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Tikka or X Bolt Hells Canyon ?

the blur

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 1, 2014
Messages
463
I'm looking at the Tikka, hunter or lite, or T3x, Or the Browning X-bolt hells canyon. Money doesn't matter. Just for long range hunting. Looks like both are close in weight. Which one would you go with ??
 
Absolutely tikka! Browning for me has been lost its luster a long time ago….I zero a lot of rifles for folks around here and for the money, a bone stock tikka will shoot way better than any browning currently offered. Brining does have some good feeling and good looking rifles but at the end of the day if I'm spending $1,000-$2,000 on a rifle, it should at the least shoot moa. I find that the tikka rifles are just very accurate.
 
I'm a Tikka guy all day, but I've seen some browning rifles shoot lights out, for hunting applications. If you said what cartridges you have in mind the decision is a little easier. Browning does fast twist a lot of cartridges with longer barrels already threaded. Definitely some close out deals on browning from certain dealers.
 
I like both.
The Xbolt has much better ergonomics for carrying in hand. The T3X feels like a 2×4, prolly more 2x3 but the deep squared feel gets on my nerves.
I put a Stockys carbon fiber classic style on it n that helped a bunch but its spendy.

The T3X has a better trigger but I put Timneys on mine to even that out. The Mcarbo springs I tried helped but not enough.

The Tikka is extremely smooth and very very fast to run if you care about that. The Xbolt is not as smooth but nearly as fast, after greasing the action n running it to break in it will not be the reason you didnt get a 2nd shot in time.
Neither bolt will bind and both have short bolt lift.

Theres a more aftermarket stocks for Tikkas but McMillan makes Xbolt stocks n has some on sale in stock right now. May be only SA at this point?

Ive had 1 Tikka and 3 Xbolts, two are HCLR. Accuracy is the same, they all shoot great. Xbolt magazines and twists are appropriate for sleek bullets in most cases.

You can rebarrel either to whatever ya want but Tikka have prefits already.

Gunpartscorp has Xbolt bolts, stocks, mags and small parts if like me ya might switch a standard to magnum or vice versa someday.
 
I've never had a Tikka that didn't shoot but I've had an XBolt that didn't. Tikkas accurately standard is 1 moa or less. Brownings is 1&1/2 moa or less. The aftermarket world for Tikkas is big. For XBolts it's about none existent. There is shops building customs off Tikka actions. No one is building off XBolt actions
 
If you plan on shooting it a lot to the point of needing a new barrel at some point Tikka is definitely the way to go. Gunsmiths around here won't touch a Browning, won't write what they say, but the Browning barrels are very difficult to remove, we'll leave it at that.
 
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