I've been thinking about swapping my Hawkeye .308 for a while now. It shoots good, but has a few imperfections.
Length of pull is about a cm too long (for me, not the rifles fault) and it's slightly front heavy.
I was thinking of dropping down to a 7mm-08 for the recoil benefit too. I broke my shoulder reeeeal good a while ago, taking a few shots hunting is fine, but .308 is borderline uncomfortable for me at the range when shooting more than a handful of shots.
If I was going to stick with a .308 I was thinking about a Tikka Hunter Fluted which has a straight end barrel that I could get a clamp on brake for. But I'm not really keen with mucking about with a clamp on...
Or a Ruger Scout, but TBH accuracy for them isn't great in my experience. I could only use it for moderate range hunting and it would be useless at the range.
Just found this though - The
Tikka CTR is a new model for 2014 and looks like a proper 'all purpose' rifle judging by the specs.
.308 + threaded barrel for a screw-on brake, easier to screw on/off that muck about with multiples screws and torque etc. with a clamp on brake.
20" semi-heavy barrel for accuracy, shorter barrel for the scrub is usefull and it will surely be a lot more accurate than the Scout and still good for fun at the range.
3.4kg so only about 300grams heavier than my Ruger for carrying around, but will be better balanced which I prefer. Won't be anything like lugging a 700 SPS Tactical around.
Raised cheek plate is nice too.
Good for a hunt, good for the range. I think I've found my new rifle.
What do you reckon?