1. Erratic or constantly poor accuracy.
2. lousy, heavy, creepy or crunchy trigger that can’t be easily adjusted. Yes. I am a trigger snob
3. Too heavy to comfortably carry, too light to easily shoot. Ultralight rifles are a pain in the buttocks generally speaking.
4. Weird or difficult scope mounting options. Like the old Sako proprietary bases.
5. Non sear blocking safety. AKA a safety that can allow the weapon to fire if dropped.
6 Non bolt lock down safety, unless I can carry the rifle in a scabbard the freaking bolt can and will come open and the action will fill with dirt, pine needles etc. I hate that and welcome to my life!
7. Horrible stock fit, too low or too high of a comb or a ridiculously short length of pull.
8. Poor feeding or ejecting issues.
9. I am not a fan of overly long or overly short barrels. Something between about 20” and 26” is what I prefer on a bolt gun.
10. Set triggers, they just Don’t belong on a hunting rifle IMO.
I understand that most of these issues can be fixed with aftermarket parts but these are some issues that will keep me away from certain brands/ models of rifles.
I can’t disagree with any as well. However, it should be noted that most of these criteria are subjective to the individual. Every individual should look at these criteria and at least understand them when selecting a hunting rifle.
Such as:
1. Consistent accuracy is indeed important however mechanical accuracy is either acceptable or unacceptable based on the individual.
2. Once again, a good trigger is universally better than a bad trigger. Everyone has a preference though.
3. Everyone needs to find their sweet spot. Personally and for my kind of hunting, I like a sub-8lb rifle scoped and loaded.
4. Objectively, weird or proprietary scope mounting is a nuisance. Ruger 77 rifles generally work well for me all around but I could do without the proprietary rings. Scope mount height varies as well. My scope mounts are generally higher than most folks because my morphology will not allow a shorter height.
5. I’ve never put much thought into safeties. Perhaps, I should think on it more.
6. I have grown to agree with this. It is one of the primary reasons I want to change my 1st gen Ruger American 450 BM to the 2nd gen.
7. This is a given and a very good reason for due diligence in trying out a rifle before you buy one or just become familiar with many different types. I have had the fortune to be able to thoroughly try many different types of rifles out through buying and selling them and keeping the ones I like and moving the ones I don’t. I never understood why someone would never sell a gun.
8. Absolutely an uncontested must.
9. To each their own. I generally agree with 22-26 barrels but I do like 18 for ARs and 20 for larger bore bolt actions.
10. Me either. I barely tolerate the double set triggers on many Hawkens and prefer the singles on most ALRs.
Good list of criteria. Really gives someone something to ponder and improve upon.
For fun, here is my quintessential hunting rifle. Not ideal but pretty simple in form and function.
Ruger 77 Hawkeye Stainless 270 Win Laminate. Vortex Viper 2.5-10x44 in Ruger rings. You cant really notice the height of the scope in this picture. The LC9 trigger has been tuned to a hair under 3lbs. It wasn’t “easily adjusted but the LC9 trigger is easy to work on once you know the procedure. Sear blocking and bolt locking safety. 22” barrel and I would prefer it to be 24” for the 270 cartridge.
It shot patterns shown in the big circle and three individually circled shots when I first got it but after free floating the barrel and glass bedding the action and first 1.5” of the barrel they shrunk down to the smaller group shown on the right.
This just goes to show that a little time and elbow grease can produce good results as well as trigger time and trying different loads.