Bergara 300 WM

[texjitter]

Good morning...long time lurker but this is my first post here.

Looking to put together a semi-budget friendly bolt gun for hunting. Primarily will be used for whitetail and hogs in Texas but we also have a Montana black bear hunt planned for June 2021 and hopefully lots of western big game hunting in the future as well. I am mainly an AR15 guy but would really like a nice "do all" rifle.

*Option 1*-My plan is the get a Bergara Ridge 24" 300 win mag barreled action and drop it in a Greyboe Phoenix stock. My question for all you mountain hunters is if that's a good stock option or I am better off with something like a Manners?

*Option 2*-Tikka T3X Superlite in 300 wm and a Mesa Precision stock

Optics are also up for discussion...prefer something in the 3-15 or 4-16 range (Trijicon, Nightforce SHV, Zeiss V4??)

Not that it matters much but I also have a Dead Air Sandman-S suppressor.

Any and all input is greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[AirborneEScouter]

Grayboe is ok, Manners is great and you can often find surplus stocks available on their online store. Don't buy the tikka in 300wm if you plan to reload, first hand experience, you'll regret that you did if you want flexibility. Also, factory barrel is 1/11 twist so not catered to heavy bullets.

 

[JeffRaines]

So I have a bergara HMR in 300, and I have a tikka in 300wsm. While the HMR is heavier, it’s barreled action is shared between the HMR and ridge. The Tikkas only come in one action size so no weight difference.

While my HMR shoots great, I would not want to lug it on a Montana bear hunt or any sort of “western style” hunt. It sits at 12lbs. While the ridge is lighter weight, it’s on the upper edge of what I’d consider acceptable, even more so if I didn’t live and hunt in the west. It’s already tough enough getting over these mountains living here!

The Tikkas are fairly lightweight. If you have a sportsman’s or cabelas/bass pro nearby you can get the superlite which is around 5.9lbs(vs the 7.9lb ridge). Lots more room weight-wise for a nice scope. I concur with airborne - if you plan to reload and shoot heavier bullets I’d shy away from the 300wm and buy the short mag. Because Tikkas only have one action size they’re a little short(stock) for loading the heavier bullets out where they need to be. Modifying the WSM to take long bullets is easy, buy a HCA magazine and shave the bolt stop.

The stock Tikka stock is actually fairly nice. I ended up putting mine into a AG Alpine Hunter and while I love the ergonomics of it, it’s not like it made a difference on how it shot.

One last thing - worrying about bullet weight with the Tikkas is a little overstated. By the time you get into bullets the twist won’t stabilize you’re not gonna have enough throat to seat them out anyway. I have a buddy of mine running 200 eldx out of a 300wm that shoots them out to 1100 with zero issues. I’m in the process of working up a load for the 205 Berger’s in my stock 11 twist and again, they aren’t flying sideways. This is at sea level. It probably won’t shoot the 215s, but again mine doesn’t have enough throat to bother with trying them even if it would. None of this matters at all if all you shoot are factory loads.

 

[rootacres]

I think either of those options would work great. I had a Bergara Hunter and it shot factory loads great. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that company to anyone. I also watched a bull elk fall to a tikka 300 wm about a month ago.

1.) 300 WM is a great do all caliber, you can legit hunt anything in NA if you want.

2.) The grayboe stock you are considering would be just fine, so would the renegade and terrain. I dropped mine in an HS precision. You may consider doing a DIY recoil lug bed job. I did one on my WSM, it wasn't too complicated.

3.) The one knock I have on tikka is their factory stocks look and feel cheap. They still achieve great accuracy but the stocks seem low quality. Putting it in a mesa precision would be good.

4.) I don't think you need a manners for a backcountry hunting rig. Everything else you mentioned would be perfectly adequate, especially if you're keeping it semi budget friendly.

5.) I have that new Vortex Razor HD 3-15x42 LHT, check it out. Ive had great luck with all the vortex products I've used