Thanks for all the recommendations…time to give you all an update on what I ended up going with any why.
Two weeks ago after reading reviews, combing through all your recommendations and talking things over with my trusted buddy and fellow forum member, I narrowed the options down to the Tikka T3X Lite Veil and the Christensen Arms Mesa. Both of these were actually slightly above my intended budget of $1k. The Tikka $1,199.99 and the Christensen on sale for $1,049.99. So off to Sportsman's I went to look at them both. As a preface I'm not an expert when it comes to rifles and have mainly personally owned Marlins and Thompson Centers so my reviews below are just my own non-professional personal opinion of handling these two rifles for 20-30 mins total.
Anyways, to me both of these are very nice and would be a great rifle to have. The rifles shouldered nicely, appeared to have similarly feeling and constructed stocks, had buttery smooth cycling of the bolt, very different barrels, very different magazines and some nice and not so nice things between the two of them.
Tikka:
Pros - heavier contoured barrel (aesthetics), detachable magazine, felt solidly constructed, shouldered perfectly and comfortable
Cons - bulky large bolt handle that seemed to be a tad heavier to open, felt heavier than the 0.6lb difference between the two, felt longer than the 2" difference between the two (the barrel is longer on this rifle so makes sense)
Overall verdict - I really like this gun and would be happy to own one. If I wasn't comparing two rifles I wouldn't have found this to be heavy or a long awkward feeling gun because it's not
Christensen:
Pros - felt a good bit lighter than the 0.6lb difference between the two, felt solidly constructed, shouldered perfectly and comfortable, felt and appeared much shorter than the 2" difference between the two (the barrel is shorter on this rifle), bolt handle felt nice in the hand and slightly easier to open
Cons - smaller contour barrel (aesthetics), integral magazine, felt like a thinner recoil pad
Overall verdict - I really like this gun and would be happy to own one…yeah I know I said that about the Tikka too but it's true for both guns.
So as you can see there were things I liked and disliked about both of these rifles. Most of the cons could be over come by replacing parts (bolt knob and upgrading to a detachable magazine). Enough with the long winded post…what did I go with and why? The Christensen, mainly because it felt lighter and shorter overall which it is even though slightly comparatively speaking. The barrel is like a pencil, I typically like the looks of a heavier barrel that the Tikka had but this is intended to be a hunting rig so it's not like it will be shot repeatedly but if it is I assume it would lead to a much hotter barrel. The price to me was nice since it was closer to the $1k budget I set thanks to the sale that ended the day I bought the rifle. But again if someone said I had to buy the Tikka I would have been overall happy with it just like I'm over all happy with the Christensen…hopefully my dad is happy with it as well.
Two weeks ago after reading reviews, combing through all your recommendations and talking things over with my trusted buddy and fellow forum member, I narrowed the options down to the Tikka T3X Lite Veil and the Christensen Arms Mesa. Both of these were actually slightly above my intended budget of $1k. The Tikka $1,199.99 and the Christensen on sale for $1,049.99. So off to Sportsman's I went to look at them both. As a preface I'm not an expert when it comes to rifles and have mainly personally owned Marlins and Thompson Centers so my reviews below are just my own non-professional personal opinion of handling these two rifles for 20-30 mins total.
Anyways, to me both of these are very nice and would be a great rifle to have. The rifles shouldered nicely, appeared to have similarly feeling and constructed stocks, had buttery smooth cycling of the bolt, very different barrels, very different magazines and some nice and not so nice things between the two of them.
Tikka:
Pros - heavier contoured barrel (aesthetics), detachable magazine, felt solidly constructed, shouldered perfectly and comfortable
Cons - bulky large bolt handle that seemed to be a tad heavier to open, felt heavier than the 0.6lb difference between the two, felt longer than the 2" difference between the two (the barrel is longer on this rifle so makes sense)
Overall verdict - I really like this gun and would be happy to own one. If I wasn't comparing two rifles I wouldn't have found this to be heavy or a long awkward feeling gun because it's not
Christensen:
Pros - felt a good bit lighter than the 0.6lb difference between the two, felt solidly constructed, shouldered perfectly and comfortable, felt and appeared much shorter than the 2" difference between the two (the barrel is shorter on this rifle), bolt handle felt nice in the hand and slightly easier to open
Cons - smaller contour barrel (aesthetics), integral magazine, felt like a thinner recoil pad
Overall verdict - I really like this gun and would be happy to own one…yeah I know I said that about the Tikka too but it's true for both guns.
So as you can see there were things I liked and disliked about both of these rifles. Most of the cons could be over come by replacing parts (bolt knob and upgrading to a detachable magazine). Enough with the long winded post…what did I go with and why? The Christensen, mainly because it felt lighter and shorter overall which it is even though slightly comparatively speaking. The barrel is like a pencil, I typically like the looks of a heavier barrel that the Tikka had but this is intended to be a hunting rig so it's not like it will be shot repeatedly but if it is I assume it would lead to a much hotter barrel. The price to me was nice since it was closer to the $1k budget I set thanks to the sale that ended the day I bought the rifle. But again if someone said I had to buy the Tikka I would have been overall happy with it just like I'm over all happy with the Christensen…hopefully my dad is happy with it as well.
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Ill post up again once I give it to him
