300 wm tikka or 30-06 vanguard?

[woollsyjr]

im looking to get a decent all round rifle and ive found a tikka t3 stainless in 300 win mag and a Weatherby vanguard stainless in 30-06. ive heard great things about both guns and both calibers but i did hear the tikka is a little lighter are doesnt handle recoil as well as the vanguard. this is a gun im hoping to keep for a while and maybe personalize and upgrade a little so i can always put a different stock on it or a brake to help that or down load the cartridge. just hoping for some incite on what others would consider in this decision.

[270person]

im looking to get a decent all round rifle and ive found a tikka t3 stainless in 300 win mag and a Weatherby vanguard stainless in 30-06. ive heard great things about both guns and both calibers but i did hear the tikka is a little lighter are doesnt handle recoil as well as the vanguard. this is a gun im hoping to keep for a while and maybe personalize and upgrade a little so i can always put a different stock on it or a brake to help that or down load the cartridge. just hoping for some incite on what others would consider in this decision.


Both are good rifles. T3 in 300wm will def rattle your bones. Strapping a brick recoil pad on one would be an improvement. Weatherby doesn't have plastic parts like the Tikka and have great actions. Tikka likely a bit easier to sell if and when you choose to do do. Weatherby will be heavier yes, but you can restock it just as easily as the Tikka.

Both will shoot.

[fordtruckin]

Between the 2 I’d take the weatherby for the above mentioned reasons. I don’t generally buy a rifle considering how well it will sell later on. I’ve never had an issue selling a gun when I wanted to.

[huntwat]

Not even close.
If you choose the tikka, you will shoot it once and have buyers remorse.
The vanguard is the one you want.

[woollsyjr]

the vanguard definitely seems like the far more reasonable option and the tikkas recoil was definitely a concern.

[moniaw24]

Weatherby or not to be.... Make good life choices and buy a Weatherby

[270person]

They are both the same caliber. (.308). They are different cartridges
But ok…..


Don't be like that now. I'm from Sask originally and grew up shooting rifles with "clips" that held multiple "bullets." That's how we rolled and the animals we shot at seemed more concerned with preserving their lives than nomenclature. Cartridges held ink and went into pens with funny looking tips.

Sometimes we even shot at "antelope" and "rabbits" and fished for "pickeral". :)

[jcrayford]

im looking to get a decent all round rifle and ive found a tikka t3 stainless in 300 win mag and a Weatherby vanguard stainless in 30-06. ive heard great things about both guns and both calibers but i did hear the tikka is a little lighter are doesnt handle recoil as well as the vanguard. this is a gun im hoping to keep for a while and maybe personalize and upgrade a little so i can always put a different stock on it or a brake to help that or down load the cartridge. just hoping for some incite on what others would consider in this decision.

My suggestion would be ammo availability, and right now after 2+ years of border shutdowns is a great time to travel to a small town and see what's available. If the 300 WM is stocked but the 30-06 isn't....? That would be another determining factor for myself.

Don't get me wrong, I've got a specialized calibre as well and have to search for the cartridges to fit it. But I've also got my standard calibres that I know IF ammo is forgotten, *most* likely could find it at a local store.

Something else to think about.....

J.

[elkhunter11]

Weatherby or not to be.... Make good life choices and buy a Weatherby

Howa does make a good rifle , for Weatherby to put their name on. :)

Both are good rifles, but I would not enjoy a T-3 in 300winmag, unless it is restocked.

[philintheblank]

My primary rifle is a tikka t3 300wm right now. I put a limbsaver recoil pad on it and recoil was quite manageable with 160gr bullets. With 200gr bullets I was getting a lot of muzzle jump.

I switched to a Wildcat Composites stock with a grind to fit limbsaver pad and put a break on it.

Rifle is sub 8 lbs scoped and loaded, and recoil is no issue.

[brewster29]

Why not just buy a Tikka in 30-06? They are very easy to find. Recoil is a non issue once you screw a Limbsaver pad on it.

[270person]

Why not just buy a Tikka in 30-06? They are very easy to find. Recoil is a non issue once you screw a Limbsaver pad on it.


Thats kind of Tikkas MO I think. Buy one. Put a proper recoil pad on it, change out bottom plastic, change out plastic bolt shroud, look into 3D metal detach mags, and if its a T3, remove brick recoil pad and fill up stock with spray foam so it doesn't sound like a kid on a toy drum. NOW you've got yourself a rifle and you only had to spend an extra $400.

