Tikka T3x Superlite .30-06 vs Seeking PH3 300win

[LearningTheElkWay]

Brand new (big game) hunter and going to get my first rifle soon for next season. I have never shot a bolt-action before, but will be going elk hunting with a mentor next year (long-time hunter, ex military and does lots of long range shooting). Basically I want a rifle I can learn on and really hone my skills and hunt mostly for elk and mule deer. I was leaning toward the Tikka for the price point and versatility, but my mentor was about the Seekins being an awesome rifle. Given my situation, what would you all recommend? The price difference is about $1k, I plan on putting a Vortex Viper PST Gen II 3-15x 44mm Rifle Scope - EBR-7C MRAD scope on it. I think regardless of rifle, I'd get a muzzle brake on either to help with recoil.

Tikka: Go with this and get a good setup, learn lots on it and use it for a few years. Once I get a lot better, I can make this my dedicated deer rifle and get a better setup for just elk.

Seekins: Start off with a high-end setup (by my standards), and just learn on a single caliber and use it for both deer and elk. Invest early and just have a do-it-all rifle for what I want.

I am open to other options but have done lots of research on the two and they seem like great options.

 

[Lurkin1]

Are you dead set on these two options? If not you may rethink your cartridge choices. I think you choice in rifles is great. But maybe step on down to a 7mm-08 or something that recoils and costs quite a bit less to shoot, and this will make your practice and learning process a bit more effective and enjoyable.

It's not that you couldn't handle the recoil it's just a lot more difficult to learn to shoot when your focus right before the trigger breaks is making sure your braced for impact. Not to mention the financial savings of a little smaller round that is still more than capable of taking an elk with the right bullet.

If I were in your shoes my first rifle would be a tikka in 6.5 creedmoor or 7mm-08. And then once you learn the basics and if you feel undergunned on elk later down the road get a seekins in 300 win mag.

 

[LearningTheElkWay]

Are you dead set on these two options? If not you may rethink your cartridge choices. I think you choice in rifles is great. But maybe step on down to a 7mm-08 or something that recoils and costs quite a bit less to shoot, and this will make your practice and learning process a bit more effective and enjoyable.

It's not that you couldn't handle the recoil it's just a lot more difficult to learn to shoot when your focus right before the trigger breaks is making sure your braced for impact. Not to mention the financial savings of a little smaller round that is still more than capable of taking an elk with the right bullet.

If I were in your shoes my first rifle would be a tikka in 6.5 creedmoor or 7mm-08. And then once you learn the basics and if you feel undergunned on elk later down the road get a seekins in 300 win mag.

Not 100% married to those two options. After going down a rabbit hole last night, part of me is now leaning 7mm PRC Seekins to have it be my do-it-all rifle. I looked into 6.5 CM Tikka but so much of what I read was that it was really not great for Elk. What makes you say the 6.5 is better than 30-06?

 

[eamyrick]

My tikka 30-06 is the most accurate rifle I’ve owned, that includes numerous customs and issued rifles that cost 5x as much and weighed over 10lbs. I like custom rifles, actually having a Model 70 30-06 built at Brown Precision now, but I have no illusions it will be more accurate or functional than my Tikka.

And for your beginner circumstances I’d probably go with 308 or 6.5 instead of 30-06 and slap a Nightforce 2.5-10 on it and be done.

 

[LearningTheElkWay]

My tikka 30-06 is the most accurate rifle I’ve owned, that includes numerous customs and issued rifles that cost 5x as much and weighed over 10lbs. I like custom rifles, actually having a Model 70 30-06 built at Brown Precision now, but I have no illusions it will be more accurate or functional than my Tikka.

And for your beginner circumstances I’d probably go with 308 or 6.5 instead of 30-06 and slap a Nightforce 2.5-10 on it and be done.

Is going with 6.5 really that much better for recoil? What if I was to add a suppressor or brake the a 30-06 on the Tikka?

 

[eamyrick]

Is going with 6.5 really that much better for recoil? What if I was to add a suppressor or brake the a 30-06 on the Tikka?

