Don Fischer
New member
Not so sure this is quite right. Rifle's do what rifle's do for the most part. A guy might have a rifle that hoot's great,,,now and then. Actually it probably does it more than we think but the shooter is the weak link.
Most accurate Bolt Action rifle?
- Thread starter chemcal
- Start date
Not so sure this is quite right. Rifle's do what rifle's do for the most part. A guy might have a rifle that hoot's great,,,now and then. Actually it probably does it more than we think but the shooter is the weak link.
Hilltop Shooter
New member
What rifles arent good shooters nowadays?
In that price range, CZ, Savage, Tikka, Wby Van, Bergera, Ruger Pred, etc are all known to be excellent shooters out of the box with good optics, ammo that they like, and most important a competent shooted behind them.
One man swears by Tikka, another will stand by Savage and so on. Most shooters just go by what they own and have shot and seen to be accurate with their own eyes. If they own alot of rifles they bragg on their best shooting one. I might own the exact same guns and have a different one be the best shooter. What is awesome to me is the difference between my best shooting modern bolt gun and my worst shooting modern bolt gun is not very much and for about $400 w/o optics a person can buy a rifle that falls right in there with the pack.
I like CZ, Tikka, and Savage but im wanting to try a Bergera after shooting one. Wby Van series2 have proven to be shooters in my little group too. I like CZ's the most i guess. Dont mean anything, just my preference.
In that price range, CZ, Savage, Tikka, Wby Van, Bergera, Ruger Pred, etc are all known to be excellent shooters out of the box with good optics, ammo that they like, and most important a competent shooted behind them.
One man swears by Tikka, another will stand by Savage and so on. Most shooters just go by what they own and have shot and seen to be accurate with their own eyes. If they own alot of rifles they bragg on their best shooting one. I might own the exact same guns and have a different one be the best shooter. What is awesome to me is the difference between my best shooting modern bolt gun and my worst shooting modern bolt gun is not very much and for about $400 w/o optics a person can buy a rifle that falls right in there with the pack.
I like CZ, Tikka, and Savage but im wanting to try a Bergera after shooting one. Wby Van series2 have proven to be shooters in my little group too. I like CZ's the most i guess. Dont mean anything, just my preference.
I was just thinking at $800 upper limit a guy could get a used (or new?) savage and purchase and install a match grade barrel. DIY. The tools would be an extra cost. Its feasible. I learned to do this and I would say no more expertise and less paraphernalia intensive than reloading.
BTW, most guns shooting 'good', does not equate to averaging all guns are the same. Or saying it does not matter. Or saying most shooter are a bunch of hacks! Not the shooters I hang with. The stock and triggers are not all the same either. But it is hard to know. Who can afford to buy a meaningful sample of every gun available then shoot those enough to rate them all. We know what we shoot and what we see others shooting.
I do not believe that Remington, Savage and Ruger, on average, for guns in the same class, are as a accurate as Tikka or CZ. The same grouping for the lemon probability.
BTW, most guns shooting 'good', does not equate to averaging all guns are the same. Or saying it does not matter. Or saying most shooter are a bunch of hacks! Not the shooters I hang with. The stock and triggers are not all the same either. But it is hard to know. Who can afford to buy a meaningful sample of every gun available then shoot those enough to rate them all. We know what we shoot and what we see others shooting.
I do not believe that Remington, Savage and Ruger, on average, for guns in the same class, are as a accurate as Tikka or CZ. The same grouping for the lemon probability.
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I think in that price range a M700 is your best bet for finding a MOA rifle with factory or hand loads that THAT PARTICULAR RIFLE LIKES....This has been my experience and apparently the military's also, if you research bolt action sniper rifles.
I have no experience with the Savage 110 platform but it seems highly regarded.
Talking garden variety, production guns you can always find a lemon but also a peach
Factory M700, Sav 110, Ruger 77, Win M70 and others are all capable of 1" 3 shot groups at 100 yards unless there is some defect such as poor bedding, dinged muzzle crown, lousy trigger, etc.
