Opinions on budget rifles.

I wouldn't be surprised if it came out to be a wooden stocked one off the used rack.

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Wouldn't surprise me either. That's where my wife's deer rifle came from.
Ruger M77 tang safety in .243 Win. I believe it was $350 with a cheap Bushnell. It now wears a Leupold VX-1 and is a darn good rifle.

I got a Savage youth 243 for my grandson and it workout great.
I since have seen the Remington 700 youth model in 243 and wish I have gotten that one.

I bought a Savage Axis youth model in .243 for my wife. It cost me about $350 with a decent scope on it and it shoots pretty well. With handloaded Hornady bullets and H414 I'm pretty sure it's more accurate than I am.

Of the two rifles you mention, if buying a new gun I'd take the Ruger if only because the current low- mid-priced Remington's are iffy at best.
But unless you are totally adverse to buying pre-owned, then there's likely a larger universe of choices at your price point. Certainly an older Remington would be a great choice. At least 10 years old though. Preferably older. Perhaps you could knock enough off the price of a new Tikka to make a used one affordable. They are incredible but if purchased new, they are somewhat out of the OP's range. And there's a wide range of other brands/models to look at.
Finally, you might want to take a look at what they are selling at CDNN. Now and then they have a nice rifle with a freaky low price. I assume they buy a block of overstock models and can blow them out. If the OP is set to buy a new one, I'd take a look over there.
B

Mossberg ATR

The Mossberg 100 ATR is a decent rifle for the money. A young guy I work with bought a scope combo model in .243 for his wife to deer hunt with last year. I was surprised at the quality of the rifle, good metal finish, decent fitting birch (?)checkered stock. The scope was a pretty cheap chinese (not going to bash the brand) that I replaced for him with an older Redfield 3-9x40 that I had as a spare. I sighted it in and between the three of us shot a full box through; it is easily capable of an inch or so at 100 yards. He paid right at $300 for it on sale at either Dick's or Cabelas, I can't remember now which.

That was last November, I have since seen the same rifle, except with a synthetic stock, with scope, regularly selling for less than $300. I think that the regular priced wood stock version is between $350 and $400, but still a decent rifle, with a scope and rings.

A scoped, synthetic stock version could be well under the $300 limit "on sale".

I'd take a hard look at the TC Venture. It's a whole lot of rifle for the money, even without the rebate.

Rebate is good to end of November on Venture
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Savage or the Rem 783 or the old Rem 788 in the 243 will make them a very good gun. Both the Savage and Rem has had some very good reports. Less than 1 in at a 100 yd with factory ammo. GOOD LUCK

marlin Xs 7 mm 08 is what i have.

The Ruger or a Savage. Both are fine rifles!

I am very impressed with my Mossberg ATR .308. The more time I spend with it the better it gets. Great value rifle. Good in the field. All parts solid. no rattle.

A savage with the accutrigger (found on just about every base model they make except one) that trigger just can't be beat it's said to be the best stock trigger in the market and they don't limit it to high end models like alot of other companies do with better designed parts the give every one the love

I'm sure that most of the cheapy plastic stocks are OK but not my cup of tea.

TR

Marlin = Remington. Rem bought them and has steadily been screwing them up.

I had the itch to buy a rem 700 a couple of months ago until I played with a couple at some local shops. One had rust on the receiver even though the employee told me it had been up on the rack and nobody had asked to see it because it was kind of an odd ball caliber ....didn't think 25-06 was odd but ok

The next 2 I looked at were rough, gritty, terrible fit and finish in general. They might have shot well but that is a gamble anymore with Remington.

Not sure what your budget is exactly but if under $500 for just the gun I would get the Weatherby Vanguard S2 Compact. Great little gun.

Ruger Americans are great for the money. They really remind me of a tikka/savage offspring.

Howa 1500 can be had for $350 but can be a bit heavy at 8.5 lbs or so with a scope

Marlin x7 are cheap and accurate. Not sure if they ever fixed the fragile extractor issue though.

You could always just get the Savage 11 XP combo for about $500. It comes with a scope. I think it's a Nikon now.

There seems to be a lot of lower priced rifles out there from any number of manufacturers these days.A 700 ADL for sure wouldn't be a bad choice,but the 770's,Savage Axis/Edge are pretty coarse in my opinion.Savage recently came out with a ladies' version that might be worth a look.

Seen a howa lightweight lightning at the lgs for 399. Was 243 with a 20" barrel. Looks like a decent rifle.

not really impressed with any budget rifles as of late.i am a savage guy and just cant like the axis.a big chain had the 243 out the for about 200 a very long time.if i had to pick one i would say remington 383. at least it shoulders well and the magazine assembly is metal

Personally, I'd for go the new cheaper models and get a steel and walnut older Savage 110, in .243. I picked one up for $250.00 a few months ago and it is a real nice shooter and looks like brand new. It is fairly light too, considering it's all wood and steel. I just don't trust all those new budget rifles to be very dependable. JMHO

the most recent budget gun I've shot is a Ruger American in 308 = 3/4" @ 80 yards with "deer thug" ammo. Prior to that a Savage/Stevens 200 (pre Axis) in 25-06 = 1" @ 100 with Fed Premium (120 grn Partition). Although I'm not looking for a budget gun, I'm not opposed to them either. They meet the needs of some, and there's nothing wrong with that !!

we use to make jokes the stevens 200 was old 110 action old style triggers. savage must have had all those old parts and rebadged them as the stevens 200 lol

Take a look at Weatherby's Vanguard line. Maybe a few dollars more, but they're an exceptional value. Very solid, impressive rifle for the money.

it's true what godale says, but that kind of accuracy ain't no joke! and for that money you can't beat it! Now I don't own any modern bolt guns, (only milsurp mauser's) none of which shoot under an inch, they all hover in the 1-1/4" to 3" @ 100 and 3" to 5" @ 200, which hasn't allowed any animal I've shot at, to escape. Some are over 100+ years old and they still get it done !!

i am wanting a 223 but i am going to wait it out and save a little more. currently looking at the savage 25s

I can appreciate fine craftsmanship as much as the next guy. Fact is though, my Stevens 200 is a hair more accurate than my kimber Montana or pre 64 Winchester.