Precision rifle for under $600?

I just got one off Gunbroker this morning in 30-06 for $250 + N$25 shipping. I am a dealer and cannot buy one wholesale for that! I was very pleased and will let you know later in the week after it arrives whether it is a tack driver or not! I have heard good things about them!
 
I would agree the Savage is probably going to be the most accurate rifle you can buy under $600. You'll have to find what ammo it likes and make sure you are doing your part, of course.

On the same hand, you can certainly expect that rifles in your price range will require some tweaking or replacing of parts (like the stock) to realize its full accuracy potential.
 
Been very happy with my Vanguard. Picked one up in .243 last year. It has a decent trigger and a fairly smooth action considering the price. I will say the stock (green plastic) isn't much to brag about, but it's comfortable and a good shooter. Easily shoots under 1 inch groups with my handloads if I do my part. I wasn't too concerned about the stock because I planned on painting the whole gun anyway.
 
I've been very happy with my Vanguard in .270 win. I did replace the trigger with a Timney because I couldn't adjust the factory trigger to what I really liked and because I really love a 3 position safety.

I have no complaints about stock or the action.
 
I like the Vanguards, but here's my problem with buying one. I might be misunderstanding the situation, someone please correct me if I'm wrong. At the factory, they fire each weapon and keep the ones that are Sub-Moa and sell it as such at a higher price. If you buy a standard Vanguard, you are pretty much guaranteed the rifle you get will not shoot better than 1" groups at 100 yards. I guess the one exception would be if you can handload and find a recipe your rifle really likes.

If it's me, I'd still go with the Savage over the Vanguard.
 
I bought a Remington 700 ADL Varmint in 308 at Dick's for $419. Out of the box it shot .65moa. I just got it back from having the barrel cut to 20" and recrowned and it now shoots .55moa.
 
The vanguard is nice and it's built by Howa in Japan. Howa makes good rifles. I really like the savage 110 because I have had great results with mine. The accuracy is great and the accu trigger is nice for an inexpensive rifle. I think the 111 has a thinner barrel than the 110 but can't be positive. For accuracy I would want the thicker barrel if that is the case. For $600 I would consider a used savage 110 with accutrigger and that should give you around $200 to buy a decent scope unless the rifle already has a good scope. You can get a weaver base model or burris fullfield II for this price and be happy. These are good scopes in my experience.
 
For $399.99 you won't beat a Howa 1500 custom varmint in .308 check out CDNN . These have your choice of 20 inch or 24 inch heavy target barrel .these are sub moa rifles built in Japan .They make the Weatherby Vanguard that is virtualy the same rifle other then minor cosmetic diffrances. One of these with a Bushnell 3200 elite 10x scope (under $200.00) will be a real tack driver and be able to run with the big dogs for a fraction of the price .:D
 
The Howa, and the Weatherby Vanguard (which uses the Howa 1500 action) are safe bets.

But...

When I purchased my first target rifle, I heeded the advice offered by others to consider the availability and variety of aftermarket accessories.

I was dead set on a TC Venture..MOA guarantee, great price, good reviews...

But forget about any sort of aftermarket support.

Consider this carefully. Want to upgrade later to an aftermarket stock and have a large selection to choose from? Want to upgrade to to a Shilen or Timney down the road? Maybe a barrel/caliber change?

The Rem 700 still leads in the aftermarket support category.
I'd say Savage has now become number 2, due to their out of the box accuracy and ease of owner switching barrels/calibers.

Howa has also gotten a lot of recent support in this area as well.
 
Of the three, I like the Savage 111, but it has it's flaws, it's accurate though (with handloads of course) I have seen my oldest son, who does'nt shoot as much as he'd like, cover a four and five shot group with a quarter at one hundred yds.

I have both a Savage and a Weatherby, the Savage beeing a 110, the Vanguard a 7mm.Rem mag. BTW the target they sent with my Vanguard was MOA, nothing more or less. Between those two I like the Savage because I like the "light-weight" rifle, as apposed to the heavier Weatherby. The Vanguard will shoot 1/2 MOA, with the Hornady Custom 139 grn BTSP's. On the same hand the Savage will shoot handloads very nicley. :)
 
You really can't go wrong with a Savage. They have a well earned reputation for excellent accuracy. My 110 certainly lives up to that expectation as well.
 
I picked up a savage model 10 in .308, in excellent condition for 380 out the door...it will routinely shoot sub MOA (about .75 off the bench) when I do. It really likes federal match ammo, bothe the 168 and 175 grain varieties. Just dont do what I did, and think that ordinary milsurp or wolf will get you groups worth talkin about..I had expected 1-2 minute groups out of it with that..no..I never realized theres so much variation depending on your ammo quality..expected a slight difference, theres a huge difference..with cheap ammo it gets 3-5 minute groups...
 
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