One thing I have found is you can adjust the triggers yourself on the 700, Ruger Tang 77, Win 70 to be as good a some of the after market triggers like Timney or Canjar etc,...if you do some studying and find out how to do it correctly
I have no experience with the Savage 110 platform but it seems highly regarded.
Talking garden variety, production guns you can always find a lemon but also a peach
Factory M700, Sav 110, Ruger 77, Win M70 and others are all capable of 1" 3 shot groups at 100 yards unless there is some defect such as poor bedding, dinged muzzle crown, lousy trigger, etc.
One thing I have found is you can adjust the triggers yourself on the 700, Ruger Tang 77, Win 70 to be as good a some of the after market triggers like Timney or Canjar etc,...if you do some studying and find out how to do it correctly
cheaper rifles that are accurate
Folks I have owned many rifles over the years and my mind keeps going back to the good old Remington 788 you can pick up at any gun show for $499-$599. I have that gun in 308, 6mm, & 222. Very reliable, accurate (I reload), & proven. Yes there are 100s of other rifles that I could speak of, but for the price, accuracy, and dependability the 788 is awesome.
Folks I have owned many rifles over the years and my mind keeps going back to the good old Remington 788 you can pick up at any gun show for $499-$599. I have that gun in 308, 6mm, & 222. Very reliable, accurate (I reload), & proven. Yes there are 100s of other rifles that I could speak of, but for the price, accuracy, and dependability the 788 is awesome.
supercub99
New member
The question that keeps on giving.....
I think there are far too many variables to say one is better than the other without narrowing down what you want to do. If you're going to shoot deer at 30 yards, well, that would be one thing, 200 yards would be a completely different need. and if your desire is to shoot predators then what's behind door number 3 might be your choice.
All that said, I would be inclined to say, these are the guns I would avoid....
Remington in any of the ultra mag cal's if I was going into bear country. The mag feeding problems are rampant and I have seen a few which is one too many. Any other Remington's are fine as long as you can accept a mediocre trigger at best or plan on replacing it.
Tikka, The price of parts if you can get them are more than a lot of guns cost...bolts for $400+, I don't think so. Of course, you shouldn't need to replace a bolt but none the less. A number of gun smiths won't work on them as it's too hard to get any parts for them. This may vary, I would check it out first.
Any low end plastic stocked gun that you can't get a decent aftermarket or equivalent for stock for it would be a no for me as well. I would buy those only if I was going to buy a upgraded stock. This would be especially true in the larger and mag calibers.
The Savage 12fv mentioned in a reply for $269 is a deal of the year, all short chamber caliber's though. These will shoot under an inch easily as is but they are varmint calibers and it's a heavy barrel. If you want to shoot tiny holes, plan on a good stock.
I see some of the Ruger and Savage intro rifles in mag calibers with the same stock and it will kick the living crap out of you. That will discourage shooting it which is what you should be doing in the off season. This applies to all those pre packaged scope/gun combo's meant for hunting.
Bottom line is get the best you can afford for what you intend to do with it and has both factory and aftermarket parts support. And one you will want to and enjoy shooting!
I think there are far too many variables to say one is better than the other without narrowing down what you want to do. If you're going to shoot deer at 30 yards, well, that would be one thing, 200 yards would be a completely different need. and if your desire is to shoot predators then what's behind door number 3 might be your choice.
All that said, I would be inclined to say, these are the guns I would avoid....
Remington in any of the ultra mag cal's if I was going into bear country. The mag feeding problems are rampant and I have seen a few which is one too many. Any other Remington's are fine as long as you can accept a mediocre trigger at best or plan on replacing it.
Tikka, The price of parts if you can get them are more than a lot of guns cost...bolts for $400+, I don't think so. Of course, you shouldn't need to replace a bolt but none the less. A number of gun smiths won't work on them as it's too hard to get any parts for them. This may vary, I would check it out first.
