my 1st .243, new or old

MAIDX75

Active Member
Just asking wether ishould buy new or old? Its my first deer rifle and i was thinking of buying a browning a-bolt synthetic stalker in .243 new.

Or shuld i buy 2nd hand,ive seen an x-bolt stainless and a tikka t3 lite stainlees for the same sort of money.

Any imput would be nice, cheers
 
Hiya, My mate has recently bought himself a new .243 Tikka T3 Lite stainless and synthetic..., a gorgeous gun, and lovely to shoot, great build quality too...my only "tiny" thing about it is , the recoil, as it's so light...but still well worth a look.
I have a 2010 .243 Remington 700 SPS, with a synthetic stock, love it to bits, and hits everything I shoot at...bought mine secondhand from a dealer on another forum...was a bargain..:)
I dont know much about the X bolt, a mate has one, and likes it, but I've not seen or fired the gun yet..:)

My thoughts are, if you are buying secondhand, you can go that little bit further up the "range"...I bought secondhand cos I'm a tight git...:)

Prepare for many, many replies...and have fun looking...:)
 
It all depends on the quality of the second hand rifle I guess, and that isn't always apparent at first glance.......

I was in a similar position to you at the start of this year. I had enough in my budget to get a new Tikka T3, so went to the RFD to have a look and a feel of what they had. They had the T3 in stock but guided me to a second hand Sako 75 which was for sale at a similar price. On paper the 75 was a much better rifle, and to my eyes it appeared in good condition.
Unfortunately I bought the Sako 75 and had a few months of problems with it not holding zero for various reason which i wont go into. Luckily the shop eventually refunded my money and took the Sako back.
I then bought a new Tikka T3 and am over the moon with it.

Basically I guess it comes down to knowing how the rifle has been treated.

I will be buying a .308 sometime next year and am pretty sure from my previous experience I will save for a little longer a buy new.

All the best with your purchase - whichever way you go

Mike
 
Depends how much you got or want to spend,it's nice to have a new one but if you know the second hand ones history then you save yourself some cash you could put it towards a nicer optic,personally I think tikkas are dam good,as are Sakos but if you want a fancy rifle most would go Blaser,(tackle tarts) :D :stir:
 
i recently brought my .243, i would of loved to buy new or nearlly new but my budget was very low, i brought an cz zkk601 for 200 pounds, yes its an old gound and it its nothing fancy, but its in fair condition and it does every thing i want it to do. It was already screw cut and came with a scope to, which i will upgrade in due course.
so i guss it all depends what your looking for, something cheep and cheerfull that does the job, or something that looks the part and does the same job.
try looking on gun trader or gun star theres some cracking buys
good luck
simon
 
Thanks for the advice ,chaps,think i will look out for a 2nd hand in top condition[if theres such a thing]

Thanks again

chris
 
I went second hand and got a better rifle and then for some reason decided to spend more money get a brand new one that just site in the cabinet most of the time lol
 
I bought a second hand Sauer 202 in .243, it cost a lot less than my brand new Sauer .308 and they shoot as well as each other. If you get the "right one" you will get a lot more rifle for your money going doen the used route.
 
If you buy second hand you should be able to try before you buy. Then you shouldn't buy a bad 'un - That's much more difficult with a brand new purchase. I don't know many dealers who'll let you fire a new one.
Look, try and handle as many rifles as possible - buy what feels right. New or well looked after second hand - there'se not a lot of difference except price. If you save a bit you can then spend it on the best possible scope that you can afford.

Ian
 
I nearly bought a new savage axis, but found a second hand sako m591 for the same price, knowing a .243 can be a barrel burner, I took the chance on the 'cosmetically worn' (blueing worn and a few dings and scratches) knowing that the price I got it for was worth it for the action alone as a project donor, and it shoots 1/4" if I do my part well. So if you can test fire, or at least borescope one, you can get more gun for the pound. And my sako won't lose any more value, the savage would have lost £200 taking it out the shop.
As for .308's, even hot loads will still take a helluva lot of rounds to knacker a barrel, so if it looks good, it's most likely going to be good :)
 
I have no issue with buying old or used .

Personally I think the older Remington 700's were better made guns then the new ones . My opinion is the same for Sako .Also I truely love the old split reciever Mannlicher Schoenauers but don't really care for the newer Styer Mannlichers .
 
I nearly bought a new savage axis, but found a second hand sako m591 for the same price, knowing a .243 can be a barrel burner, I took the chance on the 'cosmetically worn' (blueing worn and a few dings and scratches) knowing that the price I got it for was worth it for the action alone as a project donor, and it shoots 1/4" if I do my part well. So if you can test fire, or at least borescope one, you can get more gun for the pound. And my sako won't lose any more value, the savage would have lost £200 taking it out the shop.
As for .308's, even hot loads will still take a helluva lot of rounds to knacker a barrel, so if it looks good, it's most likely going to be good :)

While I am not an advocate of the Savage Axis I will tell you a short story .

A friend WON a NIB Savage Axis in 308 back before Xmas . Took the gun out as it came and tried it on paper not much with the 7 pound trigger . Took it back to the shop and put a $100 RifleBasix trigger in the gun and now it has a 2 1/2 pound let off and will shoot 3 shots in about 3/4" at 100 yards . If my friend had purchased the rifle and trigger he would have had about $450 tied up in the whole mess . The gun came from the factory with a utilitarian Bushnell 3-9 and mounts . So not bad for a wet weather loaner gun to say the least .
 
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