What do you all think of a Weatherby Sub MOA rifle in .30-06? It weighs 7.75 pounds (so about 1.5 more than the Tikka T3 Lite), no removable magazine, no plastic, and has a Bell and Carlson stock with Timney trigger - all for $550.


Or I could get a Tikka T3 Lite, 6.3 pounds, detachable mag (plastic).

This will be for deer and African plains game. Caliber of .30-06 - I guess I'm wondering if the pros/cons as well as the great price of the Weatherby outweighs the pros of the Tikka - I have one in .223 and it is very nice, love the trigger, but this Weatherby has a great trigger as well, is 1/5 pounds heavier and has a 2" longer barrel.

And the price is awesome.

Depends on how you are going to hunt with the gun. If walking or carrying a long ways the T3 is the best choice. If shooting from a stand either is fine, but I would buy the one that felt best when shouldered.

the t3 will pound you more.
the vanguard sub moa will not.
i''d go sub moa Vanguard.
regards

have you handled a Tikka?
if not, do so before you make up your mind.

if weight matters to you, i would have considered a used Kimber 8400

i don't have any experience with the Vanguard, but if its anything like a Mark V, i can strongly recommend it.

When hunting, I like to minimize all probability of something going wrong. I have just never had that warm and fuzzy feeling of hunting with a clip fed rifle. Lost, loose, jammed, oops I hit the button, etc. Just one less thing to go wrong. The Tikka is a nice rifle but I wish it was a closed box magazine.

Well, I handled some Tikka T3s today and some Weatherbys. The T3 felt . . . well . . a little too "light" to me. I loved the bolt throw and action, 60 degree turn instead of the Weatherby's 90 degree. The Weatherbys were not Vanguards but the Mark V. Quite a bit more costly than the Tikka. I did like the stock and cheekpiece of the Weatherby, and the trigger was nice, but the bolt just wasn't on par in operation with the Tikka.

Well, I've found a nice, NIB .30-06 Tikka Whitetail Hunter, blue, synthetic, for about $465. The T3 is 6.1 pounds, the WH is 7.5 pounds. So perhaps that extra 1.4 pounds will tame the recoil a bit more and give me a more balanced rifle. From what I read the WH was just about as close to a Sako as you could get without paying the big bucks for one. I like the metal magazine as well.

The Mk V actions all have a 54 degree bolt lift whether in a Weatherby cartridge or other... If the Weatherbys you were looking at had a standard 90 degree throw they were in fact Vanguard models which are manufactured by Howa...

Ken....

I heard the sub MOA Weetherby's are just the factory rifles that happen to shoot sub-MOA during test firing. They just pull them off the line and slap a sub-MOA floorplate on it and jack up the price. Considering the sub-MOA designation is based on a handful of test shots with one load, I wouldn't assume it will shoot that much better than a regular Weatherby.

That said, pick the one that feels best, Personally I'd opt for a standard weatherby and handload for those sub-MOA groups using the money I saved to try differen bullets and powders.

my $.02

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCrighton:
Well, I handled some Tikka T3s today and some Weatherbys. The T3 felt . . . well . . a little too "light" to me. I loved the bolt throw and action, 60 degree turn instead of the Weatherby's 90 degree. The Weatherbys were not Vanguards but the Mark V. Quite a bit more costly than the Tikka. I did like the stock and cheekpiece of the Weatherby, and the trigger was nice, but the bolt just wasn't on par in operation with the Tikka.

Well, I've found a nice, NIB .30-06 Tikka Whitetail Hunter, blue, synthetic, for about $465. The T3 is 6.1 pounds, the WH is 7.5 pounds. So perhaps that extra 1.4 pounds will tame the recoil a bit more and give me a more balanced rifle. From what I read the WH was just about as close to a Sako as you could get without paying the big bucks for one. I like the metal magazine as well.

John,

The T3's are extremely popular here in Oz and all the ones I've seen at the range shoot very well. The action is as slick as...... And you can adjust the triggers down nicely.

You won't be disappointed.

quote:

i don't have any experience with the Vanguard, but if its anything like a Mark V, i can strongly recommend it.

The vanguard is nothing like a mark V,so I can strongly recommend it,although I do prefer the t-3.

T-3 is a great rifle for the money plus some. The WV are good rifles but have a horrible trigger that is next to impossible to adjust. If the WV is what you want with a good trigger, plan on spending $$ to replace the trigger with a Timney or comparable trigger.

The stock on the Sub-MOA is much better than the one on the standard Vanguard. ~$90 for a Timney trigger or a little time to work the factory trigger. Vanguards use Rem 700 scope base which gives you a wide variety to choose from.

Got the Tikka Whitetail Hunter. Will be in next week. If it shoots and has a trigger pull anything like my T-3 Lite in .223, I will be happy.

