Need advise on a .308

T

TonyAngel

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Feb 12, 2010
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Hello all,

I've recently found a need for a good walking around bolt gun. I want something good for midrange, say 400 to 500 yards and slick handling with a detachable, box magazine. Im thinking something along the lines of a 16-20" barrel.I'm not looking for a tack driver, but I'd like 1-1.5 MOA.

I've pretty much settled on something in .308. What I'm considering is one of 3. A Ruger Gunsite, a Ruger American Hunter or a Bergara HMR. Of the three, I'm leaning toward the Gunsite.

If you have one of the three, I'd appreciate your opinions.
 
I've owned one, shot one, and handled the other.

The Bergara is gonna be pretty heavy, the Gunsite will be less so, but still on the hefty side. The American (or even better, a predator) will be the lightest and cheapest of the bunch and still will pretty handily meet your accuracy requirements.

As a bonus, since it's the cheapest of the bunch, you'll have extra money for nicer glass and extra ammo.
 
New or used? I have a late 80s era Browning A-bolt chambered in 308 Win (assuming that's what you meant by 308). I think it has a 22" barrel. It's very lightweight. I'm not a long range shooter so 400-500 yards is pretty far for me. 100-200 yard shots or less are my most common. Anyways, I like that rifle... it's accurate, lightweight and not too long. It also has a detachable magazine box... in the sense that the box clicks into a hinged floorplate, which I like better because to the naked eye, it looks more pleasing than the drop-out magazine cut outs in the stock.

Don't have any feedback on the 3 options you're looking at...

Good luck!
 
I was looking for something like this a few years back (walking gun with sights and factory threaded). The Ruger Gunsite is nice, but heavier than I wanted and a bit $$. I ended up going with a Savage, however, mine doesn't have a detachable mag. I think they make one with the detachable mag now though. So, give Savage a quick look also if you haven't. Not that the Ruger American is a bad option.
 
TonyAngel said:
Hello all,

I've recently found a need for a good walking around bolt gun. I want something good for midrange, say 400 to 500 yards and slick handling with a detachable, box magazine. Im thinking something along the lines of a 16-20" barrel.I'm not looking for a tack driver, but I'd like 1-1.5 MOA.

I've pretty much settled on something in .308. What I'm considering is one of 3. A Ruger Gunsite, a Ruger American Hunter or a Bergara HMR. Of the three, I'm leaning toward the Gunsite.

If you have one of the three, I'd appreciate your opinions.
Click to expand...
Bang for buck of what you listed, a Ruger American would be economical and less of a concern if you scuff it up or damage it while you're walking around. Bergara is nice and uses the Remington 700 action, but it's heavy.
 
1948CJ2A said:
New or used? I have a late 80s era Browning A-bolt chambered in 308 Win (assuming that's what you meant by 308). I think it has a 22" barrel. It's very lightweight. I'm not a long range shooter so 400-500 yards is pretty far for me. 100-200 yard shots or less are my most common. Anyways, I like that rifle... it's accurate, lightweight and not too long. It also has a detachable magazine box... in the sense that the box clicks into a hinged floorplate, which I like better because to the naked eye, it looks more pleasing than the drop-out magazine cut outs in the stock.

Don't have any feedback on the 3 options you're looking at...

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I'm a big fan of the A-Bolt I and II's. Very nice lightweight hunting rifles.
 
The Predator in 308 is a good choice at about 1/2 the cost of the Gunsite rifle. I'd be paying for features I didn't want nor could use. I had one of those for a while and liked it.

I ended up with 2 Tikka's in 308 and cut one's barrel to 19" and I use 5 round mags in it. I liked it a little better than the Ruger, so I sold the Ruger. FYI, the Ruger Predator is best with 5 round mags too. You can get 10 round mags for them, but in my opinion they are just too much.
 
For a less expensive option the Ruger Predator. I have been looking at the Christensen Mesa FFT myself, but it is over twice the $$$ compared to the Ruger.
As others have mentioned 400-500 yards would be considered long range for hunting.
 
Look on the used gun racks and try to find a M70 featherweight in 308 Win. Even a push feed M70 is a good rifle.

This is a featherweight in 6.5 Swede. A 308 Win would be the same

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this has a 24 inch barrel, is a little heavier than the featherweight.


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Has a detachable magazine

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Kingcreek said:
The Ruger and savage are good options but you should also look at Tikka
Click to expand...
A Tikka would also be an excellent option.

Falls into the middle price-wise, meets all requirements, is a lighter weight rifle, but has a nicer stock and better fit and finish than some lower priced options.

Kind of similar, but a step up from the Ruger American/Predator.
 
Tonopah said:
Tikka T3x Superlite in 7mm-08. Nice rifle. Box magazine. Smooth action. 6.5 pounds. I like the 7mm-08 a little better than the .308 and better than the 6.5CM but you can buy the Tikka in any one of a number of calibers.
Click to expand...

I considered the Tikka, but didn't see a model that excited me. I'm gonna stick to .308. It's more than good enough for my purposes and the ammo is relatively cheap.
 
I have a Tikka T3x compact In .308 Win.
it is approximately 6.5 pounds with scope unloaded.
it is a great walk about rifle, and about an inch longer than my Win. Model 94.
I really like this rifle and get about softball sized groups out to 300 yds as far as our range goes.
the action is very smooth and it’s a plea to carry.
 

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I was presented the same problem. I wanted good old American iron. For my 308 that is. Besides the Steyr was too expensive. Went GSR and synthetic. I have lots of firearms from all over. I just wanted American for this one. The GSR was light, compatible mags with my other rifles, and shot straight. I liked it so much I got one for my son. I have enjoyed it immensely. All good choices listed here. There are many more to choose from. Ruger is not my favorite gun company and I do have a few more of their products. Support on my GSR has been excellent. Haven’t ever had to call Ruger. That’s service.
 
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