T3x is better but didn't change all it should have.

I like Tikkas enough but there's no denying the cost to build design cutbacks. Give me an old 55/65 or 595/695 all day everyday tks.

[woollsyjr]

Why not just buy a Tikka in 30-06? They are very easy to find. Recoil is a non issue once you screw a Limbsaver pad on it.

I'm looking at used rifles and those are just 2 that caught my eye

[Dick284]

The slang name for the Tikka cartridge is the .300 Flinch Mag. Ask yourself why.

Go with the .30-06 Vanguard/Howa.

[270person]

The slang name for the Tikka cartridge is the .300 Flinch Mag. Ask yourself why.

Go with the .30-06 Vanguard/Howa.


I like it.

New model should be F3x. Flinch 3 times.

[elkhunter11]

The T-3x is a light rifle, the Vanguard is a heavier rifle, so recoil is much less with the heavy rifle. I fired a T-3x with a B&C stock, and recoil was significantly reduced.

[Smokinyotes]

I’ve shot a few vanguards. The trigger sucks compared to a Tikka. If you buy a Tikka in a stainless laminate and put a good recoil pad on it they are not too bad.

[brewster29]

Thats kind of Tikkas MO I think. Buy one. Put a proper recoil pad on it, change out bottom plastic, change out plastic bolt shroud, look into 3D metal detach mags, and if its a T3, remove brick recoil pad and fill up stock with spray foam so it doesn't sound like a kid on a toy drum. NOW you've got yourself a rifle and you only had to spend an extra $400.

T3x is better but didn't change all it should have.

I like Tikkas enough but there's no denying the cost to build design cutbacks. Give me an old 55/65 or 595/695 all day everyday tks.

You certainly can do all that if you wish, but you really only NEED the Limbsaver if recoil bothers you. The rest of the rifle is perfectly functional out of the box. It has a trigger as good as anything made and every one seems to shoot just great. And you are right, the T3X has the metal shroud (albeit heavy zinc), steel lug, larger port, better stock with foam insert…

[270person]

You certainly can do all that if you wish, but you really only NEED the Limbsaver if recoil bothers you. The rest of the rifle is perfectly functional out of the box. It has a trigger as good as anything made and every one seems to shoot just great. And you are right, the T3X has the metal shroud (albeit heavy zinc), steel lug, larger port, better stock with foam insert…


If the T3x bolt shroud is metal I have no idea what metal it would be. They say "metalic" in their specs. Ya right. Metalic plastic. Matches the bottom plastic and stock tho.

I shoot a 358. Recoil doesn't bother me much but I can honestly say a Tikka T3 Hunter (wood stock) 7 RM was the worst recoiling rifle I've shot next to a 338-378 Wby Magnum. The Weatherby has an excuse.

[savage shooter]

The vanguard is a far superior rifle to the Tika. Properly set barrel, flat bottom receiver with integrated recoil lug, the bolt is made from one single piece of steel (yes, even the handle) and just turn the back of it counter clockwise for a tool-less field strip. Lots of aftermarket stocks available for it. If it's a series 2 it won't need a new trigger. If it's not, you may consider throwing a timney on there with a single screw installation.

The Tika handles recoil worse than any other rifle on the market. It's a bad design. Every component is designed to be made cheaply. Designed to take shortcuts to make manufacturing cheap and easy. It's not designed to be good. You won't find a solid bottom receiver or single piece bolt here.

[aardvaark]

My son in law bought a Vanguard in 270W, and it shot very poorly. 1.5 to 2” groups. I bedded the action, free floated the barrel, and now it shoots better, but it’s only shot sub 1” for me once, and that’s with hand loads. This was a used rifle when he bought it and of course the buyer said it shot excellent.

I’ve also got a 257Wby Mk 5 that doesn’t shoot well either, bought used from someone that said it shot well.

I’ve got 4 Tikka’s (one in 300WM that shoots .5 to .75”), and they all shoot very well. And 2 Sakos as well.

My advice, make sure it shoots good before you buy it. And by that I mean actually see it shoot.

[huntwat]

There’s a vote for tikka.^ Both tikka and vanguard have a reputation for accuracy. Of course they can’t all be sub Moa. For the most part, both are accurate out of the box. The vanguard is much nicer to shoot. The proof is all the posts that say just add a limbsaver to the tikka.