Example of what I can do with factory ammo and my T3 Lite:

TIKKA T3!!!!!! I just bought a 30-06 that shoots just like the groups pictured above, just barely bought it, scroured around my reloading stuff, found a few federal cases laying around, I prefer win brass, the only powder that I had on hand that looked like it would work for some hasty handloads was RL 15 seated the bullets to abouta thata much cobbled together some loads with 155 nolser custom, 168 amax, 125 btip, and 168 SMK, all shot MOA or less with the 155's and the AMAXs in the .5 MOA range, when I first got the gun the trigger was 3.5#'s a screwdriver an allen wrench and 2 mins later the trigger was breaking at 36oz. honestly with the gun being so light its limiting factor is how steady I can hold the darn thing, if I am not on top of my game I can't get it to shoot in the .5's hell maybe the thing could shoot even better with someone else steering the thing. recoil is not bad at all actually,

for years I eyed the tikka's and read the internet hoopla, I convinced myself all that plastic sucked and just couldn't be lived with, until I finally broke down got one figuring I would dump it if it was a dog. and man am I hooked this thing shoots like a varmint rifle. the rifles are very well thought out and extremely well fitted together, I am very impressed by the fit and finish, simply put the barreled action fits the stock better than any factory rifle on the market period.

/

John,
I have a Tikka Whitetail Hunter in 30-06 blue/synth. It was the first real submoa rifle that I have ever had. If I want a rifle that I know will shoot it is the one that comes out of the safe.

Do yourself a favor and don't take the magazine out of the gun except to clean it. I have ended up at the range (about 45mi. from home) with a single shot rifle with a big hole under the bolt. Personally I wish that the rifle had a mauser style double stack magazine with a trap door.

LimbSaver offer a ready made replacement recoil pad for the Tikka T3, code no 10011. Fitting it is a 5 minuet job for anyone who can use a screw driver
In my view, the one and only poor thing about the T3 is the recoil pad, the LimbSaver one is much better.

quote:

Originally posted by oldun:
LimbSaver offer a ready made replacement recoil pad for the Tikka T3, code no 10011. Fitting it is a 5 minuet job for anyone who can use a screw driver
In my view, the one and only poor thing about the T3 is the recoil pad, the LimbSaver one is much better.

Agree, the recoil pad on the Tikka T3s is a real turd for such a light rifle. Honestly, any after market pad is a serious improvement although the Limbsaver that is prefit for it, really is the most painless installation.

The T3s for me are personally at the absolute limit of how light a rifle I can be consistent with. Any lighter and I have to admit I'm not gonna be shooting that thing with very much consistency.

I actually like clips and years of shooting a 788 probably contributed to that mentality.

I like my Tikka lite in 7-08. Very accurate. I filled the stock with Great Stuff to make it sound not so hollow. Because the gun was so light and balance was toward the muzzle more than I like, I took the Limbsaver pad off again and shoved 10 175 gr. bullets into the great stuff adding 1/4 pound to the rear of the gun. I don't know if it lessened recoil much but it balanced the gun out very nicely for carrying. I don't think there is a better deal out there than the Tikka. Merg

So you can load it from the top? I don't think the new T3 line allows you to do that.

Do you know of anywhere that I can get a replacement metal magazine for the Whitetail hunter rifle?

And does Limbsaver make a pre-fit pad for the Whitetail Hunter? To the Googlenator!

quote:

Originally posted by Mort Canard:
John,
I have a Tikka Whitetail Hunter in 30-06 blue/synth. It was the first real submoa rifle that I have ever had. If I want a rifle that I know will shoot it is the one that comes out of the safe.

Do yourself a favor and don't take the magazine out of the gun except to clean it. I have ended up at the range (about 45mi. from home) with a single shot rifle with a big hole under the bolt. Personally I wish that the rifle had a mauser style double stack magazine with a trap door.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCrighton:
And does Limbsaver make a pre-fit pad for the Whitetail Hunter? To the Googlenator!

They only list the T3.

http://limbsaver.com/Products/Firearms/Precision_Fit_Recoil_Pad.aspx

quote:

Originally posted by JohnCrighton:
So you can load it from the top? I don't think the new T3 line allows you to do that.

Do you know of anywhere that I can get a replacement metal magazine for the Whitetail hunter rifle?

And does Limbsaver make a pre-fit pad for the Whitetail Hunter? To the Googlenator!

You have to either drop a cartridge in the chamber with the barrel pointing down and close the bolt behind it, or put your hand up into the magazine openning and use your fingers as a cartridge support. Either way it's kind of a pain in the @$$.

I also load my T3 from the top at the range. Just drop the cartridge in the bolt openning so it lays on top of the EMPTY magazine. Works on both Whitetail Hunter and T3. Since the action is push feed it just shoves the cartridge in the chamber.

Extra Magazines can be had from; http://www.davescatalog.com/pages/d/Beretta-Magazine-fo...300-338-3-Round.html They can also be found from time to time on Auction Arms and Gunbroker.

Tikka magazines are $45 to $49 at TGS, shipping is $7.95.

http://www.thegunsource.com/store/Items.aspx?QID=3661