Tikka or Browning

[mike1950]

Replacing My old Remington 7mm Mag wit either a Tikka or X-bolt. Any input would be appreciated. Looking for a little less recoil- Gear has improved a bunch since the 60's Thanks

 

[peaches]

Tikka is the easy answer. Caliber will depend on your intended use, but a 6.5 Creed would be great for targets and all but the larger game animals with low recoil.

 

[pharmfisher]

I'm somewhat confused why Tikka is so heavily recommended over x bolts. I own an x bolt, but have shot tikkas and will probably buy a Tikka next. But I cant see much of a difference between the 2. Both seem very accurate and cycle reliably. For $20 you can make the Browning trigger amazing. Is there something I'm missing? Honest question as I am by no means an expert.

 

[nobody]

Tikka wins in every long-term performance metric:

Better aftermarket support
Better trigger (from a reliability standpoint in inclement/crappy conditions)
Easy to re-barrel
Better scope mounting options

That said, I had an X Bolt Western Hunter in 6.5 creedmoor for about a year, and to this day it was the most accurate rifle I’ve EVER shot or owned. And I felt the factory stock on the x bolt was ergonomically a better fit to my body shape than the tikka that replaced it is.

That said, I don’t regret replacing the X bolt with a tikka, sheerly because I shoot enough that the “long term viability” of the tikka means a ton to me. If you’re more of a “hunting rifles are meant to be hunted with and not for practicing” camp, who buys 3 boxes of ammo when you buy the rifle and those 3 boxes last you 5-8 years, who will never shoot enough to shoot the barrel out on your rifle, then the X bolt is a great option.

But if you fall more in line with what we believe and champion here on rokslide (moderate recoiling cartridges, thousands of practice rounds per year, not afraid to need to rebarrel on a regular basis), the tikka is your huckleberry. I’m part of the second group, so to me it’s an easy decision: tikka is the only option.

 

[sbaker0029]

I'm somewhat confused why Tikka is so heavily recommended over x bolts. I own an x bolt, but have shot tikkas and will probably buy a Tikka next. But I cant see much of a difference between the 2. Both seem very accurate and cycle reliably. For $20 you can make the Browning trigger amazing. Is there something I'm missing? Honest question as I am by no means an expert.

I'd say it's mostly because of aftermarket support for the tikka over the browning, as to why they get recommended more. Plus there's just more reported data points on here of them just plain shooting and working flawlessly.
I own a few of both and I really like both of them. Next rifle I buy will probably be another tikka though.

OP, for the money out of the box for a tikka stainless lite is really hard to beat. You need to get two though set up identical, one in .223 for practice and another in 6.5cm or possibly 308 if the 6.5 doesn't float your boat.

 

[mike1950]

I am not much for changing stuff on guns. Will hunt with it. I do shoot hundreds of rounds with multiple guns. Seems like both are a quality rifle.

 

[pharmfisher]

Tikka wins in every long-term performance metric:

Better aftermarket support
Better trigger (from a reliability standpoint in inclement/crappy conditions)
Easy to re-barrel
Better scope mounting options

That said, I had an X Bolt Western Hunter in 6.5 creedmoor for about a year, and to this day it was the most accurate rifle I’ve EVER shot or owned. And I felt the factory stock on the x bolt was ergonomically a better fit to my body shape than the tikka that replaced it is.

That said, I don’t regret replacing the X bolt with a tikka, sheerly because I shoot enough that the “long term viability” of the tikka means a ton to me. If you’re more of a “hunting rifles are meant to be hunted with and not for practicing” camp, who buys 3 boxes of ammo when you buy the rifle and those 3 boxes last you 5-8 years, who will never shoot enough to shoot the barrel out on your rifle, then the X bolt is a great option.

But if you fall more in line with what we believe and champion here on rokslide (moderate recoiling cartridges, thousands of practice rounds per year, not afraid to need to rebarrel on a regular basis), the tikka is your huckleberry. I’m part of the second group, so to me it’s an easy decision: tikka is the only option.

That makes a lot of sense. I hunt/shoot modest distances (< 150 yards). I shoot a few times per year, just for the purpose of maintaining confidence for hunting. I will likely never blow out a barrel. I never do any aftermarket upgrades. But I go could see why Browning would be a disadvantage not having aftermarket components.

 

[ericacymcdonald]

What about a rebarrel and aftermarket stock for your old Remington, get exactly what you want

 

[Timjohnson11]

I believe the Xbolt is a better rifle out of the box. Tikka is a more capable rifle, with a wider spectrum of aftermarket support and upgrade capabilities. Hence the fanfare. That said, an X-Bolt McMillan (with a trigger spring upgrade) is about as nice a factory rifle as you’ll come across and you’re starting to see them down in the low $2k range right now given the release of the Xbolt 2..

(Seekins Havak PH2 would be better than both….)

 

[dv8pnt]

I have a tikka and an xbolt hunter in 6.5 creed. I like both

 

[BCD]

I would take an Xbolt over any Tikka.

 

[SamsonMan22]

I have had both and like both. Right now I’m shooting tikkas for many of the listed reasons above, I also have never had a bad one yet they just seem to shoot well. At this point I would not go back to x-bolts over the tikkas. In the end I did like the ergonomics of the factory x-bolt stock vs the tikka but that’s the only thing I truly liked better.

 

[180ls1]

Handle both, I like the brownings.

 

[HaydenB]

I’ve had both and im in the Browning camp. I don’t go crazy modifying any of my guns and I like the feel of the XBolt. They both can outshoot me so either is good in that regard.

 

[camelcluch]

I have a lefty a bolt I have been trying to find a stock for. Not too many options that aren’t overly expensive.

 

[KenLee]

I wouldn't trade one x-bolt for 5 Tikkas if I had to actually hunt with them.
X-bolt has better stock, better recoil pad, trigger is fine and if you don't like it, a $10 spring will make it as good as the Tikka. X-bolt handles better and they make a true short action receiver. Best feature is that the better safety is where God intended it to be. If I need to shoot fast, the animal will be dropping while someone with a Tikka is still trying to regain a shooting grip after finding the safety and pushing it off.