Tactical/Hunting Bolt Action

[SkinnyGrey]

I was hoping the alway helpful people on this sight could recommend a bolt action rifle that could be used for hunting but also has the sleek look and great ergonomics of a tactical bolt action. I've heard good things about the FN TSR, however I'd like to not spend more than 600 or 700. Any help is appreciated so a big thank you in advance.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Are you wanting $600-$700 to include an optic? And what kind of accuracy are you wanting?

My first thoughts are towards the Remington 700 SPS Tactical (.308) or the Savage 10 FCP-K (.308). The Savage will be at the upper end or maybe a little over your upper price range.

 

[SkinnyGrey]

700, not including the scope. Would the Savage 10 be too heavy to traverse terrain? I remember that it had a weighted barrel.

 

[allaroundhunter]

Well, tactical rifles do have heavy barrels. If you are traversing terrain then I would not be looking for a tactical style rifle. For simple box hunting it wouldn't matter.

That being said, yes, the savage has a heavy barrel, and it is a 26" barrel I believe. The Remington also has a heavy barrel, but it is only a 20" barrel so that would cut down on some of the weight.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

I know this is off topic, but what does "tactical" mean? A gun used for military purposes?

 

[allaroundhunter]

I know this is off topic, but what does "tactical" mean? A gun used for military purposes?

I'll put it another way.

With the looks of a precision rifle.

 

[Abel]

Do you want the looks of a precision rifle, or a precision rifle? If you want a hunting rifle that you have to carry more than 500 yards, get a hunting rifle that weighs 5.5-8.5 pounds, with most being closer to 8.5 with scope-sling-ammo. If you plan to walk 100 yards from your four wheeler or truck to a deer blind, a boat anchor of a rifle that 'looks' like a precision rifle may be pleasant to hunt with. An 8.5lb hunting rifle with a regular sporter contour barrel can be very accurate if you take the time to learn its ins and outs.

 

[itsa pain]

what about the ruger scout rifle

 

[USSR]

If you want a hunting rifle that you have to carry more than 500 yards, get a hunting rifle that weighs 5.5-8.5 pounds, with most being closer to 8.5 with scope-sling-ammo.

Good advice. My 2 tactical rifles weigh 14 and 16 pounds.

Don

 

[Deer_Freak]

I have a Winchester Model 70 that was built in the early 80's. It is chambered in 270 and the barrel is not much thicker than the barrel on my 22wmr. It is a tapered barrel. I have no idea how thick the barrel is near the chamber.

The barrel on the model 70 gets pretty hot after the first 5 shot magazine. The 22 wmr gets hot after 12 shots. You can't make a hunting rifle into a target rifle without changing the barrel. The barrel is far to thin on hunting rifles for target shooting. I am quite certain if you shot a 100 rounds through a hunting barrel as quick as you could the hunting barrel would be toast.

You can either have a hunting rifle or a target rifle but you can't make one rifle do both real well. The rifle is going to be to heavy to carry a mile or more. Or the barrel will be to thin to fire enough rounds to complete a session of target shooting.

 

[jmr40]

You are over thinking this I believe. The difference in accuracy between most standard sporter weight rifles and the heavy barreled tactical rifles is a lot less than you probably think. With a good gun, good loads, good glass, and a good shooter you could expect .3-.5MOA from many sporter weight guns. A heavy barrreld tactical rifle might shrink that accuracy down to .2 or .1 MOA. Not really that important in a hunting rifle. Certainly not enough of a difference to add several pounds to the rifles weight.

I used to have one of the FN PBR's. It was over 10 lbs. scoped even with the fluted, medium contour 20" barrel. It was accurate, but only ever so slightly more than the Kimber I own that only tips the scales at 5 lbs 15 oz including scope and mounts. Never used the FN anywhere but the range so it went down the road. Couldn't justify luggging around 5 extra lbs to see my group sizes reduced by .1".

I'd buy a standard sporter weight rifle, put it in a good stock and put some good glass on it. You can keep the weight under 8 lbs ready to go and shoot right with most of the tactical rifles.

