Give me some bolt-action advice please

[510dat]

My friend has decided that he needs a bolt action rifle, and soon. Which was an 'out of left field decision,' as far as I can tell. He's got some experience with rifles, but I'm really not clear how much.

I asked him a few questions about what he wanted, and quickly came to the conclusion that he has no idea what he wants, beyond an ability to take deer and boar, it has to have a wood stock, and it would probably have to cost a bit under a thousand dollars.

He has no idea what he's talking about regarding caliber, so I told him he wants a .308. I figure that it's a very average rifle round, readily available by lots of manufacturers in all kinds of variations, and relatively inexpensive. And I've got an M1A, and I have another friend who's seriously thinking about getting a .308, so I figure we could share bulk ammo purchases.

Which is great and all, but is there a brand, group of brands out there that I should steer him towards? He'll buy anything they put in front of him, so I'm trying to look out for him, but I really don't know much about bolt action rifles. They all seem pretty interchangable to me, asides from the caliber and some have fancy triggers.

So any advice or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

[Wyatt]

Budget?
I would go a bit smaller for American game, not that I'm any expert. Savage makes a very affordable bolt gun that has adjustable trigger and out of the box accuracy.

[StraightShooter]

Well i think a surgeon action with a Mike rock barrel in .243 win caliber with a mcmillan a5 stock topped with a nightforce scope might get the job done.

Just kiddin, just tell him to get any kind of remington 700 version that suits his fancy. .308 would be a good caliber too.

[510dat]

Budget?

sorry, I ninja-edited that in. Based on his comments, I think he wants to walk out the door for about a thousand.

[Sydwaiz]

Everyone is going to say Remmy or Savage so I'll go against the grain and say Tikka T3, especially if he has no interest in upgrading it later. Super smooth action, excellent trigger, and great accuracy out of the box.

[dfletcher]

My friend has decided that he needs a bolt action rifle, and soon. Which was an 'out of left field decision,' as far as I can tell. He's got some experience with rifles, but I'm really not clear how much.

I asked him a few questions about what he wanted, and quickly came to the conclusion that he has no idea what he wants, beyond an ability to take deer and boar, it has to have a wood stock, and it would probably have to cost a bit under a thousand dollars.

He has no idea what he's talking about regarding caliber, so I told him he wants a .308. I figure that it's a very average rifle round, readily available by lots of manufacturers in all kinds of variations, and relatively inexpensive. And I've got an M1A, and I have another friend who's seriously thinking about getting a .308, so I figure we could share bulk ammo purchases.

Which is great and all, but is there a brand, group of brands out there that I should steer him towards? He'll buy anything they put in front of him, so I'm trying to look out for him, but I really don't know much about bolt action rifles. They all seem pretty interchangable to me, asides from the caliber and some have fancy triggers.

So any advice or suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated.

Deer & boar? I was looking at some rifles at the SJGE last week, they have a few Remington 673s in stock in 350 Rem Mag - let him be a little different, every momo has a 308, right? The 673s are light as hell, shoot well and the caliber will definitely handle about any game he'll chase in the states. Cost was about $600.00 I think.

[StraightShooter]

Everyone is going to say Remmy or Savage so I'll go against the grain and say Tikka T3, especially if he has no interest in upgrading it later. Super smooth action, excellent trigger, and great accuracy out of the box.

Ill agree in this instance. In this situation it seems that he just wants a rifle and doesnt care about much about the particulars. If he is willing to drop $1000 on a rifle then he can pretty much walk into any run of the mill gun store and have his pick of what he wants.

[ch47gunner]

CZ550 American

Normally I'd say get a Savage.

But, after purchasing my last CZ, and for a .30 caliber hunting rifle, I'd be taking a good look at the CZ550 American. I really can't say how much I enjoy shooting the set trigger on the CZ's. I have Savage rifles and am familiar with the Accutrigger, I like the CZ single set trigger much better.

Bruce

Here's a link:

http://www.cz-usa.com/product_detail.php?id=18

[harlot]

Is that 1000 including optics, or just for the rifle? It doesn't sound like he reloads so stick with 308 (30-06 should be fine too). The great thing about bolt actions is their simplicity and accuracy. Like Straightshooter said, he should be able to walk into any decent gun store and find a good rifle. I usually steer first time buyers towards Remington 700s since they have the most variety, easiest to find scope mounts, and the biggest aftermarket. Savage or Tikka are great too, there are tons more that would just take too long to list. For what he wants to do its probably harder to buy a ****ty rifle than a good one.

[CSACANNONEER]

Stick with 30-30, .308 or 30-06. If you're on a hunting trip, you can always find ammo in these calibers.

[510dat]

Harlot, he didn't even mention optics. I asked him if he wanted iron sights or a scope, and he wandered off topic, so who knows what that means.

Stick with 30-30, .308 or 30-06. If you're on a hunting trip, you can always find ammo in these calibers.

It would be just like him to walk out of a store with some bizarre wildcat chambering, which is one reason I told him he wants a .308.


I'm looking at some websites now, and I came across the Remington Model 798 Mauser action. I know that the Mauser is highly regarded as being an awesome action, but for my friend's purposes, does that matter? The price isn't much more than a Savage, and less than a CZ.

[Lissauer]

Thompson Center Icon might be nice.

[steadyrock]

Everyone is going to say Remmy or Savage so I'll go against the grain and say Tikka T3, especially if he has no interest in upgrading it later. Super smooth action, excellent trigger, and great accuracy out of the box.

+1 on the T3. I shot one in .308 today at Raahauges and was impressed with the action and accuracy. The standard T3 is a synthetic stock, but they have the T3 Hunter and T3 Deluxe which have nice wood stocks for a little more. Later on I was also talking to the guy at the Browning booth and handled one of the new X-Bolts. I didn't get to shoot it, but I was wickedly impressed with their trigger. If I were to purchase today without trying the Browning, I'd get the T3 but that may change if I get a chance to shoot one of those X-bolts. good luck to your friend.

[ar15barrels]

I think he wants to walk out the door for about a thousand.

$1000 with or without optics?

[510dat]

$1000 with or without optics?

Good question; I couldn't get that out of him.