Best Buy .308 rifle

[FSJeeper]

I still suggest you go handle the weapons you are interested in at a gun show or shop. There are lots of excellent choices. I have shot most of them, I have high end Winchester Mod. 70's and other nice rifles, and in my opinion, the Tikka T3 is still the best value. Pick one up, shold it, aim it, try the action and trigger, and compare it to the rest of them. Many will find the Tikka T3 the best value for the money.

Oh, and I am a left handed shooter and they come in left handed models for the same price as the right hand.

The FN at CDNN is one hell of a bargain, but the action is not as smooth and the trigger not even close to the Tikka T3 unless you spend money or tune the Mod 70 action yourself. They are not as accurate without handloading. I do love the Mauser type control round feeding it has though.

 

[PinoyInFL]

I have a Rem 700 LTR 308 and love it. But I like my Tikka T3 Varmint .223 better. Both are scoped with a Nikon Buckmaster scope.

 

[axeman_g]

I have to argue the trigger comment... the FNs trigger is as nice or nicer then the 2 T3s I tried when I bought the gun. Trigger is loonger, but crisp when breaks. I found the T3 trigger to be short, but stiff. Plus the FN trigger can be adjusted yourself in minutes.
The action is smoothing with work and I think any initial roughness is due to finish type, typical tactical finish versus blueing or stainless.

But... we all want people to buy what we have purchased to validate our own decisions. FN IS THE BEST!!!

By the way, you discuss your hand/eye dominance issue. I am a lefty and I shoot all right handed guns, shotties, semis and bolts. I even use right handed pool cues over left handed ones. With left eye dominance, you should be fine, in a bench or bipod shooting position, keep your right hand on the rear stock, slightly behind stock to offer more stability and move it only to operate the bolt, actually can be done very rapidly. Offhand, I just take my left hand over the action, behind scope, and cycle the action, keeping my right hand locked on the forend. Not great, but if I need speed loading, I have the wrong club in my hand for the shot.

 

[Zak Smith]

Tikka T3, best for the money. They're like $500.

 

[Reid73]

He reported that he had several rifles in 30-06 and .308 and that .308 was a much more accurate round.

Well, I also have both, and that hasn't been my experience.

While the .308 is probably more inherently accurate in most rifles, it is not "much more accurate"; the difference is less than the .30/06's increased power relative to the .308 (which is not a lot). And with tuned handloads most .30/06's can be just as accurate as .308's, it just takes a little more time and effort.

we all want people to buy what we have purchased to validate our own decisions

Absolutely.

 

[aka108]

My beater 308 cost less than 60 bucks. Bought a 98K with a sewer pipe barrel and cracked stock for 35 or 40 dollars. Repaired the stock and installed a new surplus Israli barrel chambered in 308. Checked the headspace and the result was a very decent shooter. Not a prize to look at but that wasn't the intent.

 

[benzy2]

If you like the 10 FP but want left handed why not go 12 FVL? basic difference is a few inches of barrel and an extra sling swivel. If you really want a shorter barrel you can always have it cut down pretty cheap. From a pure on target performance point of view you are hard pressed to beat a Savage. It isn't the nicest all around rifle but it puts those bullets into tiny groups. The trigger is pretty good to. For my money it is hard to beat the 12FV. The others are great too but bang for your buck I don't see how you can pass on Savage.

 

[axeman_g]

by the way.. I forgot this in my other posts.

Savage makes the 10FLCP... lefty version of the 10FP for LE.
http://www.savagearms.com/10flcp.htm

 

[rogerjames]

If you like the 10 FP but want left handed why not go 12 FVL? basic difference is a few inches of barrel and an extra sling swivel. If you really want a shorter barrel you can always have it cut down pretty cheap. From a pure on target performance point of view you are hard pressed to beat a Savage. It isn't the nicest all around rifle but it puts those bullets into tiny groups. The trigger is pretty good to. For my money it is hard to beat the 12FV. The others are great too but bang for your buck I don't see how you can pass on Savage.

How much does barrel length affect accuracy? Snipercentral stated that 20" may be optimum length for .308 for accuracy, but at the expense of a little loss of velocity. It is counter-intuitive to me how a 20" barrel could be more accurate than 24".

by the way.. I forgot this in my other posts.

Savage makes the 10FLCP... lefty version of the 10FP for LE.
http://www.savagearms.com/10flcp.htm

Thanks Axeman. I saw that, but it is about $150 more because it also includes the AccuStock. I figure that that is something I could add later if I wanted, but prefer to save the $$ for now.

 

[Zak Smith]

How much does barrel length affect accuracy? Snipercentral stated that 20" may be optimum length for .308 for accuracy, but at the expense of a little loss of velocity. It is counter-intuitive to me how a 20" barrel could be more accurate than 24".

Mechanical accuracy in theory has to do with barrel stiffness (and a short/thick barrel is stiffer than a long/skinny barrel). On the other hand, long-range misses are usually due to windage error and range estimation error, both of which are helped by more velocity, which comes from more barrel length. It's been my experience that you can get long, skinny barrels to shoot great (quarter MOA) as long as they are made from a quality blank and they were chambered true and put on an accurate action.

-z

 

[rogerjames]

Mechanical accuracy in theory has to do with barrel stiffness (and a short/thick barrel is stiffer than a long/skinny barrel). On the other hand, long-range misses are usually due to windage error and range estimation error, both of which are helped by more velocity, which comes from more barrel length. It's been my experience that you can get long, skinny barrels to shoot great (quarter MOA) as long as they are made from a quality blank and they were chambered true and put on an accurate action.

Ahh Haa! That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying that for me.

 

[benzy2]

In theory more barrel length makes for a less accurate rifle but it certainly seems as said that the quality of the barrel and chambering have far more to do with the accuracy than the actual length. As also noted a longer barrel tends to allow higher velocities, with appropriate powders. The faster a bullet is pushed the less they drift in the wind. If you are perfect at reading the wind it makes no difference as you can adjust for the wind perfectly. In reality a faster bullet makes up for a person who has more trouble reading wind, especially at longer ranges. In reality to those of us who are even great but not quite amazing shooters I doubt you notice much difference from either barrel. If you are hauling it around the shorter barrel tends to be easier to carry. That is really the big thing I look at and in your case it doesn't sound like it will be hiked around much so it wouldn't much matter.

 

[Big Daddy Grim]

Don't forget CZ I love those and they are very accurate.

 

[axeman_g]

IIRC, you lose about 42 fps for every inch of barrel from a .308 24". Basically negligible, power loss is overdone by inherent accuracy of the 20" barrel. The 20" especially a heavy or med-heavy barrel has less whip in it then a 24" barrel, especially in the more powerful .30+ calibers.

I personally cannot even fathom toting around a 24" heavy, those things way a ton.