Budget hunting rifles

[BP Hunter]

Hello folks!

I am looking into purchasing a bolt action hunting rifle for big game. It will either be a 308 or .270. I have been researching the budget hunting rifles - Mossberg ATR, Mossberg 4x4, Tikka T3 Lite, Savage Edge, Marlin XL7, TC Ventures. They all seem to have excellent reviews with extreme accuracy. The price ranges from about $300 to $500.

OK, my question. Aside from quality and material used versus the high end bolt action rifles, will these budget last for years? These are hunting rifles are not meant to shoot thousand and thousands of rounds. Are they really worth buying and keeping?

Thanks for your responses.

 

[MrDig]

I have not had good experience with mossberg and customer service. They switched the stocks they use mid run and say I cannot purchase a different stock from them because it needed to be done by a "competent" gunsmith for liability reasons. The instructions for adjusting the trigger published by Mossberg include stock removal so as an end user I'm competent to remove a stock and replace it so the trigger can be adjusted but not competent enough to put a different Factory stock on. I will fin\d another option for stock replacement in due time but I like the rifle itself and the function of it.

 

[SimplyChad]

my atr in 243 shoots sub moa with cheaper ammo. Its trigger is sweet. Federal 100 gr I think. Got it for the wife to hunt with but well I like having no kick sometimes.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

OK, my question. Aside from quality and material used versus the high end bolt action rifles, will these budget last for years? These are hunting rifles are not meant to shoot thousand and thousands of rounds.

yes, they'll last you long enough. any barrel will wear out after enough rounds.

Are they really worth buying and keeping?

that is a matter of opinion and budget. some folks get off on knowing that they spent relatively little money, but still got a rifle that'll reliably put meat on the table. other folks get off on knowing they have a beautiful, high-end rifle. whatever floats your boat, brother.

you'll get the same responses that these "budget rifle" threads get every time. some folks will bash cheap rifles. others will report how they get tiny groups out of their cheap rifles.

 

[adelbridge]

CDNN has a Smith & Wesson i-Bolt .30-06 for $349 with an adjustable trigger and mossy oak stock, hard to beat that. for around $400 you can get a weatherby vanguard. from your list I personally would only consider the Tikka and the Marlin XL7. That Marlin is a sweet gun for the money.

 

[bobnob]

I dont know if they are available over there but if you can buy a Zastava M70 you will be getting a cheap bolt action that I feel will certainly last you a very long time.

They are a commercial version of the Mauser 98 and nothing on this thing is plastic, I mean nothing - unless you get the synthetic stock version of course that has a plastic stock.

They are as sturdy and strong and mine in 270 is the most accurate rifle I own. They may be marketed under a different name over there. At one time or another I know they were sold as the Interarms Mk X however these ones are sold under the brand of the company that actually manufactures them in Yugoslavia.

Worth a look.

 

[jmr40]

The older Weatherby Vanguard at about $350 is the most gun for the money out there. The newer S-2 Vanguard is replacing it and selling at $470 or so, but there are still lots of the originals out there at good prices.

I've heard great things about the TC Ventures and Marlin's, but have no personal experience. If you want to go a little more, and have a great, lightweight gun I'd highly recommend the Tikka.

I cannot recommend the Mossberg or Remington 710/770 series of guns. Both are disposable guns meant to be shot occasionally and be thrown away when something breaks. They are meant for the guy who only wants a gun to sight in and fire a box or so a year target practicing and for an occasional hunt. They are not designed for long term use and will likely cost more to repair than they are worth down the road.

I have my doubts about the Savage Axis, as well as the new Ruger Amercan rifle as well, but won't say for sure about those.

I'm not a personal fan of the Savage 10/110 series or the Stevens 200, but they do work and have proven themselves enough for me to recommend giving them a look as well.

