Bergara Ridge or Tikka T3X Lite in .308

I recently was looking at both. Ended up finding a used T3 (I guess its an original or something) in 270 and the few times I've gotten to shoot it I really really like it. Head to head I feel like these are both great guns and you're gonna get an equal amount of votes for each.

For whitetail? Just a general hunting gun? Or for a specific reason?

I wanted .308, due to everyone here talking about availability but the used .270 was in really good condition and cheap and let me get a better scope than getting a new one. Like I said this one just says "T3" on it but the recoil is like a 20 gauge. My old shitty Remington 770 in .270 kicked much much harder. I wouldn't let recoil play too big of a factor into it, unless you have a bum shoulder or something. I think you couldn't go wrong with both for a whitetail rifle.

ETA: grabbed like 5 boxes of Federal .270 "hunting rounds" and a box or two of the copper ones and they had a ton left, so maybe its picking back up.

As a sidenote, i was looking to see if I had any old .270 ammo laying around, which I didn't but had some 30-30 and 30-06 that were OLD boxes I guess my grandpa gave me, two are really old looking Browning boxes and one is 'Peter's High Velocity - DuPont," and has a store sticker on it that says "Globe Dept. Store - $4.19" for the box of 20. I have no clue what or when a Globe Dept. Store would have been around in the BR area.

The recoil in both will be manageable, but the lighter the rifle the less accurate it might be. Not due to the rifle, but the shooter. Both are fine rifles. Handle both and see what fits you the best.

I have a tikka t3 308 that I bought for my son but I shoot it and I have a begarra ridge in 6.5cr that I bought last year for my daughter/me.
I like both of them and it’s really a toss up between which is better. The ridge is a shorter heavier profile barrel that is threaded for suppression or brake. The stock on the begarra looks and feels slightly better and higher end but both shoot cheap bullets on top of each other and both are smooth actions with great triggers.
The tikka is a lil bit lighter for packing but the thin profile barrel may open up after several shots ( I have not shot a long string on it) I think the ridge is a ~#4 contour.
Either gun is a good buy at the price they are and I am currently trying to decide on beg/tikka in a 300wm and may purchase one next week or two
And I know it’s not apples to apples but the added weight and the low recoil of the 6.5 makes it feel like shooting a 22lr compared to the tikka.

I agree, usually find something pretty cheap so can at least do some shooting and I’ve always preferred the military based cartridges because of cheaper, easier to find supply. I have .30-06, .270, .280 and 7-08, want the .308 now.

I have model 700 in .280 Rem and .30-06, both are good guns and both shoot very well, I like the 700 but just wanting to try one of these, my research indicates that the Bergara is strongly based on the 700 and most Rem 700 aftermarket parts can be used on it, so that’s a plus.

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Cool story on the old ammo, I don’t think it gets too old to use but some may mean more as sentimental keepsakes.

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Yeah, it was just fresh on my mind because I took the T3 out for the first time and shot it a bunch yesterday. I def have shot some of the 3030 and 30-06 browning ones but the DuPont ones seem risky as the box is so old looking. Might be a cool looking paper weight for a desk or cabinet (the box atleast).

As for reloading, that is something I am slowly realizing I want to start learning about.

ETA: back on the topic, from what I was told and from my research (as I had never heard of Bergara being out of the rifle game for a while) is that they are indeed basically a 700 clone. However, the 700 is a hell of a rifle.

The recoil won’t be a problem, but the heavier the rifle, the easier it is to hold steady.

I have a T3 Lite in stainless and a T3x Hunter in stainless. Aside from the plastic stock on the Lite I can’t think of a thing I’m disappointed in. They’re more accurate than I am and they both really like Federal Fusion, so if you want to shoot MOA with commercial ammo they’ll do it. The stock on the Lite is fine, it’s perfectly functional, it just feels cheap on a rifle that nice and I’m looking at a Boyd’s to replace it. The action is stupid smooth on Tikkas and the stock trigger is excellent.

Never heard a bad thing about Bergaras but I have no personal experience.