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Which 22LR

Which route?

  • New Rings, rail and scope for the Ruger?

    Votes: 1 1.7%
  • Bergara B14R

    Votes: 11 19.0%
  • Tikka T1X

    Votes: 3 5.2%
  • CZ 457

    Votes: 16 27.6%
  • Sell kidney and get Vudoo

    Votes: 27 46.6%

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .

Whistlermd

Private
Minuteman
Apr 1, 2023
49
40
Alabama
Currently have a Ruger American Rimfire 22LR and a Savage MK II 22LR and a range that goes out to about 400 yds with steel plates every 50 yds. I usually shoot between 50 and 100 yds with the Ruger and Savage and mainly just at steel plates for fun, no serious groupings. I want to start shooting at the further plates and have a dilemma, with a budget. I want to shoot farther out and work on groupings at 100 yds. No real competition, maybe something informal with a buddy.

Right now I am leaning towards the Bergara B14R, probably a barreled action so I can throw it in a chassis, unless the factory stock will work for my goals, but what says the Hide?
 
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If your willing to include Vudoo

Then we’ll say get the Vudoo

So….

Get the Vudoo
 
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keep the kidney , yea it might be fun to own a voodoo , why not get another gun that doesn't have to cost you so much and you have just as much fun with why not .you could use the saved money get an adjustable rail . you'll be able to shoot further and still have money left to take the wife out for a pretty good dinner , or a heck of a lot of ammo for your new gun . a tika , roger or the Bergara B14R or the cz would be fine guns .
 
I have owned/own the 5 rifles mentioned . The Ruger was a dud. The Savage shot just as well as the other three you mentioned . I think to see much of a difference a person needs to spend up to the top tier rigs .
 
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Which Ruger American rimfire ?
We have a Target model in the family that for me I would go with the first option & start there. (it was my youngest's first rifle & its a keeper)
My humble 2cents says Rings, rail & scope for the Ruger then if but more likely when the rifle is the limiting factor upgrade.
Swap the scope & rings to the new rifle.

In saying that I went with a Howa 1100 in .22lr that currently wears a Vortex Venom 5-25X56 FFP for this sort of fun.

CZ 457 to put away for the Grandson will be home soon with probably another inbound for me.

No real interest in the Tikka for me,(no good reason just doesn't float my boat + I think they are known for breaking firing pins ?)

Bergara could definitely end up on the cards.(Also thinking BA for me)

I have long lusted after a Vudoo & hopefully that'll happen at some point.






Good luck & from reading your post again, Enjoy your Bergara
 
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If you have a wife or girlfriend, sell their kidney for the Vudoo. If you have a wife and a girlfriend, sell both of their kidneys for the Vudoo and the optic.

IMHO, get the Vudoo with the 60 MOA base. That's what I have along with the Vortex Razr 4.5-27X. The elevation adjustment doesn't bottom out at a 50 yard zero.

I have over 28 mils of elevation adjustment which will take me to about 430 yards. If I use the additional holdover in the reticle, I get an additional 10 mils of elevation which takes me over 50 yards.

Shooting a Vudoo can best be described as an almost sensual experience. You will enjoy it so much that you will have a private range. It's the most fun that you can have with your clothes on.

Vudoo Playing Cards.jpg
 
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PS: Your kids don't need new clothes or shoes for the winter. They will learn to skip meals and take cold showers to save money. Get the Vudoo!
 
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I bought a stock B14R, T1X which I dropped in a Bravo then bought a Vudoo on a whim. I plan to do a thread comparing the 3. Also plan to add a CZ at some point to the mix.

If you want to see some decent .22 videos check out “pursuit of accuracy” on YouTube. Does some honest reviews and shooting of what your looking at. Mostly CZ. May give you a decent direction on where to go

If you like short bolt throws the T1X, CZ or Vudoo 360 will be your preference

I need to find more time to shoot…..
 
