Help picking a bolt action...

[El Bucho]

IN the market for a nice bolt action rifle, for deer hunting and general use, but since the only type I've shot myself is a Browning ABolt, was wondering how the others compare. Also considering a Remington 700, Winchester, etc. Any thoughts, advice appreciated. Thanks.

EB

 

[Edward429451]

You cant go wrong with any of them you've listed. I've had or shot all but the Browning and my preference is for the Rem.700

 

[cratz2]

In my estimation, the CZs and Tikkas are tops for semi-budget rifles in the, say, under $600 category. Brownings are nice and I like Rugers quite a bit. Then Winchesters and then the Remingtons. No particular reason. I get less of a feeling of quality working the bolt on a Remington, I suppose. I think any of them would serve just about equally well for a recreational hunter who hunts maybe twice a year and goes to to the range every other month. More often than that, I'd want to handle as many as possible and just get a feel for what feels best in your hands and coming up to your shoulder. Throw it up and see how it comes up for you, work the bolt, dry fire it a couple times. work the safety, look over the fiinish and just generally see how things are screwd together.

If there are small problems such as a rough trigger, as around to find out if there are any local guys that do decent work for little cash. There's a local guy that does trigger work on pretty much any brand for $20-$35.

 

[cordex]

I've been considering the same thing.
Have been looking into Savage myself.

 

[duckfoot]

Best bang for your buck is going to be either a Savage or a CZ running around about $480 in any of the common US calibers, and a bit more for the euro or south american bores. Some of the CZ's come with outstanding iron sights, but the Savage's you might want to mount a scope. Got both, shot both, and love both. Either will be a good tool for the job.

.02 taken with salt


duck

 

[HankB]

I'm kind of partial to the Winchester Model 70, myself . . . claw extractor for controlled round feeding, cone breech, and an easily-adjusted trigger that is a marvel of functional simplicity.

But if you're just looking for a "general purpose" bolt action for deer hunting and such, I'd say stick to a "name" brand (all of those mentioned so far are OK) and get the one that fits you best.

With all the discussion of the merits of various actions, rifle fit is a topic usually overlooked.

You see, every manufacturer will design his rifle stocks just a little different. Say you're looking at a target, be it a bullseye or a deer; when you raise your rifle to your shoulder you want the sights to naturally fall right where you're looking . . . if you have to move your head around to look through the 'scope or iron sights, if you have to wiggle the rifle from side to side to find the target, then the rifle doesn't fit you.

And one more thing . . . if you're looking for a rifle to HUNT with, rather than LOOK at, steer clear of the ones with very highly polished blue metal and shiny epoxy-finished stocks - they tend to spook game.

 

[HerbG]

Check out a Sako. If you handle it first, everything else will come in a distant second. Costs a little more, but you get what you pay for.

 

[yzguy]

I love my Savage...

although I did change the stock...

 

[BusMaster007]

Browning BAR in .308 or .30-06 would be very nice.
Stalker model is all BLACK.
BOSS model is fun to play with and very accurate when tuned.
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=002B&cat_id=031&type_id=008
That's what I'd get.

OH...YOU SAID "bolt-action"...
Well, the BAR does have a bolt.


If your rifle has to have a HANDLE attached to the bolt, then the Browning A-Bolt Stalker would be good:
http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=001B&cat_id=035&type_id=012