the most accurate "out of the counter" rifle and its price?

[IanS]

Tikka T3. I have a 270 and love it.

 

[IanS]

I have a Leupold 4 x 33 on it. I use Federal Fusion 150 grain bullets

 

[TEC]

Odd. I recently had very similar "urges" for an accurate target rifle - one that was fun and fairly inexpensive, inexpensive to shoot, and capable of sub-MOA groups at 100 yards or longer. No one has mentioned the rimfire rifle I bought - a CZ-452 Varmint 17HMR. With an inexpensive trigger modification, lightening the spring, the pull is 1.3# and very crisp. It is a real pleasure to shoot, off-hand or off a bench rest.

Infectious, though -- I am now looking for a CZ-527 Varmint in .223 Both would come in within your price range, and in .17 HMR, you would have enough left over for a really nice scope and still come in under $800.

In looking at the .223, I have vague plans of buying a single stage press and some dies and beginning to hand load some more serious target loads in .223, something that probably is not practical for a rim fire, as far as I know.

I hear good things about the Savage models, too.

 

[J99]

can always pick up a Lee Enfield no.4 or Mosin Nagant for cheap and with a few mods they will shoot as accurate as any modern riffle and ammo will be a lot cheaper

 

[J Bev]

An Accurate "out of the counter" rifle:

I had some time to waste, and felt a diatribe coming on... we'll see if anyone is still looking at this old discussion.

The most significant contributors to innaccuracy are: shooter's flinch, trigger effort, paralax error, and rifling twist-rate. Once you've mastered those, you can work on loading/ballistics. Then, barrel harmonics.

I have two out-of-the-box Remington 700's:

One, a 700 CDL in 300 Win Mag (26" bbl), which prints slightly over 1" patterns at 200 yards with Remington 180 grain Core-Lokt. It has a Nikon Monarch 8480 mounted on it. Combined, the rig was $1200 new.

I also have a 700 BDL in 30-06 Remington (24" bbl), which prints 1.5" patterns at 100 yards using any old junk I have put in it (with open sights, BTW)... I just mounted a Nikon Monarch 8424 taken off the CDL... and it hasn't been sighted-in yet... but, I'm champfing at the bit to see how she does.

Both of these rifles are more accurate than 80% of the "Sniper Rifle"'s I have seen advertised.

The fact is, family-inherited biases aside... the military, police, and competetive worlds all predominately use Remington 700 actions upon which to build their precision shooting hardware. And, a used Remington 700 in 308 Winch. (currently the most accurate, reasonably-priced, easily available ammo) with ample life remaining can be gotten for about $450. A decent used scope can be had for a couple hundred dollars. This combination will afford a novice "sharp-shooter" to practice out to 500 yards, without killing your retirement savings.

And, you will learn a LOT tinkering with this rifle. The barrel can be free-floated and glass-bedded, you can buy a Timney trigger group, there are some pricey ammo's available (Black Hills, Fed. Gold Medal, Hornady competition ammo, etc.)

Once you've learned to breathe, learned to relax, learned good posture, and saved your pennies... then, you can move up to a REAL shooting machine and buy a Sako TRG 42 in .338 Lapua... for about $6000 with all the "fixin's". Ammo is about $3 a hit.


Keep yer powder dry.
JB

 

[Almond27]

Holy thread resurrect this one just doesn't want to die lol I was reading right through every post and saw some of the prices and knew something was fishy then I looked at the date. I'd go with a Savage though most of them are tack drivers.

 

[<SLV>]

The Stevens 200 is a new offering and great value for the tinkerer who doesn't mind swapping out the trigger for a Basix. That would be my recommendation. People also seem to like the Marlin XS7 (XL7).

 

[clattin]

Here's your answer.....at least according to Field and Stream from 2007 and 2008. I would agree with their assesments as well....hard to beat the Weatherby Vanguard (Howa 1500) for right out of the box accuracy.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/node/1000022230

Chris

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I bought a Savage recently and was very impressed at how much nicer it was then my Remington 700 BDL's. I was so wrapped up in the Remington dogma that I missed out in how much nicer the Savage's are. I especially like a trigger out of the box that is acceptable instead of the 6 to 8 lbs Rem 700 triggers. I also liked how smooth the bolt throw was. None of my 700's is anywhere near as nice.

 

[missouri dave]

I have a CZ 550 full stock in 6.5 swede with a el cheapo ncstar scope on it. I just put that scope on it to sight it in till I could get a "GOOD" scope. Turns out with good ammo it'll print clover leafs at 100 yards from an improvised bench rest. No way I'm taking that scope off. Rifle cost me about 650-675 out the door.

 

[Art Eatman]

Since the odds are that the OP has gone on and done whatever, this thread is done for.