If you want to drop VooDoo money, get the VooDoo or RimX. But if you want off-the-shelf accuracy, get a Christensen Arms Ranger 22. All the original bugs were worked out part-way through the very first run despite the shit you read on the internet. Mine is a 2nd run production and has had zero problems for thousands of rounds now.

Give it a read...

 
I am a Vudoo guy and love them and been shooting them longer than most anyone here. Can’t say a bad thing about them and if you can swing one then get it.

That said in reading your post you seem to not want to spend that much but still get a good rifle. I would say get the Bergara B14R in that case. The 700 compatibility in stocks/chassis and triggers is nice. Also the larger aics style mags are easier to change and handle.
 
Get the Vudoo if you can swing it... they live up to the hype. I was shooting these at 110 yards with mine this weekend:
Vudoo target.jpg

I shot 5 of them, this is the only one I could find
DW
 
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Vudoo is great for some things. If you’re not going to shoot a lot of matches you might have more fun with a less expensive rifle.
 
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Vudoo is great for some things. If you’re not going to shoot a lot of matches you might have more fun with a less expensive rifle.

More fun? Hmmmm?
 
I shot a CZ for about a year before upgrading to a Vudoo. No doubt about it, the Vudoo is way better but I had fun with the CZ and was able to work on my rifle game. In a way, not dropping as much $$ on the rifle in the first year helped me buy the other stuff I needed (Kestrel, bipod, good scope, LRF, tripod, etc.).

Here’s a thought: Save some dough and get the Bergara and when finances allow upgrade the scope, chassis, and trigger. Advantage of the Bergara over the other brands is the Bergara is based on the Rem 700 which is what the Vudoo is. So later on if/when you think the rifle itself is holding you back and you finally get a Vudoo barreled-action, you can use the same trigger, chassis, and scope on the Vudoo.
 
I have a Vudoo 360.
But I started with a T1X and I don't regret my choice for 1 second. The T1X has served me well as I started competing and is by far more difficult to shoot accurately than than my Vudoo. It was a great learning experience.
 
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I have a CZ 455, buddy of mine has the Ruger America, another buddy has the B14R. The Ruger shoots good. The trigger on the Ruger is heavy, and I don't care for the extra piece that sticks out. The stock kind of sucks. But the gun shoots.
I say put a 50MOA rail on the Ruger and then a scope that has a lot of elevation adjustment. I have the Athlon Helos 6-24 gen 2, it's really nice. Also buy ammunition that will perform past 100 yards, that is a really big part of reaching out.
The Bergara is the easy way to get a PRS style rig. I like the stock a lot. But the first thing that happened to my buddies is the trigger turned to crap in the first 50 rounds, so it's another chunk of money for a trigger. When he's on a barricade and the magazine touches something it does not feed right.
I have shot a few rimfire matches now and I see the biggest malfunctions are with the Voodo mags and the Bergara mags. The guys that are really good and usually come in toward the top are shooting Voodoo and Bergara. But when you see the same guy come in mid pack it's because they had a mag problem.
 
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Don't buy a Vudoo if you're going to skimp on good glass.

a CZ or B14r will work just fine, but buy a decent scope.
 
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Currently have a Ruger American Rimfire 22LR and a Savage MK II 22LR and a range that goes out to about 400 yds with steel plates every 50 yds. I usually shoot between 50 and 100 yds with the Ruger and Savage and mainly just at steel plates for fun, no serious groupings. I want to start shooting at the further plates and have a dilemma, with a budget. I want to shoot farther out and work on groupings at 100 yds. No real competition, maybe something informal with a buddy.

Right now I am leaning towards the Bergara B14R, probably a barreled action so I can throw it in a chassis, unless the factory stock will work for my goals, but what says the Hide?
Find the scope you want first. Put it on the rifle you have that you shoot the best. You can buy the rifle latter. Also find out what you want in the new rifle. Vudoos are heavy. If you get the vudoo get the right barrel that suits you. I have a vudoo and bergara bmr
 
Vudoo is definitely up there, but I keep wondering if it is that much better than the Bergara/Tikka/CZ, worth double the cost. I think upgrading the scope to start and switching it to a different rifle later on may be what I end up doing, that will let me figure out if an upgraded rifle is necessary. Plus this gives me time to get some kidneys sold just in case.
 
