I am planning to buy a rifle chambered in 270 WSM. I want the gun to weigh 7 pounds or less. I am considering the Browning X Bolt, and the Winchester Model 70: what would you recommend?

Budget minded=Tikka T3

Generous Budget=Big Sky (aka the Montana)

Dober

In- between...the model 70....


Ingwe

May I suggest the Kimber 8400. I have one in 270 WSM and its one of my most accurate rifles. Its light too yet the recoil is manageable. They are made in the USA and there is real pride in that.

http://www.kimberamerica.com/products/rifles/8400/#

The M70 would be ok with a new handle on it, I'd likely still go Big Sky though..

Dober

Sako Finnlight deserves consideration.

In a WSM I'd go Kimber, M70 or A7 and pick whichever feels best.

The A7's are pretty light(mine goes 7lb 3oz scoped) but they are kinda plasticky(techinal jargon).

A new M70 would be pretty nice.

Dang Sammers, I must be losing it....no doubt the A7 would make the top of my list thx for reminding me!

Dober

Dober, you must be losing it as I bought one per your recommendation last Fall!

Took a little while to get used to that thing but it's my favorite rifle these days. The single stack mag makes the rifle alot slimmer and a guy really notices it when in hand.

Kimber 8400.

No Beretta/Sakos for me. Friend has hsd some bad experiences. Long story. I want a gun that shoots. idont caee as much about fit/finish.

Kimber Montana = 8400?

savage.

you might look one of the fn m70's over. a shop i frequent has a fwt in 270wsm (if memory serves). quite a handsome rifle.

Sam,
You satisfied with the feeding of the WSM's in the A7?
Sounds like the OP is talking about a main rifle and feeding or any glitches in chambering/extraction would be on the do not want list.

It feeds smooth as can be, there isn't a hint of restistance when working the bolt.
The A7's have a single stack magazine which holds the rounds perfectly centered under the bolt, it literally couldn't cycle rounds any smoother.

The trade-off is my A7 WSM only holds 3 down and the magazine protrudes from the belly of the rifle. 3 down is fine with me and I don't care if my hunting rifles are ugly so it's no big deal. The A7 certainly isn't an 'heirloom' rifle but that's not the point.

As far as accuracy goes, it does way better than me. I'm sure if I shot from a bench and averaged the groups they'd go right around MOA or maybe a little under(out to 500 yards).

That is good to hear. I am thinking of having my one son pick up one in 270. I thought you had some issues with the bolt going over a round in the magazine.

My friend bought a Sako A7 in 270 WSM. After shooting it a couple months, he was shooting the gun with a Harris bipod attached and the stock broke at the stud attachment; it completely disintegrated. He called Beretta customer service several times and they would not repair it for him. They said it was not designed to be used with a bipod. They did offer to sell him a replacement stock for $600.

He has spent the last month trying to find a replacement stock from an aftermarket company.

I will not buy a Sako A7.

Which Savage model in 270 WSM weighs less than 7 pounds? Thanks.

FWIT-
I have several 270 WSM's, the one I like the best for all around use is a Rem 700 CDL-SF, I put a McMillan edge on it with a VXIII 2.5-8 it comes in at under 7lbs. It is very accurate with 130 NAB's. I've had no issues with feeding.

I dont have a WSM in the Kimber but I do in a 260, I like the CDL-SF better. A lot of it is probably the fit as I ordered a custom LOP on my McM.

The model 70 SS Classic feeds the smoothest (NH model).

Great suggestion on the Remington 700 CDL SF. In fact I see they offer that model in Weatherby 257 which is another caliber I've considered. The Remington website lists the weight at 7 3/8 pounds; are you sure it's under 7 pounds? That is a serious contender for what I'm looking for.

I'm positive.

I have found the weights on the Remington site have little basis in reality.

I also have one in the 77MK II, it feeds fine and is very accurate. It is heavier, and the action isn't as smooth, or as slick as the model 70. It is very accurate, leaves the Mdl 70 in the dirt accuracy wise.

Well I do not know what bad experiences your friend has had with Tikkas,but my T3 Lite SS 270WSM shoots 5 rounds under 1" with almost any bullet weight.Weighs 6lbs. 6 oz. bare naked.I have 3 Tikkas right now.However I do not know the Savages weight ,but can verify they are excellent shooters out of the box.

