Best Beginners Bolt Action Rifle?

[damon1272]

Buy a tikka ctr and don’t look back. 6.5 creedmore or larger.

[MongooseV8]

Heavy barrel for sure.
6.5 Creedmoor or 308 or even 223 is a great place to start.
Rem 700 5R or heavy Tikka is what I would look for. But there are other cheaper options like Howa or Ruger Predators etc.

[Kevin11mee]

I'd get a Remington 700 ADL ($499) with the heavy, varmint barrel or the Ruger Predator ($499). I'd personally choose the Remington 700 because there are so many aftermarket parts for the Remington you could upgrade basically all the parts and have a custom rifle if you really go down the long-range rabbit hole. 6.5 Creedmoor is your cartridge for long range. It's a pleasure to shoot and is almost difficult to find loads that DON'T group well. The .308 has more recoil than the 6.5CM and isn't nearly as good ballistically. The .223 is quite inferior for anything long range which you said you'd like to do. I'd top it with a Vortex Viper PST Gen II which will be all the scope you need to shoot 1000 yards ($700 used). If on a tighter budget, get the Vortex Diamondback.

[ar15barrels]

Savage Tactical in 6.5 PRC. Good for 1 mile+. Heavy barrel, adjustable stock with aluminum backbone. 600-700 bucks.

A first time rifle shooter will be turned off of shooting rifles if you start them out with a magnum.
The ammo is expensive and the barrel life won't even be long enough for him to learn to get consistent with the rifle.
I used to run precision rifle classes and guys would show up with a 300 win mag and rarely make it beyond 20 rounds in what's normally a 100 round day of shooting for the first clinic.
It's pretty hard to concentrate on shooting when the act of shooting is causing you physical pain.

I would be looking for something with the new 6.0 or 6.5 PRC rounds or maybe even a win .243.

That's your recommendation for a first rifle for a shooter that probably does not reload?

To learn long-range, a .22 will allow you to learn marksmanship at a significantly lower cost. A .223 will give you good accuracy out to 600 yards, but if you want to go further, I would recommend a Remington 700 in .308, and you can later have the action blueprinted and you can rebarrel the action and change the caliber to a 6 mm or a 6.5 mm.

I agree with your 22LR recommendation, but like most people, the guy wants to shoot "long range" yet probably does not even understand what longrange really IS.
I don't think this is the place to tell him that he needs to understand basic marksmanship before he moves out to longrange.
That will happen when get gets to the range.

For his absolute first rifle that can actually hit small targets at longrange (beyond 600yds), I think the 223 is the most manageable option from ammo cost, recoil and performance perspectives.
Heavier recoiling cartridges turn new shooters off both from recoil and from the cost to feed them.

[alpha_romeo_XV]

OP when you say you "have a good eye" are you implying you want to shoot "iron sights" or you are very good at reading wind ? I can't see well anymore without Rx glasses but can still hit a bullseye at 1000 yrds shooting prone off a bipod with a good rifle, scope and ammo.

I knew a couple guys that shot Palma class rifles in 308 out to 1000 yrds. no bipod only a sling.

https://www.6mmbr.com/palmabasics.html

[yacko]

IMHO I'd buy something that will sell easily in case LR is not for you. A lot of new shooters wants a sub moa rig that is 1K yards capable, spend big money on glass, stock etc just to find out how much money it adding up to, time classes, research, how much more reloading will cost and a hassle it is to get to range that maybe more than 2.5 hours away that you can stretch your new stick out to.
I'd would not recommend a Savage Access or rifle that when the barrel heats up a little firing a few shots, that translate to opens the group size up drastically. I'd start with a Remington 700 action rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor or .308 with a varmint profile barrel for @ 600 or less. As far as glass a SWFA SS fixed 10X, Bushnell 10X elite, or a 3-16X Athlon has been getting a lot of attention from LR shooters on Snipershide. All the mentioned scopes can be bought new for @ 200-400 and a bit less used, they all carry a lifetime warranty, track well, good build quality, retain their value and great glass clarity for what they cost. They do have different powers available but clarity of the glass will suffer at higher magnification. A 10 or 16X scope is plenty out to 1K+. The money you save could be better spent on good classes/quality ammo vs trying to learn by sending multiple meaningless rounds down range. Learning how to set up your rig, proper technique, recoil management, follow through, etc all can be learned in a good class/es. If you like LR spending money for better kit is easy, learning to use it to the best of your ability is hard. Most people are not more accurate then their rig and having the best that money can buy doesn't make you a better shooter, it just makes you more reliant of gear, to try to cover up your deficiencies.

I agree with a lot of what you said except this.....

Your gear HAS to be better than you, or you can not improve to match it.

Top quality gear does NOT cover up 'deficiencies' on the shooters part. It makes it overwhelmingly obvious the shooter is the deficiency cuz the rifle can do it.... and the shooter cant....

