@Craig907 I thinknwe’re mostly on the same page, its maybe semantics Im reacting to. To be fair, over the past 20 years the US to Eu currency conversion has shifted over 30% to the negative if you are manufacturing and selling rifles from finland to the US…so more than half the price change from $500 to today isnt profit, its simply exchange rate. Beyond that, virtually no other products are holding prices from 15-20 years ago either, why should rifles be different? Dont know about anyone else but I haven't seen 1.99/dozen eggs or a $20,000 price tag on a brand new truck in a while. And, while I cant argue preference, everything you are saying is in line with my point—you summed up that your quibbles are preferences yourself. I dont disagree with that and I share much of your preference. Its the (probably unintentional) grouping them in with the rest of the problems in that post and the characterization of “cheaply made” (your words were: “
not inexpensive (not anymore), just “cheap”) that I disagree with, when these are also your own words (which I also agree with):
I think at least some people will equate your earlier “just cheap” characterization of tikkas with what you said about other brands—bad crowns, chatter marks on metal, 3-4moa precision in many examples, and outright defective guns. Im simply differentiating between “well made but with concessions to hit a price point” versus “cheaply made”, which to me is a major difference. So many people lament that manufacturers have stopped offering good quality BASIC no-frills products that dont cost an arm and a leg—functionally good products that make aesthetic or feature sacrifices to stay reasonably priced—well, here’s a perfect example of that, I think we should keep sight of it. If people want a good, smooth, reliable and accurate rifle, a tikka offers that. But if you prefer no molded or plastic parts, scaled action sizes and a nicely finished and checkered walnut or a carbon stock, well, break out the credit card, that $800 price point isnt where they're going to find it from any manufacturer.