Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles best new factory alternative to Barrett Fieldcraft

Now the the Fieldcraft is no longer in production, what is the best factory alternative to it? The Fieldcraft combined a lot of good features - light weight, a good stock, lots of room for cartridge length in short action calibers, and good twist rates. It also seemed to be pretty much trouble free for a lot of owners. It did all this for under $2000

I'm not sure that any new factory rifle combines all these good qualities - which one comes closest?

When these first came out ( even though they are push feed) I couldnt wait to get my hands on one until I did, I was very underwhelmed with the feel of the stock and didnt care for the way the bolt handle attached to the bolt but I think the quality was there so im surprised Barrett dropped this model with such a short run, they must not have sold well enough for them to think it worth the effort or they would still be in production 🤔.....A Kimber Montana ($1200) is more to My taste for a flyweight rifle.....Hb

Tikka T3

If you can work with the 2.88" magazine length, you can't buy the sum of the parts and put a rifle together as well as the Christensen-Arms rifles they are selling. Retail for $1200 for the SS barrel MESA and $1800 for the carbon barrel Ridgeline

Bergara Premier Mountain 2.0 looks good, made here. Don’t know if it has any MIM parts like the cheaper ones. Saw one of those break the bolt shroud a couple years ago.

The Premier has a Savage-like bolt head and carbon fiber stock . Street price looks to be about $2k, and cartridge selection limited. Have a FC, but a Montana would be okay too for a lot less money.

I handled a Bergara premier mountain 2.0 and was not impressed with fit and finish in the barrel channel. For the price it shouldn't look like that. The forearm was too thick for my liking also.

Yeah I got to handle a couple of these lately and fit and finish was good but the rifle felt a little bulky (for a Mountain rifle) and the forend is too thick for My taste...For almost 2K I think you can do better. I bet they shoot good though.....Hb

My only look has been online pics. Too bad. The old Premier I saw a few years ago at the range looked pretty good.

Would have liked another FC for a larger cartridge, but that’s just greed. Like my Alpine nearly as well, but they’re gone too.

Montana for the win!

My thoughts exactly.

There is no equivalent to the fieldcraft. I can't believe more manufacturers don't offer a 3" magbox and faster twist barrels. I remember getting laughed out of the Remington booth in 2004 when I told them they should put 8 twist barrels on all 260's and lengthen the mag box to 3". One rep said it was the stupidest suggestion he'd ever heard. I often wonder if any of the employees at gun companies even shoot.

Bb

If A rifle was not popular they would not sell as fast as they did and hold their value after they were discontinued. Barrett simply had military contracts that took priority .

There is no equivalent, Kimber Montana GMAFB, no comparison in build quality, machining, materials used.

Kimber. If you really want to feel fancy throw a new barrel on it twisted/throated how you want.

I dont know about how fast they sold, I remember Whitakers and others had them discounted greatly to move them. Barrett quit building them in December of 2019 and I looked on Gunbroker and you can still Buy a brand new in box Fieldcraft .308 Win 21" barrel...So I dont think guy's were anxiously lining up to buy em for $1600-$1800, buy hey "Stick" seems to love them so they got to be the chit! 😁.....Hb

The only semi-equivalent is the NULA. But the NULA is more money and the action isn’t stainless. The Fieldcraft was the best bang for the buck to come along in a long time. I knew it was too good to last.

It seems people either hate the stock or love it. My face must be fat in the right places because it suits me just fine, as does the Alpine. If you study the bolt handle, the design is plenty robust, just looks hinky at first. I never cared for the way the Kimber bolt handle screws into the body, but never heard of one getting lost.

When the madness ends, a patient person might find a FC someplace for less than and arm and a leg. GB ain't that place right now for certain, for much of anything.

Of all the factory rifles in current production the Kimber Montana gives the best bang for the buck in my opinion. Good luck finding one!

The Mauser M12 has the build quality and may have the best technical advancements regarding mechanisms and ergonomics (bolt release, safety, bolt, handling characteristics). They do not however match the innovative elements of the Fieldcraft with its twist rates, handiness of weight and generously lengthened mag box. Shooting heavy for caliber was the Fieldcraft’s calling card.

Another sleeper may be the Sauer 101 which has a lot of Tikka look in it but at a higher end and better quality more in line with a Sako.

When the madness ends, a patient person might find a FC someplace for less than and arm and a leg. GB ain't that place right now for certain, for much of anything.
[/quote] You got that right Pappy...Everything on GB has gone CRAZY!!
I dont think it was near this bad even during the Obama days .......Hb

Just pray you never have to put any decent pressure on that attachment point, or you may find out otherwise. I pulled on the bolt handle with moderate force to try and remove a stuck case, and ended up with some play in the joint and some wiggle between the bolt body and handle. I sent the bolt in to Barrett to be repaired, and several months later I’m still waiting. A skilled dude with a micro TIG would be my preferred solution if it ever happens again.

Still waiting? Any communication from them? Had the same problem and it was fixed fast. But that was when they were still making them.

I agree that the bolt handle Junction is a bad design. There’s no reason for the handle not to be one piece and welded to the bolt just like they are on Forbes and NULA rifles.