Rifle upgrade?

[LandLakes]

Potentially looking into getting my dad into a nice rifle package for a birthday gift, and I’m just looking to get some suggestions and insights. He’s getting a little older so looking for something reliable, easily packable, good looking, and that’s easy on the ears (hence a suppressor) and body.

Points to consider:
- .300 (or similar caliber). He already has a 7mm, and other smaller calibers.
- something lightweight that’s easy for him to pack, but nothing too light that really exacerbates the recoil.
- hoping to add a suppressor on for him as well, so something with a shorter barrel, likely don’t want it to exceed 30”
- he’s expressed interest in a weatherby backcountry. We need to go test some more to get a feel for what else he likes.
- he likes the synthetic stocks, but mostly for the weight trade off. He’s a little old school, so not sure he too big of a fan of ar style rifles but also likes a little more character than a classic wood stock.

I want to treat him to something nice, but I’m also not trying to break the bank. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[EastHumboldt]

My son got me a Tikka T3x in 30-06 about 7-8 years ago. I went out and bought myself two more. My fave is a T3x stainless 7mm-08 which I’ve dropped into a Stocky’s VG 2 carbon stock. That could be had for $1000 or less for the rifle and $600 for the stock. If you watch the sales, you could save 3-400 off that.

 

[Cherokeeguide]

He already has a 7mm and smaller calibers.

What's he going to shoot that is going to notice a .024" difference in bullet shank diameter?

Why not ask your Pops what he wants? He knows more about that than anyone on this forum is likely to.

Barring that, I think most old geezers like me would find a use for a truly high-grade .22 LR, like a Winchester 52, or something along those lines.

 

[j_huck]

Unless you narrow it down a bit more there are so many options it'll make your head spin. At the end of the day your two biggest factors are your budget and your dad's preferences in a rifle. Tikka is going to be the best bang for your buck as far as factory rifles go in terms of reliability and practicality. However not everyone will find them attractive to look at ... The higher end models do have cerakote, laminate, fluting, etc

They also have a ton of aftermarket support so if you want to go with a different stock, trigger, bolt knob etc.. it's very easy to do so. Eurooptic has a t3x 308 threaded 16" barrel with a wood stock for just over 1k. That fits your criteria without modification. You could also pick up a cheaper model with a synthetic stock and drop the barrelled action into something like an MDT timbr core if you're set on a wood stock but want a more vertical grip without getting too spendy.

If you're set on a 30 cal Tikkas come in 308, 30-06, 300wm, and 300wsm. There are plenty of other options and directions you can go with this bergara, Savage, ruger etc. This just my recommendation for how I'd approach your idea. Hope this helps!

 

[hereinaz]

Go .308 in a short action for weight. No reason to go with anything bigger.