Caliber indecision – Sporter rifle

[Cold Trigger Finger]

By the end of page 5 I had the 280 AI ready to reccomend to you. I see on page 6 I was beat to the punch. Which is good. !!
There is myriad minucia that a guy can fret about with a new rifle. For your weight/ recoil/ hunting use. I think you will get all your after from the 280 AI.
My self, I would use a Ruger M77 mk2 stainless action or the Hawkeye. But that's me.

 

[pods8]

My self, I would use a Ruger M77 mk2 stainless action or the Hawkeye. But that's me.

I got a good price on the donor M695 stainless. If the action is similarly smooth as my T3 I'll be happy about that, the trigger should be the same and I like the one on my T3 fine, I read the factory stock is a bit more robust than the T3 and I find that one suitable so probably will be happy enough on that front (at least to start with). I will need to review what rings it has on it currently to see if they will work for me or not, not a big deal either way in the grand scheme.

Basically I'd be looking to rebarrel it (have the smith check action face, etc. though reports are tikkas are fairly true), pick up a spare mag, and as needed review the recoil pad/bedding needs. My T3 shoots fine w/o bedding, I could see the recoil pad being insufficient on something stiffer than a 7-08 though after a day of shooting.

I have a vortex HS 4-16x44 sitting on the shelf that would likely go onto this.