One that could be stored away with a few spare critical replacement parts. Barrel preferably 20 inches or less. Ready for a scope. Synthetic stock would be nice too. Stainless steel? Maybe a detachable box magazine? 400 yard whitetail deer shots are wanted. Don't know a lot about rifles really. Always was a handgun man. Savage, Remington, Ruger, any brand could be considered but with an eye for rugged simplicity.
If you had to choose an inexpensive , rugged, bolt action .308....
- Thread starter toolmaker
- Start date
- Status
I have a Savage 10FP in .308 that fits that description. The weak point in the synthetic stock, which is kind of "whippy". Don't know what 'spare parts' I might need, but they would be few. They have an even better version now, with something called an 'Accutrigger', although I've never had a problem adjusting the old style trigger.
ocabj
Member
Savage 10FP's use a push feed design as does the Remington. Most of the Winchester Model 70s use a controlled round feed design, like the Mauser.
Drue
Member
If you are looking for rugged, how about a 98 Mauser. You could get an action for about $75, have 1 .308 barrel put on it for about $200, have the bolt bent and drilled for scope bases for another $100 and add a synthetic stock for another $75. This cost is getting up there with commercial sporters and it would not be all that pretty but it would be rugged. If you were lucky you might find one of the Izzy Mausers in .308 with a good barrel and be most of the way there.
Drue
Drue
FR-8 - Military mauser action, 18" bbl, flash-hider, decent sights, <$200... but would need to cut the sight and bend the bolt for a scope.
Ishy enfield maybe????
-edit- you can get a scout mount for the fr8 and do a EER scope while keeping the iron sights.
Ishy enfield maybe????
-edit- you can get a scout mount for the fr8 and do a EER scope while keeping the iron sights.
While I have no bad experiences with savage, be warned that their reputation at gunsite is less than perfect, according to Col. Cooper. Apparently, the savage scout rifles break much more frequently then their steyr counterparts.
Kaylee
Member
After playing with quite a few rifles, prolly my next commercial one will be a Ruger.. Mauser extractor, beautamous safety (MkII, anyhow), and .. well.. I like how the ones I've handled feel. The one thing I ain't certain about is the accuracy.. seems they're either stellar (one feller I know took a grouse with a headshot at a hundred-some yards) or downright indifferent (as some on here have reported). As much as I love the CZ rimfire, I'm sure the centerfire variant would be a nice choice to.
Anyhow, I think it comes down to "play with 'em all at the store, pick what feels good."
-K
Anyhow, I think it comes down to "play with 'em all at the store, pick what feels good."
-K
Domino
Member
Savage 10FP
The Savage 10FP would be my suggestion as well. I've been considering one for a while and I will likely get one. For an inexpensive (like $500) .308 that is going to be accurate and utterly reliable it's hard to beat. The action is kinda cheesy but I guess they all are when you compare them to a 100 year old Swedish Mauser. RileyMc, how accurate is your Savage?
The Savage 10FP would be my suggestion as well. I've been considering one for a while and I will likely get one. For an inexpensive (like $500) .308 that is going to be accurate and utterly reliable it's hard to beat. The action is kinda cheesy but I guess they all are when you compare them to a 100 year old Swedish Mauser. RileyMc, how accurate is your Savage?
ocabj
Member
I strictly shoot handloads in my 10FP. 175gr Sierra Match Kings. 1/2"-3/4" groups at 100yds if benched.
http://ocabj.ucr.edu/ocabj.net/photos/firearms_personal/10fp_01l.jpg
http://ocabj.ucr.edu/ocabj.net/photos/firearms_personal/10fp_01l.jpg
RevDisk
Member
Tikka T3 chambered in .308. You can priceshop on Gun Broker for pricing.
Detachable magazine, very smooth action. First time I shot it, I was getting half inch groupings at 100 yards. Still hoping to eventually trim it to a constant quarter inch groupings.
dbshabo
Member
I've got the Savage 10FP-LE2B. That's the one with the McMillan stock. Think I paid $758 NIB. Sweet rifle. The AccuTrigger is great, its an exceptional stock trigger, it's easily adjusted for pull weight. The McMillan is solid as hell and fits me very well. I get MOA groups with match grade ammo using a Harris bipod and no rear bag. I'm very happy with this rifle, it does everything I want it to do at a reasonable price.
I was considering the CZ 550 Laminated when I was researching this purchase. I couldn't find much info on these rifles and have never seen one in person. I bet it's a good gun though. Price is about the same as the Savage if I recall. I have handled Tikka hunting rifles and they have a nice balanced feel and a buttery smooth action. Winchester 70's get good reviews whenever someone writes about them.
