Can't find the right rifle: short, light, 308, threaded, with mag?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Na. He ruled out the Ruger GSR when he said “light”.

I’ve been looking really hard at the CVA Cascade at my LGS. It‘a a good looking rifle and feels much better than the cheap options from Ruger and Savage. Meets all of your requirements and comes with a solid accuracy guarantee. I’m probably going to pick one up in a couple weeks.

Perhaps true of the laminate stock model, but the synthetic model is 6.2 lbs. As far as I can tell, that’s lighter than anything in the CVA lineup?
 
I went down this road a few years ago and ended up with a Savage Hog Hunter as I also wanted sights on the rifle along with threaded and light. Now, I don't have an issue with the blind mag so it worked for me.

Big Ruger fan but the Gunsite was a lot more $$ and heavy compared to the Hog Hunter.

Did you keep the Savage in its original stock?

I could live with that stock for awhile but eventually I'd want to upgrade it and I didn't see great options. Boyds makes it an 8lb rifle and it didn't have the pricier lighter weight options. Otherwise I'd get one now. SMGA has an awesome price for the hog hunter right now.

I'll look into the options mentioned. I'm willing to pay more to get more, within reason. Upgrade the stock on a predator or hog hunter and you're closing in on the price range of a Tikka.
 
Interesting read and criteria for a rifle.

You'd be better off reading on how to improve a lite weight factory stock instead of buying aftermarket.

Should be interesting "target" shooting with a pencil bbl'd/short bbl'd sporter rifle. Vertical dispersion will be magnified.

I'd be taking a hard look at scopes and their adjustments along with 10/20 MOA scope mounts. Those #'s will be far more important then a rifle's weight when it comes to bullet drop from using lite/heavy bullets in the short bbl along with lobbing subsonic shots at any meaningful distance.

Wouldn't hurt to take a look at a couple ballistic charts to get an idea of just how much difference is in the drops between a what you consider a "target" load with supersonic loads verse subsonic @ 100yds and then 200yds.

I've owned 2 savage axis II's, 1 with a heavy bbl in 223rem and a pencil bbl'd 308w. Both easily shot MOA in their box stock configurations. Heck both of them had adjustable triggers and I never bothered to do any testing adjustments/mods to them. Sold the 308w and still have the 223rem & still shoot it as it came out of the box. I guess i could mod/stiffen the stock and mod the trigger springs but why bother??? Right now it's holding +/- .75" 5-shot groups @ 100yds with reloads without doing anything to it.

The rifle is the least of your concerns, the difference between a 200gr bullet doing 1100fps @ 100yds VS 200yds is +/- 40MOA. Add to that starting with a 50yd subsonic zero or a 25yd/100yd/200yd supersonic zero. That's a lot of vertical adjustments from a rifle that is already marginal at best with vertical dispersion with it's short (lower velocities) thin (easily affect by heat) profile.
 
Did you keep the Savage in its original stock?

I could live with that stock for awhile but eventually I'd want to upgrade it and I didn't see great options. Boyds makes it an 8lb rifle and it didn't have the pricier lighter weight options. Otherwise I'd get one now. SMGA has an awesome price for the hog hunter right now.

I'll look into the options mentioned. I'm willing to pay more to get more, within reason. Upgrade the stock on a predator or hog hunter and you're closing in on the price range of a Tikka.

I left it as it came from the factory. Cleaned up the mold lines on the stock some but nothing more. I also looked at the stock options but then it sort of ruined why I bought it. I also looked at filling the stock with different things to stiffen it up some but haven't done that either as I'm not sold that I need that and don't want the weight it would add.

The Hog Hunter is a great buy in my mind if you like it as is. If you're going to put another $200+ into it and add a couple of pounds to it then you as better off with the Ruger or something that comes out of the box closer to what you want it to be. I try not to buy projects anymore as they all end up taking more time and $$ then I think they will.
 
