Remington 700 SPS Varmint or Tikka T3 Varmint?

[DownUnder1]

Hello all from Australia,
Its been a while since I used to go shooting with my father and now I'm in the process of getting my firearms license. I have been trawling the net across heaps of shooting sites and it seems you guys have a pretty good idea of whats going on.
My main Question is which out of the Remington 700 SPS Varmint .308 and the Tikka T3 Varmint .308 would you choose and why? I am looking at these 2 for a few reasons, namely guns down here are pretty expensive (both of these are around the $1200 mark) and I wanted something that could multi task eg. take it down to the rifle range, hunt a range of animals(deer,feral dogs,feral pigs,foxes etc.)
I will also be getting a shotgun and a .22 but I don't think I will be able to get many more than that seeing as we have to have everthing locked up in safes down here(which isn't a bad idea but can limit space)
Just throwing it out there and wondering if you guys have any suggestions on what I should get or maybe a different caliber all together?Remember we are pretty limited in what we are allowed to own down here also.

ps. another reason I was looking at the .308 is ammo is considerably cheaper than some other calibers

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Flip a coin...either one will be just fine. If you want to customize it later...the Remington will be easier to work with in that respect.

308 is hard to beat (can't be beat in my personal opinion) as an all round rifle...not a lot of recoil, accurate, hits the target pretty hard even at long range...and it can do all that with a short, handy barrel.

 

[ifit]

cant speak for the tikka, but just picked up guns weapons magazine with a gun test article on the remi 700 sps tactical in .223 by Charles Cutshaw: MOST ASCCURATE out-of-the-box sharpshooters rifle EVER! Price $681 and like ridgrunner mentioned customization + for the remi

 

[DownUnder1]

You see thats what sucks here in Australia, cheapest I've seen the Tactical sps go for is $1300

 

[97guns]

if they are both the same price i would probably opt for the tikka, here in the states tikka runs around $650 and the sps runs around $550. on a side note i just bought an sps tact in .308 for $515 - just throwin a little salt on your wound.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

More salt....

I bought an SPS Tactical in 308 a couple of months ago...$580...shippiing, FFL transfer fee, and background check included in that price.

 

[chriso]

I got my sps varmint in 308 for 500 OTD ouch... my brother has a tikka t3 lite in 300 wsm Great rifle but Remington is where its at. Gives you more options to customize later on. If the sps tactical is only 100 dollars extra I would go with that atleast it gives you some what of a better stock than the sps varmint. Dont forget you need decent glass, Jeeze I wonder how much a good scope cost over there?

 

[Chuck Dye]

Are we seeing some currency conversion errors here? The xe.com site gives a rate of 1.00 AUD = 0.647710 USD making a $1200AUD rifle only $777.25US. Given that both rifles are imports in Australia and what I remember of Aussie import duties, that is not really a huge price penalty.

 

[ilike223s]

TIKKA 3 for sure,

 

[DownUnder1]

For the Scope I was thinking something along the liens of the Nikon Monarch 4-16x42 which usually goes for around $480 but I might be able to get it cheaperthrough a friend that works for Nikon

 

[Auburn1992]

700 for sure, the Tikka is seriously one of the ugliest rifles I have ever seen.

Aside from that they seem to be hand in hand.

 

[Appsy]

in my opinion

Tikka - they tend to be a little bit better factory finished. smother action and im yet to see one that isn't accurate right out of the box. they do have the detachable mag tho

700 sps - well built rifles you can buy a billion accessory's and they can be tuned up buy any gun smith. most of them are accurate how ever i have seen a few that need some loving to get them right

and while i know its not the cheapest round in the world you should really think about going .243 its what iv been using for (deer,feral dogs,feral pigs,foxes etc.) for years works perfectly and these days you can get ammo everywhere in all diffrent loadings

im currently looking at the same 2 rifles to replace a ruger .243 and i should really pick the Tikka

But i like bolt on bits so that means i should get the 700 but i probably wont get around to putting any bolt on bits on it so i should get the Tikka but i like the 700's but the Tikka's are a nice rifle to.:banghead:

if you need help getting a good price drop me a PM i know a few people around the place

 

[DownUnder1]

well if you are looking for a .243 Tikka have a look at this one http://usedguns.com.au/used_guns_whats_new.html#whats new (about half way down)

And as for my question thanks for the help guys, it seems I can't go that wrong with either choice

 

[surjimmy]

Tikka T3, made By Sako. I have one in 300WSM with factory ammo will put 3 shots in a penny at 100 yards.

 

[Omaha-BeenGlockin]

Tikka ---anyday---everyday

 

[rbernie]

I recommend the Tikka. Bear in mind that the Varmint model of either brand is not going to be particularly useful for hunting if the action is on foot.