new 300 wsm

im looking at getting rid of my tikka. its a 300 wsm and still shoots mint. but just feel like a bit of an upgrade. options are really between the browning x-bolt, sako a7 or kimber montana 8400. anyone had much experience with these? im still 90% sure il stick with the same calibre im pretty happy with that side of things(dont try push me for a 300 winmag or 7mm rem lol) swaying towards the x-bolt at this stage. there are a lot of mixed reviews on all of them though on u.s forums, i guess thats americans though.

Kimber. Jeez the others arent in the same league.

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Kimber mate

in what respect is the kimber so much better?

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Originally Posted by Jpayne

in what respect is the kimber so much better?

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Because when someone by chance gets one that actually shoots ok, they can't stop talking about it. Its Kimbers' cunning plan of reverse psychology. They make every second one a dud, so it makes an ordinary one look great :thumbsup:

Kimbers have a nice action and trigger and have a nice lightweight stock on it to start with and all of mine have been great shooters including my 6.5x300 WSM that abe built for me, few other guys I know have them aswell in 7mm WSM and love them.
Mate of mine had an xbolt in 7mm rem mag that just wouldn't shoot ended up in the parts bin lol but hey it's all personal choice/opinion always good to see them all to see what you like the look and feel of.

My bro has a kimber 300wsm. Beautiful gun but kicks more than my 300wm.
Sako finnlight should have a mention I reckon! That's what id love one day

Im not spending $3200 on a...from what iv seen, not that impressive rifle. Yeah the finnlight is nice. But at that price il build something better I think lol. Sticking at $1500-2000 for this one

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Originally Posted by Tussock

What makes the Kimber shoot badly?

Because based on the one I had for a bit, they are superb in every other respect. It was a .260, if I had the money and the need I would buy one tomorrow.

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They had a rep for a while for poor accuracy, in the Montana line, I never heard of problems in the other (albeit significantly less common in NZ) rifles. Haven't heard much for a while, I assumed people stopped buying them.

It could have been

-People having difficulty shooting them well due to the extreme light weight of the rifle
-People having difficulty finding a load which shoots well due to the extreme thinness of the barrel (there is a reason that benchrest rifles don't have barrels of a #1 contour)
-An actual QC issue of some sort (which isn't unknown with Kimber 1911 pistols, they have been in the past considered by some people quite overpriced for the quality and unreliable)

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Originally Posted by Tussock

Also what does "accuracy issue" mean?

Internet accuracy, or real accuracy? 2" or better?

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Let's stop using inches. For anything. Ever.

I would look at the Winchester model 70 before any of those, esp the Bell and Carlson stocked extreme weather.
Nothing wrong with the other choices thought,

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Originally Posted by Jpayne

im looking at getting rid of my tikka. its a 300 wsm and still shoots mint. but just feel like a bit of an upgrade. options are really between the browning x-bolt, sako a7 or kimber montana 8400. anyone had much experience with these? im still 90% sure il stick with the same calibre im pretty happy with that side of things(dont try push me for a 300 winmag or 7mm rem lol) swaying towards the x-bolt at this stage. there are a lot of mixed reviews on all of them though on u.s forums, i guess thats americans though.

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sako 85 finnlight if you get a A7 you might aswell buy a tikka!!!...........again.

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Originally Posted by southernman

I would look at the Winchester model 70 before any of those, esp the Bell and Carlson stocked extreme weather.
Nothing wrong with the other choices thought,

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I like your thinking,very good action.

I would rather a tikka than an a7. As good but less cash. Yup ive got a winchester extreme weather its a little heavy but not excesive very nice rifle. You may be hard pushed to find one in 300wsm though.

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Originally Posted by gimp

Let's stop using inches. For anything. Ever.

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10cm does sound more impressive to the girls than four inches

I should qualify my little piss take about Kimbers. The early Montana short actions had a bad run, especially with 7-08 & 260. In fact I think that they stopped producing 260 in the end. Some of them were inconsistent accuracy wise and had feeding problems. The 308 and 243 seemed ok in the accuracy department. By accuracy I mean that the "faulty" ones were nearly impossible to get to shoot groups under 1.5 inches. I had personal experience with 2 of these, and it left a bad taste. Buggers of things.

I fully accept that these problems seem to have been fixed.

I have a Kimber Montana 300wsm. And I must of got one that shoots well. Awesome light weight gun shoots great

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Originally Posted by Jpayne

Im not spending $3200 on a...from what iv seen, not that impressive rifle. Yeah the finnlight is nice. But at that price il build something better I think lol. Sticking at $1500-2000 for this one

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I keep forgetting how expensive your rifles are there. Here both finnlight and montana are just over $2k new

Finnlight should be $2200-2400 here, we get fucked by Beretta NZ (thanks, BerettaNZ), it's almost worth importing yourself one from somewhere else if you want it.

I am not sure that any of the replacements you mention are upgrades. A good Tikka is as good a rifle as you get. A Sauer 202 outback would maybe be an upgrade, but at what price? Stick with the Tikka.

Here you go.

Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker.300WSM | Trade Me

A mates got the X bolt in 308 and it seems to be going well.

Put a can on the Kimber and they seem to tighten the groups up (Headcases Montana 243) a lot. Mine (Montana 260) had the feed issue but that got fixed. It isn't a tack driver, but then I got a bit hacked off the front and it makes a great bush slut which is where I do my deer stalking.

I'd never buy another finnlight. Simple reason is they are just not worth what we get robbed for them. Sauer at the same price wins by a mile.

X bolt is crap

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Originally Posted by rogers.270

X bolt is crap

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Because?

Mine's fine.

This is my A7 the stock its tinny shit but it feels good and shoots better. I just epoxied some carbon fibre in the fore end channel hopefully fixes it.
if you are spending $2000 go tikka and put an after market stock on it. Tikka + bell & carson $1600 and that would be way better than a A7

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