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I thinned the herd the other day. It didn’t take very long though, before
re-investing the proceeds from the Remington 700 Short Action. There is
a reason for this.
Catch enough fish for an ample meal, and you still want to hook another.
Own a capable 4x4 rig that will get deep into elk country and come back
out with one, and I wonder what it must be like to pull some Gs in a
Porsche. Live in a comfortable home in the valley, and a cabin in the
mountains would be cool. Enjoy some really great sex, and before we’re
done panting we ponder how to arrange for such ecstasy again. Fact is
that we humans are insatiable!
We should now understand why I want another Tikka T3. Yes, I need to say
a few things about them. I already have one in .308 (Varmint), the other
308 is my meat gun; then one in .243 and also a .223. Sold the R700s over
the years – you can definitely count me in as T3 fan.
They have a few things going for them: super smooth bolt travel, easily
adjustable crisp light triggers, removable magazine (up to 5 shots in 308
class, 6 in 223). Plus Tikka must have figured out how to make a barrel
right! My T3s (2 bought new, two used) all have shot into under half an
inch. From my .308 Varmint I saved 4 targets with 3-shot groups of under
¼”, each with a different bullet weight (100 gr. Lapua HP, 125 gr.
Ballistic Tip, 165 gr. Hornady SST and 180 gr. Speer SP). Stopped after
3 shots because I did not want to ruin that “one hole”. Did I mention
that I’m a T3 fan?
Tikka’s website lists a .243 Win. in Varmint configuration. OK, two
clarifications: a) that version is not available in the US – two dealers
confirmed that; b) I did not really want a .243 Win. I do not like that
caliber because the case design is flawed, resulting in short barrel life
if you shoot with warm-to-hot barrel; and a .243 Win. is known to cause
seemingly unexplained high pressures – read up on it, it’s no secret –
had that very thing happen with my T3 – and promised myself that she would
get re-barreled if it should ever happen again.
What I want now is a T3 with varmint-thick barrel in 6BR, better yet 6-250
or 6x47 Lapua or 6mm Rem, no, really a 6XC! (I would have settled for any
of the others, and planned to have that .243 Win. re-chambered right away).
All a moot point. The Varmint model can’t be had here in 6mm anything.
Only option would be to find one in .308 or .22-250 and have it re-barreled.
And for that you need to locate a gunsmith who can cut metric threads- not
many around, I checked. Oh, neither are T3 Varmints with .308 bolt face
to be found in every store. None have been on Backpage for months.
Out of all that emerged plan B. If I can only get to a 6XC with
varmint-size tube by re-barreling, then what other weapons are there?
Right about then an ad for a Mossberg MVP got my attention. (Yes, we’re
finally on this article’s subject  ). On their
website you can find all the available configurations. And several come
in .308 Win. – hmm! Soon I had decided on a model. After a few calls it
turned out that Randall’s Firearms had a Predator on its way, exactly the
model I wanted, with laminated stock and short semi bull barrel.
When it arrived I checked it over, and out came the powerful plastic card.
In short, the .308 MVP went home with me because it was cheaper than a T3
(and available), felt very alive in my hands, bolt operated smoothly
(clearly not like a T3), laminated stock has meat for an even fatter
barrel (should I want to), trigger wasn’t bad as delivered and is
adjustable, and best of all the thing has a 10-shot removable magazine,
and accepts AR10-type mags! I actually have a need for increased magazine
capacity! More on that later. Rewarding Mossberg for coming to market
with this great concept played heavily into my decision to purchase.
From the Mossberg website: MVP Predator with 18.5” semi bull barrel;
weighs 7.5 lbs, is 40” long. Note how the stock on my gun below is
shaped differently, more in-line with the barrel; I prefer such stock
as it absorbs recoil better / allows for faster follow-up shots.
Time to get working. Before firing any shot, a couple of procedures needed
to happen. My relationship with MVP strained right away when the trigger
could not be adjusted any lighter. Again, not bad, but definitely not on
par with my T3s. Good was the free-floating barrel, all the way back to
the action. Speaking of, the locking lugs took less than 5 minutes to get
lapped in. And while on that subject … years ago I followed the
“breaking-in the barrel” school (1 shot, clean, repeat x times; 3 shots,
clean, repeat x times; 5 shots, clean, repeat x times). Not doing it that
way anymore. Instead I lapped the bore with several tight patches and JB
bore cleaning compound, followed by enough clean patches to remove all
compound.
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High-Capacity Bolt Action Rifles
Maybe I pulled my trigger too fast. A few days after the MVP became mine I
happened to be in a Big 5 store. In their rack stood a Howa, also a 308, with
big box magazine proudly protruding from it. I did not know they come that way.
Well, it does not look like they do, according to their website. But
aftermarket kits for about 150 bucks are available to convert a short action to
accept a 10-round magazine. Bottom line: the MVP by far is not the only option,
but probably the least expensive. Here are others I found out about, most in
.308 Win., some bigger, and it would not surprise me if there are more:
Ruger Scout Rifle
This is probably the best-known, may have been the first to come to market. I
did not consider it for me because getting a different barrel for it is way more
complicated.
Conversion Kits
The concept seems simple: change the bottom metal which typically includes the
trigger guard and mag tunnel or floor plate. The new one then accepts an included
hi-cap mag. They are available for the Howa 1500, Remington 700, FN SPR A1, even
a Tikka T3 (gulp, but those were out of stock when I found out, with no option for
a back-order). I suspect that none accept an AR10-type magazine, like MVP does.