There is a fair argument that less recoil will develop you better as a shooter and that 6.5/308 is plenty for elk/deer. I tend to agree though I still prefer a 30-06 for all around hunting. Others have had great success with much smaller calibers. I shot my 6x6 bull this year with a 30-06 ELD-x. Bull took 3 rounds, both lungs and heart 400 ish and I had to put him down trotting through an opening in a meadow 5 minutes later with a neck shot.

I think suppression is a great idea. 6.5 prc retains more speed so you can cut it down to 19-20 and run a can and still have a handy package. Also tons of 6.5 prc factory ammo available. Really no bad answer, good luck!

 

[robtattoo]

Brand new (big game) hunter and going to get my first rifle soon for next season. I have never shot a bolt-action before, but will be going elk hunting with a mentor next year (long-time hunter, ex military and does lots of long range shooting).

Please do yourself a favor & don't start of with ANYTHING beginning with a '3'
It's incredibly difficult to learn when you're anticipating recoil, and you will anticipate the recoil. Feel free to progress to a larger caliber later on, but my advice would 100% be to start with a .223 or .243 AT THE MOST. Learn to shoot first, learn to mitigate recoil later.

Anything in a 6mm/.243, 6.5mm & 7mm short action is plenty for elk at realistic hunting ranges (first time out, honestly <200yds)

This is from someone who learned to shoot with old, British .303s & had to spend a long time re-learning how to shoot WELL much later in life.

 

[bnewt3]

Everything is a tradeoff.

You are brand new so you need to plan to spend alot of time at the range.

Most brakes are not fun to shoot much due to the blast that is redirected toward you(thats how they reduce recoil). Suppressors offer significant recoil reduction(not as much as brakes) but also add significant length and some weight to the rifle which isnt ideal for long walks where elk live. The barrel can be shortened to make up for the added length and weight, but then you lose some velocity, which reduces your effective range.

Yes there is a significant difference in recoil from .30-06, 7PRC, or 300WM to 7-08/6.5CM. I would imagine a light mountain rifle in 300WM is not terribly comfortable to shoot for the vast majority of people.

People are taking moose with 22 Creed so yes, 6.5 Creed is DEFINITELY capable on elk. Shot placement and making sure you are within the effective range the bullet will operate properly(hunting bullets have a minimum FPS they need to be traveling at impact to expand properly) are key.

6.5CM ammo can also be CHEAP, again you will need to be shooting alot to build those fundamentals and ammo costs add up FAST. Also, ALOT of your range time can be spent with cheap ammo, building fundamentals. Then when you have solid fundamentals, you can move up to "better" ammo specific to your hunting needs.

It is much easier to build proper fundamentals with a smaller cartridge and move up later. BUT you may never need to move up.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Brakes are for vehicles, not rifles. Adding more noise or blast is just changing one evil to another.

A .243 will do everything you need. There’s no shoulder-fired cartridge that will make up for poor shot placement.

Take a look at the Sauer 100 or Tikka in .243, 6.5 CM, or 7mm08. EuroOptic has some good deals on them. With a quality scope like a SWFA or Trijicon, it will be good for your entire life.

Add a Zero Gravity 6.5 or 7, or OG 6.5 and you’ll have a superb hunting system that is a pleasure to shoot.

 

[bnewt3]

To answer your actual question:
Im not a high end rifle kinda guy. IMO nobody needs more than a Tikka. Great rifle out of the box, lots of aftermarket support so you can upgrade it as you see fit.

As someone said in another thread "if I cant get it done with my Tikka, I cant get it done"

 

[bnewt3]

Another thing to consider is before you hunt you establish a hard limit on shot distance for each shooting position. IMO you should knock at least 20% off the distance you feel "comfortable" at the range (comfortable should be something easily definable like "I can make a kill shot 100% of the time at 300yds, beyond 300 my hit rate really starts to fall off). Be honest with yourself.

I can personally attest to regret for taking a shot I shouldnt have and never finding the animal. It still knaws at me and it was at least 10 years ago.

Consistently shooting 1MOA at the range quickly turns into 2MOA or more in the field due to heart rate, heavy breathing, less-than-ideal shooting position, cold, wind, rain, snow, visibility, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.

