Help me choose a rifle.

30-06, or .300 Win or Wby mag. You'll probably prefer the 30-06. I recommend the Weatherby Vanguard in SUB-MOA, one of the most accurate rifles out there, save the Remington for the 870 Express! As for scopes, I'm not one to put alot of money into one, so you don't want my advice since you're looking at Leupold.

Nothing wrong with what you've been looking at.

don't forget savage. 308 or 30-06 is easier to find than any of the specific magnums (rum, wsm, wbymag, the thing ruger and hornady came out with, etc...) and cheaper. Accutrigger is nice but may cut into your optics budget. I have a savage and a remington and love both but if i were to buy another rifle in that class it would be savage over remington.

Tikka T3 in .30-06, Nikon Buckmaster 3-9X40. and you will still have some coin left for ammo.

Anything in a .308 will be fine for deer... I use a 7mm-08 for deer and hog...

.308 winchester 70 featherweight, or rem 700. I'd recomend a leupold vx3 or a nikon for the scope though.

.308 is perfect. Easy to reload as well. I have a Browning, but the Tikka, Remington, Savage and Weatherby Vanguard are all good suggestions.

I got one of the new Winchester Model 70 featherweights a couple of months ago. It's really a nice piece. Less than the Remington 700, too. Take a look at one before you buy.

I'm glad I did.

Banjoman2255;

I'll strongly second the above suggestion for a Tikka T3 in .30-06. Fine gun, fine cartridge. I've got a lot of Nikon glass, but I tend to buy the Monarchs, which would put the rig over your budget. I also have several Leupolds, but again, am somewhat upscale from the rifleman & VX-1. I'm sure either of the brands will do you fine. Either's low-end scopes will still surpass the absolute best your daddy could buy back when. Nice thing about the Tikka is that it'll come with a set of rings.

I don't know if you handload or not, but with proper load development, a Tikka in .30-06 will shoot very, very, well indeed.

900F

Synthetic/ Stainless Steel...Savage 116 Accustock/Accutrigger. 30-06

Walnut/ Blued Steel....Savage 114 Accutrigger. 30-06

Tikkas too....

I'd steer clear of the Remingtons for now!

Scope....If you go to Natchez.com you will see scopes of the Intensity brand....these are really good for what they cost, they are the same as the Weaver 44/40, and some of the classic V-series models. Aspherical lens, Lifetime Warranty and all the usual scope stuff!

Dont listen to the rem, winchester guys. Here's what my 110 fp savage was capable of out of the box. You think remington or winchester can beat this? You be the judge. BTW this rifle is about 100 cheaper than the others.


That nickel looks bigger on your screen than it is in real life.

Buy a Remington 700 in .270, .308, or .30-06.
Buy a Nikon or Leupold scope in 3-9 x 40.

This one.


http://www.savagearms.com/114AmerClassic.htm


I just purchased a Nikon Prostaff 3X9X40, and I am blown away with the quality of the optics in a $150.00 scope. If I were buying a rifle in your price range today, this would be my combo.

Get the 30-06. It's versatile and will be around forever. I bet the last firearm they pry away from the hands of the last freeman will be a 30-06. I like the (older) Remingtons. Straight forward classic design and they are usually very accurate. Find a used one. Ruger is another durable rifle of a classic design. Accuracy with the older ones isn't as good but still adequate. The one thing I dislike about the newer Rugers is the 3 position safety. I don't like any 3 position safety come to think of it. A safety should be ON or it should be OFF, with nothing in between. Winchesters are also a good rifle.

Another option would be to search the internet and scour the shops until you found a good sporterized '03 or '03A3. Fine reliable rifle.

Savages are good shooting rifles, but the design is all goofy-foot. I can't seem to warm up to them at all. That's me.

The one rifle you should take a real close look at is the Browning A Bolt. The ones I've looked at exhibit fine quality and they are accurate. Should be easy to find one new or used in your price range.

