best out of the box bolt gun under $1000.00 mainly targets out to 600 yards

[peterhodges]

Get one of these:

http://www.snipercentral.com/scriflepackagedetails.phtml?packageid=2

I would, as others have mentioned, also recommend the bell and carlson a-type stocks for whatever you do decide to put together.

[Iggy]

Just go to a tactical rifle / long range rifle / precision shooting competition and tell me how many Tikka's you see.... none. There is a reason for that. There are a few Savages here and there, but mostly Remington and or Rem. variants. They are popular for more reasons than I care to explain. The 5R is renowned as one of the most accurate, rugged and dependable factory bolt rifles you can get at any price, with any rifle you will have to handload for it to bring out its true accuracy potential but for the money, the 5R is a great platform that will retain its re-sale value, offer oppurtunities for tuning / truing in the future, and ACCURATE!

And how many of those are out of the box?

First off I can understand your doubts because you don't see any in competitions, but do you own one? Have you shot one? How many AI AE or AW's do you see at competitions? That must mean they suck? Same with those darn TRG's.

I've owned 2 Remington's including a 5R and I can say the Tikka is the best bang for the buck. The only reason I would own another Remington is to have TacOps build me another rifle.

[SOcal]

Just got back from one in Albuqurque, saw at least six tikkas two finished in the top 10!! Put that in your pipe and smoke it?? I think you have been sucking on the remmy koolaid a little tooo long. Sure you can get a remmy to shoot like a tikka just buy it and spend another $500 on it!! My Tikka shoot sub 1/2 moa out of the box with factory ammo, well Fed Gold match, and shot almost 1/3 moa with some custom reloads. Bang for the buck, out of box shooting, I put my $$ on the Tikka. JMHO. You can search my user name and see the five shot group at sub 1/2 moa, and I have only been back into shooting about six months.

Ted

Ha, 2 Tikka's might have finished in the top ten but the others were... oh wait.... Remingtons Call it Kool-Aid, call it what you want... there are tons of great rifles out there. The OP asked for opinions.... I gave mine with my version of logical explanation based on real world experience. I honestly cannot say that I have seen more than maybe 1 Tikka at any of the Sniper matches or precision matches that I have been to.... I guess I am blind... not that that makes them inferior but they are vastly less popular amongst that crowd. Hunting may be a different story.

Kimber, Remington, Browning, Savage, Tikka, Winchester, Ruger, Howa, FN, etc. all make guns that will do some amazing things with a good driver. I have handled and shot most of these and keep coming back to Remington, and will stay with the 700.

My 2 pesos worth.

It cracks me up whenever a thread like this comes up because it ends up being the typical "ford" vs "chevy" debate.

[SOcal]

And how many of those are out of the box?

First off I can understand your doubts because you don't see any in competitions, but do you own one? Have you shot one? How many AI AE or AW's do you see at competitions? That must mean they suck? Same with those darn TRG's.

I've owned 2 Remington's including a 5R and I can say the Tikka is the best bang for the buck. The only reason I would own another Remington is to have TacOps build me another rifle.

I have shot a Tikka when I was looking for a hunting rifle chambered in 300 WM, thought it was a decent rifle, didnt care for the plastic feel to it, never saw spectacular groups out of it, then again... didn't spend enough time behind it.

There were actually quite a few TRG's and a a handful of AI AW's at the biggest sniper match I went to earlier this year (TPRC). I think that the AI guns are not more popular simply due to the limited availability and high price, you could have a number of top smith's in the US build a full custom for considerably less.

As I mentioned earlier - Chevy vs ford, red vs blue.... this could go on forever...

Hopefully the OP has enough information in this thread to help out with his decision.

[diego-ted]

Ha, 2 Tikka's might have finished in the top ten but the others were... oh wait.... Remingtons Call it Kool-Aid, call it what you want... there are tons of great rifles out there. The OP asked for opinions.... I gave mine with my version of logical explanation based on real world experience. I honestly cannot say that I have seen more than maybe 1 Tikka at any of the Sniper matches or precision matches that I have been to.... I guess I am blind... not that that makes them inferior but they are vastly less popular amongst that crowd. Hunting may be a different story.

Kimber, Remington, Browning, Savage, Tikka, Winchester, Ruger, Howa, FN, etc. all make guns that will do some amazing things with a good driver. I have handled and shot most of these and keep coming back to Remington, and will stay with the 700.

My 2 pesos worth.

It cracks me up whenever a thread like this comes up because it ends up being the typical "ford" vs "chevy" debate.

I'll take your two and raise you cinco!! No problem, I am a Mopar guy, and always have the bow tie and blue oval guys gawking cause I have the only Par in the sea of furds and chebbys. Same with the Tikka and remmys, not because there better but because they are more common. LOL

Diego

[MongooseV8]

Savage 10 308, if you want a good rifle anyway.

[Flouncer]

Mosin Nagant and be done with it. Share leftover $$$ partying with the xwife's sister.

[RONIN.]

Remington 700 sps tactical

[Jdegid]

+1 Remy 5R 20"

[ubet]

and shot almost 1/3 moa with some custom reloads.
Ted

Ok, how many TIMES has it done it? One group of 5 at 1/3 moa, IS NOT and indicator of shooter/platform. I had a savage 12 300wsm, it shot 3 shots into the same hole TWICE at 300yds. Did I consider it a .1moa gun, not in the least. Just was a lucky deal.

I would like to see you 5 groups of 5 rounds on the same target of 1/3 moa with your Tikka, not saying it cant/hasnt or isnt true, just would like to see it.

[homers]

E.R. Shaw Mark VII, customized the way you want it.

[Shady]

k31 with a grip of ammo

[farias4000]

The best answer would be to find out for yourself. You'd get 50 answers and in the end it will level out taking you back to square one confusing you more on your decision making process. A gun is a gun it shoots where it wants to but it's how the operator shoots it, maintains it, improves it. Everyone will have a personal preference of what they like. Time to find what you like, or better yet what works best for you ergonomically, functionally and what tickles your fancy with style. Cause a 700 may look better but you may shoot better with a tikka vis-versa. But who knows a modern gun may work for you, scene many go crazy with 100 year old rifles that shoot MOA, or a $100 mosin may actually work best for you. Up to you just try before you buy as best as possible.

[Switchbarrel]

Rather than purchase a complete rifle and change this or that as many have mentioned here, you can build a really nice rifle on your budget that you'll be proud of.

Jim Briggs at Northland Shooters supply sells Stevens blued actions for $235 (add a SSS trigger for <$100). Savage stainless actions for ~$385 and Savage Target actions for ~$485. Combine one of those with the 26" Criterion barrels he sells (offered in many calibers/twists/profiles) for $250, longer versions available too. Then add an H-S Precision stock for ~$350 or a Bell & Carlson A-series for ~$225 and you've got yourself a really nice rifle.

Personal choice for an inexpensive/semi-custom 600 yd. Target rifle = Savage right bolt/left port target action, 28" 6BR bull barrel, Stockade gunstocks long range BR stock ($485 + $280 + $385 = $1150, shopping around for a Sightron SIII scope could save you the $150 the rifle is over budget) Going with the std. Savage action and a different stock could get you under $1k, doing things on the cheap just isn't in my nature. I consider myself a value shopper and the above rifle would be a good value compared to some of my other rifles.

To use your complete budget, the Vortex group buy thru Snipershide/SWFA would be a nice scope. A Sightron SIII would be another nice way to go.
Ken Farrell or Warne tapered base with Burris Signature Zee rings and call it a day.


-Rick

[supersonic]

Remington 5R in .308. There's a reason these are so sought-after.