Make sure you look at all the attributes as well as fit to you the shooter. I could never buy a Browning due to the palm swell on the A-Bolt composite stock, bolt shape and throw, floor plate/box mag, and the safety. It seems dumb to some folks, but I don't like a bolt action that I can't open when it is in the safe position. It is the only reason I still don't have a Savage(although they are tempting). It is a pet peeve of mine. I like a 2 position safety, not 3 position. That kills Rugers and Mauser type actions for me too. My theory is I don't want the mechanical safety disengaged when I'm trying to take the ammo out of the gun and make it safe. Someone thought the gun deserved a safety, I want to use it when the gun is most dangerous. I believe the safety throw direction should match the bullet direction. I want all motions forward when firing a rifle not forward and back like CZ does(sorry Foxy
). Crossbolt on the trigger I can deal with. Forward to fire or crossbolt left as a right handed shooter. Hammered pistols and lever guns for some reason feel right though, go figure
. As to the 3 position, there is no such thing as half safe to me, it is on or off. That's just my quirky nature, but it is something I can't overlook. I like a DBM or floorplate, not both together. I like the Remington and Savage DBM and like a simple floor plate with internal spring and follower like many make, I can't get use to a blind mag or ADL. The pistol grip in the synthetic stalker makes me look like a cat with tape on my paws
. It just feels wrong to me. The bolt throw feels wierd to me too. None of my other rifles or many of the rifles I shoot have it, so it just doesn't feel right when I shoot one of my bosses or my brothers A-bolts. It feels like a slide more than it does an un-camming operation with the locking lugs. Maybe it is because my formative years were spent holding guns made by Remington and T/C, but I doubt it because I didn't get into bolt guns until the last 12yrs and was a pump or single shot guy before that.
I've only shot one Tikka T3 and that was to help a guy get it sighted in due to his overwhelming case of the flinches
. It was a 270WSM something or other. It shot decent. It was stainless and had rust on it. Probably not cared for though. I thought his trigger needed adjustment, but it was his rifle so I made do. It didn't feel terrible, but I didn't feel all giddy after I shot it either.
All that said, Brownings, Tikkas, Savages, CZ's, Remingtons, Coopers, T/C's, Winchesters, etc... shoot good for all kinds of people. But rarely do any of them shoot good for people that can't stand the feel and function of them.