Prices vary, sources of supply vary. If this intrigues you, check it out.
Tikka CTR
Yep, Tikka jumped on that band wagon, came out with a 10-rounder. Have not seen one
in a store, but the magazine does not appear to be compatible with a T3. The CTR
has a 20” medium heavy barrel. Available in .308 and .260 – what a tease, why not
a .243? Well, maybe they know that a .243 is trouble when shot fast and furious –
OK, OK, I stop.
Sauer 202
By the way, Dan Martinez alone and entirely is to blame for me to get into this high
capacity magazine bolt action business in the first place. Sadly, for some of you
who attended our June HSC club meeting it may also be too late. There Dan showed the
video that he had forwarded
to me previously. It features a wild boar hunt where the hunter fired seven shots
from his Sauer 202 to down six porkers as the herd fled across a forest road.
Think about that for a moment. It may be safe to say that most American hunters
consider scoped rifles for shooting stationary targets, for resting a scoped rifle
as firmly as possible, all in hopes of taking one careful shot. Well, with low(er)
magnification, a scoped rifle can also be deadly at moving targets.
The Sauer 202 may well be the Mercedes of such rifles. Their Wild Boar model comes
with an 8-shot magazine, in several long action calibers, but not in .308. I had
the great pleasure once to run my brother’s .30-06 with 3-shot magazine out of ammo
while engaging a boar herd crossing an open field in Germany. Fished a round out
of my pocket to make a fifth shot. On another hunt the 3+1 capacity was just enough
before the last tusker disappeared in the brush. Here in Arizona I could always
shoot more often at the rolling tire thing than my T3 (5+1) spits out. And at least
once a year some of us engage in a type of varmint hunting, moving critters, where
I’ve run the T3 empty at least once per outing.
If it weren’t for the dollars, a Sauer 202 Wild Boar could be a mighty temptation.
Darn good thing it does not come in 6mm Remington!
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Almost ready for a session now, just need a scope. The MVP came with
Weaver-style bases installed. So, what scope? Come to think of it, this
Mossberg has potential to be good for anything except benchrest competition.
In my opinion (and in an ideal world) a glass such as the Zeiss 2-10x42 HD5
Conquest with a Rapid Z Varmint reticle, or a Swarovski 1.7-10x42 with BRX
would be, well, ideal. They provide plenty field of view at low power and
sufficient detail at 10x for anything a .308 is designed to hit. Reality
is that my wallet is from this world. So I mounted what was on hand, a
proven Leupold fixed power 6x42 with MilDot reticle; had that scope for
twenty years. In other words, MVP first had to prove worthy of a dedicated
scope.
With 20-round magazine from Magpul
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What is this MVP capable of for accuracy, fast shots, offhand shooting,
and on moving targets? Those things were on my test plan. Its first time
out came during a scouting trip into our 2014 elk country. But I only found
time to roughly zero the scope for one load, and plinked a few rounds at
rocks across a canyon. Impression was indeed favorable. This also yielded
some empty cases ready for neck-sizing only.
Note that we’re in 2014. Components range between scarce to not available.
So I took inventory, used projectiles that I normally no longer employ or
had only partial boxes of. Similar with powders – saved the types I use in
my Tikkas, selected for the first MVP range session what I was able to find
in recent weeks at Sportsman’s. My plan was to test various reloads for
accuracy.
Then they closed BLM land to shooting due to fire danger. So I took MVP to
Ben Avery’s public range. More straining! The rig would not do better than
about 2-inch patterns. Frequently enough two shots would land very close to
each other, so I held on to hope and kept firing. Until I finally got the
great idea and touched the scope. Sure enough, both factory-installed scope
bases were loose. Session over, 40 rounds wasted.
Not wanting to have this happen again, I used a few dabs of epoxy under each
scope base plus thread locker on the screws during re-installation at home …
and sheared off one of the screws. The little thing may have been weakened
from recoil – didn’t matter, its head came off.
Counting on the epoxy and only one screw to hold tight the rear scope base,
MVP got to go to Ben Avery again. Except this time the fodder was a light
diet, only 100 grain Lapua and 125 grain Remington projectiles, and not with
full-throttle powder charges, either. Turns out that the mount remained
tightly attached. Both loads gave groups right at one inch. In today’s
world that may be considered lame. But any further accuracy is overrated
in the game fields, certainly so when firing at moving critters. So I
loaded more of both.
Eventually MVP got to go on its first varmint hunting trip. There was
enough going on that I can say that firing the thing offhand works fine.
That kind of shooting is very subjective anyway. So, my take-away is that
I did not feel handicapped. For sure the short MVP is agile, easy to carry
on the shoulder in the ‘barrel-down” position, very fast to get on target.
Stock shape and pad get my approval, soaked up recoil nicely. And in the
heat of the action operating the bolt was fast. That was the case with
both the factory 10-round and a Magpul 20-round magazine.
I can’t wait to do a side-by-side comparison with my T3. So there may be
a part 2 to this. And just to be clear, I have not lost sight of my
‘perfect’ off-season rifle. A varmint-contour barrel blank in 6mm is on
order. I stuck some 6XC rounds into the MVP magazine, and they fed just
fine. If I decide to swap barrels someday, there may yet be more to this
story ...
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Tikka T3 CTR
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Sauer 202 Wild Boar
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