What do you recommend?

[Jack19]

What do you recommend in a medium to heavy caliber, bolt action rifle,
for work inside inside 300 yards, that must come with iron sights, that comes in a caliber that's cost effective for practice and game for a non-reloader, on everything up to and including dangerous game (with both 2 an 4 legs), in North America?

What's a good balance?

 

[Black Snowman]

.308 or .30-06 for caliber. Remington 700 would fit the bill. Pretty much the standard by which other bolt rifles are judged.

Steyr makes an excellent action that can be had for reasonable prices with iron sights if you can find a ProHunter Mountain. Only a 20 inch barrel which has both advantages and disadvantages.

I know a lot of people will swear by a Savage or Tikka as a great value but I don't have any direct experiance with them.

If I wasn't on a budget my 1st choice would be the Steyr ProHunter with a scope. 2nd choice would be a Weatherby MK V. CDNN has a lot of Weatherby's on close out at quite reasonable prices. Worth taking a look.

Bang for the buck my vote goes for the CZ 550 rifles but none of them are imported in that caliber with iron sights. You can get the CZ 550 Safari Magnum in .300 Win Mag. It has iron sights and if you eventually get into reloading can be toned down quite easily to smaller 30 caliber rifle levels.

 

[Mike Irwin]

Up to an including dangerous game?

That's the kicker, right there...

.338 Win. Mag.

 

[WYO]

For the non-reloader, .30-06 and .308 are your best bets. I don't know what your definition of "dangerous game" is, but with 180 grain bullets, those two calibers should work on anything in the lower 48 out to 300 yards.

 

[Art Eatman]

I'd prefer the '06, primarily because of the availability of 200- and 220-grain loads for the more dangerous animals.

Art

 

[Phantom Warrior]

I know I always say this, but...

I would suggest the Remington 700 ADL. I bought one two years ago for deer hunting. So far, it has two one shot-one kill deer to its credit. Both about 150 yards. It's reliable, accurate, and comfortable to shoot. Comes with iron sights. Also economical. I bought mine for about $400-450 (I got it as a package, so I'm not sure on the exact rifle cost). My rifle is a .308. Since I don't use it for anything bigger than deer I don't have a problem with that. .308 would probably be easier to find cheaply. But if you want to hunt dangerous game you will probably want something bigger. I'll leave that to the cartridge experts, as that isn't my area of expertise. Good luck.

 

[clint1911a1]

Remington 700 or model 70 Winchester in .308 or .30-06.

 

[Jick42]

I think we need to know what you deeming as DANGEROUS GAME? That will determine everything. If you are not talking Bear or Moose, anything below a 338 would be fine. .308 & .30-06 would be the ticket, and i second a Remington or a Steyr Pro-Hunter. But if your talking Moose and Bear, you should just opt with something along the lines of a 45/70 or a .375! Just my thoughts.

 

[G1FAL]

What about a Mauser? The ammo is cheap as hell, so you can get plenty of practice. With the right ammo, you can hunt large game with it (A box of Winchester I bought once was telling which # on their little scale to use on things like Cape Buffalo!). It'll do the job on those two legged vermin, too. Best of all you can get the rifle and a couple cases of FMJ for what you spend on a new Remington, Savage, etc., and probably still have some cash left over.