Looking for New .308 -- Shorter & Handy

[USMCM16A2]

Savage Light Weight Hunter.

Savage Lightweight Hunter! I have one excellent rifle, lightweight accurate!

[Mayor McRifle]

M1A Scout Squad Rifle or Ruger Gunsite Scout Rifle with an 18” barrel. They’re both worth going over budget for.

[rg_1111@yahoo.com]

Old school Remington 788 comes in 18" or 20" barrel

[sigstroker]

Tikka T3x SuperLite is 6.3 pounds but has a 22" barrel. I like the idea of a SIG Cross or Christensen Ridgeline Scout but haven't played with either. Q Fix would probably be a good one too, but way out of your budget.

Remington way back when made a Model 7 I think it was, like a 16 or 18 inch barrel and a slimmed down action.

[NapalmCheese]

Remington way back when made a Model 7 I think it was, like a 16 or 18 inch barrel and a slimmed down action.

They still make it.

[silvertriple]

Lots of good options mentioned already. I’ll just throw in the Savage Axis. Low budget rifle and is generally pretty light and accurate. The Ruger American Predator is short, light, and feels very handy when handling but the bolt cycling feels very rough to me.

[sbsyncro]

[CVShooter]

Are you looking for a Gunsite Scout in .308?

Maybe with the 3-rd mag & a rail that goes all the way to the back to accommodate a standard scope. There's a lot about the "scout" rifle idea that I like. But some things, like the LER scope and extended magazines, that I don't.

I have a Savage Axis in .223 that is an absolute tack-driver. But it can be inconsistent in cycling with the long action in a short-action cartridge. Feels cheap as hell. But it's light and certainly puts rounds where they need to go. And at least Savage knows where to put a safety.

[bigbossman]

...........And make sure you buy Talley rings .. everything else is junk in my book

Just curious about this statement, and your experiences with other rings. I've been a big fan of Leupold rings and bases, and have them on all my rifles. I've used them for literally decades without issue.

[Oxnard_Montalvo]

Old school Remington 788 comes in 18" or 20" barrel

I couldn't agree more, the 788 is an incredibly overlooked rifle mostly because of it's classification as a 'budget' rifle. I read a review once where the reviewers were able to consistently hit targets at 1000 yards with a .308 788. They had to shim the living excrement out of the scope but they were able to do it.

The only down side is the cost of the magazines, I've seen them go for over $60 which is ridiculous on a cost per round basis. I bought a couple for mine back in the day for $3.99 out of the clearance bin, something you won't see now. Also it seems that the rifles aren't as overlooked as they once were [a lgs once had 6+ on display, now they only have one] so grab one if you can find one...