Recommendations For A Quality 308 Rifle

limey

Well-Known Member
Hiya
I'm looking for recommendations which would help me to decide which quality 308 rifle to buy.
I have looked at Sauer, Sako and Blaser amongst others, please feel free to comment with both positive and negative comments to help with my decision.
Also I would be glad to hear any suggestions for other alternatives.
Cheers
 
Hiya
I'm looking for recommendations which would help me to decide which quality 308 rifle to buy.
I have looked at Sauer, Sako and Blaser amongst others, please feel free to comment with both positive and negative comments to help with my decision.
Also I would be glad to hear any suggestions for other alternatives.
Cheers

If I was starting again, I would buy a Blaser with a thumb hole stock. I've spent a lot of money on Sauer 90, Ruger MKII's, Sako 75, Mannlicher Pro-Hunter and semi-custom builds over the last twenty years or so.

I've met a couple of folk with Blasers recently, one well off and coming into stalking later in life and the other who has had an evolving gun cupboard like myself. The Blasers do the business for both of them.

Regards

JCS
 
Limey
If you search the posts on here you will see that there is very little between these makes apart from personal preference. And, personal preference is what it all boils down to ... so find yourself a Rfd with a range where you can test fire the rifles you are interested in and make your own choice. These are top end rifles so that's a lot of cash to part with to find that you don't get on with the calibre and/or rifle. Any of these rifles with the right ammunition will perform fine, the question is whether you can with whichever one you choose? So my advice would be always try and test fire any rifle that you are interested in before committing to purchasing one.
.308RWS
 
JMO:

all the ones you have mentioned are so over priced for what you need its silly.

i have a shooting buddy who has a 308 tikka t3 and it shoots like a demon,

after all the deer will have no clue as to what you have just shot it with, but your wallet will.

bob.

ps: spend the left over cash on a cracking scope and out shoot yourself.
 
sako 85 s/s, zeiss victory hd scope and ase ultra northstar mod, perfect for shooting all deer species and boar in .308, wish i had bought it when i first started out instead of wasting money chopping and changing, best advice is to buy something you like and feels good in the hand and well balanced :thumb:
 
Hiya
I'm looking for recommendations which would help me to decide which quality 308 rifle to buy.
I have looked at Sauer, Sako and Blaser amongst others, please feel free to comment with both positive and negative comments to help with my decision.
Also I would be glad to hear any suggestions for other alternatives.
Cheers


Wow cracking post!!!" Now Ive owned 2 x 308's. But here is my 2 pennies worth
A very good mate has owned Blaser, PRS and a Callum Ferguson full custom. Ive owned a Midland and at present a Winchester Coyote. Now my mates cracking and Im so green eyed monster Callum Ferguson puts bullet into bullet hole. His PRS clover leaved as his Blaser did. And whats his second favorite!?!

This
20130914_154404.jpg

The old modified Winchester Coyote. Whilst money can and will buy a good shooting rifle. A good sound cheaper rifle with a little work cam do the samr. Your money mate you make your mind up


Nutty
 
Not sure if it's been mentioned but what type of shooting will you be mainly doing?

Pure stalking rifle ? More target then stalking?

For a stalking gun

I would recommend getting one with a detachable magazine - its so much more convieniant and easily to make safe when crossing obstacles etc.

Otherwise the rest is personal preference.
The site linked to above - ballistic studies - the author has a good book and he sums up a number of the current production rifles available to the hunter. It's his opinion but he makes a good point on many.

The rifle you get will depend on your budget too, I would buy a top end scope then buy a nice gun such as a tikka t3 light if I was doing it again. Tikka t3 does it all that a hunter would need. The scope is the important bit as well a the mounts to the gun don't scrimp on either.
 
Also you need to ask yourself what you are going to do with it.

I love my Blaser R93 because it breaks down easily for travel, it is easy to keep clean and you can just shake the water out of it and it is a great tool for the stalking that I do. It is a very efficient and effective solution for my shooting requirements. On the other hand you may not need to travel with your rifle and may not be keen crawling about in the driving rain and so on. Plus the Blaser is expensive for a rifle and ugly as well. I wouldn't change mine as it is perfect for my needs, but your needs may be very different.