Vudoo is definitely up there, but I keep wondering if it is that much better than the Bergara/Tikka/CZ, worth double the cost. I think upgrading the scope to start and switching it to a different rifle later on may be what I end up doing, that will let me figure out if an upgraded rifle is necessary. Plus this gives me time to get some kidneys sold just in case.
Watch the px here. Lots come up for sale. CZ, Vudoo, Rimx and Bergara mainly. With Tikka every so often. Pick a price point and buy used. You’ll save $$ to start and can sell for little or no loss if you upgrade down the road

If your looking at possible upgrades on a factory rifle then CZ will be a good bet for barrel options. See many in the px as well with upgrades already done.
 
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Since he did not mention use he might be a plinker. A 10/22 is a lot of fun for not a lot of dollars.
If you want precision you will not have more fun with a 10/22 than a Vudoo or even a B14R. If you just want to make a bunch of noise then maybe.
 
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As someone who builds my own rifles, I've become pretty spoiled when it comes to accuracy, with both CF & RF rifles. I built myself a very nice rifle on a Stiller 2500XR action/Krieger sendero contour bbl that I chambered with an EPS reamer, and put into a Manners EliteT4A stock. Not long after getting this rifle together, Mike Bush made drawings & CNC files available for the repeater conversion of 40X actions to use his V22 magazines; I had a couple of CMP 40X & 40XB rifles that were just taking up space in a closet, so I pulled the bbl on the 40X & sent it out to Jonathan Elrod at Modocam Rifles for the repeater conversion, and then barreled that action with a Benchmark 3-groove bbl when I got it back (the two rifles in the attached photo). As much as I liked the Stiller action, the converted 40X shot at least as well as the 2500XR, and reloads with the bigger V22 mags were infinitely faster & easier, so I sold the Stiller to a friend, and used the cash to pay for another complete build on the remaining 40XB action. I barreled it with a Lilja titebore blank, and was really happy with these two rifles for a few months - until Mike partnered with Vudoo Gun Works and started building & selling barreled actions or complete rifles. So I sold my 40X repeater and bought an early V22 action in 2017 & barreled it with another Krieger blank. The resulting rifle was & still is a really great 22RF rig, running a bit smoother than the 40XB conversion, which I still have. Over the intervening years, I've bought several more V22 repeaters, all but one of which I've barreled myself, plus a couple of the V22S single shot actions, with Shilen ratchet & Benchmark 3-groove barrels, both of which are capable of shooting even tighter groups than some really good ones that the repeaters can produce.

I also was very taken with the design features & appearance of the CZ 457, and wound up buying an American, a Varmint MTR, and a VPT in the Manners stock. The American's factory bbl was a disappointment, never coming anywhere close to the accuracy that I'd gotten used to with the custom rifles I'd built - none of the known good quality SK or Lapua ammo that I tried in it ever produced anything better than 1.5-2 MOA groups at 50yds. The MTR was much better, but still no where near as consistent as any of the custom barreled rifles. The VPT's factory bbl had issues from the beginning, but after 500+rds, its 50yd groups were usually respectable. However, it fell on its face when I took it out to 100-200yds - couldn't keep 10 shots on an 8" round plate at 200. I eventually sold the MTR, but liked the 457 actions & stocks of the American & VPT so much that I did glue-in installations of Shilen ratchet rifled blanks on both these, and still have them. To sum my experiences up, I think it's asking an awful lot of any medium priced factory barreled 22RF rifle to shoot good enough to satisfy anyone who's had the pleasure of shooting a custom barreled rifle - whether built on a 457 action, or a custom Vudoo. Buy what you can afford, and enjoy learning to shoot it to its potential - but understand going in what the limitations of a mid-priced factory are, and start saving for the day when you can afford a custom barrel job on it, or better yet, the purchase of a Vudoo.
 

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I would say go with either the CZ 457 or the B14R.

