Gwion wrote:bigfellascott wrote:
Thanks for that G, will any of that make any real meaningful difference in a hunting rifle or is it just another one of those sales gimmicks that is often portrayed as something special and a must have to be able to hunt better?
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If the screw on your bolt stop fails I can assure you it will make a big dint in your hunting trip.
As for the rest: the way I see it is if you have the budget for up to date engineering on your rifle, why not take advantage of it. The thread is, after all, about Tikka v Lithgow, not "best value for money gun".
Hell, if I had the cash I'd pay a lot more for a rifle than what a Tikka or Lithgow cost because I like the feel of well made, well designed and aesthetically pleasing equipment. Same reason I have rather pricey fishing gear.
I have cash flow issues with a large mortgage and limited income and developing business so I have a Howa. Yes, to works and is very accurate, especially since I got it trued up and rebarrelled, but it is a bit clunky and I am always wondering when that bolt release will fail again.
I have a number of fly rods in the same weight. One is a cheapy but decent rod with an $80 reel on it. One is a Sage with a nice reel on it that would cost well over $1000 to replace. They both do effectively the same thing and neither makes me a better fisherman but which do you think is nicer to use and which do you think gets used the most and which is just a back up for when z rodless friend wants to come for a fish?
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Yeah I had a Sako and sold it and bought a Tikka, the Sako was ok in some ways but didn't live up to the hype and for me it was just dead money sitting in the safe as I preferred to use my Howas to be honest (I know I'm weird) but it's the truth, I had absolutely no faith in the Sako what so ever, every time I used it I couldn't hit s**t with it and in the end that just wasn't going to cut the mustard with me so I flicked it and traded up to the Tikka, it too isn't anything special at this stage (not real flash accuracy wise) but I think that is down to the barrel touching in the channel so I've decided to remove the wood stock and I've got a Lam Tikka Stock sitting there to try out (the wood was too nice IMO to be bashing around the bush with anyway and it would Piss me off if I'd damaged it so the Lam Stock was the go for my needs, I also have one of the Plastikka stocks here to test out on it which is new but will try the Lam Stock first as I prefer those.
One thing I can say is I've never been worried about my Howa's not working, some are over 30yrs old and still function like the day I bought them, mind you I don't treat my gear roughly and look after it all well for the most part (not saying you treat your gear roughly by the way) for me fancy isn't something I worry about, it has to function and be reliable and able to get the job done, I don't fine any fascination or desire to own over priced gear especially when it comes to firearms as I've found the basic stuff does the job just fine and hasn't as yet ever let me down, unlike the expensive stuff which as left me feeling cold when it comes to it's performance in comparison to the cheaper stuff - one would rightly think that paying 2 or 3 times the prices for something would see that particular product superior in performance to the cheaper stuff but sadly that hasn't been the case at all, quite the opposite in fact and I know of a few people with Fancy Sakos and the like who have had to send them back as the barrels were stuffed straight from the factory, to me they are way over priced for what you really get and i think people are being charged a premium for the name these days, in days gone by yes they were superior in their performance and craftsmanship over the stuff back then but that gap has significantly closed now to the point where spending heaps doesn't see any real improvements in performance it just gets you a prettier bit of wood or shinier barrel type thing and trust me when I say there are plenty of unhappy Sako owners out there when it comes to that ejection problem they are know for, can't say I've ever had any such probs with the good ol reliable Howas of mine, they may not be as "refined" but they sure do shoot well and get the job done for peanuts which is right up my alley as I hate wasting good money on something only to find it doesn't live up to the advertising hype.
I've got two mates who work in gun shops and even they say the same thing that the Sakos are way over priced when you compare the performance etc of the Tikkas - they just buy Tikkas as the extra $$ for a Sako doesn't really see any real tangible benefits performance wise compared to the Tikkas - each to their own of course and buy whatever floats ya boat
Anyway G thanks again for the reply and happy shooting.
