shopping for a new bolt action rifle need help

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socalbeachbum

socalbeachbum

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I gave my sporterized Springfield 03-A3 to my son and now I'm without a good bolt action centerfire. So shopping now. Want a caliber and rifle that isn't finicky about ammo, that shoots off the shelf ammo and is reasonably accurate. (1MOA)

Before you say I'm asking too much here, my Springfield was that kind of rifle. I could grab .30-06 at Walmart, whether it was Remington, Winchester, 150 gr, 180 gr., and get respectable results. I did glass bed the old 03-A3, it has a Timney trigger, decent 3-9x Weaver on it and of course I knew the gun. I did not fire junk reloads nor steel cased junk ammo.

So, I'm looking at what's available, budgeting maybe $450 for scope and rings, maybe $750-850 for the rifle, and am not fast on these numbers, but it's my starting point. I'm thinking .308 or .30-06 based on decent ammo available, plus match grade Hornady available if I so desire. accuracy goal is 1 MOA. Looking at 26" heavy barrel Remington 700 in .308 as one possibility.

Suggestions?
 
Like I just posted, the Savage 110 is a very accurate rifle and reasonably priced, I do have a Remington BDL Custom Deluxe in .270 that will shoot moa all day long (3- shot group) using the Remington 130 grain Core Lokt bullets, however that rifle today is extremely high cost, I also have a Howa Model 1500 in 30-06 that will put 3 rounds in a moa using factory Remington 150 grain Core Lokt bullets also. Both the Remington and the Howa will do much better using some of my hand loads. Note I have an older Weaver 3X9 scope on the Remington, and Bushnell Trophy 3X9 on the Howa.
 
The low priced rifles from most of the major manufacturers are all getting good reviews.
And they are mostly well within your budget.
It seems like everyone is making them, Ruger American, Mossberg Patriot, Savage, 'etc.
From the road tests, it sounds like any of them would do ya' and leave plenty of change left over.
 
Remington's quality has been spotty in recent years. Hopefully they have it squared away. Savage is your best bet, IMO. Their package deals (with scope et. al.) are good values. These days it would probably be hard to find one that isn't sub MOA. .308 is great. Go 06 if you anticipate using 180gr+ bullets. Vortec for a scope, if it's not too $pendy. Nikon if moneys tight.
 
There's a long list of rifles that will do MOA with off the shelf ammo. My Savage 12 does under .5" at 100 yards with Black Hills ammo. But it's a bit heavy for a hunting rifle. Still there's a lot to choose from and there are lots of threads that cover this topic. I can list the same guns that always get listed or you can dig a little and find a lot of info. Here's a list of brands people are likely to suggest and for good reason.

Howa
Savage
Tikka
CZ
Ruger
Remington (but quality has been down0
Mossberg
and a bunch more that I'm just not thinking of right now.
 
I'm guessing this will be for benchrest work by your interest in 26" barrel.

The only real benchrest gun I have ever owned was a Savage 12. 26" Heavy barrel. My example was in 223 but it would consistently shoot 1/2 MOA with many flavors of ammo.

I have owned about 4 Savages from 223. 243, and 308 and they were all very accurate. The 308 was the least accurate but would still shoot 2 moa consistently and I blame that on myself, not the gun.

I'm not a big Remington fan (personal preference is all) but the Sendero can be had on the used market for a decent price. Otherwise, they offer the SPS which is supposed to be quite decent.

For what it's worth, I have purchased half a dozen bolt actions in the last couple of years and they have ALL been accurate and they have all been budget guns. They were just too good to pass up. Marlin XS7 for under $300, Ruger American for $300, Savage Axis for about $250, etc. I realize these are rough around the edges and have sporter barrels that may not be to your liking but my point being that there are many great options in the market today. It can be tough to make an unwise choice although a lemon slips through here and there with any manufacturer.

Make sure you don't mind the weight of a 26" heavy barrel and have fun with the purchase.
 
caliber choice

a good part of my interest in researching this, gathering opinions, etc., is that I do NOT want a rifle that will only do weel with selected brands of ammo. I know that there will always be different results with various ammo, I used to handload for the old Springfield.

I'd like suggestions as to caliber choices. My impression of .30-06 for example was that across the board that particular caliber is pretty consistently accurate.

my brother has a .243 in an old Remington 788 and it just is very consistently accurate no matter what good factory ammo you buy.

I do not know .308 win very well. I'd like to know more. I've heard that 6.5 Creedmore is consistently accurate with factory ammo (although not huge ammo choices either).