CZ does have a good following and pretty good aftermarket support.
They shoot well but the main reason I would recommend the CZ is the ability to buy prefit drop in aftermarket barrels down the line.

The B14R you have the option of buying an out of the box rifle OR buying just a barreled action and installing it in a stock or chassis of your choosing.
Also stocks, scope rails and triggers are based off the Remington 700SA so options are plentiful and much can be sourced on the used market as well.

Either of these should serve you well and spend the difference of what it would cost to buy the Vudoo on decent glass.

I will say on average if you are asking these questions then you are fairly new to the game and probably any of these rifles will outshoot your skill set for some time.

Save getting the vudoo until skill wise you are ready yourself to take advantage of what it offers.
 
One other thing I would bring up is the higher you go up the food chain to obtain a rifle that has the best accuracy and consistency then you also have to take into account to really see that come to bear on the targets you are shooting you also need to go up the food chain on the level of ammo you are feeding it.

Unless you are willing to pay $18-$25 per box of 50 for top tier match grade ammo then spending the money to buy a top tier rifle like a Vudoo is a waste if you only want to spend $8-$10 per box of 50 on ammo then pretty much the extra money you spent buying the top tier Vudoo will be wasted shooting the cheaper ammo.

I thought I would mention this as you said in your original post you were not planning on shooting competitively and at that point just playing around will you be willing to shoot the high dollar ammo to justify a really top tier firearm?
 
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Inside 100 yds I didn’t see that much difference in accuracy between my CZ and Vudoo, especially when you take the time to figure out which brand/lot of ammo shoots best in your rifle. But accuracy (or maybe I should say consistency) at 150-300 yds is where I saw a significant advantage with the Vudoo.
 
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On a day when I am shooting well my T1X will run right with the Vudoo but I have to use Eley Tenex to get it there.
In my Vudoo I can get by with a good Lot of SK Long Range.
 
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457 or tikka. triggers on both are easy to adjust and timney makes for either at a not too crazy price. get best scope you can,done the way you prefer-power,plane,etc. be prepared to spend a bit on quality ammo. might get lucky and get a rifle that likes tac 22,something lower end rws, eley or sk. gotta experiment. if you have a mk2,might consider a few upgrades if it will shoot 10 sub inch @ 50 in current form. i have owned anschutz. shoot better than mk2? yes. 6x better? not at all. IMHO you really need to define your goals and firm up how much you can spend reasonably. consider what you might get selling ruger and savage.
 
If you want to drop VooDoo money, get the VooDoo or RimX. But if you want off-the-shelf accuracy, get a Christensen Arms Ranger 22. All the original bugs were worked out part-way through the very first run despite the shit you read on the internet. Mine is a 2nd run production and has had zero problems for thousands of rounds now.

Give it a read...

You’re the only person I’ve ever had anything good to say about the Christianson Ranger. I’ve witnessed two in ARA Factory class that were very inaccurate….when they were functioning.
 
You’re the only person I’ve ever had anything good to say about the Christianson Ranger. I’ve witnessed two in ARA Factory class that were very inaccurate….when they were functioning.
Well, my thread proves consistent accuracy, and many others have also posted about the accuracy with their’s. I don’t know what to tell you…I haven’t had any function or ejection issues in thousands of rounds, and accuracy has not been an issue either…As you can see.

I think most people are too dumb to realize that Federal 525 Bulk Pack and a Bucket-o-Shit Remington Thunderbolts aren’t exactly quality ammo, and they expect it to be, because “that’s what my grandaddy swore by!”.

I was honestly surprised how well it shoots CCI SV. I do get the occasional few drop-outs, but that’s part of the nature of the beast with non-match grade bulk pack .22 ammo. I don’t compete, so the occasional drop-out isn’t an issue. It’s irritating, but that’s about it. And I’m smart enough to know it’s the ammo, not the gun.

I don’t shoot groups with mine very often, I mostly shoot steel plates at 200 yards. But occasionally I do test new ammo or swap scopes and have to sight it in. Here’s one from a couple weeks ago after swapping on the new Burris XTR-II 5-25x50.

