Developing a bolt action rifle battery

[Crow Hunter]

I want to create a bolt action rifle battery.

I want this battery to be as similar as possible in function/safety location.

I want my battery to consist of .22LR, .22 Magnum, .223 and .308 all with sporter weight barrels.

In the future, I might wind up getting heavy barreled versions in .223/.308 as well.

What companies or combinations of companies could get me this "setup"?

Ruger is the only one that I have found that has most of these options. I have no experience at all with Ruger bolt action guns.

I currently own .22 and .22 Magnum Marlins, and from what I can remember, Remington has a similar safety setup and that is what I am leaning towards right now. (In the late '90s I owned a Remington 700P LTR and a 700P DBM in .300 Win Mag)

My only other bolt action rifle experience is with Browning A-bolts that I used to hunt with. (.223 Varmint, .223 Sporter, .30-06 and .308)

What other options are out there and what are your experiences with them?

[Campbell]

CZ should be worth a look. Have owned a couple in the 527 series, well built rifles.

[Crow Hunter]

CZ should be worth a look. Have owned a couple in the 527 series, well built rifles.

CZ is hard to find in my area for me to check out.

Do the safeties work the same/in the same place on the rimfires and the centerfires?

[Campbell]

I never owned any rimfires, but the 527 is a true "mini-mauser", just like their full size and magnum rifles. Mine had no plastic, no nylon, just steel...;)

[saddlerocker]

Savage?

[Crow Hunter]

Savage?

Can you get a .22 Magnum and a .22LR with safeties in the same place?

I haven't actually ever handled a Savage rimfire gun honestly.

I used to have a Savage 110 and I liked it.

[saddlerocker]

Can you get a .22 Magnum and a .22LR with safeties in the same place?

I haven't actually ever handled a Savage rimfire gun honestly.

I used to have a Savage 110 and I liked it.

I dont have either, but they look the same....
http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/allfirearms/

[azeriosu85]

Sounds like tikka for you, ALL DAY LONG. They all use same size action, mags can be modified to be used for ANY caliber with bolt stop mod. they come in almost ALL calibers. and the sporter barrels on their lite models are simply delightful. And once you get to the heavy barrels you will not find another ifle under $1500 that can outshoot a tikka T3 tactical:dirol:

[MountainRaven]

There are, to the best of my knowledge, only two brands that maintain an almost identical safety set-up on their bolt guns. Ruger and Sako/Tikka.

CZ makes nice guns, but the safeties on their 527s (223) are "backwards". You have to treat them like a hammer, rather than a traditional safety. And it's not in the same shape as the 550 (308). And both of those are different, IIRC, from the safeties on their rimfires (but the safeties are identical, regardless of model). What's worse, though, is that you'll have to have the 527 rebarreled, if you intend to actually run anything heavier than 55-grains out of it. But, stripped 527 223 actions are available from the factory. (I would be tempted to buy one to make into 300 Blk.)

Kimber and Winchester has safeties that are reasonably similar to those on the Ruger, so an M77/22 in 22 LR and another in 22 Mag would mate well with an 84 in 223 and 308. Only problem is that neither Winchester nor Kimber make 223s with sporter barrel contours. And with the Winchester, you have to go with the identical FNs to get a 223, period.

Rugers bolt guns all have the same safety set-up, except for the Americans. And they offer sporter weight 223s. But their quality is more miss than hit. The actions tend to be extremely rough (some so bad as to border on unusable), regardless of what you may or may not be able to do with accuracy.

That leaves Sako/Tikka. They all have safeties in the same place. They all have the same basic functionality, although the Sako centerfire rifles have an added tab to allow you to work the bolt with the safety on. The best part? You can get their rifles in 223, with sporter barrel contours and rifling with a 1-in-8" twist. You can even get them in a Tikka. The only thing that sucks about them are the integral bases on the Sako 85s. Not a big deal if you're going to stick to sporter stuff, but it removes the option of running one scope across a multitude of rifles (unless they're all 85s).

SO. To summarize:

Ruger
+Identical safeties
+Sporter and heavy barrel configurations in all calibers wanted

(Centerfires only)
-Accuracy is hit-or-miss (pun unintended)
-Actions tend to be rough, some to the point of being almost unusable

Ruger Rimfire with Kimber, Winchester, and/or FN Centerfire
+Safeties are pretty close in function and location (but not shape)

-No 223 sporter guns

Sako and Tikka
+Superb accuracy
+Identical safeties across platforms
+Sporter weight and heavy barrel models available in all calibers
+1-in-8" twist available for 223 (in fact, I've seen more 1-in-8s than otherwise)

-Proprietary mounting system on the Sako model 85.

