looking at both these rifles in .243 caliber. which would you choose?

Tikka
The Ruger is just about as accurate and much cheaper.

+1

I prefer the Tikka but own a couple Ruger American Ranch that are indeed very accurate.

For me it's hands down Tikka based on fit, feel, accuracy, and smooth action!

Tikka. Smoothest factory action on the market. Also has a great trigger.

+5 on the Tikka - and over whatever else you want to throw into the mix after you've overthought this.

Gawd…. I’d have a darned ulcer myself

For the same price? Tikka, for sure. For a few hundred bucks less than the Tikka, the Ruger is a great option.

If you can get or modify the Ruger to take AICS style magazines it is close, but I'd still choose Tikka. I've had issues with the basic 4 round Ruger mags. The ones that take AI style or AR magazines work better.

My buddy has a couple Ruger predator's and they don't feed very well from the cheap mags they use. He also has TC Ventures, Savage, vanguards and other cheap azzed rifles with the same issue. When I assess a rifle, it includes functionality, reliability, precision, and quality based on experience. These questions about which cheap azzed rifle compared to a Tikka, would you pick are pretty rhetorical to say the least.. I always just say TIKKA, but damn these questions are getting old..

Luckily you're willing and able to respond anyway to every single one of them! 😂😇

Tikka by a mile

I can't find neither one on at the gun shop. I want a small compact .223 Rem but nothing anywhere near me.

The only reason I bought a Ruger is to have another 6 CM , they shoot just as accurate as my Tikkas.
Tikka for the same reason as BSA is referencing to.

If you get the Ruger, use the single stack 450 BM mags instead of the rotary mag.

Ruger screwed up bad on mag design. And the ones that use AR or AICS, they had to mill the crap out of the bottom of the bolt body. Looks pretty sloppy.

I have one of each.
Tikka is a 30-06, RAR is 308
Tikka is in my opinion, better in every way with the possible exception that the RAR is an actual short action.
I've not had any mag/feeding issues but again, it's a 308 (a cartridge designed to feed reliably in machineguns)
Also, there is a $200-$300 difference in price, at least where I live.

Ruger is made here.

Could a 6mm Creedmore clean up a .243 Win . if I ream it to 6mm Creed?

The Tikka is a 10 twist and the RAP is a 9 twist if that matters to you. There's been a lot of speculation of the coming to US shores of the 8 twist Tikka but I have read no confirmation of that occurring yet.

TIKKA, there made over there.

Tikka, and it's not even close.

Tikka.

I’ve had 3 tikkas and been around several more. They all feed shoot and function perfectly, I was around one RAR that we never could get to shoot. Could’ve been unlucky but the stock was terrible. The tip at the barrel had ALOT of flex and kept touching the barrel if you weren’t careful.

My predator shoots better but I like the Tikka better. It’s a different class of rifle.

SAS cleared it up a couple week’s ago. He said the 243’s are indeed 1-8”.

Tikka. The Predator’s fore end just does not fit my hands at all. Don’t know why Ruger couldn’t have just kept it round or slightly oval in cross section. The finger groove fore ends just don’t work for me at all.

GreggH

I went with the Ruger Predator 243

I bought a Ruger American Preditor in May of 2022. Over a six month span, it went back to the factory twice. When I sent it back the second time - I told them to keep it!

The first time I sent it back was because of excessive headspace. They replaced the barrel and the bolt.

I got the riflle back - mounted the scope - and headed to the range.

Over the course of 3 range sessions, the rifle shot well. That is...untill I pulled the trigger....and the firing pin assembly unlocked from the bolt...and fell back into my hand.

I called Ruger and explained in detail what happened. I told them that a firing pin asembly should NEVER just unlock from a bolt. I told them that I did not trust the rifle and I wanted a replacement or my money back. They sent me a shipping label - and I sent it back a second time.

Two weeks after they received it, I got a call telling me that the rifle had been repaired. "Repaired" I asked??

The rep told me that they replaced the firing pin assembly and the bolt handle due to "premature wear." Premature wear, I asked? After just 27 rounds??

I won't go into the full conversation - it was heated.

At any rate, I received the rifle back from the factory in early December...and I have not even bothered to open the box.

Prior to purchacing the Ruger, everything I had read was positive. That's why I bought it. In fact, at the gun store, on the same rack, was a Tikka in the same caliber. The Ruger was $400 cheaper...so I bought it.

This is a test sample of one...but for me...I will not own another Ruger American. That $400 dollars I saved...might have well been thrown in the trash.

Get the Tikka!!

That's awful. I'd be just as put off as you under the same circumstances. My RAR has run fine and I've never had feeding/mag issues.

