New rifle decision

[haywoodhunter]

Thanks for the replies so far, I expected to see the votes of confidence in the tikka 243 option.
Was not quite expecting the response to the vortex that im seeing. Im not claiming its unwarranted just bummed that it seems I've thrown away money by purchasing it. (Was under the impression it was at least serviceable for my use case).

Does shooting this old Rem 722 in .300 savage with a better optic make more sense than the tikka with vortex? Will be without a suppressor.

Also slightly disappointed in no love for the howa/krg bravo combo. That one got me excited to shoot/own. Admittedly I often stray from what's popular. Must be a middle child thing.

Seems like there’s some love here for a Howa barreled action and chassis. But not like the tikka.

Far as my input- I’ve never hunted elk but within the last year I’ve sold leupolds and vortex’s and bought trijicons and a tikka. The trijicon purchases were based largely on the testing here.

I had one vortex that I was able to demonstrate that it would put a shot/ two shots/ a few shots- to poa. Then the next shot/ two shots/ a few shots - would be 3 inches low at 60 yards (all the room I had to shoot the day I realized what was happening). Then it would be back to poa. And no I didn’t sell this one, I wouldn’t do that to anyone lol it went in the trash.

 

[Chris in TN]

Thanks for the replies so far, I expected to see the votes of confidence in the tikka 243 option.
Was not quite expecting the response to the vortex that im seeing. Im not claiming its unwarranted just bummed that it seems I've thrown away money by purchasing it. (Was under the impression it was at least serviceable for my use case).

Does shooting this old Rem 722 in .300 savage with a better optic make more sense than the tikka with vortex? Will be without a suppressor.

You can likely sell the Vortex and get most of your money back from it. Even here, on this site, people regularly buy and sell scopes that fail the drop tests. The majority of the shooting world ignores such stuff - whether it's a good idea or not. You can look around here and see plenty of people ignoring or even flaunting the drop tests as if their own personal experience with a handful of scopes from any given brand, carried more weight than the constant failures some brands show in drop tests. You have to make that decision for yourself. I have numerous didn't-pass-the-drop scopes that I am not swapping out anytime soon.....but I'd no longer take a Vortex on an out of state hunt. YMMV, of course. I did shoot an elk with a Viper PST. Like most things, they work fine until they don't.

I'd far and away prefer the old 722 with a better scope, than the Tikka with a Vortex.

I'd prefer the Tikka with a good scope *and* a can but at the end of the day if I didn't already have suppressors I guess I wouldn't know what I was missing.

 

[Tobe_B]

If I were buying a new rifle today for what you’re describing, I’d be doing the Howa mini 6mm ARC barreled action in a mdt lss chassis, topped with an NXS 2.5-10.

I have a Howa mini in the kryptic stock and it’s a good shooter, but the stocks not the best. My wife loves it so it stays as her setup. Mine is also the 22” barrel which may very seriously get chopped and rethreaded to 16”. Tikka also makes a sweet rifle, so you wouldn’t be going wrong there at all.

 

[IDVortex]

Build a 6ARC. upper and top the AR off with a SWFA.

Or get a Howa Mini Action in 6arc, choose your stock and still stick a SWVA on it.

6arc is light recoil, even series with a can, meets the 6mm restrictions, and can still kill at range.

 

[wheels291x]

Ill definitely be upgrading my optic, thats going to be my first priority. As stated (which absolutely makes sense) it wouldn't matter the rifle if the optic doesnt hold zero in a worst case scenario. The diamondback will either get sold or mounted to a mostly target rifle where if it gets dropped and loses zero the only thing I'll be out is a few rounds and a piece of paper. Excited to dive down the optics rabbit hole. (Already started and liking the NF Nx8, Shv and trijicon credo and Huron lines) any input on FFP vs SFP?

I had been quite interested in howas 6mm arc offerings. Was a little concerned about that round in a gas gun and liked the extra performance from the bolt guns.

The goal is to get something within the next few months and get very accustomed to it and increasingly proficient with it to be confident with a 400-500 yd max shot.