Disagree? well.... I'll let you borrow Dads charter arms 6 shot snub and you can take it to any hand gun class you want. When you cant hit a large cardboard box at 7 yards no matter how good you are... you want to blame the gun. And you would be right......

On the other hand.... you say having a top notch setup is a crutch..... and a good shooter could do it anyway.....


POS charter arms snubby 32 for sale... Unless money wants to borrow it for a training session at frontsite......

[IronsightsRifleman]

Springfield 1903.

[hermosabeach]

There is a you tube series called sniper 101

He does a fantastic job of going over gear.

Watch on a pc to skip intro

[hermosabeach]

Watch an hour or three a day

Lots of info

https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJUaiRIEduNXoal2_PkBZi0vDCIcEPxUn

[Wyseguy]

A first time rifle shooter will be turned off of shooting rifles if you start them out with a magnum.
The ammo is expensive and the barrel life won't even be long enough for him to learn to get consistent with the rifle.
I used to run precision rifle classes and guys would show up with a 300 win mag and rarely make it beyond 20 rounds in what's normally a 100 round day of shooting for the first clinic.
It's pretty hard to concentrate on shooting when the act of shooting is causing you physical pain.



That's your recommendation for a first rifle for a shooter that probably does not reload?



I agree with your 22LR recommendation, but like most people, the guy wants to shoot "long range" yet probably does not even understand what longrange really IS.
I don't think this is the place to tell him that he needs to understand basic marksmanship before he moves out to longrange.
That will happen when get gets to the range.

For his absolute first rifle that can actually hit small targets at longrange (beyond 600yds), I think the 223 is the most manageable option from ammo cost, recoil and performance perspectives.
Heavier recoiling cartridges turn new shooters off both from recoil and from the cost to feed them.

Lots of good information here

[SmokeTheClay]

$450 for the Vortex FFP is a great start

https://www.eurooptic.com/vortex-viper-pst-6-24x50-ffp-riflescope-with-ebr-2c-reticle-moa-pst-43127-new.aspx

[JTROKS]

[cz74]

I was also just getting started with my first centerfire rifle last year and asked same question on this forum. I received lots of good info and feedback. Ended up getting a cheap Savage bolt action in .223 REM with a cheap scope. Getting 1 MOA groups at 100 yards with range bulk ammo. Have not taken out to longer distances yet.

[Munny$hot]

I agree with a lot of what you said except this.....

Your gear HAS to be better than you, or you can not improve to match it.

Top quality gear does NOT cover up 'deficiencies' on the shooters part. It makes it overwhelmingly obvious the shooter is the deficiency cuz the rifle can do it.... and the shooter cant....

Disagree? well.... I'll let you borrow Dads charter arms 6 shot snub and you can take it to any hand gun class you want. When you cant hit a large cardboard box at 7 yards no matter how good you are... you want to blame the gun. And you would be right......

On the other hand.... you say having a top notch setup is a crutch..... and a good shooter could do it anyway.....


POS charter arms snubby 32 for sale... Unless money wants to borrow it for a training session at frontsite......

I'm saying spending spending good money on top of the line kit while having lacking fundamentals will still equal poor results. According to the OP it's his first rifle and even if he/shes a proficient pistola shooter moving to a rifle to shoot LR requires different techniques. Sure practice with a .22LR will be cheap, but the lack of poor body mechanics will/may not show in your groups until you try to shoot a caliber with a bit more giddy up. IMHO during live fire a competent shooter will know what they did wrong by the time the bullet hits the target. A very competent shooter will know what they did wrong when he/she dry fires.

[SmokeTheClay]

I'm saying spending spending good money on top of the line kit while having lacking fundamentals will still equal poor results. According to the OP it's his first rifle and even if he/shes a proficient pistola shooter moving to a rifle to shoot LR requires different techniques. Sure practice with a .22LR will be cheap, but the lack of poor body mechanics will/may not show in your groups until you try to shoot a caliber with a bit more giddy up. IMHO during live fire a competent shooter will know what they did wrong by the time the bullet hits the target. A very competent shooter will know what they did wrong when he/she dry fires.

The most useful thing for a new shooter is shots downrange. If I was new, I'd want to get as many shots downrange as possible.

The OP mentioned spending constraints. For that reason, a 22lr would be the best way to get 1000 rounds, for example, downrange at the cheapest amount.

A RPR rifle in 22lr would also give him experience fitting the rifle to his body to see what he likes/dislikes when it's time to upgrade.

Considering every shooter should have a 22lr, might as well make that the first purchase.

A 22lr RPR + the vortex above + good rings (I like badger ordnance) + 1000 rounds would cost about $1000. After the OP figured out what he likes and has a bunch of shots downrange, he could upgrade the rifle and stick that vortex on the new rig.

At today's prices, 1000 rounds of some other caliber will likely cost the OP $1000 alone. And if he wants competent ammunition it's going to cost north of $1000