Your favorite centerfire Bolt Action...

Favorite centerfire Bolt Action

  • Remington 700

    Votes: 26 16.9%
  • Winchester M70 (Pre or Post '64)

    Votes: 32 20.8%
  • Ruger M77

    Votes: 19 12.3%
  • Savage 110/111

    Votes: 12 7.8%
  • Weatherby Vanguard

    Votes: 5 3.2%
  • Browning A-Bolt

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • Browning X-Bolt

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • Tikka T3

    Votes: 12 7.8%
  • Milsurps (i.e. Mosins, Mausers, Enfields, etc.)

    Votes: 29 18.8%
  • Other

    Votes: 24 15.6%

  • Total voters
    154
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
592
Location
Lake Wylie, South Carolina
I seem to like making polls for some reason don't I?:D As far as options I only put in what seems to me as the most common ones, so that's what "Other" is for obviously.

I'm going with the Rem 700 mainly because it's the one I have the most experience with, and the only one I've killed deer with. Milsurps are a very close 2nd if not a tie.
 
Last edited:
My favorite as of right now is Mauser 98-based actions for hunting. I think that the Milsurps option needs to be broken out into at least related groups. Mausers, Mosins and SMLEs are very different rifles and I know people who swear by mosins and SMLEs but don't like mausers. 1903 Springfields and M1917/P14 enfields could probably be lumped with with mausers.

Matt
 
I voted "other", specifically a SAKO L-579 in .257 Roberts Ackley Improved.
It's accurate, lightweight, low recoil and has plenty of power to kill anything I'm likely to hunt in Texas.
 
My favorite as of right now is Mauser 98-based actions for hunting. I think that the Milsurps option needs to be broken out into at least related groups. Mausers, Mosins and SMLEs are very different rifles and I know people who swear by mosins and SMLEs but don't like mausers. 1903 Springfields and M1917/P14 enfields could probably be lumped with with mausers.

Matt
I thought about that, but didn't feel like making a 20 option poll:eek:
 
I vote milsurps. Every time someone shoots a old service rifle an angel gets its wings. To me a milsurp is the prime definition of versatile. Created as a weapon of war now equally well suited as a fun time at the range, or a gun that puts meat on the table.
 
There are endless forms of the Savage 110/111 with some a lot better than others. Still almost their whole line is essentially a 110 dressed a little differently. Some of them are mighty good. It depends on what you're looking for of course but among the rifles you have listed I like them the best. The T3 is right up there but I put my money down for a Savage so I guess it must have been my favorite. There are a lot of good choices in your list though.
 
I chose the Tikka T3. That's based on right out if the box. I have one in .270, it has the smoothest action and shoots amazingly for a light rifle. Those Finns really know how to make a rifle. Plus I can't afford a Sako.

If we're talking about modding a rifle I would have picked the Savage 10/110. It doesn't have the aftermarket support of the Rem 700 but I feel like you can get more for your money and you can change out barrels at home. YMMV
 
Apparently I prefer CZs at this point given that I have 5 of those and only 2 non-CZ centerfire bolt guns, both of those WWII surplus. If you like the action feel and ruggedness of the Mil Surp bolt guns you'd probably like the CZ 550 a lot. If you're looking for 22 caliber centerfire or smaller CZ offers the 527 series, sized accordingly.
 
Last edited:
To date I like the BAT 3 lug action. I also really like the CZ550, but for different purposes. The BAT is truly a thing of beauty, and built very strong.
 
This is tough.

In my work I get to see a lot different rifles and this is one of the toughest questions for me to answer. I love the lines of the Model 70, the action of the 98 Mauser, the smoothness of the Sako, and the out of the box accuracy of the Savage. One of my favorites WAS the 700 Classic Remington. That was before Freedom Group took charge. I wouldn't own a new one now. I like deep shiny blue metal, finely figured walnut, clean cut checkering, and a good trigger. For less than a grand I would have to pick the Winchester or a Ruger 77, although I don't see good wood on the 77. The new Model 70 is a nice piece of workmanship.
 
I voted for the M70, I love mine. Honorable mentions go to the X-Bolt and Tikka though.
 
I didn't vote. I have several rifles, all of which I like. There are three of them that I love:

Winchester left hand M70 (pre-64 action) in .270 that was undoubtedly one of the last LH rifles to come out of the Connecticut plant. It is as close to perfect as any centerfire rifle I have ever owned.

Tikka T3 lightweight left hand in .308. Bolt guns just don't get any smoother or ergonomic that the little Tikka--and it is a tack driver as well.

Zastava M70 left hand in 25-06. This one is something I had hoped for but never expected to get. A group of us had to work to find an importer willing to bring in a batch of the left handed guns from the Serbian factory because the normal Zastava importer couldn't be bothered to make the effort. The stock has been replaced with an aftermarket laminate, and it isn't the smoothest gun in the world, but it's a genuine 98 Mauser pattern rifle in left hand configuration. I wish I had bought a 270 and a 30-06 as well.

When I die my wife probably won't get but pennies on the dollar for my lefty guns, but I love them while I'm still alive.
 
Savage 110/111 Very accurate out of the box, great trigger, detachable box magazine and most importantly to me, available in left handed models.
 
Unless you get a Mauser 98 design and dump a BUNCH of money on it to make it a sporting rifle, milsurps can work, but they're heavy and mounting a scope on a split ring gun like the Mosin is a big time compromise. I gave up on trying to turn a cheap milsurp into a sporting rifle long ago.

My favorite hunting rifle is my stainless Remington M7. There was no choice available for the M7, but it's close enough to the 700 in design, so I checked 700. The little toot is light, short, handy in a box blind and easy to pack over the ridges and canyons. Mine's in .308 and 3/4 MOA accurate. It works for whatever style of hunting I wish to do right out to about 300 yards point blank range and packs enough energy to kill a mulie about as far as I'm comfortable shooting at one in perfect conditions. Oddly, I won a 700 BDL in .25-06 as a door prize at a gun show and traded it at a gun shop for the stainless M7 I really wanted. I already have a .257 Roberts in a Remington M722, close enough to .25-06 that I didn't wish to duplicate. The .257 was my grandpa's so it goes nowhere. :D

The 700 has always been an accurate design. Many match grade guns and sniper weapons have been built off the action. The adjustable triggers they come with are excellent. I see few ways to improve on it and i'm not a big proponent of controlled feed, so the Remington is my choice.
 
All this about left hand models. I never fired a left hand model even though i shoot left. I am right handed, but near blind in my right eye. But, I work the bolt of a right hand rifle just fine. Hey, Hendrix was a lefty and played a right handed guitar. :D I think it'd take me a while to learn to shoot a lefty version, so I never bothered with one. I own an old Savage 110, the trigger not nearly as adjustable as the remmy. I got it down to a little over 3 lbs, though, so it's good enough. Not quite as accurate, but 1 MOA is good enough for gubment work. :D It's a big ol' heavy long action gun, though, in 7mm rem mag. I just love that compact, light little M7. :D
 
I did just fine with RH bolts. I worked with my right hand, and I worked it with my left hand (like the sniper in Saving Private Ryan). I could do it, but it seemed awkward. Then I picked up a LH bolt 110. It just felt right...err left...err correct. ;)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top