New Member Seeking Advice

[akinghorn]

I've been a member of law enforcement for just over 2 years now, and have decided that it is time to make a jump from my quarterly training with my service issued Glock to something bigger and better.

I'm looking to purchase my first rifle and need some advice, as clearly I'm a rookie still. Heck, I wouldn't even consider myself that - at least rookie's have SOME idea of what they are doing. I've done a whack of research and need advice from much more experienced users.

As it stands, I'm looking at 3 potential rifles: Tikka's T3 Tactical, Savage Arms' 10/110 FCP HS Precision or Remington's 700 SPS Tactical. That should give you an idea of price range - but ideally I'd be keeping the price of the firearm itself at or under $1000, meaning the Tikka may be out of my range.

Advice would be greatly appreciated, even if it deviates from the options above. I'd also like to hear advice on scopes, mounts and any other options I need to consider when making this purchase.

(And if anyone has an advice, I may also be picking up a sidearm - I really like some of the CZ pistols, and prefer the solid metal frames over the polymer bases).

Thanks in advance!

 

[desertHK]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Welcome to the Hide. Those three choices you mentioned are fine rifles. My bias will lean toward the Remy. Its only because of more available aftermarket products for upgrade later.

On the scope note, remember buy once cry once. Buy the best scope you can afford. Also, if you can, try to get a FFP, with the same reticle and turret units (mil and mil, or MO AND MOA) it will make your life easier later. Enjoy your new addiction...

 

[desertHK]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Dont forget to completely fill out your profile. It will make the moderator happy..

 

[AXEMAN]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

1. asked and answered
2. remy guys say remy
3. savage guys say savage
4. someone says tikka and someone says howa
5. you get good info on both
6. we tell ya to search cause its been posted twice this month aleady
7. welcome to the best place to see every question you can think of already asked, you just have to find it
8. you will have to try out each and decide. try a cabelas or dicks.


dont let the feel of a store gun fool you. my out of the box 10fcp was gritty and clunky. now its not. you can get just about anything for a savage that you can for a remy. except a charge and a wait time for swapping barrels, that as will be said, you can do yourself. other than that its ford vs chevy vs dodge and you know there will be a few titan and tacoma owners as well

 

[RFutch]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Forget buying another pistol and put that money towards optics.

 

[Shortdraw]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Forget the SPS Tac and go for the 5R Milspec 700 or a 700p. The HS stock on the 5R has way more potential for accuracy than the rubber stock on the SPS. All the ones I've dealt with personally have averaged in the .4-.7moa range with hand loads or FGMM ammo.

 

[jasonZ]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Yep as said above. One thing you might put more info in about what the intended purpose is. By that, and it really won't effect the brand offering, I mean....Target punching, LE sniper, hunting, all the above? It could help narrow down the potential models put out. Any of the above should be good out of the box rifles. I would think savage/remington would have more possible parts/upgrades out there, but never looked for tikka upgrades so who know. My personal bias is savage. I don't like the bolt lift, but I like that I can change caliber in my shop and not need a lot of fancy work/equipment to do it. My department has an older Remington that shoots lights out. Get your hands on em and see what you like. Think about the future mods you might want to make and look at costs of doing so. If possible shoot some of your choice to see what you like/dislike.

On glass, yes buy once cry once. The mil/mil and moa/moa is good advice, makes life simpler later. Ffp is the place to be apparently, but I still use sfp. Most any of the top brands will do. Just look at the firearm sale and optics section and you'll quickly see what's being used most. If for le use then definately think reliability and longevity. Repeatability is also crucial. I am running a leupold, but there are probably as good or better choices. I'd probably look at the vortex PST myself.
Goodluck brother and stay safe.

 

[akinghorn]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Thanks for all the feedback guys.

A) I'll fill out the profile. Just to make y'all happy.
B) I'm completely new to this - anyone care to explain the "FFP, with the same reticle and turret units (mil and mil, or MO AND MOA)" comment. Mostly - what's FFP/SFP stand for (and what's the difference), and wouldn't reticle and turrent units be the same on any scope I purchased? Or are we referring to them being the same as something else?
C) @ mnshortdraw - thanks for the alternative suggestion. I'll be doing some research on these 2 other rifles.
D) @ TacticalJ - mostly target punching. No hunting (wife would hunt ME!) and wouldn't be used in the line of duty, though ideally I'd like to learn the ropes for an attempt at making ERU (Emergency Response Unit) here down the road. I like the specs/reviews for the Viper PST 6-24x50 FFP EBR-1 MOA, but that looks a bit steep for my price range (well, for my wife's price range) - is there something similar or comparable that you could suggest?

 

[Remoah]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Tikka T3 Tactical is just an overpriced version of what you can get in the T3 Varmint. Get the T3 varmint, i'm in love with mine, the trigger is crisp and user adjustable without disassembly, the action is smooth and tight, and the stock, whilst not brilliant, isn't THAT bad.

FFP means First Focal Plane. It means that as you adjust the magnification the scope reticule changes size with the picture. The reasons for it may not be that clear to you now, but if you want to shoot tactical/practical matches, then it's definitley a useful feature.

Mil/Mil and MOA/MOA are to do with the 'dot' reticules, which are pretty much the standard these days. the idea is that the distance between the dots on your crosshairs matches up with the adjustment scale on your scope turrets.

As for the Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 EBR/MOA, it's pretty much the cheapest piece of kit you can get that has a high level of quality. Sure, there's cheaper stuff out there, but it'll be alot lower quality. Expect to see Vortex go up in price over the next few years, their glass quality is incredibly high, as is their manufacture process.
If you can find a Bushnell 4200 Elite with similar features then go for it.
Also, get the scope in Mil Instead of MOA, it's a more standard measure so learning Mil instead of MOA will be beneficial to you if you want to be an ERU Sniper or whatever cool job title your department bestows on you.

 

[IronSights2011]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

My 700 is a tack driver all day long. Parts are readily available and cheap, such as new magazines, trigger groups, etc. Lots of gunsmiths know how to work on them. Most of your co-workers have used them and are familiar with them. I prefer the keep it simple approach.

 

[coug]

Re: New Member Seeking Advice

Buy a Savage and save your money for a good scope. you can get great Optics at a lower price with the Vortex Viper PST. you put those two together and you will have a rifle set up that will put you in the very good shooting rifle and optics range for about half the price of most others. There are other routes to take but I believe this would be your best bet.