Recommended Bolt Action Rifle and Caliber

Ahhhhh....#7 is the rub. Few brand new bolt guns around $500 come with iron sights, or even a convenient way to mount them.

Im thinking Zastava and Mossberg Patriot might be the only new ones so equipped.

You should be able to find a cosmetically challenged, older, used rifle with irons under $500.

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NIGHTLORD40K said:

Ahhhhh....#7 is the rub. Few bolt guns around $500 come with iron sights, or even a convenient way to mount them.

Im thinking Zastava and Mossberg Patriot might be the only new ones so equipped.

You should be able to find a cosmetically challenged, older, used rifle with irons under $500.

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I think the older rifle is the only way to go for irons. Irons really started to phase out, late 50's, early 1960's, when decent, affordable rifle scopes became available. Older pre 64's are drilled and tapped for irons, and I have one pre 64 M70 with a Lyman sight on the back.







Pre 64's are expensive, and so are those Lyman 48WJS sights. However, there should be lots of Remington M721's and M700's from the 1950's floating around, and you might be able to find one with irons on the barrel, and drilled for a rear aperture sight.

Williams still makes rear sights, https://shop.williamsgunsight.com/ecommerce/c/long-gun-sights-844, but I don't see any listed for Rem bolt guns, but I am sure they will turn up on ebay. Williams sights, once you get them zero'd, will stay zero'd and you can get good groups with them.

The best rifle, but not a bolt gun, to shoot irons, is an M1a. A match M1a is a very accurate rifle.

DMW1116 said:

I’d like to get a bolt action to round out my collection. I have other common actions but no bolt gun. My requirements are below.

1.) Good accuracy. This will primarily be a target rifle so good accuracy is important. It doesn’t need to be match grade, but the more the better.
2.) Reloadable cartridge. A lot of my enjoyment with shooting is tinkering and trying stuff in reloaded ammo. This also contributes to number one above if I can find the right combination.
3.) Hunting. I may start hunting in the next season and a deer capable cartridge out to 100 yards or so would be nice. I have other rifles I can use, so this isn’t a top priority.
4.) Magazine fed. I’d like a detachable magazine if possible. 5, 10, or more.
5.) Max range of 300 yards. The areas I have access to shoot max out at 300 yards. I won’t turn down something that goes further, but 300 is as far as I can regularly go, subject to change.
6.) $500 limit, give or take. Somewhere close is fine.
7.) Iron sights if possible. Given the relatively short range limit, something with good factory sights or aftermarket sights would be nice. While my eyes hold up I like shooting iron sights. Eventually scopes are in my future I’m sure, but for now it’s more enjoyable for me.

Anything that meets those criteria? They generally get less important as they go.

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While I do applaud iron sights, and teach my children accordingly, I'm going to say that if our max range is 300 yds, then in general (there are exceptional shooters but not common) irons should not be the primary sight. If we can exclude this, the the 6 cm, 6.5 g, .243, .224 Valkyrie, and .22-250 all fit the bill quite well, manufacturers of the rifle should be dictated by twist rate. You do not list any legal requirements for deer. That CAN change this list dramatically. These are listed by preference. If a custom barrel were an option the 6 arc would be in here too. First two that spring to mind are the axis2 and Ruger American, then increase in price to the savage m10/11/16
Eta, that no cartridge war is necessary I know that a fast bonded .22 is plenty lethal for deer to 300 yds and any differing opinions will probably be voiced and they are welcome as well.

If you are going to use primarily open sights, then my recommendation would be to find a Swiss K31 in excellent condition.

If you have to scope it AND have sights, but still stay around 500 I would be looking for an older 700 ADL or Ruger 77. 243 Win or 6mm Rem.

DMW1116 said:

Oh, well that’s disappointing. If factory or aftermarket sights are that rare I can live without them. If 7 isn’t required, how does that change things?

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Oh, well then, any of the name-brand budget polymer stocked bolt guns will fit the bill.

Im partial to the Weatherby Vanguard (for a little more $$), but the Patriot, Savage Axis, Ruger American or T/C Venture are all actually pretty decent and stoopid accurate. All these have street prices in the $350-450 range. Add a $200 scope from Burris or Vortex and youve got a no frills combo which will outshoot most high-dollar guns from even 20 years ago.

A CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39 would fit the bill it seems, and it has iron sights. 300 yards will be a stretch, but you could probably do it if you are reloading and just doing it for the challenge (not shooting game). It is a good 100 yard deer cartridge with the proper bullets - i.e. not steel case surplus stuff. Despite the reputation for not being terribly accurate due to its use in semi auto rifles that weren't designed for accuracy, and cheap steel case ammo that similarly can be inconsistent, my 7.62x39 is amazingly accurate at 100 yards.

Edit to add - the CZ might be over your budget, but not by a whole lot if you look for a deal. They are worth the money IMO.

I'd look into the Savage Hog Hunter. Seems to tick all your boxes. I'd lean 308 for the combination of deer hunting and wanting to get out to 300 yards otherwise.

https://savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=57018

BigBL87 said:

I'd look into the Savage Hog Hunter. Seems to tick all your boxes. I'd lean 308 for the combination of deer hunting and wanting to get out to 300 yards otherwise.

https://savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=57018

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Good call! Id forgotten about the Hog Hunter. Buds has them in stock for $550, although you have to be a Team Buds member to buy one.....
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_info.php/products_id/52444/savage+110+hog+hntr+308+win

Can't go wrong with 308. You can find cheap ammo and then reload the brass later.

Forget about irons, you'll never use them. Virtually all modern rifles that do have irons are more for decoration than actual usefulness. Good iron sights will cost more than a decent scope.

A decent optic does everything better close and far as long as you don't over do it on magnification. With a 300 yard range a 3-9X or even a 2-7X works fine. In fact on a target only gun something like this fixed 6X is great.

Buy SWFA SS 6x42 Tactical 30mm Riflescopes at SWFA.com - SWFA Outdoors

I have this scope and have used it to shoot sub MOA groups at 600 yards with a 308. I have one on a 22 that I shoot at 250.

With a $500 budget the rifle is easy.

Ruger Predator in either 6.5 CM or 308. Street prices are now $400-$450.

Ruger American® Rifle Predator Bolt-Action Rifle Model 6973
Ruger American® Rifle Predator Bolt-Action Rifle Model 6974

The Predators are heavy and accurate enough for informal target shooting, but not too heavy to hunt with.

I’m already set up for 308. I thought it might be overkill for my 300 yard limit.

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Then get the 223 version that takes 10 round AR magazines. It isn't my top choice for deer hunting but will work. Cheap to shoot and plenty accurate.

Ruger American® Rifle Predator Bolt-Action Rifle Model 26944

The 308 is the classic choice, but anymore I'd rather have the 6.5 CM. Either will easily handle 300 yards, the 223 is a 600+ yard target round. A 308 with 28-30" barrels and hot handloads is a 1000 yard round, but the 6.5 is still in the game at a mile. With less recoil and generally more accuracy than 308.

For hunting 308, 7-08, 270, and 6.5 CM are all pretty close to the same performance. Any of those will take any game animal in the lower 48 and at ranges farther than most people have the skills to shoot.

Despite my suggestion of a CZ carbine, I agree with those that suggest ditching the iron sight suggestion for 300 yards. That really opens up the options, there are a ton of value priced extremely accurate options out there. The Rugers I have looked at had good build quality for the price, the reports on accuracy are consistently outstanding, and they are available in n essentially any standard cartridge.

On the CZ trigger, I just adjust the trigger to my liking and don't use the set feature. I find that the set feature has too much travel after the break. You don't have to use the set feature.