I assembled a 20" AR308 that weighs 7.25 lbs without optic. The heaviest component on it is the BCG. I used a Faxon Big Gunner barrel, which is the lightest 20" barrel I was able to find at the time. The receivers are Aeroprecision. I used a Vltor A5 carbine buffer tube, JP Rifles centerless ground and polished rifle-length operating spring, an H3 carbine buffer, and a Magpul ACS-L buttstock. I installed a Precision Armament M72 severe duty compensator and an SLR Rifleworks clamp-on adjustable gas block. The rifle has virtually zero recoil. I topped it with a SWFA ultra-light scope and Warne cantilever mount. I assembled it for elk hunting. I handload Hornady 178gr ELD-X for it.
 
I have a suppressor in jail and I'm looking for a woods friendly rifle to put it on but coming up with no really great option.

What I'm looking for:

  • Light since I'll sling it in the woods and the suppressor will be adding weight as well.
  • Barrel 16" to 20" for the same reason
  • 308 to be able to practice with cheaper ammo
  • Threaded barrel pref 5/8 24
  • Detachable magazine. It's a felony in my state to have a loaded rifle in a vehicle, so mags are convenient to pop in and out if you are getting in and out

Closest I could find is Ruger American Predator, which is a bit of a cheap rifle but maybe I could upgrade the stock. Bergara Ridgeline is almost what I need but no magazine, the rest of their line seems pretty heavy. Tikka CTR but it's a bit heavy and currently nowhere to be found. Remington AAC but they went bust.

I could buy a longer barrel and chop, or thread something, but then I'm voiding warranty if it new, etc

Suggestions? I can wait for stuff to come into stock since it's probably at least another six months before the suppressor gets out of jail.

The rifle you are describing is a Steyr Scout which is available with a threaded barrel.
https://www.steyr-arms.com/us/steyr-scout
 
The rifle you are describing is a Steyr Scout which is available with a threaded barrel.
https://www.steyr-arms.com/us/steyr-scout

Can you mount a regular scope?

In a lot of ways I'm trying to build a "modern scout" in that it's meant to be a multi purpose, easy to carry rifle. I think the modern version though is to mount an LPVO or at least have 1.5x or 2x on the low end.

I might put a 1-6, 1-8 or at most 2-10 optic but I don't want to forward mount it.
 
I assembled a 20" AR308 that weighs 7.25 lbs without optic. The heaviest component on it is the BCG. I used a Faxon Big Gunner barrel, which is the lightest 20" barrel I was able to find at the time. The receivers are Aeroprecision.

Interesting. I have an Aero M5E1 with their standard barrel and I hate it because it's so heavy. One reason I kicked off this project was the realization that semiauto is just a nice to have for the things I'll do with this rifle.

When I looked into reducing weight it looked like it was going to get expensive to get to where I wanted, and I don't know if I understand the AR platform gas system and timing well enough to debug all the reliability issues that might come up if I started tweaking everything.

Whereas this thread has a half dozen options in bolt rifles, some under $500, that are pretty close to what I want out of the box.

But building that light AR308 might be a fun project.
 
Can you mount a regular scope?

In a lot of ways I'm trying to build a "modern scout" in that it's meant to be a multi purpose, easy to carry rifle. I think the modern version though is to mount an LPVO or at least have 1.5x or 2x on the low end.

I might put a 1-6, 1-8 or at most 2-10 optic but I don't want to forward mount it.
Mine wears a traditionally mounted 2.5x10 NF.
 
So here's a rundown off the options so far:

Budget rifles
Savage hog hunter
Ruger American Predator

Both these rifles are meeting my requirement out of the box, but with some cheap parts, particularly the stocks. Looks like the Predator has more options to upgrade the stock including to a fancy expensive carbon fiber, while the Hog Hunter would need to be left as is but has a slightly heavier barrel contour, which is a plus for target.

Mid range rifles
CVA Cascade with strictly a hunting profile barrel
Tikka CTR with a heavier and also heftier barrel Rem 700 with bottom metal (the AAC basically). So again a trade-off where one is definitely a hunting rifle and the other sightly heavier

Remington 700 AAC is checking the boxes, but I have honestly some doubts about Remington right now.

Scout Rifles
Steyr Scout
Gunsite Scout
Savage Scout

These are perhaps conceptually closest to what I'm doing and all three basically meet the requirement, though with various levels of weight or stocks.

