Thread: Explaining Brands

Originally Posted by SGR

but Im lost as to what brands better .

Is it a case of the more you spend the better the rifle ?

If you have ever been invested in another hobby you would no doubt know that there is no such thing as a blanket "better" (or "good" or "best" for that matter).

There are broadly two several desirable attributes in a rifle: accuracy and cosmetic quality.

Accuracy is a pretty simple concept. Every brand has produced accurate rifles. The trick is, which brand produce accurate rifles MORE CONSISTANTLY. This comes down to 3 things: choice of material, choice between tolerance and cost, and production method. Some brands tend to use better materials, have tighter tolerances, and/or production methods tend to produce more accurate rifles (and save money on stock or packaging, for example). Savage for example uses button rifling, this process produces more accurate rifle but at the same time causes more fouling than other methods. CZ for example tend to use very good steel and has a reputation of good craftsmanship. To get a feel of which brand is more accurate you should not ask for people's opinion in forums because everyone will tell you the gun they own is accurate. Read gun reviews with accuracy comparisons. Generally, for your price range, I would say Savage and Tikka T3 are the most accurate (on average). Trigger also plays a big part in accuracy, some brands has better designed factory trigger than others. Tikka's is quite good. Savage uses a complex dual trigger design called accu-trigger. Some other brands has followed that path in recent years.

interesting article on accuracy.

https://www.gunsamerica.com/blog/min...ut-of-the-box/

By cosmetic quality I mean things like fit and finish, the quality and texture of wood and paint, etc. To be honest you will not find any Western European or American stars in your price range. Eastern European, South American, and Russian may have something with decent cosmetic quality, but they generally are less accurate and quality control is slightly less consistent. Most rifles with good cosmetic quality are 2000 + for bare rifle. Common people brands include Kimber, Styer, Sako, etc...