Choosing a 6.5 CM. 2k budget.

[Silviuswolf]

Long time lurker/first time poster. I am new to longer range shooter and looking for my first hunting rifle for out West. I've decided on a 6.5 CM due to a lot of reading and Form's podcast. Now I just need help deciding on the rifle. My budget is around 2k and I've been eyeballing the sig sauer cross. Any thoughts or recommendations? Thank you for all your knowledge and time.

 

[KY_coop]

My buddy has the cross. It's a nice gun. Shot factory 140 and 147 eldm sub moa for 5 shots. Folding stock and short barrel make it handy to pack around and lightweight. If I wasn't having fun building rifles, that would probably be the one I'd buy for hunting.

 

[nm.otter]

One of these, a carbon hunting stock of your choice, and 400 rounds of practice ammo.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’ll be that guy and say….get a tikka. For the money you have, you could get a tikka and a silencer.

 

[Idaho Mtns]

Long time lurker/first time poster. I am new to longer range shooter and looking for my first hunting rifle for out West. I've decided on a 6.5 CM due to a lot of reading and Form's podcast. Now I just need help deciding on the rifle. My budget is around 2k and I've been eyeballing the sig sauer cross. Any thoughts or recommendations? Thank you for all your knowledge and time.

The Cross has sold well. In that price range, you might also want to look at the Seekins PH3.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I would get a Tikka and an SWFA scope for about 2/3 of that budget. Then get a good hunting suppressor.

There is a sale on them over at Eurooptic. https://www.eurooptic.com/tikka-t3x...0b21fY2FsaWJlcl9vcl9nYXVnZT02LjUrQ3JlZWRtb29y

____________________
“Keep on keepin’ on…”

 

[06 SB]

Tombstone Tactical has a Rem 700 SPS Stainless in 6.5CM for $750ish. Throw that in a good stock/chassis, add a Triggertech and you have great hunting rifle and plenty of cash leftover.

 

[satchamo]

Tombstone Tactical has a Rem 700 SPS Stainless in 6.5CM for $750ish. Throw that in a good stock/chassis, add a Triggertech and you have great hunting rifle and plenty of cash leftover.

50% chance it’s not great.

Buy a tikka

 

[Demlockian]

As mentioned above, the Tikka series rifle is a great value at around $800. With your remaining budget, you could get the barrel threaded and add a suppressor (if wanted). I have two different Tikka rifles, a 308- and 300-Win Mag. Both shoot around 1/2-3/4 MOA at 200 yards and have never had a hiccup.

I also have a 6.5 CM Kimber Mountain Ascent that I bought for backpack style hunts (yes, I'm a gram counter), which allowed me to get my 7-day sheep hunt setup below 40 lbs. However, I stopped carrying it... It doesn't have the energy (in my opinion) for long-range western hunting. I now carry my slightly heavier Christensen Arms 300 Win Mag with 165 grain Barnes TTSX (same rifle/bullet used in my profile pic).

 

[RWT]

Go review 5 custom or semi custom builders and see who uses what action. Most are a 700 footprint, but ARE NOT Remington's or Bergara. They are building off custom actions or their own design. Seekins for example.

Look at Hill Country rifles in New Braunfels. They moved from Rem 700 to Tikka's for their semi-custom builds. This should tell you something about the quality of Tikka's.

I would go Tikka if I want to tweak the stock or like to tinker to fit to me. I would go Seekins if I bought off the shelf and hunted that week.

Tikka's are likely the top of the big box store buys for overall performance and bang for the buck.

 

[Tanner]

One of these, a carbon hunting stock of your choice, and 400 rounds of practice ammo.

This…. That’s a wicked deal. Bed it into a VG, throw a 10x or 3-9 SWFA on top and grab a good suppressor and you’re laughing.

