Help me choose a bolt-action rifle

[Newtosavage]

That CZ in 7.62x39 would be a great choice for what you're wanting to do with it. The are lovely little guns. I came very close to buying one while back, but ended up with a Savage model 10 Scout in the same caliber. That is a great caliber for plinking and hunting smaller critters (pigs and deer and under) at reasonable ranges. Just put a new hunter on her first deer yesterday evening, shooting my model 10 with handloads. Even though she made a pretty marginal shot, the deer didn't go 40 yards. Plus, steel case Russian ammo is darn cheap still, and out of a bolt action gun, plenty accurate.

 

[Newtosavage]

"Jeff Cooper's scout rifle was one of his more stupid ideas..."

Stupid or not, I am glad he thought if it. I have owned two scout rifles now (both model 10 Savage) in 7.62x39 and .308, and they are a joy to shoot on the range. That 9" eye relief scope, forward center of gravity and clear action are nearly ideal from a bench or prone shooting position. Where they fall short is in field of view for hunting, particularly if the game is moving at all. That is why my model 10 in 7.62x39 now wears a 2-7x33 Leupold in the conventional position, but I do miss shooting that gun as a scout rifle. For plinking with cheap ammo, it's about as fun as it gets.

 

[BrocLuno]

OK, you want to be different... Try an Arisaka Type 38 carbine. The 6.5x50mm cartridge is mild. You can develop long bullet cartridges with excellent BC's. The bores are chrome lined. They are very easy to field strip including the bolt, so maintenance is breeze.

Buy a Bubba'd one cheap - like $200 and start to work. Bend the bolt you your comfort. Bed the action and the initial 1/4 of the barrel. Install a Timney trigger, adjust to your comfort. Hack the stock to fit your cheek weld and add a foam cheek pad. Extend the LOP as needed. Refinish with a spray can. You can feed them with stripper clips.

As you start to get better, have the barrel set back and re-reamed for better chamber/throat dimensions. Yes they use a V thread, but in the case of the Type 38, it's 1"+ by 14 TPI and that is not hard to find. Most machine shops can handle that easily. Spare barrels are all over eBay. Yes a pristine one will set you back $150 or so, but that's cheap.

If you want a dead barrel w/o ring and harmonics, sleeve it with a 1" aluminum sleeve and CeroTec hi-temp epoxy/glass matrix. Firing bolt action you will not get it hot enough to hurt the matrix.

If you don't like the hacked Japanese stock once you are done playing, Richards will send you a Micro-Fit 96% inlet stock with a barrel channel cut to your 1" sleeve. Final fitting and bedding is up to you, but you will know it inside and out by then.

And you can buy PRVI 6.5 JAP by the case, fire once, and reload to your hearts content. The 6.5 JAP is considered the baby 6.5 out there. But even back around WW-II the Brits were experimenting with it as it seemed to have excellent in-flight characteristics.

We all know there was/is nothing wrong with Japanese engineering, even back then. Yes they superseded it with the 7.7. But that was in response to the need for higher penetration, not something needed for either paper or pigs .

If you need to fit a Red Dot or other optic, Weaver #24 bases fit the receiver contour perfectly. Front or back, or both. With a short front or back mounted optic, you can still feed from stripper clips

 

[ruger700]

I recommend the Tikka T3 lite in 308. You can use reduced loads while you become familiar with large bore rifle shooting. The out of the box accuracy is amazing; just mount a really good scope and began your practice. You may want to install a LImbsaver air-tech recoil pad. Just unscrew the original pad, remove the screws, put the screws in the new pad, then install it. It does make a difference in felt recoil.

 

[CoalTrain49]

Consider a Howa mini-action in 7.62x39, or 6.5 Grendel (if you can find one). My Grendel turned out to be a tack driver, $650 plus tax.

Those ones right there. I like mine enough to buy another one.

 

[oss117]

OP following up here FWIW. Ruger came out with a version of their American Ranch in 223/556 that takes AR mags. I picked one up along with a Langlois Rhodesian sling. There's a Primary Arm Advanced Micro Dot sight on it's way for it, though I suspect that won't be the last optic it sees. The Ranch was just such a handy thing and the accuracy reports I read all say it shoots above it's price point. I kind of wish I'd gone for a more powerful cartridge, but like the ammo cost of the 223/556. So I'd say I'm good...for now.

I appreciate all the opinions and input everyone shared.

 

[jmr40]

You will REALLY like that rifle. I have one of the original Predator versions that takes Rugers rotary magazines as well as 6.5 Creedmoor and 308 rifles. I recently bought another 308 to be able to use the new magazines. Will probably sell the older version.

 

[sawcut]

I very recently got the Ruger American Predator 223 with AR mags. A very good value for the price, although on mine I have minor issues with a rough bolt. I copied 2 threads on AR15.com below that discuss similar topics, and I posted in both of them since I just got my Ruger 223 and could add my 2 cents worth.

Long story, short version: The Ruger American in 223 is a decent budget rifle that offers alot, but may need some minor polishing of the bolt.

Based on the thread, I read up more on the CZ, and it sounds like a very good option for less than $200 more than the Ruger. As a die-hard mil-surp rifle fan, it sounds good to me, because for that $200 with the CZ, you get:

• an all steel action with controlled round feeding
• walnut stock
• all parts currently replaceable and spare parts readily available from the manufacturer
• proven and reliable Mauser action

I have the Ruger and like it (subject to fixing the sticking bolt issue), but if I had not gotten the Ruger already, I would have sprung the bucks for the CZ as an heirloom quality rifle with proven components. For the record: I am a mil-surp fan because I like heavy duty bolt actions, where I can disassemble the bolt without major tools, and when disassembled, they have only a few large and robust components.

As opposed to many modern sporter rifles, which often rely on less robust components, a bunch of tiny springs, and other tiny parts that may or may not hold up to long term abuse and debris. Such a sporter may be perfectly fine for years of hunting under moderate conditions. But sometimes I like to have a proven, over-built rifle action that will function reliably under extreme conditions for extended amounts of time. I may not have experienced these conditions myself, but I just like having a rifle that can brush off extreme conditions.

https://www.ar15.com/forums/armory/Toughest-223-5-56-bolt-action/2-488140/

https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/...actical-rifle-Bolt-or-lever-/2-487282/?page=1