Suggestions regarding caliber choices, please?
 
I have yet to see a 243 that wasn't accurate. 7mm-08, 223, and 25-06 are right up there too. I can't help but think the low recoil of these cartridges plays a significant role here. In fact, there are many men with much more knowledge and wisdom than myself who claim there really are no inherently accurate rifle cartridges ( or that it has been greatly exaggerated). It comes down to the shooter, the gun, and bullet preference of that barrel.

If all I was worried about was accuracy with factory ammo and have g a blast, I would get a savage in 243. Just my 2 cents.
 
he only real benchrest gun I have ever owned was a Savage 12. 26" Heavy barrel. My example was in 223 but it would consistently shoot 1/2 MOA with many flavors of ammo.
Click to expand...

That sounds a lot like my Savage 12 LRPV. Same barrel length and same group size. It's actually boring to shoot it inside of 300 yards. If you do your part you're going to hit the target every time. I actually get quarter inch groups with it using Black Hills ammo but not every time of course. Lots of people in my area use them for 600 yard competitions. According to the rangemaster at the local gun club they dominate at that distance. I think he sorta sounded disappointed when I told him what I would be shooting if I joined the club. I don't think he wanted the competition. It's like his attitude changed after I told him what I had like he knew it was just another guy with a chance to win besides him. They really are very accurate. The Target version of the AccuTrigger helps but it's the barrel that really makes the accuracy. Lots of people manage to do just fine with lesser triggers. Still it's nice having a 6 oz. trigger on a factory built rifle.

As far as doing well with other brands of ammo I was getting quarter inch groups using American Eagle ammo the last time I had the LRPV out. It seems to do better with ammo that isn't built to be match grade for some reason. it shoots PMC, Hornady (the cheaper types), Remington, etc. all pretty well. If you start getting out to 400-500 yards there seems to be more of a difference between Black Hills and the rest. It just seems to fly straighter for a longer tme. But as always with ammo YMMV. Not many talk about it but lot numbers matter when you're talking off the shelf ammo.
 
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I'm on our third Ruger GSR in .308. Those rifles have just about taken over for us here on the ranch, and have proven to be nearly ideal for our needs.
 
Last year, I purchased a T/C Venture for about 325$ after 75$ rebate. The company claimed 1in. groups @ 100 yds. with good ammo. I reload and have never purchased factory ammo. The gun performed better than advertised with my loads. A friend gave me some PPU ammo which grouped 1.5 in. It would be hard to beat the Venture for 325$. I also have a Winchester M70 in the same caliber which is equally accurate. While the Venture is a good gun, it isn't a Winchester in terms of quality.
 
To some extent it depends how much ammo cost you plan to incur. I've found that to extract good accuracy from .308 factory ammo it pretty much takes match grade stuff at $1.50 or so per round, the "cheap" ball ammo doesn't cut it in a target rifle. On the other hand, I've had much better results in .223 with "cheap" ammo and excellent accuracy with higher quality stuff at $0.85 or so per round. In the middle I get decent results with "cheap" 150 grain 300 BLK reloaded ammo, have not tried any premium yet but, it's available for a little over $1/round.

I just picked up a Savage 10FP-SR in .223 online for $500, everything I've read says it should be very accurate out of the box, I should know more next week.
 
The Savage, Tikka T3, or a CZ are all nice rifles.
I've always liked Ruger, too. I prefer blue steel and Walnut, not sure if Savage or Ruger have a walnut stock offering.
 
I always love the "all day long" claims and especially when someone says 3rd groups...3rds isn't a group...it's the start of a group.
 
Tikka T3. .6 MOA out of box. Mine is 7-08 but .308 or 30-06 are great also.
 
My two favorite rifles right now are Tikkas. A T3 Lite in .270 and Tactical in .308. Both are sub-MOA with decent factory ammo or hand loads. I've also had very good guns from Savage(Model 10 PC) and Remington(all 700s).

As far as caliber goes I would choose .308 if I could have only one. I like a short action, there are plenty of factory options and is generally available anywhere that sells guns and ammo.
 
I don't think you're asking to much at all. And more then anything I think you're in for surprise because I think you'll see better than 1 MOA in most rifles available today.

The worst one I owned in the last couple years was a Remington 700 SPS and with a 6 lb trigger and cheap stock it did 3/4" groups. That rifle now is under 1/2".

Myself I like Remington and Winchester but had owned 2 Savage rifles.
 
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