Looking at 30-06 rifles, Tikka? or something else

I've owned dozens of rifles and the only one that I haven't had to either tweak or pillar-bed, so far, is my Tikka T3 Lite in .243 Win. It consistently shoots half-MOA and some loads print 1/4".

I'd be a fool to tinker with it.
 
congrats on the decision. I hope the american serves you well. I really think you'll enjoy it a fair bit. I know nothing about hawke scopes though. generally I recommend Vortex or for strictly budgeted shooters I recommend Nikon Prostaff as good line. my family and I have gotten so many lemons from redfield and Leupold I no longer recommend them.
 
Hawke Scopes, I have 7 now and they are all reliable, clear, easy to adjust and most importantly hold a zero.

So after work yesterday I went out and shouldered a few more rifles. I tried the Savage Axis and 111, the Winchester 70, the Marlin offering and a few more.

The Ruger is in my price range and since I own a few Rugers i know I am getting a well made, backed up product. BUT, the rifle doesnt shoulder well on me.

So after some online research I have found that the rifle that shoulders the best on me, the Tika, has a 13.2" LOP. The Ruger American has a 13.75" LOP!

Most all offerings are in this range but I think sometimes even a insignificant difference is significant. I wear my hunting jacket when I try out a new rifle or shotgun. When I shoulder the Ruger it catches the jacket on the way up from my carrying position. The Tika doesnt. Part of that is the design of the Tika recoil pad, its rounded so it doesn't catch on clothing. The Ruger pad is a softer material and it has sharp edges that catch the clothing.

I talked the LGS into letting me remove the recoil pad on a Ruger American and then it felt right when shouldering.

So I thought I would look into Boyds and get a stock from them with the correct LOP for me but thats another $120 or so pushing my $350 rifle out to $500.

I don't think the plastic stock on the Ruger can be cut down much, the recoil pad is really thick on the Ruger so that could be changed. I don't know.

I want the Ruger but I have to fix the LOP issue in a way that doesn't cost too much
 
Let me reword my question to make it more simple, can the Ruger American synthetic stock be cut down for a 13" LOP? I ask because the 13.75" is too much for me.
 
I believe the synthetic stock is hollow so you would loose your screw attachment points.

If that doesn't matter you can use whatever method you want to attach a butt plate. Or you can get one of those slip-on recoil pads like a pachmayr decelerator. You probably want the small size.
 
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