Controlled round feed sporting rifle

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PAC 762

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I have a friend that is looking for a general purpose / deer hunting rifle. His specs seem simple enough, but I cannot find an of-the-shelf model that fits his requirements, and I'm affraid he can not afford a semi-custom rifle. Any idea where he can find a rifle that meets the following?:

-Bolt-action
-controlled round feed
-.30-06
-back-up iron sights

The Rem 798 Ruger m77 MkII have no sights. The CZ550 Medium and FN SPR are not available in 30-06. The latest winchester announcement of new M70's shows no sights, either. I can't believe that no major manufacturer can meet these very basic requirements.
 
I have owned a couple CZ 550s in 30-06 that came with sights.

A Ruger M-77MKII is very easy to have sights installed upon. There is a post here someplace with photos of mine after I installed a Remington front ramp and a quick detachable NECS (?) rear peep sight. The Peep mounts right to the built in ring base of the Ruger action. They also make the same sight for the CZ 550 series. A peep is WAY better than the stock Williams style barrel sights they come with. I probably spent $150 bucks for the sights and installation stuff.

There are lots of older Parker Hale Mausers, Husquvarna Mausers, converted M-98s, Interarms Mark 10s that have a nice controlled feed and sights installed.
 
I believe you can still find plenty of Rugers with factory sights if you look around at used rifles. I think as late as last year they had iron sights as an option. Good luck.

--usp_fan
 
I like the controlled round feed just for traditions sake, but it really makes no difference on a deer rifle. Your friend might have a few more choices if he was open to a push feed.
 
My CZ550FS meets the criteria. Plus, NECG is now offering aftermarket sights for the CZ in case you want an upgrade.
 
I've always wondered, what exactly is "controlled round feed" as relates to a bolt action rifle?
Click to expand...

Controlled round feeding essentially means that as soon as the bolt starts feeding a cartridge, the rim of the cartridge slides up under the extractor and stays there until the cartridge is ejected.

In push feed actions, the extractor doesn't grab the rim of the cartridge until the cartridge is in the chamber and the closing bolt forces the extractor to snap over the rim.

I guess the primary advantages of controlled feeding over push feeding, are:

  • If you futz operating the bolt and don't get it closed all the way, the extractor can still pull out the round instead of leaving you to dig it out with your fingernails.
  • If you're holding the rifle at an odd angle, bouncing, shaking, etc; the controlled feed mechanism will still reliably put the round in the chamber correctly as it is held by the extractor and has nowhere to go. A push feed action might let a round bounce out of the action before it's properly chambered.
 
Gator Interesting article on controlled vs. push feed. I'd never thought about the issue of dropping a round into the action of a controlled feed rifle and closing the bolt on it as being hard on the extractor, but is makes perfect sense.
 
Not all CRF actions really "control the round" all that much. See this month's Gun Tests for some examples. If a given CRF design doesn't really work as advertised, it's sure not worth limiting your choices over.

In order to find a bunch of good rifles in gun store racks that meet those specs, your friend's best option would be to find someone who has a time machine and go back 50 years or so.

I have a set of Warne QD rings on Warne bases on my .30-06. They return to zero reliably. Instead of back-up sights, which snag brush and clothing easily and can be knocked out of zero at least as easily as a scope, you can carry a spare scope, pre-sighted, in a padded bag, and pop it on in seconds.

And start with a good scope, not whatever is on sale for $40. A good, modern scope is unlikely to fail in the first place. Again, 50 years ago, you couldn't trust a lot of scopes, but things have changed a bit since Eisenhower was President.:)
 
Gator Interesting article on controlled vs. push feed. I'd never thought about the issue of dropping a round into the action of a controlled feed rifle and closing the bolt on it as being hard on the extractor, but is makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...

Not unlike a 1911.
 
Both have their good and bad points. Like I said, for tradition's sake I like controlled feed, but the range I shoot at only allows single loading, and pushing every round down into the magazine (CF), vs. just dropping one on top the follower (PF), gets tiring after awhile! I'm thinking of getting a 700 just for that reason. :)
 
Thanks for the help, everyone! My friend will not be back from afghanastan for 3 months and he wanted to buy new.

He wants .30-06 because his other centerfire rifle is an M1 and he will be reloading that caliber. He wants to keep things simple.

He wants CRF because he wants it. He wants a general purpose rifle with classic styling (ie- not a scout... and he probably would not like the mannlincher-type) that is as reliable as possible.

I really like the idea of aftermarket peep sight idea for the CZ550. I will pass this on to him.
 
The CZ 550 Medium Standard IS available in 30-06 and meets all the requirements your friend is looking for i.e., bolt action, controlled feed, iron sights, etc.
 
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