I'm not a huge fan of any of the budget guns because I consider them to be an unwise long term investment. Often the difference between a really cheap gun, and a budget version of a solid dependable gun is less than the cost of 2-3 boxes of quality of ammo. That $50-$100 may seem like a good savings today, but the budget rifles lose 50-75% of their value as soon as you walk out the door and only go down from there. A quality rifle will drop to about 75% of what the same gun sells for new. As new gun prices go up, so does the value of your gun and usually within a few years it will be worth more than you paid.

 

[rcmodel]

Ruger just came out with a new econemy model that is getting good reviews.

It will probably be sub-$400 when the pipeline fills up.

http://www.ruger.com/products/americanRifle/models.html

http://www.americanrifleman.org/blogs/the-ruger-american-rifle/

rc

 

[Dmitri Popov]

The Savage Axis/Edge is a superb rifle. So much so Ruger decided to copy it!

 

[BP Hunter]

Thanks for all your answers. I had a Marlin XL7 in 270 once but sold if for reasons I forget. It was a simple rifle but I was very happy with it.

 

[tacdad]

I have 2 Stevens 200's and they both shoot sub MOA at 100 yards if i do my part. My primary deer rifle is a Stevens 200 in 308 win. I love that gun. The nice thing with them is that it is a Savage 10/110 with Stevens name on it and you can upgrade every part of the gun if you would want in the future.

 

[SharkHat]

Check WalMart. Some have been carrying synthetic stocked Savage 110 (with Accutrigger) or Remington 700 package guns for under $400.

Both the Savage and Rem are discontinued configurations, packaged with a 3-9x40 scope. Even though the configuration is discontinued, it seems like it would be a good price point to get into either action.

 

[tech30528]

For budget I'd have to go with a Mosin. No, seriously. You can get a milsurp nonissued one for uder $150. Scope mount and bent bolt kit $60. 203 grain soft points in 7.62X54r are big enough for about anything out there. Plus there is some cool factor to showing up with an 80 year old rifle.




Last thing I need for this one is the threading kit to install the JP recoil eliminator there on the floor next to it. Barrel is cut to 22 inches and recrowned, cut down the stock and mounted the bipod (folds up flush to the stock). Bent bolt kit and scope mount, that's a 32x Famous Maker scope I picked up for $100. I've got less than $400 in the whole thing. Not done with it yet, it'll get a different stock after it proves itself, but it is zeroed at 200 yards for testing purposes and so far is about 2 MOA with milsurp ammo.

 

[Kachok]

I have owned several budget guns. Here is my breakdown.
Marlin XS-7. Solid gun for the money, range performance was good, not Savage good but close, fit and finnish was rough at best and the action was a little clunky, but a good recoil pad. Won't touch the new ones until I know that Remington/Cerberus has not fracked them up like everything else they touch.
Tikka T3, far and away the most refined of all the budget guns, smoothest action and best trigger on any rifle at ANY price. Synthetic stock is in a whole different class then everyone elses injection molded el-chepos. My Tikka shoots EVERYTHNIG well, I have tried several factory loads and at leased 20 different handloads, all were far more accurate then you would ever need in the feild. Factory recoil pad is kind of hard though.
Savage 11/110 A few bucks more then the Edge but for the Accutrigger is well worth it. Savage accuracy is well known, and no myth, but they can be picky about what they like, I have owned several of them and they all like something different but every one of them would shoot well under an inch with at leased one type of factory ammo, and even better with handloads. Recoil pads range from hard as a brick to the best in the buisness, I had identical rifles one in 270win the other in 30-06 and the pads were night and day difference don't ask me why.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

so you think the T3 has the best trigger of any rifle ever made?

 

[helotaxi]

Check WalMart. Some have been carrying synthetic stocked Savage 110 (with Accutrigger) or Remington 700 package guns for under $400.

Both the Savage and Rem are discontinued configurations, packaged with a 3-9x40 scope. Even though the configuration is discontinued, it seems like it would be a good price point to get into either action.

Actually the Savage, at least, is produced specifically for Wal-mart. It is a model number not ever available anywhere else and the 11/111 in equivalent trim was $200 more.

