First bolt action

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RLI

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Hi all guys, I'm Matteo and I'm from Italy :)
I would buy my first bolt action rifle but i don't know what to buy. I'm looking for something that is cheap but not a scam. I saw the remington 770, the marlin XS7 and also some used remington 700 but i'm opened also to other brands. I didn't choose also the caliber, .223 ? .308? Maybe another ?
The firing lines in my firing range are long at most 200m (about 220 yard), so what bolt action rifle do you recommend ? And what optic ?
Excuse me for all that question and for my bad english

Cheers

Matteo
 
Ciao Matteo! Welcome to TFL. I got to spend two years in your country back in 1992-1994 in Vincenza at Caserma Ederle, I really loved my time there.

My first recommedation is don't buy a Remington 770 but the others on your list are fine if they are in your budget. For your first bolt action rifle buy a .223 rifle it won't beat you to death if you are not familiar with shooting centerfire rifles and will shoot 200m with ease. If you have experience with rifles then go ahead and get the .308 if you want too.

Optics is going to come down to what your budget is and what you feel is the best fit for you. I'd recommend something in Nikon, Burris, Zeiss, or Leupold something in the $150-200 Euro range. I like Leupold, Talley, Warne, and Burris rings and bases for mounting scopes.
 
I strongly recommend the Ruger American. It can be had new for $350 and is a GREAT rifle for that price. For what you are using it for I would recommend getting the .243 Win. caliber. The website says $449 but you can go to Wal-Mart or your local gun store (preferably your local gun store) and buy one for about $350. http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRifle/models.html

You will also need a decent scope and a good one for the money is the Burris Fullfield II 3-9x40. They are about $150. Here's a link to it:
http://www.basspro.com/Burris-FullField-II-Promo-Rifle-Scope/product/40508/

Also you will need a base and rings to mount your scope, any decent "Weaver style" setup should work fine and not cost much money. You could get someone at the gun store to mount bases and rings on the gun when you buy it but you have to know what size scope you will be using. For example if you get the Burris that I mentioned, you will need rings that fit a 40mm, 1" tube diameter scope.
 
So, just to clarify, you are looking for a rifle to do target shooting out to 200 meters. In that case, let me agree that an ideal cartridge for the job would be a 223 Remington. Practically every manufacturer out there makes a bolt-action for that round, and they're pretty universally good. I'm not sure what to recommend since I'm not sure what you have available in Italy, but if you can get things usually available in the USA, then you might consider quite a few options. Take a look at:

1) CZ, http://www.cz-usa.com
They offer their CZ527 model in a number of different patterns, and many of them are available in 223 Remington. Assuming you are going to use a scope, the 527 American is quite a shooter.

2) Beretta, http://www.berettausa.com/shop-by-d...les-and-carbines/hunting/default.aspx?F_All=Y
In the USA, Beretta sells rifles made my Tikka that might fall into your price range, and are available in 223.

3) Savage, http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/finder/
They make a number of different bolt actions, with widely varying prices, almost all available in 223 Remington. The cheap ones will not be as accurate as the more expensive ones, but will certainly go bang just fine.
 
If you are familiar with shooting and on a low budget I recommend a Mossberg Deer Thugs, it fires a .30-06 (does particularly well with 165 grain). I also recommend most Savage rifles (most because a few have really loose bolts, and that's a no no). Remington makes really good rifles but stay away from the 770. If you are a beginner in general to shooting, try something chambered in 7mm Remington magnum (sounds more intimidating than it actually is). The Rem. mag has a nice flat flight path which I believe will help boost confidence in new shooters.
 
It is a decent rifle at 500€ it is extremly high priced since that is about $650 which is around $300 more what we can buy them for in the United States. They have been pretty accurate straight out of the box with a lot of satisfied shooter here. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one as long as you have experience shooting something the size of a .308 Win. If you don't and you still buy it stick to bullets weighint 150-165 grains to start and work your way up if you want to try 180 grains.
 
Thank you, actually 500€ it's a good price because in Italy the medium price for a Marlin xs7 is at least 600€. Also thank you for .308 reloading advice.
 
wow
really?

The Marlin is a good entry level bolt rifle. They have an excellent trigger. I would not hesitate to buy one as a first rifle in .308 or 7mm'08
 
As a swede I must recommend a Antonio Zoli:) a 1900 comes in many different setups now.

it is basically a Husqvarna but Zoli makes them now, great proven system and zoli has ironed out quality issues they had.

TIKKA has had a huge pricedump recently, now under 1000euro, and often models made the year before are sold out even cheaper

TIKKA has got several big package deals with suppressors and scope with rings

I love my tikka
 
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It seems to me you could find a much better rifle than the Tikka for that price. Tikkas are just too cheap in my opinion, but overpriced.

Too much plastic, the receiver is drilled out bar stock, the bolt isn't solid, has washered recoil lug, one bolt length. They have a reputation for accuracy, but I put it in the same category as the Marlin XS or Xl, and Rugar American.

Have you priced a Howa? Most solid rifle available for the price IMO. Solid bolt machined, handle and all from solid stock, receiver machined from a solid billet, and flat bottomed for better bedding, and integral recoil lugs. I own a Weatherby Vanguard old model, 300WBY, .6" 3 shot groups out of the box. Won't recommend that chambering for a first rifle though. They come in many chamberings.
 
+1 on the Howa. It may also be a more stable price internationally than an American made gun, but I dont know as I have never left the country. They are exported from Japan. They are about $400 here. I absolutely love mine.
 
Today i went to the gun store, i think i'll buy a marlin x7, what caliber should I choose ? .308 or .223 ?
What do you think about barska optics ?
 
My first bolt action was a Weatherby Vanguard in .30-06, which in the short term want good, i developed a flinch before i shot which was really bad for my accuracy before i got used to it. Now i love it, I go shooting every week. Cant go wrong with Weatherby their accuracy guaranty is great and the gun is very well built (although some people think the stock is cheap, which can be easily replaced by a nice Bell and Carlson with aluminum bedding).

I also recently bought my dad a Remington 700 sps. We both went to the range with it and tried it out. The recoil is alot less then the 06 and the gun is very well built. After getting it properly zeroed we shot a a test group. When we walked down range we were UTTERLY surprised when we shot a group the size of about a silver dollar(US). We are very happy with this gun.

What i would suggest to you is go to gun dealers and physically hold some of the major brands. In all honesty if i were you i would get either a Weatherby or a Remington. Both have great standards and are well known for their guns. Its all about personnel opinion. You may hear about this awesome gun online and look it up and you like it but the instant you grab it and put it to your shoulder you could hate it.

Although if you wanted to upgrade in the future the Remington has alot of aftermarket parts compared to the Weatherby.

Also go with the smaller caliber it will be alot more fun to shoot at the start and help refine your shooting skills before you move up to bigger rounds.
 
223 will be more enjoyable to shoot all day . The 308 can beat a guy up if you plan to shoot 60 to 100 rounds . That said all my bolt guns are 22lr or 308 :D

Im not sure what your budget is for a scope but I'm not a big fan of Barska .

These two here are great quality for the price and have life time guarantees

Vortex crossfire 2
http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/vortex+crossfire+ii/

Nikon pro staff
http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/nikon+prostaff/

There are many other scopes some mentioned above in other replys.
 
Many thanks, i will not hunt. I asked to know if there are differences in accuracy between this 2 calibers
 
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