Shabo
I was considering the CZ 550 Laminated when I was researching this purchase. I couldn't find much info on these rifles and have never seen one in person. I bet it's a good gun though. Price is about the same as the Savage if I recall. I have handled Tikka hunting rifles and they have a nice balanced feel and a buttery smooth action. Winchester 70's get good reviews whenever someone writes about them.
Shabo
Master Blaster
Member
Dont know or care what Col Cooper thinks, the steyr that he endorses and helped design has a very light contour fluted barrel, and costs like $2500.
The savage scout is under $500 and If I were to use either as a crowbar, my money would be on the savage .
I have the 10FP with a an improved stock and accutrigger, The 20" model would fit the bill, and could be converted to a detatchable mag if thats really needed. You could also get a remmington BDL in .308 that would fit the bill and have the detatchable mag. Army and Marine corps snipers seem to prefer the internal box mag on their sniper rifles for some reason though.
The savage scout is under $500 and If I were to use either as a crowbar, my money would be on the savage
.I have the 10FP with a an improved stock and accutrigger, The 20" model would fit the bill, and could be converted to a detatchable mag if thats really needed. You could also get a remmington BDL in .308 that would fit the bill and have the detatchable mag. Army and Marine corps snipers seem to prefer the internal box mag on their sniper rifles for some reason though.
Savage, I love mine. And I am not all that surprised that Jeff Cooper was not happy with the Savage Scout. Honestly, do you really expect the man to cheer for a rifle 1/4 the price of that for which he gets royalties? Col. Cooper is a good man, not a saint.
Loch
Loch
WhiteKnight
Member
Well, at 1/4 the price, it should theoretically break 4x as much.
Spend the 2.5k if you want to.
I'm going to put in my vote for a bare bones Remington 700 ADL in synthetic/blued. I got (bought) one for my birthday last year and love it. Not the prettiest thing to be sure, but topped with a Leupold base/ring/scope combo you're good to go!
VG
Member
...Who has a commercial interest in the very expensive, glued-to-the-shelves Steyr Scout rifle.
Add barrel length and there are a bazillion military/police style sniper rifles on the market and more every day. A few even have a box style magazine.
Add a scope good enough to kill deer at 400 yards and you're going to have spent a lot of money.
Kaylee
Member
I believe he and others have stated repeatedly that he does not.
That said (with the dislamer that I've never having done more than handled the Steyr model).. I agree it doesn't seem to offer anything that can't be easily replicated with other bases, minus the funky stock-bipod which I'm not too partial to anyhow. Now... I can see a FAL-type bipod working off a free-floated forearm/barrel shroud tube/whatever to be a pretty nice "cheap and light" solution to the same problem.
To each their own, I guess.
Black Snowman
Member
For me it would be a CZ 550. In .308 you have the choice of the American, Varmint, Varmint Laminated, and Varmint Kevlar. Sounds like the American is what you need. I have the Varmint Laminated. Here's a link to the American on the offical website.
Not available in stainless, but I'm not a fan of stainless rifles. Longer barrel than you were looking for, 23.6". 4 round removable mag. Large claw extractor and controled feeding. Single set trigger (which really helped sell me).
You might need to slightly stone the seer to get the inital gritty feel out of the standard trigger pull without dry-firing hundreds of times. Easy to do yourself with a sharpening stone. I was REALLY careful so it took me about 2 hours but someone who had done any similar work before could do it in probably 30 minutes.
Should be able to get one around $475 with rings (they're supposed to be included, make sure they are).
Not available in stainless, but I'm not a fan of stainless rifles. Longer barrel than you were looking for, 23.6". 4 round removable mag. Large claw extractor and controled feeding. Single set trigger (which really helped sell me).
You might need to slightly stone the seer to get the inital gritty feel out of the standard trigger pull without dry-firing hundreds of times. Easy to do yourself with a sharpening stone. I was REALLY careful so it took me about 2 hours but someone who had done any similar work before could do it in probably 30 minutes.
Should be able to get one around $475 with rings (they're supposed to be included, make sure they are).
twoblink
Member
I have a Mauser K98 rebarreled to 308..
The original owner got it rebarreled to 308, fired exactly 2 shots, and got another job at another state... so he sold all his gear (presumably to buy things you couldn't buy in the PRK)..
$215
The original owner got it rebarreled to 308, fired exactly 2 shots, and got another job at another state... so he sold all his gear (presumably to buy things you couldn't buy in the PRK)..
$215
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked