Accurate rifles that cost you little

Stevens model 200 in .223. Those guns were great little secrets.

LH 788 in .308. Think I paid $200 for it in mid 90s.

the Handi rifle is prime example of "you get what you pay for" I owned one, my buddy had an identical one in .22-250, his was and is a tack driver, mine shot minute of pie plate even with good scopes, also when I shot, the action would break over/open by itself...I got rid of it quick. Iam lucky to own lots of firearms, cheapest I have is a Stevens 200 in 7mm/08 and it is a tack driver....again, a hit or miss, pardon the pun...again, you get what you pay for.

TexasPatriot.308 said:

the Handi rifle is prime example of "you get what you pay for" I owned one, my buddy had an identical one in .22-250, his was and is a tack driver, mine shot minute of pie plate even with good scopes, also when I shot, the action would break over/open by itself...I got rid of it quick. Iam lucky to own lots of firearms, cheapest I have is a Stevens 200 in 7mm/08 and it is a tack driver....again, a hit or miss, pardon the pun...again, you get what you pay for.

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I'm a Handi fan but have had no success with rimless cartridges in the Handi Rifle. I had a 30-06 that was better than minute of pie plate, but not a lot. Tried all the fixes but no luck. Then had a 35 Whelan that was hopeless. On the other hand, my 30-30, 35 Krag, and 444 Marlin are all quite fabulous. Can't say whether I was just unlucky with the rimless cartridge rifles. But the 35 Krag, 444 Marlin, and my 20 ga rifled SB1 were all barrel fitted by me.

Your 22-250 had something terribly wrong if it opened on firing. That's either poor barrel fitment or the barrel lug was damaged and not securing the latch. Best to have seen the back of that as you did.

Mossberg 340BB (boy scout rifle) in .22 - $125 - bought when I was unofficially teaching some cub scouts and their parents to shoot iron sights

Marlin 882ss - $150 - friend was moving and was clearing out some infrequently used rifles - during the ammo shortage

Marlin 336 (JC HIggins) $160 with 2 boxes of 170 gr silvertip ammo - a different friends Gpa's gun, he didn't want it anymore, was going to do a "trade in" for $150 so I offered him $160 with the ammo

All shoot decent all are in good shape

For hunting 2016 I worked on 5 rifle builds:
1) Factory rifle: Browning B-78
2) light rifle: Remington 700
3) Heavy rifle: Remington 700
4) Expensive rifle: pre 64 Win 70
5) Cheap rifle: Arisaka

5) Cheap rifle less that $200 for action, barrel, scope, rings, mounts, and shoot an animal long range in 308.
Arisaka Simmons, arrows. $45 Arisaka Simmons Aetec scope $3 ebay rings,


$45 +$5 tax pawn shop Arisaka 99 orig commercially sporterized to 300 sav springfield barrel, I converted to 308
$17 delivered bipod from Amazon
$3 delivered rings from Ebay
$2 + $2 for Weaver #45 and Weaver #47 bases
$6 delivered Allen ammo pouch Amazon
Synthetic foam packing material under pouch to make cheek rest from garbage
Steel recoil lug abutment I milled from scrap steel [see pic]
Steel rear pillar from 3/8" steel tubing on hand.
I drilled and tapped (4) 6-48 holes in receiver with tools on hand.
Devcon steel putty around pillars and scope bases, from material on hand.
Uncle Mike's swivel studs from material on hand
Simmons 2.8x10 scope from rifle take off junk pile
Leather sling from rifle take off junk pile
12 ounce doggone rear bag from rifle take off junk pile
Pachmayr recoil pad from rifle take off junk pile
Slip on limbsaver recoil pad not attached, not a line item
---------------------------------
$80 invested

I only sighted in out to 400 yards with 125 gr Nos bal tips.
I used the part of the duplex where it gets fat under the cross. That was getting a group at 400y.

Mn FatsMember
Joined:
Jan 23, 2017
Messages:
138
Stevens model 200 in .223. Those guns were great little secrets.



I have been working on one with nigh vision this week

Cheapest gun i own is a sporterized Arisaka, 150 and it shoots 1-1.5" consistently.

Next would be my mossber 802 which holds .5-.75 @ 50yds and cost just over 200.

Then we got the Howa 1500 in 6.5CM thats a consistent moa performer. 380

After that they just get more expensive, not necessarily more accurate.

I got an Interarms Whitworth Mark X in 30-06 with a Lyman 3x9 scope on it for 250$. This might have been 25 years ago..?
I think my best group was 5 shots into just over 1/2" with my reloads.

I Silver soldered a $33 barrel from Numrich that was meant for 22 rimfire [16" twist] onto a 1903 Turk Mauser barrel [$50 at BIG5].

I reamed the chamber for 223.

This is an $83 pile of ugly parts.
I shot it at the range once and it was sub moa, sometimes.

LoonWulf said:

Then we got the Howa 1500 in 6.5CM thats a consistent moa performer. 380

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You said the magic word, Howa. I purchased a 223 Mini that shoots MOA for at least 3 from a cold barrel. I paid $330 for it when Cabelas closed them out. How many people have paid twice that much for a rifle that can't do that? I know I have.

For me it's been bolt action Savage Model 10's, 11's, and 12's. I've had all three and they were all sub $400 and shot amazingly. All three have shot sub moa with handloads.

My handi rifle saga continues. Recently I bought a 308 ultra rifle on gunbroker for $250 so I could use the barrel on my 444 handi rifle I posted on the first page. Before I even got it I stumbled on another barrel on gunbroker. It was advertised as a 30-06 but I noticed the original marking on the barrel was machine off and re stamped 30-06 ackely. I snapped it up for a rediculous price. It was in beautiful condition but I decided I didn't really want a 30-06 in a handi and dies were expensive so I resold it for a good profit.



When I got the 308 ultra rifle I bought I found the person that last owned the gun had never heard of gun oil and apparently stored it in a wet towel because it was covered in rust pits and the inside of the receiver was full of rust. The seller overlooked mentioning this. After cleaning all the rust out of the receiver and fixing all the dings in the stock I sold the stock on eBay for $125 and the receiver locally for $75. The finish on the barrel was beyond saving so I sanded it all off and polished the barrel smooth and reblued it with 10 coats of perma blue. Turned out really nice.



When I started fitting the barrel it was too tight on my frame to lock up and I found the headspace was loose so I took about .004" off the breach face with a mill file which also got the lockup right. While I had it apart I also converted the ejector to an extractor.



I started shooting it and it shot about a 6 moa group. After fiddling with it a good while I figured out I had taken just a tiny bit too much off the breachface and the barrel could be moved side to side on the frame when closed. After several attempts at skim coating the pivot with devcon titanium putty I finally got it right with totally tight lockup. After that it shot fine but I just didn't really have any love for shooting it. It just didn't do anything for me over clinking those big 444's in the chamber so I listened to my gut and put it on ebay and put my 444 barrel back on. Yesterday I took the frame apart and spent a couple hours working on the trigger. It already had a nice trigger at maybe 4 lbs when I bought it but I honed the sear surfaces smooth and made a lighter trigger return spring from a mechanical pencil and I made a higher tension latch spring from a spring I found and ace hardware and now it is a very nice 2.5 lb totally creep free trigger and the extra latch tension makes it latch very positively.

This is a cold bore group today.



After this I went back up to the house to grab my chrono and when I got back to the bench I noticed something moving in the field beyond my target stand. I brought the gun up and it was a feral cat walking around a flooded spot in the field I assume looking for nests. Well he was sure in the wrong place at the wrong time. I guessed the hold over of about a foot and let one at him. Hit him just in front of the hind leg and sent him flying around. I walked it off at about 240 yards. Life is good. I'm a new big bore fan, the deer better watch out this year.

Oh and as for being cheap, I figure if you count the profit made on buying and selling the other handi rifle parts I will have gotten this rifle for free so I'll just be in it for the cost of the scope and rings.

Have to say my T/C Venture in .223 is my least expensive rifle that shoots the best. But its also my least expensive rifle by far. I can cover 3 shot groups with a dime at 100 yards. However, I wasn't surprised when I bought the rifle, how well it would shoot. They had a reputation for being very accurate.

