A mid-calibre rifle project
Official review in Australian Hunter 38
Following on from the success of our previous .243-calibre five-rifle test, it was decided that we would repeat the exercise with a few modifications. In the previous test, we put a ceiling of $1300 retail on the over-the-counter price of the rifles. This time, we opted for a minimum retail cost of $2000 - a more upmarket approach. There are many rifles now available for around the $1000 mark, but this test was to cater more for those shooters who might want to purchase a new rifle in the upper price bracket. Not too outrageous, but the sort of rifle one may choose to buy when the cash becomes available for the rifle they really want.
As in the previous test, we purchased the rifles from the Australian distributors and tested them as issued. We then had them fully worked over by an accuracy gunsmith, who attended to any problems, and produced a report on each rifle. Following that, we again tested the rifles using the same factory loads and to finish off, we used handloads in an attempt to squeeze the ultimate accuracy from each one.
The testing was spread over a number of people, rather than just have one opinion. We held an all-day testing session at the SSAA South Australia State Range at the Monarto Shooting Complex. The shooters included staff from our SSAA Media & Publications department, plus experienced shooters Kym Just and David Hume, who also helped out with the shooting for our previous review. The mix of male and female shooters of a variety of ages was also considered essential to obtain a variety of impressions.
We must emphasise that we did not set out to have a ‘best’ and ‘worst’ rifle and we understand that potential buyers can be influenced by brand allegiance, price, and of course, reputation. We did not select any particular rifle from a shipment - we took whatever the distributor sent to us, as this is what the buyer experiences in a gunshop. We simply present to you the results as we found them.
Our choice of rifles
It was decided that we would purchase five readily available brands from our advertisers. They had to be bolt-action repeating rifles of hunting configuration, preferably stainless, in a minimum of .25-06-calibre. We did not venture into Magnum calibres, but may consider that for a future multi-rifle review.
Our choices were limited only by what the distributors had in stock. At the time of purchase, retail prices ranged from just more than $2000 to around $2700, depending upon where you bought them. However, as the dollar has fallen considerably since we bought them, they may be even less expensive now.
Now, wouldn’t you like that collection sitting in your gun safe? They sure looked nice in mine! Well, all of these rifles will be sold to the highest bidder.
Some distributors also supplied mounts and suitable scopes for testing purposes - the latter of which were returned after the testing. As scopes are largely a personal choice, the purchasers of these rifles will no doubt have something in mind that suits their needs.
And so, in no particular order, here are descriptions of the five chosen rifles...
Sako 85 Hunter Laminated Stainless .270 Winchester
Thompson/Center Icon Precision Hunter .308 Winchester
Remington 700 CDL Stainless Fluted 7mm-08
Kimber 8400 Montana .25-06
Weatherby Mark V Accumark .308 Winchester
Read about Range testing, gunsmithing and handloading for accuracy
Read about Technical and hunting information on the calibres
View the photo gallery
Conclusions
There are no winners or losers here - every one of these rifles was very capable of doing exactly what the manufacturer claimed as issued and all of them functioned and fired in an acceptable manner. The accuracy, as issued, would probably satisfy a vast number of hunters, but we wanted a little more, hence the makeover. After all, a rifle can never be too accurate!
Following our tune-ups, they worked even better. Yes, the factories could do the things that we did, but then every rifle would be have to be hand-built and the cost would soar accordingly. You buy a car and modify or blueprint it, so why wouldn’t you do the same for your rifle? It’s definitely worth it.
As stated earlier, all of these mid-calibre hunting rifles will be for sale to the highest bidder. Details of how they will be auctioned can be read here.