Opinions wanted on the Browning A bolt and the Tikka T3 Hunter

I have had my A-bolt atleast ten years now. I have hunted in blowing snow, freezing rain, about any winter weather you can find in IA and WY. I have shot several hundred fox and coyote with it. Nothing has failed on it, never had to take it apart. I could care less if a little rust forms, my guns are tools used to kill, not for an investment to re-sell. I had to lubricate the spring area in the clip, that is all I can remember doing to it, except cleaning.
When it was the .223 Medallian-Varmit I got 1/2" groups at 100yds. I had it made into a Tactical .20 4-5 years ago, it can put three in one hole at 100yds. So what could be wrong with a rifle like that? I don't think my trigger looks exactly like the one in the above picture, I'll have to pull the stock off and see. Right now If I was to have the money to get another predator rifle, I would buy another Browning. I wasn't crasy about the 22" barrel on the .223, decided to use the solid Boss, to lower the noise.T.20
 
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Bofire---when I say serious hunters bed their rifles, what I mean is that your typical weekend warrior doesn't even know what glass bedding is. I also believe that most guides and professional hunters have bedded actions on their rifles if they are bolt-actions. POI change cannot be afforded. If you believe that most guides/PH's or serious riflemen simply pull a factory rig out of the box and call it good without bedding the action and doing trigger work then I would have to disagree with you. First they make 'em right, then they beat the chit out of 'em..........2MG



Of course! If I was a serious hunter and bought a Remington 700, I'd feel compelled to get that 8 lb trigger shaved as well! And I might as well have them free float the barrel while they have it in the shop. Or, I'll just do like the rest and spend another $280 for an HS stock. Then I would feel better about my purchase and I could officially classify myself as a serious hunter. I guess until then, I'll just continue to be a weekend warrior with my T3's.

Also, since you are the expert. Can you tell us exactly what kind of "plastic" the trigger guard is made of? Maybe it's just as strong as metal? Maybe it is not? I may be wrong, but I believe the new SPS trigger guard is made of the same stuff.
 

I have a Tikka T3 lite SS in 22-250 and I really like it. The trigger is very good, action is smooth and it is very light. For a gun this light it shoots very well IMHO. I am very happy with it, I may buy another soon. MH
 
More of the same chit.....I'm interested in WHAT you guys think is superior about these rifles and WHY.....THAT'S ALL. Anyone? Rost---sorry to hear that a trigger adjustment means shop time for your rifles. A Rem 700 trigger will adjust down to 3 pounds or less in minutes. A 700 with an H-S stock can be had right from the factory for around the price of an A-bolt. And know I don't know what kind of plastic they use, I don't buy rifles with toy stocks on them............2MG
 
I did not like the vanguards or the Remingtons in the same price range while they may have all metal parts etc. I did not find them to be as light or to have the reputation for out of the box accuracy that the Tikka had. I have so far been very happy with the Tikka. MH
 
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"2muchgun" A browning tigger is smiple to adjust and it can be adjusted down to 3lbs with the turn of a screw , I have never seen a problem with the tigger system, if your a dumb#$% and don't take care of your guns there all going to brake no mater what you have. The short bolt throw is why I think they are better than any gun out there, no hiting the scope. The hinged mag is one of the best ideas out there fast to reload, I don't know how people think its slow I can replace or reload a browning mag faster than I can by top loading any other rifle, and you can still top load a Abolt so there are 3 diff ways to reload an Abolt I want to see you do that with a remmy or a ruger, I like remingtons don't get me wrong but I belive the abolt is better. And as for the BAR please don't even go there and start bashing those guns.
 
2MG,

Sounds like you know your stuff about the inner workings of these weapons but, is it fair to compare $500.00 Tikka's and Browning's to Weatherby and Sako? Both are $1000.00 plus weapons. Apples and Orange's. For the money both the A-bolt and Tikka are great shooting guns for those who DONT want to mess around with the triggers and actions.

Im not gonna start bashing Remington because im not a gun smith or have even taken one apart. But, all I constantly read is about buying one and having to tear it apart, Bed it, Lap it and completely redo the trigger to make it shoot! The Cheepo Tikka's and A-bolt's seem to shoot well enough right out of the box. Plus not everyone can afford to buy Thousand dollar guns.

As far as your comparison pics, What the heck did you do to them? Were they left soaking in salt water? I cant imagine letting a gun get to that condition and would expect it to have problems if it were. Any of the above mentioned guns with proper care should function for several lifetimes including the cheepo's.

Im not sure anyone here thinks these guns are superior but for the money are well enough!
 
Tact. 20, Rost, Wis sharpshooter, Grunter, Bofire, kelbro,
You may as well give it up, guys - there's just no healthy debate gonnna happen here - 2mgun's expertise on the matter is just too much for us idiots to understand...we're doomed, our A-Bolts are doomed. I'm watching mine out of the corner of my eye right now and the trigger assembly is slowly melting onto the floor in a heap of rust and melted plastic.
Know what? I'm gonna go buy me another!
 