[gunluvr]

Not even close.
If you choose the tikka, you will shoot it once and have buyers remorse.
The vanguard is the one you want.

That sums it up in fewer words than most would like to shout. It doesn't need an explanation.

[bezzola]

My son has a 257 vanguard and that gun stacks bullets holes has a custom thumb hole stock on it i was shocked and the accuracy with loaded and factory ammo

[Prairiekid]

I have shot both a Wby in 300wm and a Tikka in 30.06, so opposite your options but a good comparison. My preference is the Tikka. If you can, look at them both. I also owned a short barrel T3 in 300 wsm, the recoil was not pleasant, but scoped it was 6.5 lbs.

[catnthehat]

I don't own a Tikka or Weatherby but have worked up loads and done work on both brands in various cartridges .
My vote goes to the Vangaurd for sure, excellent rifles and very easy to shoot.
If it was an older Tikka it might be a different story, not that the T3 is not a good rifle, but the Vangaurd is a better one in many respects . Just my opinion, mind you!:)
Cat

[brendan's dad]

I have a Tikka T3 in 7mm Rem Mag and it is my main Moose/Elk gun. I run a 260 Rem for deer.

The Tikka, especially with a 24" barrel, is very forward heavy and doesn't balance very well. I decided to add weight to the rear stock to get a balance point approx. 4 inches in front of the trigger guard.

I went and purchased the Limbsaver recoil pad designed for T3 and a can of spray foam. I install the pad and taped fishing weights to the mid point of the rear stock until the balance was right.

I then sprayed the stock half full and put the weights in the foam. Filled the rest of the stock and allowed it to sit over night. Cut the foam off flush and installed the recoil pad.

A couple things to remember, the stock cavity has a hole right to the rear action screw, so you will need to tape this off. Also make sure you thread in the pad screws and then tape off the expose threads, before filling the stock cavity.

My Tikka is much nicer to carry and shoulder now, and recoil is a non issue. Cost for the pad, foam and weights was under $70.

You could do the same thing for the 300 Win Mag, the recoil would be much more manageable.

[sns2]

I hunt with a Tikka T3X in 7 Mag. Couple years back, I hunted with a T3 in 300 Win Mag. Recoil was brisk for sure, but it’s not a bench gun. I like Vanguards - many have come through the house - but give me the Tikka every time. They are simply great guns for the money, and if you beat it up, it ain’t a Cooper, so you won’t cry.

[sns2]

I don't own a Tikka or Weatherby but have worked up loads and done work on both brands in various cartridges .
My vote goes to the Vangaurd for sure, excellent rifles and very easy to shoot.
If it was an older Tikka it might be a different story, not that the T3 is not a good rifle, but the Vangaurd is a better one in many respects . Just my opinion, mind you!:)
Cat

Catster. What aspects of the Vanguard do you like better than a Tikka?

[elkhunter11]

I fired a T-3x and a Vanguard MOA yesterday, doing test loads for a friend. I much prefer the fiberglass stock on the Vanguard MOA, but I much prefer the trigger on the T-3. Both are good rifles, and both have their advantages, and the standard Vanguard doesn't have the same stock as the MOA.

[catnthehat]

Catster. What aspects of the Vanguard do you like better than a Tikka?

Little things mostly, not a fan of detachable mags. Prefer a hinged floor plate in a bolt gun, the bolt tear down I find easier , and I had to replace a few tail pieces on T3's that broke in the past .
I also like the balance better in the Vangaurd .
Accuracy wise both are on parcwith each other I found
Cat

[Bo21]

I bought a tikka t3 in .300 win mag the recoil is a bit silly. but I took it to Alberta tactical and had it threaded and bought a brake for it.
I haven't had chance to get it back out yet, im just looking at getting a boyds thumbhole stock for it now I may as well get one and just zero it once. I had a boyd stock on all the howa's I had in the past and they was very nice stocks.

The trigger is really nice but the stock is a piece of crap. I like the detachable mag. I've had floor plates in the howa and its a bit crap unloading. I like the idea of having 2 mags loaded up. I've found a website that has more selection than anywhere else on .300 win mag ammo I even found privi Partisan I used to shoot in the UK hopefully it will like it as its cheaper.

everyone likes different things and you will never know until you try. just give whichever you like the best a go. its only money you can always earn more. ahahahahah

[StiksnStrings]

I have been shooting a Vanguard in 30-06 for a number of years now so here's my two cents on it, buy it.