On the other hand a mate bought a Parker Hale in 308 for a few hundred quid. He put some work into doing up the stock and had it looking lovely, much nicer than my plastic Blaser. It didn't shoot quite as well as the Blaser does but it was good enough and he doesn't travel with it nor does he take it out in the wet or crawl through a new sitka spruce plantation in the driving rain with it. It really is a great rifle for his needs and it cost next to nothing when compared with mine. If you went the Parker Hale route you'd have a lot of cash left over to spend on stalking and, in the end, that's what it is about and not gathering up toys, despite what you might think on reading this forum.

I also know a chap with a Sauer that is a wonderful rifle and looks really great. It shoots well, as you'd expect, and better than the Parker Hale but I'd not want to take it stalking, though I think the Sauer can also be "taken down" for travel. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Sauer but it is not for me.

So, the answer isn't so much what someone else might recommend but is more based upon your exact requirements. If your requirements are the same as mine - an accurate, trouble free, excellent right out of the box tool for doing a job that is easy to live with and travel with then the Blaser is worth the money and a great solution however my money says your requirements aren't the same as mine.
 
For an off the shelf quality rifle that is to be used in any weather or environment and does not need to have any wood etc, my choice would be for either a Sauer Outback or Blaser R8 Pro Success.

I have had a variety of rifles, Sako, Steyr and Tikka and at present have a .243 Sauer Outback which I find suits my needs perfectly, could only be improved if I purchased a 5 shot magazine.

The Blaser R8 Pro Success does have a draw to me though, in the same vain as Caorach, I use my rifle in all weathers and conditions and after a soaking like we had today the ease at which the Blaser can be stripped and cleaned does have an appeal.

If funds allowed, my next rifle would be a Blaser.

Regards

​BP
 
as said before.. a tikka T3 will do just fine, it'll do everything the higher end rifles will do but will leave you with money to spend on good optics and actual stalking
 
as said before.. a tikka T3 will do just fine, it'll do everything the higher end rifles will do but will leave you with money to spend on good optics and actual stalking
+1 for tikka I've had them and sako before and the tikka shoot just as well
 
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sako 85 ss t8 mod but a hg4 is better and far lighter glass, ZEISS Duralyt 3-12x50.IL ,optilock rings happy happy done the rems, ph landed on the sako wished i had years ago
 
A sauer 202, I just wouldn't part with mine, feel free to look at the pictures of the groups it does on the reloading section I posted a few days ago, they are just so well put together and accurate, I also own a Tikka T3 and although a good rifle it's nowhere near up to the standard of the Sauer this includes the build quality, finish, and "feel" also, if you decide you can change the barrell on the 202 and go with another caliber!

I would say the only downside to a sauer is the lack of bipod mount which can be added but I just can't bring myself to drill into the fore end!

Sure the blaser and sako would be fine but having handled and shot both i'll stick with my sauer! if someone offered me more than the new price of my sauer i still wouldn't part with it and i know the rifle now and am used to it.

Regards,
Gixer
 
I have owned a few stalking rifles now, from a very pretty Parker-Hale .308, which a friend now has re-barrelled into a 6.5x55 to, two Sako's, a Blaser R93 and a Mauser M03. I think for pure functionality the Blaser has to come out on top.

While I love the de-cocking mechanism available on Sauer, Mauser and Blaser (they are owned by the same firm so all have a variation on the same theme) it is the ability to break the Blaser down and for the scope to be still attached to the barrel. This means it will be zeroed, always. They break down into a suitcase sized, very portable and un-rifle like package. The de-cocker is by far the safest way of handling a rifle in the field. In this regard The Mauser, Sauer and Blasers are way ahead of the game.

I have gone back to a secondhand Sako 75 which produced groups averaging .66" with ammunition I produced for my pre-divorce Blaser. By the time I work up some loads with fire-formed cases for this rifle I confidently expect to have it put in very tiny groups indeeed. I had a Sako 75 Finnlight before which would cloverleaf 129gr Hornady SST's in three shot groups, it seems to be common with Sakos'.

You can buy accuracy in purchasing either a custom or semi custom rifle, but they lose money in the secondhand market.

I will never willingly part with my 75 now. But if I had the funds and was going to do a lot of travelling to my stalking and shooting then I would buy a Blaser. As I don't go abroad anymore i see no reason not to stick with my Sako.

​Simon
 
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