My pick for this role and budget would probably be a ruger American predator in 6.5 creedmoor. I would top it off with a 3-9 or 2.5-10 scope. The ruger Americans have proven to be quite reliably accurate. The predator has kind of a semi heavy barrel so it will stay cool a little longer, but is not so heavy as to be cumbersome if you start hunting. Despite it being the cappuccino of cartridges the 6.5 creedmoor is a very easy cartridge to live with either for the reloader or factory ammo and it makes an ideal crossover round between target shooting and hunting deer size game.

I've got a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 and it's a tack driver. Mine is a CZ-USA American with 22" barrel and no iron sights, but I've heard nothing but good about the 18.5" barrel 527 carbine with iron sights. It's really a fun gun, very well made with a free floated barrel.

Uses 5-rd magazines, of which I have three. I've got a Burris 3-9x40 scope on it with Warne rings. It comes in several other calibers, but the Russian short 30 is a favorite of mine. I already had a Mini-30 and bucket loads of x39 ammo on hand, and I'm a 30 caliber sort of guy anyway. It was an easy choice. I put a Glades Armory bolt handle on it with the big ball. It cycles like greased lighting.

The Ruger American Ranch would also be a great choice. I considered that as well, and will likely grab one of those in the future.

For under 300yrds, a 6.5 Grendel Ruger American Ranch sounds like the thing to me.

A very light, handy hunting rifle. Plenty of power out to 300yrds to take a deer. Decent cheap plinking ammo (in normal times at least) easy on components to load for.

I'd pair it with a Leopold VX-Freedom 3-9x, the light weight scope will be a good match.

gotboostvr said:

For under 300yrds, a 6.5 Grendel Ruger American Ranch sounds like the thing to me.

A very light, handy hunting rifle. Plenty of power out to 300yrds to take a deer. Decent cheap plinking ammo (in normal times at least) easy on components to load for.

I'd pair it with a Leopold VX-Freedom 3-9x, the light weight scope will be a good match.

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That would be a good one, didn’t think of the grendel. Only thing I would add is that for target shooting to 300 I would want turrets of some sort on the scope. Does the freedom have that? I have a couple VX-1 3-9’s and they don’t have resettable or marked turrets.

someguy2800 said:

That would be a good one, didn’t think of the grendel. Only thing I would add is that for target shooting to 300 I would want turrets of some sort on the scope. Does the freedom have that? I have a couple VX-1 3-9’s and they don’t have resettable or marked turrets.

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They have the CDS turret for drop on some models.

https://www.leupold.com/vx-freedom-3-9x40-cds-duplex-riflescope

I would like to recommend that you reconsider using a scope. A low power 2-7 or 3-9 have large enough field of views for good woods work when set on the bottom end. The scope will help with accuracy on the high end when you start reaching out for those 300 yard shots.

I'm looking for a Ruger American LH 6.5 cm, 7mm-08 rem, or 308 win.
You may want to give the Ruger a look.

I like irons too, at least on some of my rifles, but prefer a receiver sight given my old guy eyes. Here's the setup on my CZ 527 full stock:



To use irons later, you'll want either see-through or QD scope mounts (or possibly a side swing type, not so common these days except on tactical stuff) to be able to see them after installing the scope. See-throughs aren't my cuppa, as they almost always mount the scope too high above the bore.

If you use QD rings and Weaver base(s), consider going the non-magnified optic route.

The usual sighting system on my Kimber Hunter is a Weaver 1-4X with Leupold mounts:



This is my backup plan setup:



My idea here was to take along a pre-zeroed red dot sight (Bushnell TRS-25 w/QD lever) in the unlikely event the scope becomes damaged, however this kind of arrangement could also serve on its own as a legitimate iron sight substitute.

The downside with the Weaver system is the mount doesn't always hold perfect zero when removed and replaced, but I've had pretty good luck using the position of the tightened QD scope levers as registration tool. Good enough anyway for minute of deer