Best 10 bolt actions ever made

[God Guns American Cars]

This is a serious thread. List the ten best bolt actions ever made, for hunting. Can be Pre-64 Winchester model 70, M77, etc. It's OK to list military rifles like the Kar98 if that is what you'd pick for hunting with. Can be in order, or not. If you come up with 11 and can't decide, OK. If you come up with only 8, whatever. Just give honest opinions based on personal experiences. Please elaborate why they are so great if you want to take the time to do so.

I'd say number one would have to be the Winchester M70, followed by the Rem 700 and Ruger M77, Browning A Bolt, Weatherby Mark V, Savage 110, Remington 600 Magnum, Mauser 98, Sako 85, and CZ 550...

 

[Geno]

1) Mauser 98
2) Winchester M70
3) Weatherby Mark V
4) Sig Sauer 202 Safari
5) Howa/Weatherby Vanguard
6) Rem 700
7) Ruger M77
8) Sako 85
9) CZ 550
10) Browning A Bolt

 

[FlyinBryan]

the krag has got to be included. sweetest action ive ever felt.

 

[chas08]

Gotta throw in the British Enfield, if smoothness counts. There are a lot of sporterized versions of it still taking game.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

Colt Sauer is pretty sweet.

 

[Picher]

10 Best For common folk:

03A3 Springfield
Mauser 98
Remington 725
Remington 700
Remington 788
Remington 7
Winchester 70
Weatherby Mk 5
Sako
Tikka

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

1. murata
2. kropatschek
3. chassepot
4. dryse
5. Volksgewehr Vg1
6. Ross
7. Steyr M1895
8. Remington 700
9. Post 64 model 70
10. Carcano

 

[joed]

For the common man

1. Remington 700
2. Winchester 70
3. Browning
4. Savage

I prefer any of the above and not in any specific order.

Mauser does have a smooth action but I'm sorry, I see old Mausers and other bolt action military rifles as nothing more then Tomato stakes. Don't really wish to offend anyone but that's my take on them.

 

[CowboyTim]

No love for the Savage 110?

 

[joed]

CowboyTim, I missed that one and added it now. I don't dislike the Savages, had 2 of them, a 10fp in .223 and a 12 VSSF in .22-250.

The 10fp would not feed reliably but was very accurate. The 12 VSSF strung shots vertically. Fooled with it for a month and sold it to buy a 700 in .22-250.

 

[Coal Dragger]

10 best sporting rifle bolt actions? Well I see a lot of entries here that more or less duplicate one another for function like push feeders, controlled round feed Mauser style actions etc. So are we talking individual actions here, or representative actions of each breed of bolt action?

For most influential or ground breaking/emulated:

1.) Mauser 98, controlled round feeding, dual opposed locking lugs, claw extractor, blade ejector, the grandaddy of all classic CRF actions to follow.

2.) Remington M700, the prototypical mass produced push feed action with a sandwiched recoil lug, twin opposed locking lugs, plunger ejector, and small riveted extractor.

3.) Weatherby Mark V, the first truly mass produced large magnum action for high pressure applications, also a pioneering action for short throw bolt opening and multiple rows of locking lugs.

4.) Blaser R93, the strait pull bolt action perfected for sporting use, the first use of expanding collet locking lugs, first use I know of of a decocker/cocking piece as a safety. Also the first use of all of the above features with interchangeable barrels, bolt faces, magazines, and right left hand operation.

Pretty much everything after that is some sort of emulation of the above features (with the exception of the Blaser which sadly no one has copied). While there are many good examples of excellent actions, the above are the ones to set the trend others have followed.

 

[PzGren]

What about the Anschütz 54? There is no rifle that has won more competitions.

 

[pikid89]

i say the ruger m77 mkII action is one of the strongest ive ever used....it never ever misfeeds, jams, or has any problem extracting under whatever conditions

though i guess it can relate all that to its grand daddy the mauser 98

 

[doc2rn]

+1 to pikid98

Love my Ruger M77 MK II V-Bolt best action I have ever had.

My Weatherby would be a close second.

The worst would have to go to the Rem 700.

 

[Haxby]

Geno said it.
Mauser 98, followed by 9 Mauser variations, with Winchester at the top of those 9.

 

[Float Pilot]

Model-98 Mauser and commercial variants like Browning, Parker Hale,
Model-70 Winchester (controlled feed style) (Mauser Variant)
Model-700 Remington
Model-1903 Springfield (Mauser Variant)
Model-1917 Enfield and civilian variant Remington model 30
Model-1640 Husqvarna commercial type actions on 1600 series rifles.
Model-1905 Mannlicher-Schönauer, sporter carbines
Colt Sauer actions: Older models like older German Weatherbys
Tikka actions: (do not like them personally, but they are very accurate and smooth)
Browning A-bolt (not the horrible X bolt)

 

[forindooruseonly]

I would put the Sako L461 into the list. I'm also partial to Weatherby Mark Vs and commercial Mausers.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

M77, Husqvarna, Win70, Savage
would be a difficult choice for any of those but the 77 is stout built and trouble free.

 

[gizmodog]

i go with the british enfield #1 MK III

fastest bolt action battle rifle made.

very easy to repair, removable bolt heads

accurate, only rifle of either wars with combat effective rating to 800yds and had regular hits at that distance. also magazine holds 10 rds.

tommies were taught to use the fore finger & thumb to rapid fire on a charge. many a german thought they were being fired upon by automatics when it was just the tommies working their rapid fire technique.

also the buttstock came in short/standard & long length which helped to fit the rifle to the soldier better & if broken could be replaced very quickly.

gizmodog

 

[NWCP]

Realizing it's a rimfire I don't see how anyone can leave out the Winchester Model 52. I'd give my eye teeth for a really clean example. The CZ550 is another great rifle. I am partial to the full stock.

 

[forshoes]

I'd vote for the Browning BBR.

 

[Coal Dragger]

I would amend my list to also include the Anschutz 54 action as noted by PzGren, no other action holds as many world record scores in the target shooting world.

 

[BrocLuno]

Sako (smooooth)
Tikka ( " " )
Anshutz
Weatherby Mark V (most locking surfaces)
Arisaka (strength in a two lug design)
P1917 (adaptability)
Mauser 98 (classic)
Win 70 - pre-64 (American classic)
Savage 45 & 110 (innovation)
Remington 700 (mod's & parts)

Can I keep going? Dakota Longbow

 

[PzGren]

I would put the Sako L461 into the list.

They are definitely very nice and well made rifles! Mine is a .222 Rem.

 

[blackops]

Mauser 98
rem 700
win m70 (crf pre-64)
weatherby mark v

i'd also like to mention something here, I find it interesting majority of people praise Savage on this forum, but when the top ten best bolt actions are brought to attention Savage is put on the back burner and Rem 700 shines. Just something to think about.