I traded for a Kimber 8400 in .270 WSM last year and it's by far the lightest scoped rifle that I own, and that includes a light .257 AI with a Rimrock stock and a S/S Remington mountain rifle with the barrel trimmed to 20 inches. The Kimber is not the most accurate rifle in the gun safe, but I have not had the time to play around much with hand loads. It shoots 1-1 1/4 MOA with Winchester factory 130 grain E-Tips. I would really like to get my hands on a Montana in one of the WSM chamberings, as the 8400 is really too nice to be subjected to my kind of hunting.

Well that was mighty big of them.

Think I'd be on the lookout for a Lil Sky.

No doubt in my mind I'd go Kimber Montana 8400.

I expect you can find a used one in the $850 range give or take if you aren't in a big hurry.

DJ

The magazine issue was with a Sako 85(also in 300 WSM).


Bob, the stock broke at the front stud?
That would piss a guy off no doubt!

FWIW, I've got about 500 rounds through mine shooting from a Harris bipod and haven't had any issues. I don't doubt your story though and I certainly don't doubt Beretta's horrible(almost arrogant) customer service.

Good luck choosing a new rifle.

Another prime example of Beretta Disservice..I do not see anywhere on their literature where it says "not designed for use with a bipod"...the A7 has a flimsy foreend to boot.


I would say the slickest feeding WSM rifle though would be a Sako 75 or 85 action chambered for the WSM cartridges.

Kimber!

Kimber- most handsome little rig out there, in my opinion. And I wouldn't let accuracy bugs hinder me. As most will tell you--there customer service is excellent, and fit and finish is super.

I am very tempted to pick the kimber up myself.

What do you mean by not letting accuracy bugs hinder me?

To Kimber experts: what is the difference between the Montana and the 84M Classic or 84M Stainless?

go to their website. 8400's are short mags and 84's 308 types, either can be wood or kevlar, I like both types.
no accuracy bugs on the 3 I own...

guys put them down due to accuracy issues(which have been there in the past)

Kimber generally fixes these from what I have heard

How astute!

Beretta is just the importer of the SAKO A7 and all other SAKO firearms. Deal directly with SAKO-they will fix the rifle-if it did infact disinagrate as claimed. Send them a letter with pictures and request that the rifle be repaired. I'm sure that they will repair it. Let me know how it goes.

Montana is stainless with synthetic stock, can be either 84M (short action) or 8400 (long, magnum and short magnum actions).

84M Classic is walnut/blued short action.

84M Classic Stainless is walnut/stainless short action.

I have a SS Howa 1500 with the Hogue stock in 7mmWSM. I picked it up NIB a few years back for about $350. A great rifle, but I think it is 7 3/4#. Just be careful what you wish for in a light magnum rifle. Good luck.

The Kimber website lists the Montana as a model in the 8400 category. It also lists the Classic Stainless as an 8400.

What I'm getting at is why do people recommend the "Montana" versus the "8400"? I think the website must be wrong. The individual specs show the Classic Stainless 8400 (walnut stock) weighs 6 lbs 10 ounces and the Montana 8400 lists as 6 pounds 9 ounces in 270 WSM. However, at the introductory page it reads "Model 8400 WSM Montana models weigh just over 6 pounds, and walnut-stocked models weigh only 8 ounces more."

Which is correct?

The "Montana" merely destinguishes the difference between the wood version 8400/84M and the synthetic version(Montana).

If you re-select the .270 wsm after you select one of the other wsm cartridges, it switches to 6lbs 3 ounces. I called the factory on that very questions.

Good luck, I am very sure you will enjoy a kimber if you choose to buy one.

Edited for- I didn't understand your question about why we recommend the Montana vs. the 8400 wood. In reality, it is lighter, the web site is off.

FMP

Brilliant. Thank you. I trust that Kimber's rifle making capabilities exceed their website design.

I can indeed now see the difference in weight.

So the real question is this: out of 100 Kimber 8400s (Montanas or Classics) in 270 WSM produced and sold, what percent of them will shoot well out of the box? Naturally everyone makes a lemon now and then, and naturally lots of variables go into real world accuracy. By "shoot well" I mean a rifle that can consistently put three shots in 1 MOA with some form of factory ammunition, assuming the shooter introduces no error.

Is there any other rifle in this category that has a better reputation for out of box accuracy?

I don't want to buy a gun and then return it to the factory a month later to make it shoot well.

Yes, IMHO there is such a rifle.

The new South Carolina FN made Winchester m70 Extreme Weather rifles for basically the same money -about $1,000 street price.

In the WSM rounds they are listed at 6.75 pounds- about 1/2 pound more than the Kimber Montanas.