As to this thread, I really don't put these rifles in the same category. I think the Tikka is an exceptionally well made rifle, built to preform and last. I view the RAR as a "disposable" rifle. Sort of like comparing a Lincoln Town car to a Nissan Versa.

Nice. I knew they were coming just not that they had yet arrived.

Another vote for a Teeker. I like quite a few Ruger products, with Ruger 77’s and No1’s, and Ruger revolvers being at the top of that particular list. With that being said, only one of the 77’s currently in my safe comes close to my T3 Superlite and T3x in accuracy. Your money, your choice…but I’d buy the Tikka. 😎

with Tikka going to an 8 twist can one "assume" that it will accommodate the higher BC bullets?

Tikka

if i go with the Predator i'm going with the 6CM.

I am of the same mind. Love my Rugers but of the two rifles it’s a Tikka for me.

I’ve owned both in 243 and I don’t shoot anything heavier than 100gr. I still have my T3x Superlite.

There is no comparison when it comes to which is “nicer”, the Tikka hands down. They both shoot well, the edge going to the Tikka because it basically shoots everything well.

I had the RAR with rotary magazine and it worked, but not very smoothly. It’s cramped vs the M+ magazine offered by Tikka. The 6CM and newer magazines should give the OAL nod to the RAR.

Tikka, hands down!

Ruger Americans are fairly accurate but they just feel and look cheap…no thank you.

I own 2 Tikka T3X Superlites…..dang nice rifles!

Leftybolt

Ok,,,,, these are what I've got, and both Shoot Lights-Out, triggers set @ 3 1/2lbs,,,,,,
Lj in Alaska....

Thanks for posting jc189! that was a very cool video to watch...

makes me want to trade in a couple of rifles and bring home a new Sako to replace them...

Shooting one of these myself.

I think they are talking about the American Predators though, not the Hawkeye Predator.

I'd take a long hard look at a Sako 85 carbonlite myself.
https://choose.sako.fi/usa/sako_85/85-carbonlight

My favorite rifle is the Ruger Mk II, but if choosing between an RAR and a Tikka, I agree with James Jr.
Tikka for sure.

I've owned a couple dozen RAR-Ps and the only problem that I've had is with a 223 that didn't feed well. I replaced the magazine and it has worked fine since then. I have over 2K rounds fired from the 204 and a 223. I also have over 500 rounds fired from a 243, 260, and a pair of 6.5CMs. I've owned some of these rifles since 2015.

I do know people who have had problems with their RARs that required a return to the factory and they didn't always get satisfactory outcomes. There are going to be a small number of lemons in any high volume production process.

No doubt. As I said in my post, "This is a test sample of one..."

Uunfortunantly - this one test sample - was the first test sample.

Funny, you didn't say the LAST... I would have. After all the bs my buddy had to deal with when he sent 2 of his RAR's in, I would write them off personally. He's 2 for 2 for failure rate. He's not as much of a hard azz as I am though, he still uses them. Give me a Tikka, little fuss and very accurate. I've never had to send one back to the factory. Thank god, as I hear Beretta's CS SUCKS. Nothing is guaranteed, but the failure rate on a Tikka is damn low, from what I've seen. It's your choice on what you guys use, but I know where I put my money. I have very little patience for stupid azzed people and ill working rifles. That's just me though. YMMV..

Your are correct - First and Last

Isn’t that a Cheap Trick lyric?

I ran into a guy and his daughter near sheep creek on the upper Yukon, repairing a hole in their boat.

They were confirming the zero of their hunting rifles. The girl was using a tikka carbine in 7mm-08.

The 12 yr old girl's hand were wet and cold. When she went to clear a round from the chamber, her grip slipped off the forearm when she went to open the bolt. Trigger hit the spout of a five gallon gas jug and rifle went off.

She was pretty shooken up and the father was real angry. I helped them repair the boat and shared a story with her about that happening when I was her age, trying to lower the hammer of a model 94 with cold/wet hands.

I dunno if tikka has changed the safety, but what a stupid design, only being able to cycle the bolt with safety off.

If a youth rifle, I'd rather them have a Ruger American.

Since I'm like the fkn Oprah Winfrey of freighter canoe hunting, I'm always getting calls/emails about hunts from all over Alaska and the Yukon.

I never accepted the idea of hunting rivers with the Ruger American. Well, they work and I was wrong. Many guys/gals/kiddos hunting Alaska and the Yukon with the Ruger Americans.

Vid 1: My friends Dan and Jeric. Caribou hunt, Ruger American 30-06, 180 grain nosler partition.
Scott Albany 18 ft, 12 hp Surface Drive

Vide 2: My friend Greg and "Sonny", moose hunt, ruger american ranch 450 bushmaster, Scott Hudson Bay, 14hp surface drive.

I have more Rugers than any other brand.

Tikka over any Ruger.

Ruger usually almost makes a really good gun.