choosing first Bolt Action Rifle

[raff661]

so I'm in the market for a bolt action rifle,I'm not trying to drop over $800 since this would be my first, the only other experience with rifles is with the AR platform so I'm just looking for some input from anyone who has had experience with the models I'm currently considering, the rifles I'm looking at are all chambered in .308, so far I've narrowed it down to the savage axis ii, savage fcp-sr 10, remington 700,Weatherby Vanguard 2, or how whitetail, pretty much trying to get the best bang for my buck, any advice and input is greatly appreciated

[Dark Hunt]

Before anyone can make an informed suggestion they would have to know what are you going to shoot with it.

[ElvenSoul]

What are your goals and aspirations with this rifle?

[mschn99]

Not an easy choice. I personally would not go .308 though, I'll get into thay later.

First thing is model. Wheatherby males some great rigles, but their lower end stuff imo does not match their reputation of quality thay their higher emdnrifles carry. As far as the savage goes. I'm scorned there. My dad had an older savage 30-06 when I was growing up. That gun had insane recoil. I know why, the stock was nowhere near being cut perpendicular to the barrel which leads to much higher than needed recoil. I kid you not this 30-06 kicked easily twice as hard as my current .300 win mag. I just don't see how you can go wrong with a remington .700 for the price. Ice shot bdl, adl, classic, carmiter, and other variations. It's such a solid and proben platform. I'm sure guys will chime in about how good modernnsavage rifles are and I have heard that to be the case, but I still remember the bruises on my shoulder from over 20 years ago lol

As far as caliber goes, I would pick a 30-06 over 308 any day of the week. Overall it's a better perfor.ing round balistically. It's easier to find reasonably priced quality rounds anywhere. Many areas you can walk into a gas station on the middle of nowhere thay sells a bit of ammo (not much longer in California with the new ammo laws but in other states adter that). .270 is another roimf thay will do many things and is really available like that. Dependimg on ontemded use, i honestly would.consider .243 over .308 as well as long as hunting larger game wasn't the intent. Agaim, without knowing about specifics of use, I'm just using generalized comments on caliber.

But I would pick the Remington 700 myself in rifle

[TMB 1]

Since you have the Axis on your list, you should check one of these out https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/...ducts_id/97344

[raff661]

I'm sorry I forgot to mention my intentions with it lol I always forget some sort of specifications when I'm posting stuff lol, but anywho I wanted for long distance target shooting at the moment anywhere from 200 to 700 yards and then eventually for deer. It's something I've always wanted to do and I have a friend who's dad goes hunting and we both want to tag along here in the near future.

[mschn99]

Short action. Rounds CAN be accurately shot past 500 yards, but are not ideal. .308, 30-06, etc are great roimds to 3-400 yards but lack the energy to easily shoot further. To do so effectively requires optics that are expensive and even them, the bullet lacks the energy to be shooting at animals long range when compared to magnum rounds. For your application, I would look more towards a 7mm or 30 cal magnum or short magnum. A 700 yard shot with a .308 is not something your average shooter cam do constantly. It takes a great shooter and really needs a quality rifle with high quality optics

[raff661]

Thanks for ur input, in definitely not a great shooter but it's something I want to work on, so maybe start if at a shorter distance and work my way to the max and get a better rifle once in capable of achieving longer distances.

Short action. Rounds CAN be accurately shot past 500 yards, but are not ideal. .308, 30-06, etc are great roimds to 3-400 yards but lack the energy to easily shoot further. To do so effectively requires optics that are expensive and even them, the bullet lacks the energy to be shooting at animals long range when compared to magnum rounds. For your application, I would look more towards a 7mm or 30 cal magnum or short magnum. A 700 yard shot with a .308 is not something your average shooter cam do constantly. It takes a great shooter and really needs a quality rifle with high quality optics

[ElvenSoul]

Someone beat you to it

https://youtu.be/8RIKU-ZX_1o

https://youtu.be/PgMBhymkNz8

A very fair analysis of building up a budget shooter

https://youtu.be/Lh3opuJY-pM

[mschn99]

For example, my longest kill was an elk in my home state of Montana. 300 win mag, ruger m77 mark 2 with almost of $1000 worth of gunsmithing and a 6-20 bullet drop compensating sworavski scope worth more than the rifle and the gunsmithing. Utilizing a bi-pod, I killed an elk at 627 yards according to the Leica rangefinder. Still hit it in the neck aiming for the chest. Not a shotni probably should have taken in hindsight. Was over 46 inches low of zero, with handloads sighted into 300 yards. And thats a magnum round

[mschn99]

One rifle doesn't do it all, thats how we end up with safes full of them its a great problem to have!!

[LynnJr]

Get the Remington 700 and don't look back.

[raff661]

Lol yes I agree, sadly my wife doesn't haha

One rifle doesn't do it all, thats how we end up with safes full of them its a great problem to have!!

[ar15barrels]

so I'm in the market for a bolt action rifle,I'm not trying to drop over $800 since this would be my first, the only other experience with rifles is with the AR platform so I'm just looking for some input from anyone who has had experience with the models I'm currently considering, the rifles I'm looking at are all chambered in .308, so far I've narrowed it down to the savage axis ii, savage fcp-sr 10, remington 700,Weatherby Vanguard 2, or how whitetail, pretty much trying to get the best bang for my buck, any advice and input is greatly appreciated

The best bang for your buck does not necessarily mean the cheapest.
For $200 more than your stated budget, you can get a Remington 29663 with a truly great barrel that will shoot better than all the others you listed.

[TMB 1]

7mm Rem mag for long range hunting

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2084_2108/products_id/27869/Remington+700+LR+SS+M40+R5+7MM+26IN

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/2084_2108/products_id/97271/Remington+700+SPS+SS+7mm+Mag%2C+Stainless+Steel