Saddlebag Preacher said:

What rifles surprised you with their accuracy and didn't cost you an arm and a leg.

1. Marlin model 60W. Found at a LGS on consignment for $125.00. While I have a Marlin and a Ruger already, I was intrigued with the longer barrel. With the scope it is my most accurate .22 with CCI Standard velocity ammo. Bushnell rimfire scope added.

2. Anderson lower and parts, home built MSR with PSA upper 1/7 SS barrel. Cost around $500.00 including Bushnell Dawn/Dusk illumninating reticle for coyote hunting. Bought mail order sale parts over the holidays. Shoots 69 and 77 grain .223 Gorilla ammo amazingly well out to 200 yards (farthest I've tested it).

3. This one is kind of cheating. This Marlin 336 .35 Remington was handed down to me before my dad passed way. It cost me nothing, but continues to give me memories of him every deer season. Shoots .35 Remington Hornady LeveRevolution ammo with deadly accuracy every year. Once again, I mounted a Bushnell Dawn/Dusk scope on it as my eyes are getting older.

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Seeing that Marlin brought back a lot of memories . I carried one for years and covered probably hundreds of miles over the fields and woods of Maryland. Didn't go outside without it. Finally gave it to my brother-in-law because I got tired of him bugging me to let him have it.

Dr T said:

I bought a Remington 788 in 6 mm Rem

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My example of the Remington 788-LH 308Win was exceptionally accurate also.

My French Mle 1907-15 in 8mm Lebel. Minute of paper plate at 100 yds . I paid the kingly sum of $50 since it was rusty and he couldn't figure out where to find ammunition for it.

My single shot Remington Model 514 that was a gift for my 14th birthday. It cost something like $16 in 1958.

Dr T said:

When I was in college in the 70's, I bought a Remington 788 in 6 mm Rem that came with a not-very-good Bushnell Banner scope. As I recall, it was around $100. It is one of the most accurate rifles I own.

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In 1982, while I was in college, I bought a Remington 788 carbine in .308 Win. for $112 and the seller included a box of ammo (180 grain Win. Silver Tips). My brother and I have shot many a deer with it. With a scope, it is consistently 1" at 100 yards with handloads or premium match ammo. With the original iron sights, 2" groups at 100 yards are the norm.

I don't make a lot of money so cheaper guns has always been my way but I read hours upon hours of reviews before jumping on them. savage 223rem heavy barrel and standard barrel. both rifle will put 5 shots touching at 100yards. $225-300. cva stalker 45-70 govt-$225 lever evolutions send 5 almost touching. dang thing hits so hard I cant get em tighter. . h&r handi rifle 44mag-$125-handload 240gr HP touches holes at 75 yards. savage mark 2-$130-ragged hole shooter. I am very happy and impressed with these cheap offerings and they way they perform. I've always wanted a 30-30 and a buddy has a win 94 I could get for under $400 but I really have no use for it. I would really like a marlin 1895 or model 60 but keep talking myself out of it.

I'll add that I picked up a Remington 783 in .30-06 online for less than $300. Stuck a cheap Simmons 3-9x50 scope on it ($44.95 from Walmart) in weaver rings on a one-piece base and it consistently puts 165 grain Sierras with CCI-200 primers and 52.0 grains IMR4350 into groups right at 1" at 100 yards. Ugly as sin but accuracy on the cheap, for sure.

My favorite hunting rifles are those that hit right on where I want the bullet with the first shot.

With my centerfires a beauty is a mauser 30-06 done up fine by a smith up north with an octagon barrel.

It has an outstanding walnut stock and quality bluing, C.R.F., and a M70 type three position safety that controls the firing pin.

Here it is now!

My favorite Mosin-Nagant is sub-moa capable.

In fact, most are capable of at least 1.5moa with a couple shims and good ammo.

My Gew88/05 does about 1.2moa. Those things are surprisingly well made. Pillar bedding, sleeved barrel, fine sights. 120+ years old, slightly rounded rifling, it shoots better than I'd ever have expected.

That Mosin ran about $70 and the Gew88/05 was $37.50.

Regards,

Josh