaking and headaches.

Another vote for the Tikka. They're not finicky about ammo, they're flat out reliable and they're generally exceedingly accurate.

IMO, I've never cared for the M70 safety. I've tried them and the similar Ruger M77 Mk 2's through the years, and have always found them to be very Rube Goldbergian. I like that they lock the bolt down, but it's a long swing from all the way back to totally off for a rifle that will be put into service for the quick jump shots of still hunting and tracking. Many like them, but I was never a fan.

Secondly, there's been a lot of debate and outright bunkum thrown around about the increased reliability, efficacy and ultimate necesity of CRF over push feed designs. This has been disproved through many tests through the years, most recently by the Canadian Ranger rifle trials. Short version is that they tested about every bolt action design for reliability and accuracy. Thousands and thousands of rounds, worst conditions they could find, every round documented. Tikkas came out on top by a substantial margin. Finding was that a covered top actions such as the Tikka, and other military designs, were far less prone to feeding problems and outright failures than any of the various CRF designs.

Additionally, the Tikka has a much lower bolt throw, which makes it easier to mount scopes with larger ocular housings nice and low, and there might be a small advantage in cycling time, mostly due to the fact that you can grip the bolt handle without worrying about your hand position clearing the scope.

Not to say that the Model 70 hasn't served a lot of hunters well through the years. Just sharing my experiences after owning abd using multiples of both.

I am a Win Model 70 fan through and through…love those rifles! As a Lefty It took me a long time to acquire the three LH rifles I own and they will likely be with me until the day I die. All three rifles are very accurate with my handloads.

I also own two Tikka T3X Superlights…fantastic rifles! Very accurate, seem to shoot everything acceptably well and handloads extremely well. My only gripe with the Tikka is the ugly plastic, but I don’t care for any plastic on any rifle….they all look and feel cheap and throw the balance of the rifle off! But having said that, Tikka’s plastic stock is about the best functionally of all the plastic stocks out there. Still, I just couldn’t stomach it….my two Superlite’s are now bedded in McMillans.

I don’t care for the WSM cartridges. In my opinion they were an answer to a problem that didn’t exist and offer nothing over their long-action magnum predecessors.

My pick would be the Tikka 7mm magnum. Take the money you save over the Winchester and put it towards a McMillan fiberglass stock for the Tikka…..then you’ll really have a sweet rifle!😁

Leftybolt

The common sense approach would be to buy the Win M-70 in 300 WSM due to it's rarity. Be sure to check the
rifle over, the quality control during the last year of M-70 production was horrible.

IF you buy the model 70, add a Tikka T3x light in cartridge more suitable to hunting the woods of Michigan, 270 or 7-08 or 6.5 creed.

You have TWO GUN working gun rack..... a big game rifle and a whitetail killer.

Of the two options, I’d go with the Tikka. I’d also get it in 30-06 instead but that’s me. I have a ULA 300WSM lefty I wish was a 30-06.

Just spit balling here, but I'd guess that win 70 will be a bit more rare than the tikka......

I have a mod 70 extreme sporter in 300wsm...24" barrel......I have a heck of a time controlling the hop at the bench.....waaaaay too much gun for my WT deer needs but was just too good to pass up......that limited run rifle only came in magnum calibers.

Me, I'd not focus on the Cartridge at all but rather the rifle, very little diff between the 2 cartridges and both overkill for your purposes, I hope you like recoil,

I love model '70s, and the price your talking for a lefty, I'd grab it, Classic rifle and i love the 3 position safety.

I also have a Tikka, everything you've heard is true, Accurate, light, but no class, no panache. Too much plastic,

The Tikka is a tool, I like mine, but don't love it.

Wood stock are for looking at, synthetic for hunting is best. Buy the tikka

I am with Starbuck on the 3 position safe on the model 70, I have zero use for it, especially on a rifle used for still hunting.

Both cartridges, 7 RM and 300 WSM are overkill for your purpose in factory loadings but each can be throttled back by handloading and still have the full capability there when needed.

I have 3 Tikka's in my stable. All perform extremely well. Yes they are a bit plasticly but the wonderfully smooth bolt, shorter bolt lift, great trigger, super accuracy and flawless function right out of the box more than make up for the "plastic" feel.

I have several McMillan stocks on some Rem 700's and never felt the need to "upgrade" to one on the Tikka's.

Buy the Tikka and use the savings to purchase better optics.

I stay away from the belted magnums, a . 270nwinchestetvwill do anything a 7 mag will do as far as deer go, it will do it cheaper and you won't have deal with a belted case. My first deer rifle, and the one I still use is a Cougar Voere, purchased for me in 1974 and topped with a Bushnell banner 10x with AO, I have killed 58 bucks with this rifle, and only had to track 2, both times due to hitting a tree limb, the rest dropped in their tracks, it was drilled into from a very early age that deer with broken necks don't have to be tracked. The . 270 win. Is very hard to beat.

Tikka hands down for me.

But I would want it in a chambering that didn't contain the word "magnum".

Mine is a .308.