IMG_8469.jpeg

Ballistic-X-Export-2023-05-21 18:08:42.528914.jpg
 
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I am in the same camp as a lot of people here. I think the b14 is the way to go. Just replace trigger and you are good to go. I have vudoos, rimx’s cz and b14 carbon. The Bergara don’t give up much in accuracy
 
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It really depends how deep your pockets are and how focused and serious you want to get ( I have been shooting some sort of competitive shooting for 40+ years now, and nothing else improves your skills more than shooting competition- it provides the structure, course of fire demands, the input of skilled experienced shooters, time pressure and so much more )
while better equipment is definitely a plus, you can still build solid fundamental skills with inexpensive gear, to the limit that gear allows. You can never expect a sub $500 rifle or scope to provide the performance of the high end stuff, but maybe you just don’t need that high level of capability, or can’t afford it.
I started my nrl/ prs type shooting with a savage and no one would ever confuse this guns capabilities with that of a vudoo or a lot of better quality guns more purpose built for the shooting demands involved.
but when I pay attention ( the shooter is nearly always the biggest limiting factor in shooting performance) I can pull out my old school data book, dial my 300 yard dope on that savage, and get a first round hit on a steel target at 300 yards. one of my groups newer shooters was trying to decide what to get gear wise, and I handed him the savage my data book and a ten round mag. Cold never fired this rifle before,and he hit 8/10 on the 300 yard target

if you want to jump in the deep end with a vudoo I am not intending to discourage this at all. But you can have a ton of fun and build a lot of skill without spending that sort of dough.
 
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How is the accuracy on your Ruger and Savage rifles?

If one or both have good accuracy then I will suggest getting a different scope mount and/or rings with built in MOA. Most 30mm scopes will have enough elevation adjustment to reach out to 300-325 yards using a 50 yard zero when using either a 20 MOA or 25 MOA mount. Going with a mount with more MOA or using a 20-25 MOA mount and rings with MOA will allow you to reach out farther before you run out of adjustments on your scope. This is the route I would recommend if you are on a tight budget and don't plan on competing.


If you want a new rifle then by all means buy one. I would go with the Tikka or CZ if you aren't planning on competing in matches.

I don't compete so I can't justify the cost of a Vudoo or RimX rifle. But if you can afford one and want it, then go for it. But from what you stated, a good mount with built in MOA on your current rifles will suit you just fine.
 
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Here’s a thought: Save some dough and get the Bergara and when finances allow upgrade the scope, chassis, and trigger. Advantage of the Bergara over the other brands is the Bergara is based on the Rem 700 which is what the Vudoo is. So later on if/when you think the rifle itself is holding you back and you finally get a Vudoo barreled-action, you can use the same trigger, chassis, and scope on the Vudoo.
That was my philosophy when I got a Bergara barreled action and kitted it out like it was a Vudoo. That way if I was found wanting, all I had to do was swap out barreled actions and I was good. That said...it didn't work. I still have the Bergara, now have a CZ VPT with a Eotech Vudu, and still want a RimX and a Tikka just to round it all out.
01d1747d89903157f61cf8168dfb3cb5ae0b3db20c.jpg
 
Sounds like Vudoo is definitely what you really want, buying a less expensive rifle will just delay getting a Vudoo and be money wasted that could have been saved for it.

People make that mistake all the time.
@Whistlermd read what Cowpokey wrote several times, and then read it again.

However, if you just want the B14r, Bergara is reportedly coming out with the B14r in an MTU profile barrel. I don't know when. One of the guys that owns A & J Sporting has one testing it out.

All of us will tell you that you can "get by" with xyz or "xyz" will do all you need to do. That's not the point. If you really want the upper end kit - buy it and buy it now.

You will spend more $$ over time "getting by" or "making it work" or "good enough" etc.

I have shot a Vudoo and a RimX (and will be buying one or the other soon), and you are paying for quality, enjoyment of experience and operation, and more consistent grouping at distance i.e. 100 yards and further - in general, not an absolute.

