Which 30-06?

[Ed from Maine]

I used to have a Ruger #1 in 30-06; traded it in towards a nice shotgun. I still have a lot of ammo, loading dies, etc, and am thinking about replacing the 30-06. I will be punching holes in paper, not hunting. I like an accurate, smooth and good handling rifle. I am currently looking at an assortment, all of which are roughly in the same price bracket, give or take a $100 or so, the used items are lightly used, say in the 95-98% bracket. Which would you choose?
Winchester 70 Classic DBM (one of the newer ones)
Remington 700 BDL
Browning A-Bolt II
Tikka T3 LIte
Browning X-bolt Hunter
Have never fired any of these, except I do have Tikka T3 lite in .223, which I like fine, won't win any beauty contests, but does the job.
thanks, Ed

 

[P.B.Walsh]

Winchester 70, just pick one.....

 

[beefyz]

Sorry....can't comment on your choices but i shoot '06 extensively out of a ruger 77 about 30 yrs old....a tack driver if there ever was one. wouldn't trade/switch out from this one.

"I will be punching holes in paper"


If thats all, some on this forum i believe will state that the new out of the box Savage is a good buy. then again, if you have your heart set on any of the above, i'm sure others will soon chime in.

 

[USSR]

I am also partial to the Winchester Model 70.

Don

 

[Z71]

I bought a Remington M700 ADL synthetic in .30-06 in 2000...has the new style safety..so no danger..and is a fantastic shooter. 1" or less 100yd groups off a bench with good ammo. I bet a BDL version would do just as good.

Also own a US 1903 rifle..and a M1 Garand..these eat .30-06 too..although the Garand is ammo sensitive...you could feed it with your reloading gear.

 

[pikid89]

i second the garand
i have always wanted one but cannot afford to feed it...it looks like that might be a good option for you however
especially considering you are prepared to drop coin on the likes of a Remington BDL or an A-Bolt
for the price of one of those and associated optics...you could have a pretty dang nice Garand

 

[blackops]

Remington. Later down the road, if you decide to change the rifle in any way, the options are more endless, more available, and cheeper because of those reasons.

 

[BrocLuno]

Garrand does not like varying bullet weight, I don't think? I think maybe a nice bolt gun and I'm a big fan of the Tikka's - BUT, I don't think it would be a "lite" for that caliber. I think I'd want a bit more weight and heft? Mine are sportered P1917 "Enfields" (No flames, I got them that way) which would equate to a Remington Model 30. They are 8 1/2 and 9 lb rifles and they are not too bad to spend a range session behind 06.

So maybe it would be better to go with standard weight rifle, a nice recoil pad and a slightly long eye relief scope? Heavier 06 loads can get up a head of steam

 

[brandon_mcg]

i used to shoot my dad's ought six. standard remington 700. nice shooting gun with a cheap tasco world class.

i gave myself a nice gash on the eyebrow when i was 12 shooting that dern thing, so eye relief is important as you have already stated.

 

[Abel]

Browning X-bolt Hunter

 

[CZguy]

I used to have a Ruger #1 in 30-06; traded it in towards a nice shotgun. I still have a lot of ammo, loading dies, etc, and am thinking about replacing the 30-06. I will be punching holes in paper, not hunting. I like an accurate, smooth and good handling rifle. I am currently looking at an assortment, all of which are roughly in the same price bracket, give or take a $100 or so, the used items are lightly used, say in the 95-98% bracket. Which would you choose?

Well I would try and buy back the Ruger #1 that you traded.

I have a personal preference for older Winchester 70s, or Remington 700s.

 

[Durty]

I have a Ruger M77 chambered in 30-06 and like it a lot because it's easy to shoot and accurate with all ammo I have put through it. It's what I carry whenever I hunt deer out of a tree stand. However, all I really shoot on a regular basis are my Model 700 BDLs, although I do not have one chambered in 30-06. I have BDLs in .243, .22-250, and .300 win mag and love them all. My buddy at home in TN has a Browning A-Bolt (not sure if it's an A-Bolt II) with no modifications and it shoots great. Very accurate, clean trigger pull, and the rifle is obviously built to properly handle recoil.

 

[Ballistics]

My preference would be the Tikka. You won't need to modify it... expect greatness right out of the box.

 

[xquercus]

Ed, I shoot .308 -- not 30-06 -- but I love my Remington 700 LTR. Haven't used the other Remington 700 models enough to really comment. I love the X-Mark Pro trigger and the stock rifle shoots .5 MOA 5 shot groups over and over from a bench. I shoot it pretty much stock, as it fits me well, but there are so many aftermarket options for it that I'll never get bored. There are so many options to suite virtually any shooting purpose that it can be difficult to wade through all of the options.