 

[Hunterdad]

Marlin XS7 would be my choice. Great gun for the money.

 

[Kachok]

so you think the T3 has the best trigger of any rifle ever made?

Yep, easly as good as the custom triggers I have tried, and better then the Accutrigger/X-Mark. Breaks clean as glass with no grit and no overtravel at 2lbs (adjusted) it is really hard to get any better then that for a hunting rifle.

 

[CaliCoastie]

I have a Marlin xs7(short action, not stainless) in 7mm-08. 270 otd new, boyds stock 120to my house, dnz scope mount 50 and a Redfield 3x9 for 140 to my house. 580 total and she's a shooter, I can put 4 shots touching at 100yds.
That being said if I was to get a new bolt right now I would go with a savage 10/110 or a tikka.

 

[303tom]

For budget I'd have to go with a Mosin. No, seriously. You can get a milsurp nonissued one for uder $150. Scope mount and bent bolt kit $60. 203 grain soft points in 7.62X54r are big enough for about anything out there. Plus there is some cool factor to showing up with an 80 year old rifle.




Last thing I need for this one is the threading kit to install the JP recoil eliminator there on the floor next to it. Barrel is cut to 22 inches and recrowned, cut down the stock and mounted the bipod (folds up flush to the stock). Bent bolt kit and scope mount, that's a 32x Famous Maker scope I picked up for $100. I've got less than $400 in the whole thing. Not done with it yet, it'll get a different stock after it proves itself, but it is zeroed at 200 yards for testing purposes and so far is about 2 MOA with milsurp ammo.

http://www.jgsales.com/mosin-nagant-91-30-round-receiver-rifle,-7.62x54r-caliber.-p-1041.html

 

[Kachok]

I would never recomend a Mosin as an all around hunting rifle, below avarage accuracy, stupid heavy, poor trigger/action...etc. By time you dress one up with a scope mount, bent bolt kit, aftermarket trigger and all those other goodies to give it almost decent egronomics you could have bought a nice modern rifle and had money to spare. They have Savage Axis rifles for $249 and Savage 110s for $299 bang for your buck no Mosin will hang with an egronomic, highly reliable, lightweight, sub MOA right out of the box rifle like that. The Mosin does make for a fun range toy though.

 

[GWARGHOUL]

Can't go wrong at all with a Weatherby Vanguard in that price range. A lot of rifle for the money. Lots of aftermarket parts and accessories too.

 

[mcdonl]

I have a Marlin and Savage Axis and both do what they need to do.

 

[Averageman]

Savage Model 11 with a Burris 3X9 Scope. Back up iron sights and a trigger that breaks like glass.
You can screw around with a Mosin untill the cows come home.
1) Quality ammo is at best questionable.
2) Gunsmithing these things doesn't mean they are accurate.
3) Scopnmg these things is a chore unless you want to spend $$$ and guess if the mount will work.
4) Military Surplus Rifles aren't your first choice when it comes to accuracy. They were built when the enemy was at the gate.
In the end for the money and time you would be better served buying a used Savage in 308 and enjoying it rather than buying a Mosin and making excuses for it.

 

[jrdolall]

I have a Savage from Wallyworld that is my "go-to" hunting gun in 30-06. I don't remember exactly when it was purchased but it has been used for the past several years. Very accurate and easy to shoot with the accu-trigger and Federal Premiums. I had a Weatherby Vanguard that I bought cheap several years ago. I wound up sending it back to the factory and they replaced a faulty barrel. I could not sight it in at 50 yards and probably spent $100 on extra ammo and scope mounts trying to figure out what I was doing wrong. I have Mossberg in 30-06 that I DO NOT like. I have had a general dislike for Mossberg over the past few years as the guns I have fired have had more issues than I espect from even a budget firearm. I believe Thompson has some excellent rifles around $400 as well. I always change the scope even if I buy a combo. They usually have a really cheap 3x9x40 and I prefer a 50mm scope for late evening hunts. Decent scopes can be had for $150 or so.