Good luck.
 
That was my philosophy when I got a Bergara barreled action and kitted it out like it was a Vudoo. That way if I was found wanting, all I had to do was swap out barreled actions and I was good. That said...it didn't work. I still have the Bergara, now have a CZ VPT with a Eotech Vudu, and still want a RimX and a Tikka just to round it all out.
View attachment 8164060
This is one of the best looking b14-r builds I've seen. Bravo. Is this custom painted?
 
This is one of the best looking b14-r builds I've seen. Bravo. Is this custom painted?
Thanks, it has been a joy to build and shoot.
The stock was hydro-dipped M-81 from the factory (Grayboe).
 
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As someone who builds my own rifles, I've become pretty spoiled when it comes to accuracy, with both CF & RF rifles. I built myself a very nice rifle on a Stiller 2500XR action/Krieger sendero contour bbl that I chambered with an EPS reamer, and put into a Manners EliteT4A stock. Not long after getting this rifle together, Mike Bush made drawings & CNC files available for the repeater conversion of 40X actions to use his V22 magazines; I had a couple of CMP 40X & 40XB rifles that were just taking up space in a closet, so I pulled the bbl on the 40X & sent it out to Jonathan Elrod at Modocam Rifles for the repeater conversion, and then barreled that action with a Benchmark 3-groove bbl when I got it back (the two rifles in the attached photo). As much as I liked the Stiller action, the converted 40X shot at least as well as the 2500XR, and reloads with the bigger V22 mags were infinitely faster & easier, so I sold the Stiller to a friend, and used the cash to pay for another complete build on the remaining 40XB action. I barreled it with a Lilja titebore blank, and was really happy with these two rifles for a few months - until Mike partnered with Vudoo Gun Works and started building & selling barreled actions or complete rifles. So I sold my 40X repeater and bought an early V22 action in 2017 & barreled it with another Krieger blank. The resulting rifle was & still is a really great 22RF rig, running a bit smoother than the 40XB conversion, which I still have. Over the intervening years, I've bought several more V22 repeaters, all but one of which I've barreled myself, plus a couple of the V22S single shot actions, with Shilen ratchet & Benchmark 3-groove barrels, both of which are capable of shooting even tighter groups than some really good ones that the repeaters can produce.

I also was very taken with the design features & appearance of the CZ 457, and wound up buying an American, a Varmint MTR, and a VPT in the Manners stock. The American's factory bbl was a disappointment, never coming anywhere close to the accuracy that I'd gotten used to with the custom rifles I'd built - none of the known good quality SK or Lapua ammo that I tried in it ever produced anything better than 1.5-2 MOA groups at 50yds. The MTR was much better, but still no where near as consistent as any of the custom barreled rifles. The VPT's factory bbl had issues from the beginning, but after 500+rds, its 50yd groups were usually respectable. However, it fell on its face when I took it out to 100-200yds - couldn't keep 10 shots on an 8" round plate at 200. I eventually sold the MTR, but liked the 457 actions & stocks of the American & VPT so much that I did glue-in installations of Shilen ratchet rifled blanks on both these, and still have them. To sum my experiences up, I think it's asking an awful lot of any medium priced factory barreled 22RF rifle to shoot good enough to satisfy anyone who's had the pleasure of shooting a custom barreled rifle - whether built on a 457 action, or a custom Vudoo. Buy what you can afford, and enjoy learning to shoot it to its potential - but understand going in what the limitations of a mid-priced factory are, and start saving for the day when you can afford a custom barrel job on it, or better yet, the purchase of a Vudoo.
Very well said Sir. (y)
 
That was my philosophy when I got a Bergara barreled action and kitted it out like it was a Vudoo. That way if I was found wanting, all I had to do was swap out barreled actions and I was good. That said...it didn't work. I still have the Bergara, now have a CZ VPT with a Eotech Vudu, and still want a RimX and a Tikka just to round it all out.
View attachment 8164060
Awesome looking build (y)
 
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