High Quality hunting rifles

are you asking build materials or out of box accuracy? I am a huge fan of stainless and synthetic and I am hooked on A-bolts. You could certainly find a used Weatherby Mk xxxx that has been lovingly cared for and will shoot sub moa. If you are looking for an heirloom maybe it is best not to put a price ceiling on it (within reason). A good heirloom quality rifle will appreciate in value.

$800 is not exactly high end today. A Remington CDL is 800+. A Winchester 70 Featherweight will come in just under $800 and is the most rifle for the money in my opinion right now.

The new production rifles are tackdrivers, well made with old school all steel components and traditional Controlled round feeding.

Mine is the Extreme Weather version and will cost closer to $1,000 but is the best rifle I've ever owned.

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Bump the price up to about $1,100 and the Kimbers are pretty nice as well.

CZ-550s and Savages are hard to beat. With proper care, just about any rifle in your price range (Win,Rem,CZ,Savage,etc) will last until after your grand kids are dust.

I'm a tinkering fool. It's in my DNA. With that said, my rifle of choice is the Remington 700 action. It's like the small block chevy of the bolt rifle world.

I really like the new Winchester 70s. The higher end Remington 700s are nice as well as the Browning rifles.

If I had your money right now I would buy a nice Ruger #1.

I'd find a nice used Mark V in your favorite caliber and be contented as hell.

$800 is midgrade in the hunting rifle world. You have to step up to $2000 to get high end.

$800: Ruger M77 Hawkeye, Browning X-Bolt Medallion, Savage Lightweight Hunter, Winchester M70 in two or three configurations...I like the Featherweight.

$$1500-2500-ish: Kimber, Cooper, Remington Custom Shop, Rifles Inc., Hill Country Rifles. The Kimber 84 is a good place to start in the high end price range.

$$$Then you have Super Premium High End: Dakota, Blaser, Ummm, I don't know of any more. These are out of my price range, so I don't even look at them!

Before you buy, handle them all. You'll have the most confidence in the rifle that "feels" right for you.

As stated before, $800 will get you a very nice mid-range rifle. My choice, hands down would be the M70.

That said, I have a Tikka T-3, a CZ 527, and just bought a Ruger gunsite scout and they are all great rifles also. Just the M70, IMO, is the best of all of them in terms of quality.

The Tikka is my least favorite because of the cheesy magazine, no controlled round feed, stock is flimsy, and it is difficult to load single cartridges in through the ejection port. That said, it definitely performs better in terms of smoothness and handling, outstanding trigger, and the best accuracy by far I have ever had from a stock rifle even with factory ammo.

I have no experience with the Savage, Marlin, and Remington rifles and don't care too. But many people swear by them and I would not over look them. Once again, handle them all before you buy.

For top shelf stuff you will have to spend much more.

I had a custom M70 built with all of the bells and whistles for $3,800 and it is a 1/2" rifle, but if I had it to do over again, I just would have stayed with a stock M70. The dream of owning the perfect rifle built to your specs is nice, but in the field it does not pay off in terms of value for your dollar. It pays off in terms of the satisfaction of owning a custom rifle and there is a dear price to pay for that. Now that I have been there, seen it, done it, I won't do it again.

$800 gets you finish on a $500 rifle.

For the budget: a Walnut stocked Weatherby Vanguard II with nice glass and money left over for a little something for SWMBO!

Or a CZ550.

800 bucks will buy a nice older Rem 700 BDL and leave enough money in your pocket for a very good scope.

Love my Model 70 Featherweight (30-06) but $800 just gets you the rifle. Well worth that kind of money IMHO. You'll need to drop some coin on good glass as well.

I hear CZs are top notch as well and I've handled some. I might take the plunge one of these days

In that price range the m70, like others have mentioned, is a no brainer IMO. I've bought 3 (FW, supergrade, and extreme weather) and sold the not so supergrade but overall they're built well and shoot fantastic. The pachmyr recoil pad works really well too. If you can spend a bit more check out the Kimbers. I recently bought a 84L classic select that is awesome and planning on ordering a Montana here soon. Overall though the m70 is a great all around rifle.

michael, you were right on to change the question. I think about rifles a lot and I don't buy one very often but when I do I get the most for the money. When buying a rifle you must position yourself so that you can sell the rifle if you don't like it without loosing money, or position yourself so that you can change the rifle so you will like it better. I personally like a Wincherster Model 70 because it has a flat bottom receiver which in my opinion makes the rifle more solid that either a Remington or Savage. Also, a Winchester Model 70 also retains it's value so you can sell it easily. I also like to divide a rifle into its three major parts and put a value on each part. The heart of a bolt action is the receiver and the Model 70 is very strong and the 3 position safety is tops. Next in importance is the barrel, and if you happen to get a bad barrel but like the rifle you can always get a custom barrel installed in the future. For example, Douglas will make a Model 70 featherweight barrel that is an exact duplicate of the original barrel. Finally, the stock is the least important piece of a rifle. It doesn't matter what the stock looks like as long as it fits you and the rifle shoots good. You can always change a barrel or a stock as long as the action is good. Shooter

I'd focus on CZ or Winchester.

I'm a bit of a Browning guy. Can't go wrong with a good used A-Bolt, and you can nicely scope it too for that kind of money.

I'd go and see what used rifles are available at your local shop. If one speaks to you or just feels better go with it. You can rationalize all day what is better but more often than not I've found it's my heart rather than my head that decides. Not that long ago I got a pre-cross bolt safety Marlin 336 30-30 Texan in great condition for $500. I forget exactly the cost of a scout scope but $300 gets you close. Though my 30-06 is likely a better all around rifle, I spend more time in the field with a lever action.

Recently purchased a savage 11fcns in 308. With my hunting hand loads I am getting 1/2 inch groups at 200 yards. Light crisp trigger and a DBM which I really wanted. Federal match ammo gave me about 1-1.5 inch groups at 200. I looked at the browning x bolts as well but liked the savage more

800 bucks will buy a nice older Rem 700 BDL and leave enough money in your pocket for a very good scope.

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+1. That's the route I'd go. Nice used 700 BDLs go in the $400-$500 range all the time around here. Last fall, I paid $710 shipped for a '79 700 BDL CD in 8mm Rem Mag with a US-made Redfield 2-7x scope. It would have been less (probably $550) in a more common chambering like '06 or 7mm mag.

The first question is does it have to be NEW?
Second does that $800 include optics?

New with optics Savage,

In the use department $800 after deer/elk season will buy a whole lot of quality.

GO over to Armslist and then Gunbroker take a look.

For $800 you can get a nice Ruger 1# most days.

Find the gun that you really want, then figure out how to pay for it. If $800 won't pay for it, then it would be a great down payment.

winchester model 70 featherweight, you can pick those up used, in various calibers, for less than $800 more often than not. They are great rifles and handle like a dream.

New (FN) Winchester Model 70 for sure. I had a Featherweight in .308 and wish I never got rid of it.

Whenever I get around to buying a new hunting rifle, I will probably go with the Tikka T3 SS w/ fluted barrel.

Also, don't cheap out on glass. I have a Nikon Team Primos 3-9x that was on that Winchester if you are interested, send me a PM.