This is 7.75 lbs as it sits and it shoots right with the tactical rifles

 

[USSR]

With a good gun, good loads, good glass, and a good shooter you could expect .3-.5MOA from many sporter weight guns. A heavy barrreld tactical rifle might shrink that accuracy down to .2 or .1 MOA.

Have yet to see sporter weight rifles consistently shoot .3-.5MOA or heavy barreled tactical rifles consistently shoot .2 or .1 MOA in many years of competitive LR shooting. In my experience, you are doing really well if your sporter weight barrel shoots 1MOA over 5 to 10 shots at 100 yards, and your heavy barreled tactical rifle holds 0.5 to .75MOA with the same number of shots at 100 yards. 3 round groups are meaningless. Just MHO.

Don

 

[yzguy87]

I had a Savage 10 FCP-K that allaroundhunter mentioned. It's a sweet rifle! But probably over your budget in most places. I'm in shape and I would use it hunting if I didn't have to walk more than 200 yds.
I'd recommend the savage 10 precision carbine.

If you don't discriminate against freedom group I'd recommend the 700 sps varmint. (no personal experience but plenty of love for it online) also it would probably be a tad cheaper than the savages and a little lighter than the fcp-k.

Oh yea, the Savage 10 fcp-k barrel is 24"

 

[allaroundhunter]

I actually have the Remington SPS Varmint and it can be a heavy rifle. Especially considering that I had to replace the stock to get it to shoot like I wanted it to. My rifle weighs in at about 13 pounds (optic included) and I would not want to drag it around for a hunt when I have much better options available.

 

[adelbridge]

I would suggest the savage hog hunter. $400 rifle, great trigger, tacticool profile barrel and shoots tacticool .308. barrel is shorter to cut down on weight and works well in hunting blinds. You can buy all kinds of upgraded sniper wannabe stocks for savage short action. My go to deer rifle is a sporter profile 7mm rem mag and it can shoot .75moa with core lokts. It is point and shoot to 300 yards.

 

[THING]

I read where Carlos Hathcock carried a Mod 70 in 30-06 as a sniper rifle, I wonder if his rifle was anymore then a standard hunting version of the Mod 70.

 

[Averageman]

Barely, I believe the USMC Armorers tweaked them a bit. Bedded the action, and sanded then oiled the stock. The Unterel Scope wasn't exactly off the shelf, but it wasn't the best available at the time either.
If I remember the book correctly, the USMC Sniper program was getting started back up when Gunny Hathcock first joined and the TO&E was pretty much put together on the fly.
I also believe he was doing some of his own work when it came to his bolt.
The USMC wasn't known for having a great budget at the time and Snipers were an unknown commodity, not a lot of interest or money was available at the time to the program.
It's been a long time since I read his book, but I believe they were closer to something you might expect to see in the field on a Whitetail hunt than what we see our USMC Snipers have today.

 

[redneck2]

There was an article a few years back in Handloader Magazine that rated the contributors to accuracy. As I recall...

barrel
ammo
rest
trigger

Not sure of the exact order, though any one that is bad could/would throw you off

I have a couple of factory rifles that are quite accurate. One is a CZ 453 .22 LR that shoots .2 @ 50 yards with Wolf Match ammo. Another is a CZ 527 in .204 that shoots .420 at 100 yards with handloads. I have another AR in a .358 WSSM wildcat with a hand built custom upper with a Shilen match grade air gauged barrel that also groups in the .4-5 range. My most accurate is an AR Bushmaster Varminter that has shot dime size groups at 250 yards on a very good day.

I shoot off of VERY good target quality rests and very solid benches. All rifles have had hours put into finding the correct ammo. All have very good quality, high magnification glass. Each has a super clean trigger that breaks at significantly less than virtually any factory rifle.

If you think you're gonna take a typical Bambi whacker with a sledge hammer trigger, shooting off a TV tray, and use factory ammo with a cheapie 4x scope to shoot .5's, it's not gonna happen. At least not in real life. Maybe some internet commando or maybe once out of twenty groups, but not consistently.