Picking a bolt gun?

C

Chainsaw.

New member
Short story, went shooting with a buddy and I brought a 14" gong, we set it up at 455 yards (range finder told us) I shot with my AR with a red dot and was able to connect fairly well. He brought his Savage model 10 in 308 with a 10x scope, We both were able to ring that steel with boring regularity, so of course, Im hooked. I think Ill sell one of my ARs for a new bolt gun. The big question is, which one??? Heres what I do know I want, regular ol 3/4/5 shot bolt gun, not one of these new "precision" bolt guns that looks all tacticool, medium bore, say 6 or 6.5mm, and a budget of $600-800 without glass. So, anyone have any good reading you could direct me to? Thoughts other than "well if ya spend XXX dollars more..."
 
Winchester model 70, in walnut, of course. Caliber? I would choose 270 Winchester first with a very close second choice of 30-'06 Springfield. Maybe the Featherweight in 6.5x55......looks pretty appealing to me.
 
P.S. change the target to water-filled 1-gallon milk jugs and use soft-point expanding hunting bullets. You will be disappointed if you use FMJ bullets on the jugs.
 
If the gun won't be a "carry gun" in the field, might consider the Savage FV12 from Cabelas. It's a bit barrel heavy but a very accurate gun. Lots of comments on the plastic stock but a lot of guns come in plastic these days. Some people have cut the barrel down to make it more field friendly and still an accurate gun.
 
my 6mm creedmoor cost 389. the burris black diamond titanium scope on it cost nearly 800. a veracity would be a more current model.
...no recoil, dime at a 100, quarter a 200, still working on 300. bobn
 
Over the last year, I have purchased a number of "budget" priced bolt action rifles including several Savages and one Ruger American (Ranch Rifle). I have also own a number of bolt action rifles from Remington, Winchester, Tikka................................ FWIW

This all started when I went to buy a chassis rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. I am a target shooter and have almost no interest in hunting. A couple of my friends took me to a couple ranges where you can shoot out to 1000 yards and another range where you can shoot out to 1200 yards and this looked like something I wanted to get into. So, I started shopping for a new rifle. When I got to the store, I saw that they had a Savage Model 10FCP-SR rifle on sale for $499. I had heard that Savage rifles had very good out of the box accuracy but I had never owned one and the price was a fraction of what I originally intended to spend, so I decided try one instead of getting a chassis rifle and spending a lot more money. I was very impressed with it. The first time I shot it at 1200 yards, I hit the plate (24"x24" plate) five times in a row. I have fired at least one 3/4" group at 200 yards with this rifle.

Since then I bought two more Savages and traded for another one. The two I bought are still on backorder from Cabelas but the one I traded for is in .308 and shoots very decently: I have tried two different bullets and three different powders, trying five different loads of each powder and EVERY single group I have fired at 100 yards was under an inch. That is essentially 30 different powder/bullet combinations all under an inch. The best loads shot 1/2".

I also like the fact that with a Savage, you can change your own barrel after buying a barrel vice, a wrench, and headspace gauges. So, if you want a higher end barrel, you can do the barrel swap yourself. If you shoot out your barrel, you can install a new barrel yourself. Or, even if you want to change calibers you can install a new barrel yourself as well as change bolt heads yourself.

I also like the fact that the bolt head is floating.

The Ruger American I bought is in .300 AAC Blackout, so not something you are going to use for long range precision shooting, but with careful handloads I have shot sub-3" groups at 200 yards using SUBSONICS. The load I ended up as "my" load for a supersonic load is the 125 grains Sierra MatchKing which shoots right around an inch at 100 yards. So, I am more than happy with the Ruger Ranch Rifle also.

There are a lot of really good shooting, inexpensive rifles out there right now. We may be living in the golden age of rifles. They may not look like the rifles of 75 years ago with all the plastic and sprayed on metal finishes, but they shoot better than the rifles of 75 years ago.

"I want, regular ol 3/4/5 shot bolt gun, not one of these new "precision" bolt guns that looks all tacticool"
If we are both talking about the same thing, the purpose of those rifles is not to "look tacticool" but to provide a rigid stock that doesn't flex along with aluminum bedding blocks. Those stocks also allow you to change out the buttstock to suit your preference and some of them also allow you to change out the foreend to suit your needs (shape of the foreend for shooting off bags, or lighter weight, or adding a rail for bipod mounting or whatever..........) they are customizable. It isn't about looks.
 
