best inexpensive hunting/target/range rifle?

[Water-Man]

TIKKA T3 Hunter

[Warpt762x39]

I was at Wally World yesterday. They had the Savage with Acccutrigger and a scope for $355. They didn't have a .308 there but the guy said he could order one for the same price.

[thetruepyromaniak]

I think that this topic needs a deffinition of inexpensive. What I think is cheap someone else might think is expensive and vis versa. (Once had a guy tell me that $500ish for a mp40c was too much money for a carry gun. He baught a high point for $165. Guess I just value my life a little more than he does. $500 is cheap for another day of life.) So whats the price hat?

[Guns4Fun]

I think that this topic needs a deffinition of inexpensive. What I think is cheap someone else might think is expensive and vis versa. (Once had a guy tell me that $500ish for a mp40c was too much money for a carry gun. He baught a high point for $165. Guess I just value my life a little more than he does. $500 is cheap for another day of life.) So whats the price hat?

Were you sleeping when you read his post?

I'm looking to get into long distance target shooting, as well as getting back into hunting (mainly deer). So therefore I'm looking to get a new rifle to replace the old one I sold.

I'm trying to stay with a .308 or 7mm rem mag and also trying to stay in the 500-600 dollar range. I know accuracy will suffer, but I would like to shoot sub MOA.

I am looking at the Savage 10, because I heard good things about their accutriggers and now with the accustocks. The only downfall is the weight at 8.5 without glass.

However, I was recommended to look at a Mossberg 4x4 (as they are about 2lbs lighter) or 100ATR with their LBA trigger system, as well as a Marlin and Tikka.

I will be going to Cabela's to get a feel for them, but that doesn't tell all. I would like to know what brand has the best stock trigger and accuracy. I'm looking for opinions on these as far as reliability, accruacy (with good ammo), as well as weight.

Thanks guys!

[Fr0sty]

$599 @ Shyda's In-stock (Can be found cheaper elsewhere)

Remington 700 Tactical

20" BB, .308 Win. Mine shoots <.3" @ 100yds with handloads using 190gr Sierra MKs and 175gr Sierra MKs.

Here is everything I did to shoot .3"s (With the loads I loaded this week I am looking for better)

#1 Adjusted the trigger
#2 Installed a DedNutz Scope Mount
#3 Installed a Sightmark 4x16x44 Scope
#4 Bore Sighted
#5 Installed a Harris bi-pod
#6 Cleaned rifle
#7 Worked up some handloads
#8 Shot the rifle and recorded data
#9 Re-adjusted trigger
#10 Cleaned rifle
#11 Worked up second batch of loads
#12 Shot sub .3" groups @ 100yds

Dextrimental (Another forum member) uses his 700 Tact for hunting all of the time and feels overall it's great for it. He also shootings .3"s @ 100yds with his. We will be taking our rifles out to 300yds in the next couple of weeks so all should be good at that distance.

So yea, that just another possibility, take it for what it's worth.


PS> A note about the loads. I still have a lot of room to adjust the OAL to match the rifle. The next batch I am going to fit them just off the lands in effort to reduce the jump distance. After I get that down I am going to play with the case size a little bit in efforts to find the "sweet spot". This should help dial them in a little bit more. I am also work on the details of the charge. I started very light and it seems to be getting tighter as I increase it. At some point they will start opening up again when I go to far, so all I am saying is there still maybe some more accuracy to be found just with the charge alone. I also intend to sort the projectiles based on length and weight. They all vary ever so slightly (VERY MINOR) but I guess I just want to make it as consistent as possible. Each batch of loads I have less and less to play with (that's the idea) so I have to put in sometime to get minimal results. Regardless I love doing it, so its a win - win for me

[1990dtgl98]

Now in terms of whether you should buy a used Remington 700, or Savage 10 FCP, I'll say this. First of all, sorry to burst your bubble, but you are NOT going to find a Savage 10 FCP in the price range that you want, not even used.

Well according to Savage's website, the 10FP is 719 (without the accustock). The 10FCP with the accustock it is 866. Not a HUGE difference, but noticeable. Possibly worth it just for the better, non tupperware feel.

[MMH]

You say that you have a SPS Tactical, but the stock in the picture looks like an SPS Varmint. I have a tactical on layaway right now in .308.

If you can find a Remington 700 SPS model with a heavy barrel you might find everything you are looking for right out of the box.

I have an Remi 700 SPS Tactical in .308, I love it. I am shooting 3-5 round groups that touch at 100 yds, about 1-1.25" at 200 and 1.75-2.25" at 300 with an out of the box rifle and a cheaper scope.

I have seen SPS Varmints sell for $450 with a scope mounted. Newer versions of these rifles come with the X-Mark trigger, which is adjustable. I have heard some complaints about this trigger but I happen to love mine.

My total investment by MSRP: (not what I paid)

Remi 700 SPS Tactical - $681.00
A1 Optics 6-24x50 - $276.00
20 MOA Picatinny Rail - $120.00
Rock Mount bi pod - $39.95
Krylon sand brown, foliage green - $8.26

Total investment - $1125.21 shoots well under 1 MOA to 300 yds (have not shot longer than that with it yet)

I have shot the Savage 10 which was really awesome but it was highly modified, and do not know what the total investment is nor the prices when he started his build. If I had to guess he has more than $2K invested in parts and labor...

Hope this helps you...

[Fr0sty]

Here is what I think of when someone says a Remmy 700 tactical.

[1990dtgl98]

Here is what I think of when someone says a Remmy 700 tactical.

Very nice gun! Actually I was considering that.

I narrowed it down to 4 models, and just wanted opinions on these:

-Savage 10FP
-Remington 700SPS tactical (like above)
-Tikka T3 Lite
-Howa 1500

I like the Remmy's short (20") barrel, because a .308 won't benefit a huge amount from a longer barrel in terms of velocity. However, will accuracy suffer?

I want something that I can learn to shoot accurately at 500 yards are so for a few years until I seriously start to upgrade. Till then, it needs to work at those distances pretty much bone stock.

Out of those, I like the Savage and Remmy for parts and accessories, but the Tikka and Howa are cheaper. The Tikka also is the only one that doesn't have a heavy barrel. Is that a problem? What's constitutes "fast firing" that could heat a lightweight barrel too much?

Ugh, so if you could rank the Remmy, Savage, Tikka and Howa from 1-4, that'd be great.

Edit: I ruled out the Marlin XL7 and Mossberg 4x4 just becuase they were too new and unproven in the same price range as the other 4.

[dk99358]

I bought a Tikka T3 stainless lite last year for just over $500. I was looking at the Savage, Howa, and Tikka. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of difference in 'feel' to me but the Tikka definitely had the smoothest operating bolt. I did think the Savage was kind of ugly and the Howa stock felt a bit 'clubby'. Some folks knock Tikka over the 'plastic' magazine but mine has held up just fine. Also, they don't have a short action, they use 'blocks' to adjust for short or long cartridges.

I wanted a 260 it wasn't available in those rifles so I settled for 7mm-08. I put a Bushnell 4200 3x9 ($250) in Weaver rings because the Tikka comes with stainless rings and I don't like the look of a matte scope with stainless rings.

The first box of Rem. 140 grain ammo put 3 shots into about 1.25 inches at 100. Between work and the range closed at SGL 43 last year, I didn't have a whole lot of load development time. First try using 140 gr. Ballistic Tips and a hefty charge of IMR 4320 gave me 1 inch groups. Plenty good for deer hunting.

I bought my son a Rem 700 SPS about 2 years ago. Seems alright so far but I don't like the fact that the bolt doesn't lock down.

Dale