I've tried a variety of scopes. I keep coming back to Leupold. For deer, I think a 2x7 compact would fill the bill nicely. Nothing wrong with the 3x9 or 3.5x10. Keep the objective to 42mm and smaller to keep the scope low. What ever brand you get, get the best quality you can afford and let someone else pay for features.

Most importantly, get quality mounts and rings Redfield and Leupold are strong and light. I wouldn't mess with Weaver mounts and rings

I like the Savages right now. I have owned rugers, remingtons, savages, and various mil-surps.
Right now Savage has the others beat on:
Bedding- Pillar bedded, and new accustock is on the way.
Headspace- Barrel nut allows for quick precision manufacture. This means a tighter more accurate chamber.
Trigger- the others are getting nice too now, but accutrigger had them beat for awhile
Barrels- are button rifled and shoot extremely well. Add to this the fact that you save over 100 on a savage makes it a no brainer for me.
I would put on a nice one piece weaver/picatinny type rail and some Warne maxima rings or something like them.
My last rem 700 was lacking in quality control.

I have a Weatherby Vangaurd in .30-06 with a Leupold Rifleman 3x9x40 and I paid $655 for the setup brand new. The target that came with the rifle was one hole. Can't beat that. You have a little larger budget than I did, so you could go with a higher quality glass. That's what I would do anyway. Just my opinion.
By the way, if you want a .300, get one. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It isn't their money that's getting spent. Also, there is no such thing as overkill. If you shoot an animal through the lungs with a .243 and he runs 50 yards and piles up dead great. You shoot the same animal with a magnum cartridge and he runs the same distance and piles up dead, but no deader, somehow it is overkill. Doesn't make sense in my dim mind.
That was plagerized from a Bob Hagel book by the way. I do happen to agree 100% though.

You got a lot of choices in that price range. Do some research on the internet, figure out what features you like/need. Then go to a couple of stores, shoulder some guns look through some scopes and figure out what YOU like. We're having the equivalent of what's better Ford or Chevy. Also, if you plan to shoot this rifle very much, look into the cost of ammo before you decide on a caliber, some of the magnum calibers are not exactly cheap.

We're having the equivalent of what's better Ford or Chevy.

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Not really...both Ford or Chebby will get you to the woods and back...well maybe....

...but the debate between Savage, Remington , Tikka and others go far beyond brand loyalty.
Without going into long winded explanation...do a search on the various brands, I think you'll see that some brands are leading a shameful life, while others are shinning bright.


and everybody knows Fords are the best...whooops, gotta go!

Right on, Uncle Mike! I was gonna say "Yeah, it's Ford vs Chevy, and I ain't gonna tell you what to buy, just don't buy a Chibby!"

Screw the 700, Arkansas Paul is the closest. Most guys overpay (see the Remmy 700, all models). Go with a vanguard or even a stevens rifle and a cheap nikon prostaff or something.

My Marlin XL7 cost $288 and I doubt 500 dollars more for a Remington would do a bit of good. Just a name that guys tell themselves they "need". Same thing with the Leupold vs. cheap Nikon...if you're asking advice, you're probably not going to need anything fancy and will be pleased with what a 150 dollar scope gives you.

If you top out a combo at $500 you'll have a lot more money for ammo, sling, case etc and won't feel silly later.

Don't overlook used rifles posted on the internet. I got a Sako Tikka T-3 ultralight with a new Zies Divarri 3 x 9 scope for $500 with the box of shells with 18 of them shot to sight it in. Basically a NIB rifle with all of the work done. Sub MOA with factory ammo. Can't go wrong.

I hate cheap scopes. Spent too much time looking through optics to put up with crap.

This is America. I didn't buy a Remington because that's what I "need". I bought a Remington because it was what I wanted. It's turned out to be a bargain because it has never disappointed me

The one thing I dislike about the newer Rugers is the 3 position safety. I don't like any 3 position safety come to think of it. A safety should be ON or it should be OFF, with nothing in between

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I might agree but with the strong caveat that I have no use for a two-position safety that doesn't lock the bolt closed when in the "safe" position (like those found on Remington 700s made from the early eighties or so to date).