 

[fmyth]

Not 100% married to those two options. After going down a rabbit hole last night, part of me is now leaning 7mm PRC Seekins to have it be my do-it-all rifle. I looked into 6.5 CM Tikka but so much of what I read was that it was really not great for Elk. What makes you say the 6.5 is better than 30-06?

My first "elk rifle" was a .300WM. In hindsight it was a big mistake. Too much recoil for a new shooter and expensive ammo. I upgraded to Tikka in 6.5C and have now killed 5 elk and 6 mule deer at 300-400 yds with factory 143 ELDX ammo.

If I had it to do over I'd buy a Tikka Roughtech Superlite in 6.5C with a 20" threaded barrel and a SWFA 3x9.

 

[robtattoo]

Ok, as a caveat the entire scope of my research was a 10 second Google search & this is by no means a comprehensive study, but here's a quick indication of recoil energy (although it's missing the velocity. It's just the best visual example ii found)



You can pretty much bracket the .243 with 6CM & 6.5CM.
6.5PRC sits between .308 & .30-06 (according to 3 other calculators)

For experienced shooters 25ft/lb is the realistic upper limit of recoil energy before accuracy begins to be affected & accuracy trumps 'wallop/whomp/knockdown power' 100% of the time.

 

[blackhawk219]

I would have to agree with most everyone here. You will be fine with a 243 or 6.5 creed for elk (you can search the thread I linked below for real world examples of 243/6mm caliber being great for big game). I have a suppressed 308 and I love it, but I would switch to a 243 (smallest I can go in my state) right now if cost wasn't a factor. You can shoot all day without hurting your shoulder, see hits in your scope, it's flatter shooting, and kills the animals just as good as the 30 calibers/magnums.

As others have suggested, I would just get a tikka 243 threaded, add a suppressor, and put a SWFA 3-9 on it and you will be set.

Especially since you are new to rifles, having a low recoil/low blast setup (with a suppressor) will allow you to increase the quality and quantity of your practice. You can really hone in on your skills with this setup. And as anyone will tell you, shot placement matters way more than any magnum cartridge.

Thread '6mm /.243 hunting success on Big Game'

Oct 28, 2022

With the success of .223 and 6.5 threads on big game, thought I’d throw this one into the mix.

Show and detail your results harvesting big game (deer, bear, elk, moose, African game) using 6mm/.243 cartridges. Please detail bullet, MV, impact velocity, and whether hand load or factory ammo.

• BjornF16
• Replies: 2,736
• Forum: Firearms

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[keystone112]

Your rifle choices are solid, maybe add the Sauer 100 XT (as someone already mentioned).

Take a look at the 6.5 PRC.

The SWFA 3-15 is a scope you might also consider.

 

[youngbuck96]

You've opened up the Rokslide can of worms...

 

[youngbuck96]

I'll add that you can't go wrong with any of Seekins offerings, and their customer service is phenomenal. Lots of good advice here though, for what you intend to do, a lot of cartridges are sufficient. Pick the one that suits your needs the best, there is no free lunch.

 

[Ope]

All good advice, I’d add, save yourself some frustration and check out the scope evaluation thread as well. Personally I’d stick to SWFA, Trijicon and Nightforce.

 

[LearningTheElkWay]

I'll add that you can't go wrong with any of Seekins offerings, and their customer service is phenomenal. Lots of good advice here though, for what you intend to do, a lot of cartridges are sufficient. Pick the one that suits your needs the best, there is no free lunch.

Thank you, yeah I knew going into this there isn't a 100% single right answer and lots of variables. After reading all the info, it does seem to maybe go with a lighter cartridge and the Tikka over the Seekins and save $1000. Then use that to buy another rifle in the future in a different cartridge. Now I just need to decide between 6.5CM, 6.5PRC, 7mm-08, .243, .223...ugh lol, too many options.

 

[youngbuck96]

Throw them all in a hat and pick one, with it being your first rifle you won't have anything to compare it too anyway. My first dedicated deer rifle was a .308, and I love .308 to this day despite there being more "efficient" chamberings. But it all seriousness, a good bullet and good shot placement are what matters (which you can achieve with any cartridge). The biggest deciding factors between those cartridges are recoil sensitivity and energy at distance IMO. Figure out what characteristics you can't live without and that will dictate your decision.