Thread: $1400....What would you get?

Originally Posted by tommygun

A mate's brother-in-law just bought a Howa Alpine rifle, I fondled and shot it a bit at the range, feels like a regular Howa 1500 in terms of the action and trigger, just a bit lighter weight. Honestly I'd go for a regular Howa instead of the Alpine and invest the $800 saved on a nice scope. All things being equal I'd rather go with a Savage, simply because I've found they shoot really well for me, and the accu-trigger is not for everyone but I really like it now that I've gotten used to it. Can't really go wrong with any of the above (except the Tikka, haha) Remington, Howa, Savage etc. Browning A-bolts are available as a package with a one-piece mount/ring thing and a Zeiss Terra 3-9x40 for $1499. Think about after-market/replacement stuff too: Remington 700; probably the most popular bolt-action centrefire rifle in the world, you can get mounts, stocks, trigger groups, anything you want for it, there are tons of options. With the Savage not quite as many, but their floating bolt head and barrel nut means you can buy and fit new barrels yourself, and also means the accuracy is generally excellent as they can set the headspace very precisely at the factory. Tikkas, well, should you need a new Tikka stock you may as well buy another rifle, I remember trying to get a price a few years ago from Beretta NZ for a replacement Tikka stock and the nett cost was something in the order of $800. Plastic bolt shroud? Plastic trigger guard? $160 for a spare mag? Tikkas also tend to have slow twist rates and short magazine lengths, e.g. I looked at one in .300WM a while back, but they were 1 in 11" twist and the mags are too short to load heavier bullets, only a concern if reloading I guess.

In short: Savage

Tikka stocks are a dime a dozen second hand.
They usually go for 50-100 dollars....there is even one for sale on here now.

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