Any low end plastic stocked gun that you can't get a decent aftermarket or equivalent for stock for it would be a no for me as well. I would buy those only if I was going to buy a upgraded stock. This would be especially true in the larger and mag calibers.
The Savage 12fv mentioned in a reply for $269 is a deal of the year, all short chamber caliber's though. These will shoot under an inch easily as is but they are varmint calibers and it's a heavy barrel. If you want to shoot tiny holes, plan on a good stock.
I see some of the Ruger and Savage intro rifles in mag calibers with the same stock and it will kick the living crap out of you. That will discourage shooting it which is what you should be doing in the off season. This applies to all those pre packaged scope/gun combo's meant for hunting.
Bottom line is get the best you can afford for what you intend to do with it and has both factory and aftermarket parts support. And one you will want to and enjoy shooting!
Your average out of the box R700 SPS varmint has an excellent barrel and action. Certainly sub moa with tuned handloads. However the baseline SPS flexi-boing composite stock is absolute garbage for any consistent precision work. If you want consistent sub moa at 100 yds from a entry R700 SPS you WILL need to spend another $500+ on a quality stock and you will need to handload. I like the Bell & Carelson Tac 5 stocks (I have 2 ). Great value, minimal finish fitting and rock solid. So now you have a $550 base rifle that's now up to $1050 (and you don't even have an optic yet). This is where I see the true advantage of the Savage 12 FTR and BR's. They are about $1100 and they come from the factory with a blueprinted action and a hand straightened barrel. You also get a top quality free floated stock. Spent over a year testing loads for my R700 and found some outstanding sub moa loads but I still chase month to month consistency with my R700. My Savage 12 on the other hand seems more consistent staying inside the "sub moa" window of precision. The advantage of the R700's is the aftermarket support for all the tatci-cool components. Savage 10/12's are more limited.
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We all have our pets, Winchester Model 70s are mine. I have a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 that was super accurate from the get go, then I got a Ruger American Preditor in 6.5. Its just as accurate as the Precision 6.5 at 1/3 the cost. Picked up two more RAPs, on in 223, one in 204 Ruger, they are dern accurate also.
The US Model 1903a3 action has made the most accurate models I have seen. To the point that the Army used that action to make their Mann devices, a super heavy, match barrel attached to the action, to test their ammo.
But in reality, the SHOOTER makes the most accurate rifles. Except for the Mann Device (which in fired for a v-block vice set up with no input from the shooter), any well made rifle can be accurate if the shooter can shoot.
The US Model 1903a3 action has made the most accurate models I have seen. To the point that the Army used that action to make their Mann devices, a super heavy, match barrel attached to the action, to test their ammo.
But in reality, the SHOOTER makes the most accurate rifles. Except for the Mann Device (which in fired for a v-block vice set up with no input from the shooter), any well made rifle can be accurate if the shooter can shoot.
BeeShooter
New member
Savage 12 FCV
Glockgreat23
New member
I have owned literally dozens of rifles both factory and expensive handmade jobs. My thompson center venture in 30-06 is the best shooter of all of them, much to my chagrin. It will put 5 rounds in a 3/4 inch clover all day shooting hand loaded 168 gr Barnes tipped bullets and 4350 powder. Other than handloading I have not done a thing to it. Having said all that, my current favorite rifles are my tikkas. I like the wood models with the rollover cheekpiece because it lines my eyes up better. All of them will shoot a 3 shot one inch group with regularity
And I might add, Bergerac is interesting to me but I don’t own one, but weatherby vanguard 2, Winchester 70, CZ, all are very good rifles. Oddly enough, I have never had luck with the savages I have owned, but currently own a 308 which I have not shot yet
And I might add, Bergerac is interesting to me but I don’t own one, but weatherby vanguard 2, Winchester 70, CZ, all are very good rifles. Oddly enough, I have never had luck with the savages I have owned, but currently own a 308 which I have not shot yet