Time for a new rifle

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TokaS

TokaS

Well-Known Member
Getting that 'time for a new rifle' feeling. Been enjoying a few more days hitting the gongs between deer days. Currently have a Schultz and Larsen classic 308 and a BA13 thumbhole 308. Great rifles and the small BA is good for in amongst the trees although not a light rifle by any means. My biggest want will be a fully left hand model and that is where the lack of choice hits home.
I'll definitely be keeping the S&L but may sell or p/x the BA and look to get something lightweight with an adjustable stock [cheek piece & butt] and left handed. The S&L is a long lump but shoots like a laser so I'm after something shorter and lighter for days when I will be doing some miles.
My two contenders are Bergara HMR brown in left hand or a Tikka CTR. I'm not too fussy about calibre's at the moment which is good cos that might narrow the field even more. Hoping the get the rifle around £1200.

Have any left handers on here got any other rifles in that rough price range that I might be overlooking? Calibre is negotiable as it may largely depend on what the offerings are in left hand.

TIA
 
Have you considered the Beretta BRX1? It is ambidextrous and so you would have a much bigger market should you choose to sell on. I've seen them going for 1350 so a little over your budget but the resale option may be worth it.
 
I have a Sauer 100, they do them in Lefty and are amazing, light, small deer rifles and absolutely nails anything at deer distances. Coupled with the Stalon mod I couldn’t have found a better deer package, and about £1k new for the rifle.
 
Dave31 said:
Have you considered the Beretta BRX1? It is ambidextrous and so you would have a much bigger market should you choose to sell on. I've seen them going for 1350 so a little over your budget but the resale option may be worth it.
Click to expand...
Hadn't seen that but looking at it now... thanks!
 
disco_ike said:
I have a Sauer 100, they do them in Lefty and are amazing, light, small deer rifles and absolutely nails anything at deer distances. Coupled with the Stalon mod I couldn’t have found a better deer package, and about £1k new for the rifle.
Click to expand...
Is yours a true left handed bolt or just an ambidextrous stock .
Just I might be in the market for another lh rifle ?
 
Dave31 said:
Have you considered the Beretta BRX1? It is ambidextrous and so you would have a much bigger market should you choose to sell on. I've seen them going for 1350 so a little over your budget but the resale option may be worth it.
Click to expand...
Good call handled one in Beretta World shop in London, a lot of rifle for the money and inside a minute you can swap what hand it is. My mate is about to buy one as he will share it with his partner and she is left handed
 
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Fortunately, despite being a lefty, I shoot rifles and shotguns handed. Makes buying anything a whole lot easier and cheaper!!

Only pistols are shot with my left - usually canted over by 90 degrees, gangsta style!! 😉
 
Have you considered speaking to Alan Rhone to enquire about options for a second barrel for your S&L? They make barrels in a variety of profiles and lengths, so you could reduce weight potentially, keep your nice left handed rifle and utilise your current standard .308 bolt to accept a myriad of other cartridges. The barrel is where the chamber is cut and it is an easy 20 second job to swap them out. I can take my action out of the stock and then remove the barrel, clean it and put it all back together and the zero is still perfect.

Just a thought, might save you money too.
 
Tikka T3x Lite 20" or some of the other similar Lite "something" ones in cal 6.5 CRMR you can get full left handed. Quite light and not too long without a silencer. I have it in .308, but the recoil had me install a small 65g muzzle break to tame it down somewhat. The 6.5 though doesn´t need one. With a red dot sight and sling it's still around 3 kgs. I use it for driven hunts and it's just great for moving around in the woods. And if you later on want to mod it there are plenty of options.

I also have the T3x CTR in 6.5, but it's notably heavier and with a decent scope for use out to 500 meters and beyond not that much fun to lug around. But great on the range.

The Beretta brx1 is great too. Have one in 30-06 and getting a second in 6.5 for use by my right handed sons as soon as Beretta gets them out on the market. Weight wise somewhere between the Lite and the CTR. My stalking choice.
 
I have a Ruger Hawkeye 308 (left hand) and it is a joy to carry and shoot. It has a 22” lightweight barrel and the whole package is on the light side compared to my Winchesters. The majority of my shots with it have been off hand and it just balances and points well. As a standard factory rifle with no tinkering I get half MOA with my handloads. I really like the Ruger mounting system and have two scopes in QD mounts zero’d for different loads. 817AA556-C5EB-4B0F-B723-81CC4B989982.webp
 
yam said:
Tikka T3x Lite 20" or some of the other similar Lite "something" ones in cal 6.5 CRMR you can get full left handed. Quite light and not too long without a silencer. I have it in .308, but the recoil had me install a small 65g muzzle break to tame it down somewhat. The 6.5 though doesn´t need one. With a red dot sight and sling it's still around 3 kgs. I use it for driven hunts and it's just great for moving around in the woods. And if you later on want to mod it there are plenty of options.

I also have the T3x CTR in 6.5, but it's notably heavier and with a decent scope for use out to 500 meters and beyond not that much fun to lug around. But great on the range.

The Beretta brx1 is great too. Have one in 30-06 and getting a second in 6.5 for use by my right handed sons as soon as Beretta gets them out on the market. Weight wise somewhere between the Lite and the CTR. My stalking choice.
Click to expand...
How does the brx1 handle the recoil of the 30.06?
 
TokaS said:
How does the brx1 handle the recoil of the 30.06?
Click to expand...
Really well. I have a approx. 700 g scope and a 300 g silencer which both mute it but even without the silencer no problem.

I've noticed a change in the process of how I perform the different steps during stalking hunts in bad light conditions with the brx1. This is not something I have deliberately done, but instinctively seem to have changed
Old version: aim - shoot - reload - try to relocate the target - second shot if target found and needed
New version: aim - shoot - follow the target - reload (if needed) - second shot (if needed)

Two reasons for the change:
1) lack of recoil (in my setup)
2) ease of reloading with the straight pull action
 
It's the only way I can keep track of both of them tbh. This trip just after those were taken we had 2 young bucks chasing each other towards us, on that track. Lead one stopped over that clump of grass you can see infront of dogs. I'd decided my best bet was to grab rope and not gun. Buck froze, took one look at Fly and set off around us only to rejoin track further up. Not sure, dogs could quite work out what had happened lol.
 
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