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Compelling.......another gross generalization with no particulars...."I like my A-bolt it shoots, I killed a deer with it once...yada, yada,..."



I believe that I gave several particulars as to why I like my A-Bolt as did several others. Also, my A-Bolt participated in quite a bit more than 'a deer' kill. Closer to 30 and twice as many hogs.

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Gunnsmiths HATE A-bolts and some won't even touch one.



I read that on the internet a couple of times and found it interesting. I called a couple of local gunsmiths. They didn't have any problem with working on A-Bolts though they said they seldom saw them in need of repair.

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They are REALLY hard to get rid of should you decide to sell.



Funny, I sold my 7Mag (hated that BOSS monstrosity) in less than one day for $75 more than I paid for it. Had 3 offers at listed price.

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More of the same chit.....I'm interested in WHAT you guys think is superior about these rifles and WHY.....THAT'S ALL. Anyone?



Who said they were superior? You are the only poster that I have read calling them inferior. Is a Lexus superior to a Toyota? Only to the aesthetically inclined. They will both get you to and from but the Toyota cost of ownership will be thousands of dollars lower. Yeah, you cant sit around the campfire and brag about your Toyota having fancy wood on the dash or heated seats for your rump but is it inferior?

I think most posts have identified that either rifle will serve well as a hunting piece.

I believe the title of the post was "Opinions wanted on the Browning A bolt and the Tikka T3 Hunter" and that is what has been posted. Opinions. While your opinion is as valuable as mine, I don't think that you would be buying either so I can't see wasting any time trying to convince you. I didn't see anyone knock the 'great pre-64 Win 70' and if you are happy with yours and proud of it, good for you. If they were available in lefty, I'm sure that I would own one too.

What I have seen is that you posted your opinion, negative on both rifles, and then back your opinion up with a compilation of internet reports and pictures. These don't appear to be your actual experiences. Are they?

I have read a lot of internet experts expound on what they think is the worst rifle out there and re-post pix (You missed an opportunity to post the Tikka 'banana barrel' pix) that they saw somewhere on the internet along with repeating stories that they read on some message board. That stuff, although probably real, tends to get blown out of proportion when repeated over and over.

I put more faith in what the users that have paid their hard-earned money have to say about an item than any of the 'reporting' that takes place by folks that heard or read something somewhere and then feel compelled to repeat it.
 
2MG,

To set the record straight, I might be considered a
serious hunter. I started running a trap line at
12 years old. I have been shooting critters for
the last 45 years, and have done so in many of the
lower 48 states, and our far north most, in that 45
years of hunting. I grew up in the woods, and can
track a deer mouse through cedar swamp. Oh, and I
don't own a bedded action. And yes I have even shot
competitions with an unbedded action./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

I am an educated, and experienced, mechanical, and
electrical, engineer with a fair amount of experience
in small high speed mechanical devices, and high
performance electronic circuits. One of my hobbies
is gun smithing. Part of engineering is to design things
that are functional, durable, and reliable, and without
unnecessary expense. In my humble opinion, Tikka has
struck this balance. I will suggest that any rifle
that needs to be bedded, have any trigger work, have
the barrel channel relieved, or any other accurizing
work done, is poorly manufactured, or poorly designed,
or both. Yes Tikka is a budget gun. But the designers
have found a way to lighten the rifle, reduce cost,
and still keep the rifle affordable, all the while
it retains excellent accuracy. Yes the T-3 may not be an
accepted platform to build an after market rifle on,
but a large percentage of people are not concerned about
that possible feature. I will say that I would not
have one second thought about working with my Tikka
M695, as a donor action, but I have no reason to change
a thing on it, at the moment. Personally if I want
a project rifle action, it is not a Remington,
or even a pre-64 Winchester action, when I decide to use
a factory rifle action. I use Savage actions /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
Yes they are not the prettiest action, but they are
rock solid, and the barrel nut, and the floating bolt
head, make this homely action exceptionally accurate,
and a breeze to work with. The only issue I have
with Savage rifles in the Accu-trigger, which I have
to work on to get that where I want my triggers to be.
Tikka, and even Howa, have them beat in the trigger
group area.

I am not sure this is the detailed response you were looking
for, but I do take exception to your comment about serious
hunters having bedded actions. I will contend that a
serious, and objective, gun critic would not make this kind
of statement, if that critic maintained a fair perspective.

Squeeze
 
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Tact. 20, Rost, Wis sharpshooter, Grunter, Bofire, kelbro,
You may as well give it up, guys - there's just no healthy debate gonnna happen here - 2mgun's expertise on the matter is just too much for us idiots to understand...we're doomed, our A-Bolts are doomed. I'm watching mine out of the corner of my eye right now and the trigger assembly is slowly melting onto the floor in a heap of rust and melted plastic.
Know what? I'm gonna go buy me another!



