She's a beaut. Congrats on your new rifle. If you looking for a suggestions on cheaper factory ammo plain old Winchester power points do vary well like sub MOA in mine. I think they have 165 and 185 in the 06. Hray

That is spectacular, sprg03. What a beautiful rifle. Nice to be able to select your own wood.

Made it to the range today to dial in the new Super Grade. I grabbed two boxes of ‘06, a box of Federal Fusion and a box of Hornady Whitetail. (More on that later)!

Right off the bat, this thing is one hell of a rifle! I know…took 88 years to figure that out, right! Fed smoothly, loaded easily, ergos are awesome especially with the cheek piece, and the trigger is phenomenal. I haven’t taken the time to measure it yet but it breaks like a glass rod with no creep or over travel. In fact it doesn’t seem to move at all! That will take a bit of getting used to, especially after shooting my Browning BLR. Although I was shooting at only 50 yards at an indoor range every shot was in the black, even while sighting in and adjusting the scope. Given my personal limitations, mainly some back issues, and given that I was shooting over a bag under the fore stock with my right elbow in the air, that’s pretty darn good for me. It absorbs the recoil very well, given that it is a fairly heavy rifle with a nice, thick and soft recoil pad. I do like the safety, mounted on the bolt cocking piece and with the ability to allow the bolt to be operated or to lock the bolt. I was also really impressed with the scope I chose, a Burris Fullfield IV 6-24x50, a pretty darn big scope with more magnification than needed on a hunting rifle here in Michigan. Very sharp image and very bright, with adjustable parallax. Overall I am beyond happy with the new Winchester. Although a direct comparison with my Tikkas would be tough, it would be difficult to choose between them.

Back to the ammo situation. Imagine my shock when, after the first two shots while shooting the Hornady Whitetail, I had THREE dud rounds! I tried the first two duds again with no bang. Luckily I brought some Federal Fusion that ran 100%. Looking at the primers in the dud rounds the dent seems pretty deep. I will try these rounds in another ‘06 at some point in the future. This isn’t the first problem I have had with Hornady ammo though, being a bit of a fanboy. About 40% of the box of Superformance in 243 I tried shooting in my then brand new Tikka in 243 either closed with a bit of effort or the bolt wouldn’t close at all. Really disappointed in Hornady ammo as a result.

quote:

Posted by hray:
BACO

?

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Posted by hray:
BACO

?

Browning Arms Corporation, the actual importer and, I think manufacturer.

quote:

Originally posted by sprg03-A3:

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:

quote:

Posted by hray:
BACO

?

Browning Arms Corporation, the actual importer and, I think manufacturer.

Made by FN Herstal imported by Browning Arms Corp. My BACO ref. was just to indicate that my rifle was a new production made/assembled in Portugal by FN. Some/most M70 traditionalist poo poo on the M70 being made outside of the US, others and I agree with is that the current production M70 are some of the best M70s ever made. Hray

I was so impressed with the 30.06 that I bought the 270 that was on display also! Wood isn’t quite as nice as the ‘06 but it is still a beauty.

Made it to the range today to shoot the new Super Grade Maple in 270 today, and also to dial in a new scope on my new Tikka Lite VSX 308 which provided the opportunity to do a close comparison.

As stated above I am a Tikka fan. I won what ended up being a Tikka Roughtech tan in 270WIN a few years back which introduced me to the world of modern bolt action centerfire rifles. Previously I had owned and shot several milsurps including Lee Enfields, various Mausers and a few Springfield rifles, one of which, a Smith Corona 03-A3 being my favorite and my choice to shoot a few Garand matches in favor of my M1s. This new Tikka was a revelation with its excellent trigger and ergos and soft shooting nature. That 270 led to a 243 Roughtech Ember, a 223 D18 Lite, and finally another D18 Lite in 308 just a couple of months ago. All were similarly configured with fluted bolts with enlarged bolt knobs, fluted barrels with muzzle brakes, upgraded stocks and metal finishes. The fully adjustable triggers broke like glass with a barely discernible travel but no overtravel. They are all excellent, fairly light weight rifles that shoot better than I am capable of, and very well suited for taking into the woods.

Then I was introduced to the goodness of the Model 70 Super Grade Maple. I am a blued, forged steel/walnut kind of guy (although maple will do in a pinch). I bought the first 30.06 because of the traditional build and great reputation as well as the upgrades associated with the Super Grade, all in a visually stunning package. My first choice was 270 as I really like the cartridge, but the 30.06 I chose was just such a beautiful rifle it was a no brainer.

First range trip with that ‘06 was really impressive! The trigger was phenomenal!! Recoil was fairly well tamed by the fairly heavy weight and generous recoil pad on a well designed stock. I really got the itch to get the 270 after, and the experience was just as good with it.