Across the board the new FN m70s seem to have a better rep for out of the box accuracy than the Kimbers. They also seem to have less QC issues overall.

Kimber lovers / M70s haters here please note- I am talking about the NEW m70s- not the New Haven guns.

I would be very interested in either the Kimber or Model 70. Anyone else care to weigh in on whether the Kimbers or Model 70s are inherently more accurate on average?

One thing you might do here is use the search function.

There is a lot of user feedback here on the various 24HRCF forums both the Kimber 84/8400s and the new m70 Winchesters.

Just reporting here; not offering an opinion,as I like both rifles(the Kimber is,after all, a M70 clone

I have had Kimber Montana's in 270WSM,7mmWSM,and a wood stocked 300 WSM.The 300 was teriible; the 7mm shot well so long as I kept velocities at about 280 levels,and the 270 shot best.In some ways I wish I had kept the 7mm and worked with it some more.

New Haven M70's chambered for the 300,7WSM and 270WSM all shot very well;mechanically I tolerated egged chambers,sticky extraction,and feeding issues.They shot well but I am not unhappy they are gone.

I have owned one SC M70 in 300 WSM and used a friends rifle as well.Shot both enough to know they were both easily capable of sub MOA accuracy. One,the EW easily grouped in clusters at 100,and I shot a few groups at 300 yards with it that went about 2".Load was 66-H4350-165 Sierra SPBT with Fed 215's.This kind of accuracy was also obtained with a pair of standard 270 Winchesters as well.

Function of the 4 FN M70's that I have shot fairly often has been flawless.Not a single hiccup.

If I wanted to be sure the rifle shot well, I would get the SC M70,but I have seen Kimbers that shot well, too.Choice is up to the individual.

Bob33,
I have an Xbolt Stainless Stalker in .270 WSM. All I can tell you is to pick one up and see how it feels. My X bolt shoots fantastic. The worst groups I have gotten were around .75 @100yds with Winchester 150g PP(gray box). My only complaint is that there is a tiny bit of creep in the trigger. Swings smoothly and is light. Hope this helps.

mmm

To be honest, the sako a7 or tikka t3 will likely out shoot most the rifles mentioned(via average posts here at the fire).

A friend of mine shoots 140 accubonds(i believe) under three qarters of an inch quite often. Regardless of the bullet, that's decent and he is no seasoned shooter. Thats out of a t3 stainless.

I happen to like the a7, just as well.

I think any rifles mentioned will be perfect!

I have a Tikka T3 in 30-06 and love it. My friend had an A7 and the stock broke in the first two months when he fired it off a bipod. Beretta said they would not fix it since it is not designed to be used with a bipod, but would sell him a new stock for $600.

Needless to say that chilled me on the A7.

Well, you made that one easy for me! I would choose the Model 70 based on that. That is precisely my concern: I know there is a risk that any rifle may not shoot well, but I want the one with the best chance of shooting well. I've read nothing but favorable comments about the FN M70s. Good things about the Kimbers also, but just a few too many stories like yours.

X Bolts also seem to get favorable reviews,as do the Sakos/Tikkas.

I went through a very like "problem" a while ago.

In my search I really liked the remington with a decent stock put on them. My cdl isn't back from Remington, but there CS has been second to none, and those short action rems are pretty light!

Not to mention my past experience has been excellent.

Call me wishy washy(as most the time I am)-just throwing ideas out there!

I love that cdl in the short mags. Pretty slim too.

This is what I would do:

WTB: Sub Moa Kimber Montana 270wsm. 1k offered. Please email pictures of targets, complete with load data.



Then you're done, and you know you aren't getting a dud. You could pay $850 for one that somebody is unloading because they couldn't get it to shoot, but why roll the dice and go through all that load workup? Get a proven shooter, with all the work done..

I am considering a Browning X Bolt Stainless Stalker. Any reason not to?

All I can say is my 8400 in 300wsm puts several loads under 1 moa routinely. I don't know about factory laods as I've never used them.

I don't think you could go wrong with the x bolt. I have been very happy with my 15 year old Abolt. It will routinely shoot .68 MOA with about 3-400 rounds down the tube. ('06)

Tikka T3 SS Lite!!!!!!!!!!

I must say: isn't it wonderful there are so many options for a gun like this? 15 years ago the choices would be fewer. Now I have to sort through guns from nearly every major manufacturer to make a wise choice. Thank you to everyone that offered advice.

+1 Xbolt SS

NULA if funds allow; Tikka T3 Light if not!

Finally somebody suggests a NULA....