Best general purpose bolt rifle/scope combo $650-$800?

[epijunkie67]

Lets say I wanted to go out and buy myself a nice shiny new rifle and stick a nice shiny new scope on top of it. Lets pretend this would be my only large caliber weapon (It won't be, but lets pretend) and wanted to fill the following criteria.

Reasonable weight and recoil profile. Nice for both hunting and range plinking.
Able to hunt any reasonable sized critter in the lower 48. Coons to pigs to deer.
Ranges out to at least 200 yards, maybe 250 or 300. But at least 200.
Strong preference for bolt action.
Decent scope for the ranges involved.

What is the best rifle in the best caliber with the best scope you can come up with at the best possible price? <$800? <$650? Or can you just not do it for the money involved?

 

[ojibweindian]

Weatheryby/Howa in .30-06 and a 3-9x40 Leupold VXII will give you what you want.

 

[jmr40]

The Weatherby/Howa would be a good choice. A little heavier than I want for a general purpose rifle, but good guns. I'd look at the Tikka as well. On the opposite end of the spectrum weight wise. Both the Tikka and Vanguard's are very accurate. Just depends on whether you'd rather have an 8 lb gun or a 6 lb gun. Tikka's are a little more expensive and you might not quite make the $800 limit without settling for a slightly lower quality scope.

The VX-2 would also be my choice in a scope for your uses. Just got a sale flyer from Cabelas. They are running the VX-2's at $270 right now.

 

[ugaarguy]

Howa 1500 / Weatherby Vanguard in .308 Win for $430. Or a T/C Venture in .308 Win for $450 to $500. Redfield Revolution (made in Oregon, USA by Leupold) 3-9x40 scope for $160. The T/C already has weaver style bases installed, so just add $20 for a set of good rings to hold the scope. Add a little more for bases for the Howa / Weatherby (they use Remington 700 bases). If you go to $800 use the extra room in the budget for more scope. I chose .308 Win for low cost of FMJ ammo for your plinking requirement.

I don't know how well they work, but Howa is offering a 5 or 10 round detachable magazine conversion for the 1500 / Weatherby Vanguard in short action calibers. The kit with one mag included is $98 direct from Howa, and spare mags are $38 each at Midway.

If the emphasis was more on hunting than plinking I'd probably drop down to 7mm-08 Rem in the rifles listed. Bumping the budget past $650 with optics, a Remington Model 7 synthetic ($550 to $600) in .260 Remington would be my choice for a lower 48 hunting rifle where pigs or deer would be the largest game, and varmint hunting capability is still desired. Keeping the total package under $800 I'd stick with a Redfield Revolution scope, but go with the smaller 2-7x33 to balance better on the Model 7.

If I could slightly exceed the $800 budget I'd get a CZ 527 carbine in 7.62x39 with the same Redfield 2-7x33 scope. I'd be tempted to just spend the $650 (give or take) on the rifle and shoot with the factory irons though. It wouldn't be an ideal varmint rifle, but the 527 carbine would be plenty for deer & pigs inside of 200 yards, cheap & enjoyable to plink with, and easy to carry in the field.

 

[acmax95]

Marlin X series would be my vote. I love my .06 with a Leupold VX-1 3-9x40.

For what you want I would get an XS7 in .308 and spend the rest on a Nikon or Leupold Scope.

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I'd skip the "new" part of it and wait until deer season is over and start scouring the gunshows/classifieds for a used rifle. $650-850 can get you a really nice set up.

 

[MikePaiN]

I've been pondering the same question...except it will be my only large caliber rifle. Also for me, it wouldn't see heavy use. I've looked at and poured over a ton of options and have pretty much settled on .308win as the cal.
What rifle to get has been harder to pin down.
I am heavily leaning on not spending more than I have too by getting a Savage AXIS scoped combo.
Stepping up from that I've been looking at the Stevens 200 with a decent Leupold VX, base and rings.
Then there is what I really want A Ruger Gunsite Scout with a Leupold MARK4 MRT

 

[jmr40]

I don't know how well they work, but Howa is offering a 5 or 10 round detachable magazine conversion for the 1500 / Weatherby Vanguard in short action calibers. The kit with one mag included is $98 direct from Howa, and spare mags are $38 each at Midway.

I recently sold a 308 Vanguard and considered the conversion before selling my rifle but decided against it. One thing I do like about the Howa/Vanguard actions is that the mag capacity is 5+1 in standard calibers vs 4+1 for most other guns. The mag conversions were only 3+1. I couldn't see that much money to reduce the mag capacity I already had. If they were offering something with a 5 round mag for hunting and something around 10 rounds as an option I might have kept the Vanguard and gone that route.

 

[rlbozard]

Just did mine!! Love it so far.

Marlin X7VH 308. $329 Redfield Revolution 3x9x50 $189

Got it two days ago.

This rifle is way above my expectations. The trigger is awesome, and the rifle balances well considering it has a 26" heavy barrel. The first four shot group was right at an inch at a 100 yards. First three were a tight clover I am sure with some practice and playing with ammo choices the rifle is capable of far better.

The only upgrade I plan on is to add a kick eez pad- they are awesome.

 

[slowr1der]

Savage Model 110 in 30-06 with the Accu Trigger from Walmart for $400 with a cheap scope, and then sell off the rings, and cheap scope and replace it with a Burris FFII 4.5-14x42 if you want to be in the $650 range, or a Zeiss Conquest if you want to step up a little more.

If you want a wood stock you can get this rifle online from Buds for slightly more without a scope and the wood stock.

 

[Cal-gun Fan]

Savage Model 110 in 30-06 with the Accu Trigger from Walmart for $400 with a cheap scope, and then sell off the rings, and cheap scope and replace it with a Burris FFII 4.5-14x42 if you want to be in the $650 range, or a Zeiss Conquest if you want to step up a little more.

If you want a wood stock you can get this rifle online from Buds for slightly more without a scope and the wood stock.

Basically that was just what I was about to say!