The head-to-head comparison was very eye opening to me. Triggers are excellent on all rifles, very light and crisp. However, although the Tikka triggers are noticeably lighter (haven’t measured the Winchester triggers or adjusted them, while I did adjust the triggers on the Tikkas) with minimal travel, I swear that neither Winchester trigger move at all! There is just no motion that I can detect in that trigger. It is that crisp! Don’t know how it’s done but it is awesome. Both bolts are very smooth but the Winchester may feed just a bit smoother, and have less wobble at the end of travel. Tikka bolts run like it’s on ball bearings though. Most surprising is perceived recoil. Both calibers are supposed to have about the same recoil energy, all else being equal. I was shooting 130gr Hornady Whitetail in the 270 Super Grade and 155gr Hornady Black in the 308, so the advantage should have been with the 270. While the Tikka is supposed to be about 1.5lb lighter, and feels it, with it’s muzzle brake and the limbsaver recoil pad I fitted it has less felt recoil in my experience. Neither are heavy kickers this was very surprising to me. Technology wins out vs traditional weight here I guess.

Both are outstanding rifles. The workmanship, fit-n-finish, class and traditional features of the WInchester are outstanding! It shoots very well as you would expect from a traditional firearm. Tikkas are an exceptional example of modern technology, beautiful and functional with excellent accuracy.

Beautiful set of model 70s you got there. Did you have a problem with eye relief on the .270 with that Burris scope, as I went with the Talley extended rings because of the long action and my scope's shorter main tube. Hray

From Talley
Extended rings are typically used with long or magnum length actions when mounting a scope with a shorter main tube length. Front mount is offset by approximately 3/8 of an inch.

Thank you! Fortunately for me the scope/ring combination worked out pretty well, especially since as you noted there isn’t a whole lot of real estate on the actual scope itself for the rings. I am very happy with the scope. It is very bright with a crisp image for the cost. I am able to adjust the side focus to have a sharp image at even as short range as in my basement. The one issue I did run into was that the bolt handle comes too close to the eyepiece to mount my usual Monstrum flip up lens caps, since Burris madddingly refuses to supply any. This is an example of the downside to having a 90 degree bolt lift using medium rings/mounts. You can access the knob just fine, but the handle would hit the cap. I ended up buying a simple fabric cover that you stretch over both ends of the scope.

By the way I mounted the same scope on my Tikka T3x in 308 using a similar set of rings and it worked out very well also. No problems using the flip up cap on this set-up.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Even if you already have lighter and more modern hunting rifles, it's good to also have a nice classic wood and steel .30-06 too.

Mine's a mid-1980s Ruger M77 International, in mint condition.

I WAS going to say Holy Shit Batman, but then realized I didn't really have the right words. Good Lord, that's all I can say. Those factory express sights are gorgeous.

quote:

Originally posted by wrightd:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Even if you already have lighter and more modern hunting rifles, it's good to also have a nice classic wood and steel .30-06 too.

Mine's a mid-1980s Ruger M77 International, in mint condition.

I WAS going to say Holy Shit Batman, but then realized I didn't really have the right words. Good Lord, that's all I can say. Those factory express sights are gorgeous.

That's a really cool rifle! Don't see many full stocked rifles. The front sling mount is very unique also.

quote:

Originally posted by sprg03-A3:
Thank you! Fortunately for me the scope/ring combination worked out pretty well, especially since as you noted there isn’t a whole lot of real estate on the actual scope itself for the rings. I am very happy with the scope. It is very bright with a crisp image for the cost. I am able to adjust the side focus to have a sharp image at even as short range as in my basement. The one issue I did run into was that the bolt handle comes too close to the eyepiece to mount my usual Monstrum flip up lens caps, since Burris madddingly refuses to supply any. This is an example of the downside to having a 90 degree bolt lift using medium rings/mounts. You can access the knob just fine, but the handle would hit the cap. I ended up buying a simple fabric cover that you stretch over both ends of the scope.

By the way I mounted the same scope on my Tikka T3x in 308 using a similar set of rings and it worked out very well also. No problems using the flip up cap on this set-up.

I know what you mean, My bolt handle will contact the flip up eyepiece when it's down when up like looking through it, it doesn't contact and works fine. Hray

Congrats on the new rifle, sounds like a beauty.
You just can’t go wrong with a 30-06, especially with a pretty stock.
Here’s my Remington ‘06 version

quote:

Originally posted by GCE61:
Congrats on the new rifle, sounds like a beauty.
You just can’t go wrong with a 30-06, especially with a pretty stock.
Here’s my Remington ‘06 version

Thank you! I like the skip line checkering.

I am pretty much through with push feed rifles except good old Remingtons in proven calibres. Control feed ones for now on. Pre 64 M70. Old mausers etc, Maybe Ruger 77

just got back from putting her to work.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hray,

quote:

Originally posted by Hamden106:
I am pretty much through with push feed rifles except good old Remingtons in proven calibres. Control feed ones for now on. Pre 64 M70. Old mausers etc, Maybe Ruger 77

With the Ruger M77, the early pre-Mark II rifles (like mine) were push feed.

Only the later M77 Mk. II and M77 Hawkeye rifles are controlled feed.

They joys of good wood.

That's a beauty!