I am looking into purchasing a new rifle, to be used primarily for whitetail. By reading many of these topics, it would appear I am far less familiar with the pro's and con's of many calibers and manufacturers than many of this site's members. I have narrowed down my options to 3 choices. Ruger M77 in 6mm, M70 Ultimate Shadow in 25 wssm or Tikka T3 in 25 wssm.
I suppose these may seem somewhat odd choices, but I am fairly sure this is stock I will be choosing from. The only purchasing info I am bringing into this is basically from handling these rifles at shops. I would appreciate any further input on the pro's and con's of each gun.
I used to own a M77 in 6mm. It was glass bedded and had an aftermarket trigger, much of what I read is recommended on this site. I purchased it used and could not have been more pleased by its performance. I would be lying to say it would shoot <1" groups at 100 yds, but I would attribute far more of that to my own abilities than to accuracy of the gun. I liked the old tang safety, and I loved the way it carried in the woods. I did not have the ultra-light, and I believe the extra weight contributed to its very manageable recoil and therefore made me a better shot with it. To some extent, I can't understand the overall rejection of the 6mm rem caliber, as I have seen it do some of the most horrific damage to whitetails of all popular whitetail cartriges.
Perhaps the reason I am so impressed with the kill performance of the 6mm is due to me doing my part: the deer taken were with well placed shots, which I suppose once that is accomplished, caliber becomes less relevant.
My father just purchased a Tikka in 270 wsm, which I have developed likes and dislikes for. What I like - I don't think I've ever handled a gun that feeds shells as smoothly and consistantly as the T3. It feels like part of your hand when you pick it up, and it effectively becomes weightless to me when carrying it. What I dislike - 2 position safety? Why did that do that? Maybe its silly, but I really like the safe-but-boltable option. I think it makes sense and I wish the T3 came with it. I also was less than pleased with the recoil, maybe I'm just spoiled - shooting a heavy 6mm, but I would put the T3 270 wsm recoil on par with some ultra-light .308 recoils. I know even those are considered 'low-recoil' but, me personally, that amount of recoil affects my accuracy.
As for the Winchester, I know nothing besides I really could get used to holding that in my hand. It just melts into your hand, and it has a 3 position safe.
I am going to drop $300-$400 into optics, as I have seen from my experience, that for a me, the scope is at least half of the gun. I have -without exception- always seen a direct correlation between the quality of the scope and the performance of the gun. Perhaps I am putting 'chrome wheels on a tractor' but it has never let me down.
I guess I went a little long-winded, I just want you to know the factors weighing on my decision. Basically I am looking for excellent accuracy in a small (~.25) caliber. Weight of the gun isn't necessarily a factor, and I would prefer a 24" barrel. I will be fitting it with premium optics. And low recoil and up to 200 yd performance is a must. I like .243's but I have liked 6mm more. I don't know anything about shortmags, and haven't deveoped any opinions on that yet. Don't really want to get into the realm of 30 caliber recoils. What direction should I be looking?
I appreciate your time. Thanks.