Yep, I just took mine out to the trash barrel. I'm glad that I found out it was such a POS before I embarrassed myself any further by carrying it into the woods. I'm going to put about 100 pounds of venison out there with it because I'm ashamed that it was taken with such an inferior piece of equipment. While I'm at it, I'm throwing a couple of ugly Savages out too. They don't have CRF so they can't be trusted. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
2muchbeer,By the pictures you put up with the 2 rustbuckets exspecially the Winchester with the rusted Leupold scope ring,(Oh yeah that must mean Leupold sucks too because their rings rust.)I can see you know nothing about how to treat a gun so how would you know any thing at all about what makes a quality gun?Just so you know the guns I am referring to are the Cooper,Which I put in the post previous to this if you would of read it closer,And the tikka is built just as good as the Sako which by the way are made in the same plant.It seems to me that the only thing you are trying to do is keep the thread open for as long as you can so you can read your own posts.It is obvious you are alot smarter than the engineers that design these guns so why don't you get a job with one of these crap makers and show them how it should be done?Kelbro is right I better hurry up and throw away my Tikka before I embarrass myself at the range with it.By the way my Cooper was 1700.00 and the Sako was 1500.00 that is twice the price of my Tikka,I just put a Leupold 4.5-14 VX-L Scope on the Tikka but it looks like I better get rid of that too because theirs rings rust.YAAI.
 
I am a Tikka fan, These guns have performed well for us and many of our friends. They certainly are not as nice as our Sig Sauers but they don't cost anywhere near the same. I also have two friends with remingtons from the 1960's with plastic parts that they still use. I also recently sold a Remington Nylon 66(plastic) for way more than I paid new with several guys wishing they had bought it. I also saw Bill Ljutic buy a Tikka out of the box scoped and bore sighted for a trophy hunt in South Africa. Bill Ljutic might qualify as a serious hunter being a national skeet champion and gun manufacture. Thier first shotgun has 1.5 million rounds through. The shotguns go up to $20,000 and the stocks alone can cost many times what a tikka rifle does. He gets to hunt around the world and Tikkas are good enough for him too. http://www.ljuticgun.com/
 
Hey guys, There are way too many happy Tikka customers out there. I have read 500 positives posts for every negative post about Tikka's. That has got to say something!! Quit worrying about what 2much thinks, he isn't going to change our views and were not gonna change his.

Anyways, here are a couple of pics of my new Tikka. I appreciate all the replies everyone gave. I think I made a great decision!!!

pred1.jpg


pred2.jpg
 
kelbro,
Thanks for joining me in my mourning. Do you think we should pitch our scopes, too? Given they were mounted on such inferior POS's, they may have become "infected" with a rust-worm or something ya know...
 
Harley,

What a bag of Euro trash! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif

When you discover all the malfunctions and decide to toss it over the bank please give me a call!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
I guess so. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif I read on another forum that my Leupolds just don't cut it anymore. From what I have read, I shouldn't be able to see out of them at dusk or dawn and my reticle should be dancing all over the place. Also, based on what I have read, none of my bullets are any good and my powder is unstable at different temps. My RCBS dies make crooked rounds and those Winchester primers just don't cut it. What the heck have I been doing? It's a wonder that a round ever goes off.

I'm going to go get one of my obviously accidental backstraps out of the freezer to grill this evening. I hope that I don't read somewhere that a hickory/mesquite mix is not good enough for venison.

Man, I'm glad Al Gore invented this internet thing. Otherwise, I would never have discovered just how ill-equipped I have been all of these years.
 
Kelbro,

If you shot it with that A-bolt id have the meat checked out before eating it.

It could have POS! Also if not cooked to the right temp. you can come down with Triggernosses complicated with non-bedded euroeflicted rustboltinitus screwnonajustopheilia tikkatrossis. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Better safe than sorry!
 
Kelbro,I've read on other forums how Leupold is not as good as it used to be but it is usually by someone that has never owned one or his buddy or a friend told him they are junk so it must be true.:)I paid more for the Leupold than for the Tikka and as far as I am concerned I made a good choice,It is brighter that any of my other scopes by a longshot and the B&C reticle is probably the best idea that a scope maker has ever had as far as a hunting scope goes.I have had alot of scopes but for me the Leupold is the best for my use.By the way I am not saying that Tikka is the only gun out there that is any good,I still own other makes.Remington,CZ,Winchester,Ruger,Thompson Center,and Savage,I just happen to like the Tikka the best and will be buying more and more and more.:)By the way 2muchbeer I bought a brand new Remington Classic in 221 fireball that had a rusted trigger assembly right from the factory and had to replace it before I even fired the gun.
 
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