The only other real negative I can think of is that the rimfire is going to only be a Sako gun and therefore not inexpensive. But, one does have the option of buying a conversion kit (barrel and magazine) to convert to/from 22 WMR and 22 LR (and 17 HMR and 17 HM2). However, the Tikka sporters tend to be less expensive than Winchesters, FNs, Kimbers, and Ruger M77s. Which can, as a system, off-set the increased price of the rimfire (assuming that you don't mind the Tikka instead of having to have a full stable of Sakos).

[Crow Hunter]

There are, to the best of my knowledge, only two brands that maintain an almost identical safety set-up on their bolt guns. Ruger and Sako/Tikka.

CZ makes nice guns, but the safeties on their 527s (223) are "backwards". You have to treat them like a hammer, rather than a traditional safety. And it's not in the same shape as the 550 (308). And both of those are different, IIRC, from the safeties on their rimfires (but the safeties are identical, regardless of model). What's worse, though, is that you'll have to have the 527 rebarreled, if you intend to actually run anything heavier than 55-grains out of it. But, stripped 527 223 actions are available from the factory. (I would be tempted to buy one to make into 300 Blk.)

Kimber and Winchester has safeties that are reasonably similar to those on the Ruger, so an M77/22 in 22 LR and another in 22 Mag would mate well with an 84 in 223 and 308. Only problem is that neither Winchester nor Kimber make 223s with sporter barrel contours. And with the Winchester, you have to go with the identical FNs to get a 223, period.

Rugers bolt guns all have the same safety set-up, except for the Americans. And they offer sporter weight 223s. But their quality is more miss than hit. The actions tend to be extremely rough (some so bad as to border on unusable), regardless of what you may or may not be able to do with accuracy.

That leaves Sako/Tikka. They all have safeties in the same place. They all have the same basic functionality, although the Sako centerfire rifles have an added tab to allow you to work the bolt with the safety on. The best part? You can get their rifles in 223, with sporter barrel contours and rifling with a 1-in-8" twist. You can even get them in a Tikka. The only thing that sucks about them are the integral bases on the Sako 85s. Not a big deal if you're going to stick to sporter stuff, but it removes the option of running one scope across a multitude of rifles (unless they're all 85s).

SO. To summarize:

Ruger
+Identical safeties
+Sporter and heavy barrel configurations in all calibers wanted

(Centerfires only)
-Accuracy is hit-or-miss (pun unintended)
-Actions tend to be rough, some to the point of being almost unusable

Ruger Rimfire with Kimber, Winchester, and/or FN Centerfire
+Safeties are pretty close in function and location (but not shape)

-No 223 sporter guns

Sako and Tikka
+Superb accuracy
+Identical safeties across platforms
+Sporter weight and heavy barrel models available in all calibers
+1-in-8" twist available for 223 (in fact, I've seen more 1-in-8s than otherwise)

-Proprietary mounting system on the Sako model 85.

The only other real negative I can think of is that the rimfire is going to only be a Sako gun and therefore not inexpensive. But, one does have the option of buying a conversion kit (barrel and magazine) to convert to/from 22 WMR and 22 LR (and 17 HMR and 17 HM2). However, the Tikka sporters tend to be less expensive than Winchesters, FNs, Kimbers, and Ruger M77s. Which can, as a system, off-set the increased price of the rimfire (assuming that you don't mind the Tikka instead of having to have a full stable of Sakos).

EXCELLENT info!

Thank you for that.

I honestly have never even seen a Sako in person, but I know where I could probably get a good look at one.

I was really thinking hard about the Ruger, even made a list of all the model numbers/weights/costs/etc but I have been hesitant based on reports I have read about the M77.

Thank you again for your info.

[Coal Dragger]

You can get there with Cooper Arms rifles, but you better bring some $$$.

The safeties on both of my Coopers are identical, one an M52 in .280 Ackley Improved, and the other an M57 in .22LR. The triggers are also identical. Both have sporter weight barrels, and are both extremely accurate.

The safety on a Cooper is on the right side of the action, and can be activated pretty much silently. The location and activation is basically identical to the safety on older Kimber of Oregon rifles, which makes sense because Cooper was started by former Kimber of Oregon employees.

I can't tell you that going this route will be inexpensive, but I can predict based on my own experiences that if you do you'll get top quality rifles that will shoot. Both of mine meet and exceed their accuracy guarantee, even with my dumb ass operating the trigger.