Higher end rifles
Sako S20 Hunter
Seekins Havak w/ special request
SIG Cross

Some really nice rifles here at a pretty steep price, but no doubt you get what you pay for.

Fluted heavier barrel in the Sako and the current promotion including a free tactical stock makes it one of the more versatile choices here for both woods carry and precision shooting.

Others

There are a bunch of others mentioned that miss by one factor, such as threading, which could be added (the the cost of voiding the warranty?) and one interesting choice is a super light AR308 which would require significant tweaking.

Christensen Arms was mentioned and have several good options but I've seen mixed reviews on QC.

Decisions

What's available in stock is going to be a big factor, currently I can't find any of the Scout rifles in stock, the CTR isn't available either, though maybe by the time my suppressor is out of jail I'll find one.

Since I have choices I will start thinking about some nice to have's I didn't include in the original list of requirements. Given a choice I'd prefer a more versatile rifle with at least a medium contour barrel, or heavy fluted, providing the weight of the rifle stays around 7-7.5lbs.

I'd also like it to either come with a high quality stock, or have aftermarket options to get a high quality stock, so the rifle can grow with me and eventually handle any shooting position, bipod etc without loss of accuracy.

I guess I need to think on budget a bit since that still leaves me with some options. That Sako is a pretty cool but pretty pricy rifle. The gunsite or Steyr scouts look good if I could find them. CTR as well.

That's where I'm leaning.
 
Last edited:
The Sig Cross was mentioned several times, and (based on my experience as an owner) is worth inclusion IMO. I wouldn't be considering a production Remington for love or money.
 
I wouldn't be considering a production Remington for love or money.

See, I would. You can mail order about any part under the sun for one. They're the Glock/Ruger 10/22 of the bolt action world. I don't care about a warranty because if it needs anything done, I'll do the work myself. A part needs replaced? I'll use it as an excuse to upgrade it.

There's options for it that you can't get for a number of other actions.

Certainly there's things I don't love about the action, but theres alot to be said for it too.
 
See, I would. You can mail order about any part under the sun for one. They're the Glock/Ruger 10/22 of the bolt action world. I don't care about a warranty because if it needs anything done, I'll do the work myself. A part needs replaced? I'll use it as an excuse to upgrade it.

There's options for it that you can't get for a number of other actions.

Certainly there's things I don't love about the action, but theres alot to be said for it too.
But why get a Remington-branded receiver of dubious quality when a number of outfits have made a business model around making Remington-compatible actions / rifles that are produced to a much higher standard?
 
But why get a Remington-branded receiver of dubious quality when a number of outfits have made a business model around making Remington-compatible actions / rifles that are produced to a much higher standard?

Because I can pick up a whole rifle, and change the barrel, trigger and stock for less than just what a stripped action from some of the small shops cost.

For my purposes, even that's over kill.

I'm not shooting high speed low drag ultra long range matches or anything.
 
The Sig Cross was mentioned several times, and (based on my experience as an owner) is worth inclusion IMO. I wouldn't be considering a production Remington for love or money.
Ditto on not even considering a current Remington. No thank you!
 
I assembled a 20" AR308 that weighs 7.25 lbs without optic. The heaviest component on it is the BCG. I used a Faxon Big Gunner barrel, which is the lightest 20" barrel I was able to find at the time. The receivers are Aeroprecision. I used a Vltor A5 carbine buffer tube, JP Rifles centerless ground and polished rifle-length operating spring, an H3 carbine buffer, and a Magpul ACS-L buttstock. I installed a Precision Armament M72 severe duty compensator and an SLR Rifleworks clamp-on adjustable gas block. The rifle has virtually zero recoil. I topped it with a SWFA ultra-light scope and Warne cantilever mount. I assembled it for elk hunting. I handload Hornady 178gr ELD-X for it.

The SWFA ultra-light... Is that the 2.5-10? I haven't seen a lot of reviews & I'm considering it for a lightweight build. What are your thoughts?
 
The Sig Cross was mentioned several times, and (based on my experience as an owner) is worth inclusion IMO. I wouldn't be considering a production Remington for love or money.

Yeah, I'm not sure I can get over the idea of a bolt action that looks like an AR. But yeah, it's meeting the requirements.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top