I also wanted to balance the durability and reliability of this scope with something that was relatively lightweight. However, for this rifle I wanted a scope that I knew would be extremely reliable through travel for out-of-state hunts and during extended hunts in tough terrain. Honestly, I haven’t always followed that advice. It is common advice to spend as much, or more, on your scope as you did on your rifle. ![]() If I were spending less than $1,000 on another factory gun, I don’t think I’d consider looking elsewhere. ![]() My T3X has exceeded the positive reputation it is known for and the high hopes I had for it. And the smoothness of the Tikka action is impressive for a factory gun. In the end, the T3X is a “no fuss” rifle that, without any modification, shoots incredibly well for "hunting accuracy". I have had upgraded triggers on previous rifles that don’t feel or function as nice as the Tikka’s factory trigger out of the box. The Stainless version has obvious benefits for spending time in the field, and especially for the multiple trips that this rifle has taken to Alaska. Weighing around 6.5lbs, the T3X Lite is a great foundation for the goal weight I had for this build. Tikka's newer T3X improves upon the original T3’s stock, which commonly received some justifiable complaints. Tikka's T3-series of rifles has a great reputation for being inherently accurate and extremely reliable. Let’s take a look at each component in more detail… TIKKA T3X LITE The total for these items came in at $1,685. But beginning with the basics for my initial budget, here is what I started with… I knew that I would eventually upgrade and enhance certain aspects of the rifle system, and over the past few years I have done just that. That's not a small chunk of change by any means, but when looking at a rifle that will get serious backcountry use, and include travel for destination hunts, it is worthwhile to make sure you're spending what you can on gear that won't let you down. My goal was to have a solid, ready-to-hunt package with my initial budget of $1,500-$1,750. Such high-end rifles can easily run $4,000-5,000 before you even add an optic. Like many of you, I don’t have the budget for a custom-built rifle. When it came to this build, I finally decided to transition to a left-handed action. A fully equipped rifle in that weight range is light enough to carry all day, yet isn’t so light that it is troublesome to shoot in less than ideal positions.Ī fairly unique factor for me in this build is that I am left-eye dominant and have always shot right-handed bolt actions from the left side. ![]() I also wanted it to be something extremely shootable a rifle that I could spend time ringing steel with and not hate myself when I put a lot of rounds through it in a single session.īecause this would be a rifle that I spent time lugging around the mountains, I wanted the complete package (rifle, optics, and all accessories) to weigh 8-9 pounds. I wanted a single rifle that was suited for the Rocky Mountain west, capable in the whitetail woods of the midwest, and sufficient for numerous species in Alaska. Episodes in that series covered rifle selection ( Episode 67), caliber/cartridge selection ( Episode 69), bullet selection ( Episode 70), scope selection ( Episode 71), and even shooting tips ( Episode 72 & Episode 73).įor the past 4 years since that series, I have been working on putting together a rifle system that met my goals and was relatively budget friendly. We released the "Building a Backcountry Rifle" series through the Hunt Backcountry Podcast in 2016.
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