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Dan,

Brownings are quite well regarded out here. Ruger use to ne the big seller here but the Vanguard is cheaper.

Sako sell well out here. Where out situation is different is that price differences between the rifles on a percentage basis is different to the US because all of the rifles are suffering costs associated with import. Thus a Sako is much close to Rem 700 and M70 pricing than is the case in the US. What is interesting about pricing is how it influences peoples opinion of the rifle. Thus Americans tend to hold the Sako up in a much higher light than do Australians because for us it is not much difference in price to Rem 700 and M70.

Onbviouly where you live makes a difference because John S is always telling me that Ultras/Tacticals etc are found on the forums but not sellers in the real world. Could be some truth there since Remington discontinued the Sendero. He reckons the American market is for light guns.

High grade custom Mausers can bring good money out here in different parts of the country. A lot of Australians on this forum would fall into that area. The Mauser is also popular for the custom project but I think one of the reasons is that it makes the project cheap to kick off, especially as compared to a Pre 64 or even a used current M70.

Very few new shooters would buy Wbys in Australia or for that matter any magnum. The large majority of shooters with 7mm Rem, 300 Win, 338 Win, 375, 458 and Wbys have all been shooting for quite a while and would nearly all be reloaders.

If you were to come to Australia I would say the two big differennes you would notice is a much higher percentage of shooters are reloaders and the 30/06 in new sporting rifles (as opposed to ilitary conversions etc) in most of the country is a very small seller. Generally out here once a shooter moves beyond 270 or 308 he has moved to the "fun gun" area. Also, when the guns are similar in price the 375 would outsell the 338 by a huge margin with the BRNO and CZ leading the parade. Although M70 is getting more common since the Stainless was introduced and that will be because it is much cheaper than the wood/blued M70 375.

But generally in Australia the 223, 22/250 and 243 rule and lots of M96 6.5 X 55s. 308 would be a much bigger seller than 270 but 270 would probably outsell 308 in the dearer rifles like Sako. A 270 owner is likely to have a 22/250 and the 308 owner a 223.

We rarely see things like Dakotas or rifles from the Winchester Custom shop. I think that us because gunsmithing is cheaper out here and the H&H case stops 99% of people so the M70 or Mauser is fine and the bigger Dakota not needed. The higher level Wbys and Sauer and Blaser is different because they are not really something that the gunsmith can duplicate. The Sauer and Blaser owner tends to be more the "hunter" typ person the Wby owner tends to be the "shooter" type person. In other words he shoots the same as the M70 270 owner but spends more money aand makes more noise doing it

But as enthusiasts and I sure it is the same in the US, our shooting friends are similar. Among my shooting friends none of then own a 223, 22/250, 243 or 308. They tend to own accuracy rifles of the big case/small bore type or own 375 and up or in some cases (as I use to be) both groups of guns.

As is the case in the US the Leupold dominates the expensive scope market. The Sako would probably get the best overall rating of all guns out here. By that I mean ouit of a 100 people the Sako would have the highest percentage that would say they are good.

Dislike of Wbys is almost 100% limited to pricing of rifle and cases and muzzle blast and recoil and being seen as a waste of money when a M70 270 will get the job done and in the case of the Deluxes and custom Wbys being too pretty to take into the bush.

My own view is that the forums are not very representative of what happens with most gun ownership.

But I personally like most of the guns if they are good examples. For example I would be very happy with a set of 404 and 500 Jefferys on Mauser customs, 300 H&H and 375 H&H on custom M70 or Mausers. I like things things to match up. But I could not come at the rifle where the bolt locks into the barrel.

The ballistics/bullet size of the 375 H&H is my favourite. But where the 378 beats it is that loads around the 85 grains of Varget/4064 etc equal the 375 will still be 10 grains under top loads. The loading parameters on the 378 are just so much wider than the 375 H&H while at the same time knowing you have a turbo button on the side that turns it into a big 300 Wby.

Mike