Advice on .243 rifle

[jodi87 0]

Hi, I'm looking for some advise on buying a .243 rifle. I have applied for my FAC and hopefully if I get it I will be spending some of my hard earned cash. I will be using the rifle mainly for deer stalking and I think that I have narrowed it down to a tikka lite or a browning x-bolt, synthic stocks and stainless barrels. I haven't tried the x-bolt but I am just looking for some advice just now as I am new to this. I have a budget of around £1600 so I was thinking about 800 on the rifle and the same again on the scope. Any advise would be most welcome.

 

Cheers

[Rake aboot 4,935]

Tika, great gun,

 

X bolt, good gun but trigger is like breaking a green stick !.

 

I had A tika t3 for years but got rid, and blew the bank on a 160 quid parker hale safari1200, Now thats a great gun.

 

 

Edited to add,, spending the same on glass as on the gun is the best decision you can make

[GRAM71 29]

deffo spend as much as you can afford on glass, £800 bills is plenty. you don't have to spend a fortune on the gun, just find a load that suits what you have.

[Deker 3,478]

Hi, I'm looking for some advise on buying a .243 rifle. I have applied for my FAC and hopefully if I get it I will be spending some of my hard earned cash. I will be using the rifle mainly for deer stalking and I think that I have narrowed it down to a tikka lite or a browning x-bolt, synthic stocks and stainless barrels. I haven't tried the x-bolt but I am just looking for some advice just now as I am new to this. I have a budget of around £1600 so I was thinking about 800 on the rifle and the same again on the scope. Any advise would be most welcome.

 

Cheers

 

 

....then there is the mounts and moderator, (and cut/thread/proof) and bipod and sling and slip and spare magazine and ammo and reloading equipment and cleaning materials and rods and Cabinet and whatever I have forgotten...... :thumbs:

[Rake aboot 4,935]

Wouldn`t bother proofing a thread,, nobody cares,, just an added expense

[Deker 3,478]

Wouldn`t bother proofing a thread,, nobody cares,, just an added expense

 

There are still many RFD who will not do it without proof, generally to do with their own business insurance, but this is wondering away from the topic now!

[Rake aboot 4,935]

Yup sorry.

 

Anyway.. Parker Hale

[jodi87 0]

Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at the Parker Hale. I never really thought about the moderator. Is there any advice on what is best to get and what sort of price range a decent model would cost. I hadn't considered a bipod either, thought about using sticks. I have a gun safe for shotguns so that should be fine.

[Rake aboot 4,935]

From the top

 

Buy the best you can afford, in everything

Harris rule the bipod world.

 

Wildcat P8,, nice mod

 

And get sticks as well,, bloody handy, hahahah be prepared for a gadget overload, !! rifle shooting is the worst

[stevie_87 2]

ive had my x bolt for a few months now, and love it too bits! and too make it even better i shot my first fox last night about 110 yards. AND shot my second fox TONIGHT at 260+ yards . HOLY GOD man.!!!! shot at it about yards and missed it and it ran and ran then stopped in the next field . The lad lamping it for me couldn;t see it but ME coulds and bang down she went. so cut a long story short, GET A X-BOLT . lol

 

cheers stevie

[Gloop 5]

Oh Gawd I have just had this conversation on another forum.

OK. I'll keep it short.

X-bolt, lovely rifle with a shite trigger. (My Opinion) That is if you like a nice light trigger. I like a nice light trigger set at 1.9 lbs pull. The X-bolt will be lucky to get below 3lbs unless you want to start playing with springs. It is an American rifle designed for the American "sue" culture. You squeeze and squeeze and eventually it goes off. Try and fire one before you buy. If you can live with it then you will have a nice rifle.

 

T3. All sound nice rifle with a better trigger.

 

I found both with the right ammo were very accurate out of the box. Trigger was the deciding factor for me. Someone mentioned on one of the forums that when you squeeze the trigger you should be surprised when it goes bang. With the Tikka, yes. With the X-bolt, no.

 

Glass,

Buy the best you can afford. And I would rather buy good secondhand than new cheap. Depending on what sort of shooting you do depends on the scope. I do a lot of NV and use Leupolds with them. For deer I use Meopta because I can't afford swaro and it is close enough for my needs. Good quality German glass. But that is a whole other depate and there are people out there with loads more experience than me.............To be fair there are loads more people out there with more experience than me on everything. I just read loads and talk to people to to find out what is the best way to go.

 

Did I say I was going to keep it short? Sorry

[jodi87 0]

I guess the best thing to do is try them out. When your in the shop everything seems great, maybe I should find a club and get some experience firing different rifles before I make the choice. I don't mind spending money on something that will last and not have to change after a few months because of making the wrong choice

[martin 332]

If you take a look on....... http://www.guntrader.co.uk/GunsForSale/ you will find a full set up mate,but I would suggest a Tikka or a Remington and if you need to then you can get an after market trigger for around £100.Triggers are a very personal thing and light triggers of 1.9lb have been mentioned,well I have light triggers on all of my rifles and they snap at 12 ozs,now that is light,but,when used to it....fantastic! If you need to get a scope separate then you should be able to get hold of a Schmidt & Bender 8x56 for around £450 a good alround scope with excellent glass.After you have the rifle set up you do know that you aren't going to stop there mind,there is always something else you will 'NEED'...lol but true!

 

Good luck....Martin

[HUnter_zero 58]

I always like to think of a rifle as a long term investment, as such the Remington 700. Great thing with the 700 is that you can change the stock for very little money, upgrade triggers and do all sorts of stuff that you can not do with other rifles or if you do it will cost a small fortune.

That said, the 700's will produce sub MOA straight out of the box these days. Long gone are the days of heavy triggers as well. My 700 tactical came with a most excellent trigger straight from the factory! Cost £600 to £750 depending on negotiation skills.

 

http://www.remington.com/product-families/firearms/centerfire-families/bolt-action-model-700.aspx

 

 

 

Glass wise, I don't think you will find a lot better than a fixed magnification Schmidt and Bender 8x56.

Great thing with the .243 is that it's such a versatile cartridge and will equally be at home on the foxes as much as deer, with that in mind a nice "night scope" will come in very handy.

 

Cost around £550

http://www.schmidtbender.com/scopes_fixed.shtml

 

Don't forget to factor in to the prices bases and rings.

Personally I prefer a full rail rather than just bases. Cost wise put aside £120.

http://warnescopemounts.com/

 

Total for an awesome rig:

Around £1200 to £1400 leaving plenty of dosh for ammo!!!

 

I'm not a fan of moderators on stalking rifles unless I'm stuck up the seat, but there are some key benefits.

[jodi87 0]

I think that I 'm sold on the fixed power scope 8X56. The only thing now is the rifle. I'll have to see if I can try a few rifles, I guess thats the hardest part is getting to actually try different types. As you say hopefully it's a long term investment so I'm in no great rush.