 

[wind gypsy]

I tend to lean tikka on these as well but if I were a factory ammo only shooter i'd have a little pause with a shortish barreled 6.5 cm tikka because the tikka 6.5 barrels are slow. One might say "what's 80 FPS" but when the 24" barrels produce 2600 FPS with factory hornady 140/143 eld, I'd have a hard time getting excited about 2500 FPS from a 20" version.

If weight is important (and it is for most), I'd also consider a seekins PH2 at closeout pricing. If it's not as important, you can get a Ph3 for some more $ with the unnecessary 1/2 pound added weight.

 

[Drenalin]

I finally bought my first 6.5, and my first Tikka, over the past few weeks.

I got the T3x compact because it was cheap. Dropping it off to have the barrel cut to 18" and threaded tomorrow, then I'll put it in a used KRG Bravo I got from a member here, put a used SWFA 10x42 on it that I also got from a member here. Add on the MDT polymer mags, and a couple hundred rounds of PSA ammo (140-gr Sabre Black Tips) to get me started, and I'm right on $1,800.

I'll cerakote it at some point - so maybe another couple hundred?

It's going to be bumping 10.5 pounds, but assuming it shoots, I'll be pretty damn happy with that.

 

[nettereo16]

I’m in the same boat as the OP and settled on a 6.5cm Tikka to replace my big boomers that I’ve never shot well. Going to 18” or 20” and already have a suppressor and a SWFA.

Is the Roughtech superlite linked above from Euro for $950 the easy button instead of getting a normal superlite and cutting down locally? 20” and cerakote with superlite barrel and fluted bolt and oversized handle. Will keep stock and add vertical grip

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I’m in the same boat as the OP and settled on a 6.5cm Tikka to replace my big boomers that I’ve never shot well. Going to 18” or 20” and already have a suppressor and a SWFA.

Is the Roughtech superlite linked above from Euro for $950 the easy button instead of getting a normal superlite and cutting down locally? 20” and cerakote with superlite barrel and fluted bolt and oversized handle. Will keep stock and add vertical grip

That is probably what I would do. Both the reputable gunsmiths around me charge $140-160 dollars for a threading job. And both of them charge more if he has to take the barrel off the action to do the job (something to do with how the press holds it if you want to go under 21").

I only have the one I have because I got it so much under list price. And I was initially quoted $80 to do the cut down and threading job, but then I saw a sample of some of that guy's work and ran away as fast as possible. He's out of business now, so I won't name and shame him.

 

[patagonialuke]

I was in a similar situation to you and went with the Cross. I've been happy with it so far, but I'm the opposite of an expert — just offering my thought process, not saying I made the best choices.

As a new shooter, it shoots better than I can; I imagine that'd be the case with any of the rifles suggested by the more knowledgeable folks here. Was worried about the reports that the Cross was ammo-picky, but of the 7 factory options I've tried so far, all have averaged between 1-2" for 5-shot groups.

Main reason I settled on it over a Tikka was that the Cross has most of the features that I figured I'd want to upgrade to over time. Namely, a short & threaded barrel, folding & adjustable stock, and easy attachments for bipod & tripod.

Going the Tikka route would've saved me some money. It just would've taken longer. I opted for the Cross mostly out of convenience, and because I wanted to be able to practice with my complete hunting setup as quickly as possible.

 

[Schmo]

A Tikka, hands down. Don’t even have to think about it. They simply work!

 

[Justin Crossley]

Tikka is the easy button if you want a rifle that will be accurate and problem free. They just work.

 

[Justin Crossley]

A Tikka, hands down. Don’t even have to think about it. They simply work!

Ha! We posted almost the same thing at the same time.

 

[06 SB]

50% chance it’s not great.

Buy a tikka

I need to play the lottery then because everyone of the new RemArms 700s have shot really well. A Sendero and a SPS BDL both in 6.5CM are incredible shooters. I have a 7mm RM that I am working on now to see how good it is. Factory ammo shows promise so I should be able to load a really good hunting load.

Not arguing against the Tikka. It's reputation is awesome but I would not call a new Remington a 50/50 chance.