Hunting rifle build suggestions

[kujuak]

My hunting rifle is getting tired. remington Custom Shop Alaskan wilderness rifle, 300 winMag, 20 years old,many many hunts! I was thinking about getting a new rifle set up. I don't want a custom rifle ( too old to spend a year waiting for it to get built, bad investment also in my experience). So I want a light(ish) rifle, want to put a Tangent Theta 3-15 scope on it. want to be able to mount scope myself, so it needs to come with a rail. Don't want a bipod. If it has a brake it needs to be easily removable with a cap to protect threads , as I don't hunt with rifles with brakes. Should be fairly available. Calibre?I use 300winMag now, but open to suggestions.( My buddy, an old sheep guide has killed everything with his 30'06, so I figure it does not need to be a magnum or something stylish, i.e. 300 Norma Mag etc.). 600yds maximum distance I will shoot, 500 or under my usual. Take into account that where I hunt there are grizzly bears. I mostly hunt on foot. Horses when I absolutely must. Game: mule deer, elk ,moose, caribou, black bear ( no more grizzly season here. )
I am a Canadian, so source must be in Canada. I shoot an AI, so I am a bit spoiled, so excellent accuracy is a must.. Nearing retirement so no time to wait. Thought about a Christensen Titanium,but they appear to be seriously back ordered.

Ideas welcome!

thanks

 

[143lrsd]

Following

 

[MNhunter1]

Tikka T3 Lite...or stick with your current set-up and upgrade what/if needed.

 

[jda2631]

Price range?

I have read too many bad reports of Christensen's. I, personally, would shy away, there are so many great options out there.

Caliber, I would recommend staying with 300wm (I like lots of energy, especially if you may walk up on a grizzly), or if you want a newer cartridge, 300 PRC is a little better ballistically. Pretty easy to find ammo for it now with Hornady backing it hard and more and more factory ammo is coming out for it too.

As for other rifles to look into (I do not know if these have Canadian distributors or not):
A Tikka T3 thrown into whatever stock/chassis you like is always a solid option.

I'd check out the Seekins Havak models, they are about same price point as Christensen's. The Havak element is super light weight, 6.0 lb base weight for long action.

If your budget is higher, I would also check out the Proof Research complete rifles, they are semi customs. They use great 3rd party custom actions and then their barrels and stocks which are great, they use Triggertech triggers.

Can look through PX here too, see if there is anyone in Canada selling a rifle.

 

[kujuak]

Any opinions on a SAKO Fanlight II, in 300winMag as the solution?

 

[Graywolf.260]

Finnlight is a great rifle but rail options are very limited. Near makes good rail but it will end really high for a compact scope. Direct mount ringmounts from Leupold or Sako are better but 34 mm may not be available. Personally I would also hesitate to use a magnum cartridge in the light fluted barrel finnlight. A 30 06 or even 308 at <500 yd distances would work pretty well. A Tikka would give you more options for mounting a scope and more aftermarket stocks, or just use the very functional and light factory stock.

 

[kujuak]

Thank you for your opinion, I was about to order the Finnlight.Now, I'm going to give it some more thought. Was going to get the Finnlight II and put a Tangent Theta 3-15x50mm TT315P on BurrisXTB Tactical Two piece Bases on it. Your opinion has given me pause. The problem with Tikka's, I don't trust the plastic mags on their hunting rifles. I have a Tikka in 223 and the mag is quite unreliable.

 

[jda2631]

If you want to go the Tikka route, could always put it in whatever stock/chassis you want, would be around the same price as buying the Sako. Do you want DBM or a blind magazine?

 

[HMRamateur]

My dad has a finnlight in 300WM and its accurate as hell. Not sure why you can't have a thin profile barrel with a magnum, we've never noticed anything except it heats up fast after 3 shot strings. He also has a 7RM in the finnlight and i shoot a pencil barrel 7RM for hunting also. As far as the rail goes, the receiver doesn't have holes drilled into it, its essentially a rail without the slots. Very easy to mount, lots of videos online to guide you. Precisionoptics.net is a great source of quality guns and gear in canada. Corlanes is another one, both located in BC, if you haven't heard of them. I'm on the fence for a 7RM finnlight 2 also, I decided to shoot out my savage 7RM before buying a new one, but it's definitely on my short list.

Edit: don't worry about sourcing the 34mm rings, sako makes them.

 

[Graywolf.260]

Sako makes 34 mm optilock rings, which have to be stacked on optilock bases. They don't make 34 mm ring mounts as far as I know. They are easy to mount, but the selection of mounts for the Sako 85 is limited compared to Tikkas or most other rifles. Just make sure that you know how high your scope will be with that setup if that is any concern to you. As far as ultralight pencil barrel magnums go, that is a matter of personal preference. Aside from barrel heating, recoil is less fun for range sessions. YMMV

 

[HMRamateur]

My mistake if I made it sound like any mount will fit on the sako. Yes, they have the optilock bases and rings, which is what you will have to use. The ease of mounting them is pretty close to mounting to a rail though, is what I meant.