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First two thing's I consider when buying a new gun are price and look's. How accurate they really might be your not gonna find out till you actually shoot it. For $600-$800 you should be able to get a pretty nice rifle. If you want to weed out the rifle's most likely to be more accurate than you need, cut it down to what you read about on the internet. #1 has to be the Ruger American, if it came in a wood stock I'd sure be tempted. Savage has got good mark's on accuracy way back in the 110 days with a super bad trigger, guess you learn to shoot what you have! I have two Mossberg Patriot's, a 308 and a 243. I only shoot cast in the 308 but the 243 easily runs with my 243 mod 700 ADL. I've heard really good feedback on the Tikki's, probably spelled wrong.

Get one you like to look at, then one that just feels good and don't even look at rifle's that cost more than you want to pay. Then take it out and fire it to see what you might have in that particular rifle. Most rifle's that don't shoot very well can be fixed up with bedding.
 
Chainsaw - I recently went in for a new bolt gun, and I ended up with the Ruger American. I chose the 7mm-08 as it is best for my needs, but they have a the creedmores and a couple other medium bore options. I am extremely pleased with the rifle, its accuracy belies its price to an impressive level. The stock is nothing to fall in love with, but so what... it's still a great rifle.

It's also something that can help you get a better idea of what you want, and if you end up selling it, it won't have set you back that much. There are guns, not a whole lot better, that will depreciate more than this one costs new!

Below are some review articles I read before making my choice, and there are a lot of threads on this forum currently. It may seem like there's a lot of hype surrounding the RARs right now, but the bandwagon is worth jumping on.

Hope this helps!

http://www.gunsandammo.com/reviews/ruger-american-revolution-review/

https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2012/03/review-ruger-american-rifle

http://www.gundigest.com/gun-videos/gundigest-tv/rifles-ruger-american-review
 
Thanks to all of you for taking the time to reply, I appreciate all of your inputs. Im really excited to start chasing so long range shooting.

A few things.

First looks. Please excuse my clunky explanation of what I was looking for. I think you all got the jist that Im NOT after one of the "precision" rifles, the adjustable stocks and deep mags are great touches but simply not what Im after, especially given the prices.

Next, caliber. Im think after years of reading Im dead set on 6mm creedmore. It carries the size bullet I want to the distances I want with easy recoil and lower....well...lower than ultra mag reloading costs.

I think Ive boiled it down to the Savage and the Ruger predator series. At this point Im gonna have to go get my mitts one both and see hpw it shakes out. That part about being able to change a barrel sure sounds cool.

And now.....for a scope...ha! It never ends...
 
I hear so much good about the Tikki I had to go look. Don't they make a rifle with a traditional wood stock? I just can't cozy up to a plastic stock!
 
CarJunkieLS1 said:
Ruger American Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor.
Click to expand...
This is your best bet for the money

A howa 1500 is also a solid choice
A savage 12 from cabelas for $400 is great if you don't plan to lug it around

The only on in 6mm creedmoor is the ruger
The others are offered in 6.5 creedmoor I believe
 
Chainsaw,

If you're after accuracy, this is the rifle for you:

https://www.eurooptic.com/sako-85-finn-bear-30-06-sprg-11-rate-of-twist-24-barrel-mpn-jrsf520.aspx

It's twice your budget, but it'll last a lifetime and lifetimes of your progeny.

If you decide that you want to take up big game hunting, this rifle will it er dun. Even better, Sako guarantees 5 shot MOA. I own a couple Sako Av's. They'll shoot .25" at a hundred all day long with hunting ammo, not tricked out target stuff.

BTW, the price of this rifle is unbelievable. They usually go better than 2k.

Believe me, if I needed another big game rifle, I'd be all over it.
 
I bought one of those Finn Bear 85's in 7mmRM from Euro. The gun is amazing but, I'm a shamefully unabashed Sako fan. I've have Rugers, Brownings, Remingtons, Savages, Parker Hales, BSA, and quite a few others. My Sakos have every single one of them beat in quality and out of the box accuracy. You pick one up, you can immediately tell it's a superior piece of equipment.

I'm waiting on the Finn Lite .300WM I ordered to come in now.

EuroOptic has some good deals on leftover Tikka T3's from as low as $509.00. While not a Sako, it sure beats the heck out of a Ruger American or any of the other budget guns being mentioned. Heck, if you pay cash (check by phone) you can probably get them to knock it down some more.
 
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