Your favorite centerfire Bolt Action...

Other. My favorite action has got to be the TC icon. I picked up an icon 243 for 500 bucks new several years ago. I should have picked up one in 6.5 creedmoor when I had the chance.

This action has three integral recoil lugs, 3 lug 60 degree bolt, cnc machined, good but not great factory trigger, integral picatinny rails, and is magazine fed. Ad to that, they give you a tool to change out the bolt handle in mere seconds. That same tool also gives a quick break down of the bolt body. It really is everything I could want in a bolt action.

I only wish TC didn't discontinue the ICON. It really was a cut above the rest. I made a 600 yard cold bore hit on a 2 moa steel target two weeks ago. Not too bad for a bone stock factory rifle.

 

Walsh, I the Enfield rear sight as a much larger ID than the Springfield A3. Inaddition the front sight on the 1917 is thicker than that very thin blade on the A3.

Smaller rear sight ID and thinner front sight blade, for me makes the Springfield more accurate. The Enfield is quicker on target, and the weight helps too.

That's what it looks like to this reporter.

Good luck.

Fred

 

At the risk of leaving your wife totally penniless in her old age...

https://www.k-var.com/shop/M70/

Wish granted!

K-Var now carries the lefty M70's as a stock item.
If you're feeling brave, I think Century has 'em as well and theirs appear to be in stock.

 

The M1917 had a much wider front sight (better for fast shooting and shooting in dim light) and also had front sight guards, similar to those on the M1 Garand. The rear sight was a ladder style, and had no provision for windage adjustment.

The M1903A3 had the same narrow, unprotected front sight as the original M1903. The M1903A3 rear sight was adjustable for windage.

I agree. If I had to choose between military bolt action rifles, I'd pick the M1903A3.

 

Ruger KM77VT MKII 308 Winchester, used for what it was made for shooting paper and BIG ground hogs.

Just a mite heavy to be packing but you can in a pinch. All I've done to it is mount a scope, the trigger is three way adjustable it was 2.5 # out of the box, no creep or over travel and zero grit.

Control round feed, but that ain't no big factor in a target rifle, 3 position safety, laminate stock with a wide beaver tail forearm, the stock design is darn near straight, it recoils straight back. You can shoot it free recoil off a powdered front rest without it beating on you.

I would really like to let someone that can shoot wring it out, 'cause its accurate as all get out , if I can shoot a group at 100 yds that nickel covers, imagine what a rifleman could do with it.

Only thing I don't like about it is the bedding system a little strange with the slanted recoil lug ,makes it hard to do a pillar bed, even though it doesn't need it I would like to have it done.

 

Remington 700 Custom is very nice!

 

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For hunting my Kimber mountain ascent in 308 has been a real joy. So easy to carry and made 4 one shot kills this year offhand with my barnes handloads.

 

A double set trigger on a .458 Mag!!

 

I have a Ross M-10 sporter in 280 Ross caliber. It is the smoothest straight pull action I have ever tried. ( I think I have tried all of them.) If you put one round in the mag and point the muzzle toward the ground, the bolt will slide forward of it's own weight and chamber the round. It has the standard 26" barrel. It shoots 287- 288" dia. bullets, which I swage myself. It will shoot standard 284 dia. bullets accurately enough, but I stopped doing that because gas was cutting past the bullet and actually eroding the grooves!

It is completely unaltered and has one leaf for the rear sight, marked 0-500. In the early years of high velocity cartridges they actually believed that a bullet had no drop until it traveled a few hundred yards.

The 280 Ross was the high velocity champion of its day and IT, not the 250-3000, was the first commercially loaded round to exceed 3000 FPS. The original ballistics comprised of a 145 GR "copper tube, expanding point" bullet @3145 FPS. Not bad for 1907 the year of it's introduction! With today's modern powders that can be increased. The round is longer than a 7 mm Rem. Mag. but tapered, and has about ten Gr, LESS capacity than the 7MM Mag. It can be loaded to about 90% of the 7mm Mags power level.

I am not a hunter, I'm too old and infirm now, and I have never shot anything with the Ross, but I am very sure it would up to the job for anything on this side of the world. (Although I would take something bigger, I think, for large bears)

That is my favorite centerfire bolt action

 

I have a number of favorites, depending on specific use. However, I just got a new fave this afternoon...a Sako 85 Bavarian in .300 WSM. Magnificent wood and fit and finish in a caliber that, loaded down is a .308 Win and loaded up is a .300 Win Mag. I took a look at my Sierra reloading manual and I can do loads from 2700 fps to 3100 fps with 165-168r bullets. The rifle comes with great irons and I mounted a Leupy VX3 4-14x40 scope on it with Leupy rings that fit directly on the factory-machined dovetail. I got it NIB for $500 off...I couldn't resist. I bought a couple of boxes of Winchester Power Points just for preliminary sight-in and the brass. I'll be ordering some more brass tonight.



Stay tuned for range report and follow up.

Harry

PS-I'll be going to the Advanced Maintenance Class for the M1 Garand at CMP's Anniston, AL facilities next month where I'll be building a match-tuned, glass-bedded, trigger-jobbed M1 Garand with a brand new Criterion barrel and stock set. I have a feeling that I'll have a new fave by mid-January

FH

 

My vote would have been other. Steyr SSG-69PIV (308) with a Nightforce 8-32X56 BR. This thing is a compact, accurate setup.

 

I have an M1905 Ross in .303 Brit. A fine rifle, but rather long and clumsy.

As for the 0-500 sight, let's take a look at it.

I'll assume ballistics similar to the 7mm Rem Mag with the 150 grain bullet. If I were to sight in a 7mm Rem Mag at 275 yards, the bullet would rise about 3.7" at the highest point in the trajectory, and be about 26" low at 500 yards.

Now suppose the sight radius is 18" (half a yard) then the ratio of sight radius to range is 1:1000. If I held up an inch of front sight, I'd hit 1000 inches higher on the target. To hit dead on, I'd need to hold up 0.026".

Assuming the front bead is 1/16" diameter, that's 0.0625". If I zero with "half a bead" at 275 yards, and held a "full bead" at 500 yards, I'd hit a little over 5" high.

So mathematically, I could shoot from 0 to 500 yards without adjusting the sights, just holding the bead a little higher in the notch.

The problem, of course, is no one can do such fine shooting with open sights, and you still have to know the range pretty accurately.

 

An unmodified SMLE, No. 4 or No.1

Dennis

 

Vern, that is interesting! I didn't realize that perhaps that 0-500 leaf isn't so crazy after all. Those old timers back then were probably pretty good at estimating range because of the rainbow like trajectories of the black powder rounds they had used up to then.

I can get 3160 FPS with a 140 gr hollow point boat tail .287 dia. bullet. I'm sure that shoots pretty flat. Now I'm wishing I had a 500 yard range available so I could do a little experimenting.......

 

I sold my favorite (Ruger 77 MK.II in 7.62 x 39), so now my favorite is a ratty looking Spanish Mauser 1916 in 7.62 x 51. Just got it yesterday!