Poll: 5.56 Bolt Action Advice

[eightyeight mag]

Tikka.
After market bottom metal/stock.
1/8 twist
Dont look back

 

[Boboclown]

I'm very easily being swayed to the Ruger..... I wish it had irons but the pros are weighing out the cons........what dislikes/cons does the Ruger have besides aforementioned?

Big con: I'll probably keep asking you to come down here so I can shoot it. But an attached pro to that is I'd let ya shoot my Ruger (after I finish working on it) and FAL in return.

IMHO, Ruger having a CHF barrel at that price would make me want the Ruger more, even without sights. Granted I only got a Hawkeye because its similar to a Mauser, but its a nice bonus to have a CHF barrel (not a lot of companies do CHF due to costs).

 

[JeremyK]

My one piece of advice: discard Nuttinfancy from your viewing queue...

 

[gmerkt]

It's not a bolt action, but not too long ago, Remington made the Model 7615. It's a pump action, takes M16 magazines, .223. They've gotten a bit pricey but you can still find them around.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Having an AR mag bolt gun will of course limit your oal to that.. for some it defeats the purpose of having a bolt gun.
I used to have an old Savage .223 bolt that was based on a long action.. it was pretty sweet.

 

[Boboclown]

Having an AR mag bolt gun will of course limit your oal to that.. for some it defeats the purpose of having a bolt gun.
I used to have an old Savage .223 bolt that was based on a long action.. it was pretty sweet.

Pretty sure the mossberg is not a controlled round feed bolt action, so it should be able to be chambered one round at a time.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Pretty sure the mossberg is not a controlled round feed bolt action, so it should be able to be chambered one round at a time.

Shot as a single-shot. gotcha

 

[Member 34319]

Having an AR mag bolt gun will of course limit your oal to that.. for some it defeats the purpose of having a bolt gun.
I used to have an old Savage .223 bolt that was based on a long action.. it was pretty sweet.

Main reason I bought mine was that I have a ton of AR15 stuff. I can always feed handloads one at a time if needed. But factory ammo or bulk will be fed via 20 round Pmags.

 

[Dirt Sample]

I hated the super wobbly mag on the Mossberg, and the action was really sloppy. Combine the two issues, and you really had to concentrate to feed the new round smoothly. My friend @808hondacrguy got the Ruger that took the AR mags, and after shooting it, I couldn't get rid of my MVP fast enough. lol The ranch rifle is a smooth, accurate shooter, and I love taking it out, where when ever we went shooting before, the Mossberg usually stayed home. YMMV

 

[ZigZagZeke]

I hated the super wobbly mag on the Mossberg, and the action was really sloppy. Combine the two issues, and you really had to concentrate to feed the new round smoothly. My friend @808hondacrguy got the Ruger that took the AR mags, and after shooting it, I couldn't get rid of my MVP fast enough. lol The ranch rifle is a smooth, accurate shooter, and I love taking it out, where when ever we went shooting before, the Mossberg usually stayed home. YMMV

I bought the RAR with the 16" barrel from @808hondacrguy that he had that didn't take AR mags. It was unfired until today. I put about 50 rounds through it today, and I love it. Smooth and tight and the trigger is very nice. It's a keeper.

 

[bgdawgrr]

Ironic Ruger makes a rifle in 556 that takes AR mags.....but not a mini 14.

 

[etrain16]

I've looked at both too for a .223 bolt gun down the road. My choice, currently, would be the RAR. I've owned several RAR's in .22lr and .22WMR and I've been really happy with them. Shot an MVP and I liked it, but not as much as I like the RAR's.

My plan would be to get the RAR and find a set of aftermarket iron sights, maybe something like Tech Sights, and have a smith install them on the rifle for me, if I really wanted iron sights, which I do like on my guns.

I haven't checked to see if they have Tech Sights for a regular RAR, they have them for rimfire models for sure. I had Velzey install a set on a Marlin .22 I own that has a bull barrel and no front sight. They're great sights, not too expensive. Glad to have had it done.

 

[MasterChief]

I've looked at both too for a .223 bolt gun down the road. My choice, currently, would be the RAR. I've owned several RAR's in .22lr and .22WMR and I've been really happy with them. Shot an MVP and I liked it, but not as much as I like the RAR's.

My plan would be to get the RAR and find a set of aftermarket iron sights, maybe something like Tech Sights, and have a smith install them on the rifle for me, if I really wanted iron sights, which I do like on my guns.

I haven't checked to see if they have Tech Sights for a regular RAR, they have them for rimfire models for sure. I had Velzey install a set on a Marlin .22 I own that has a bull barrel and no front sight. They're great sights, not too expensive. Glad to have had it done.

Thanks for the idea and company. I just sent them a message after looking on their website. I'll do some more searching on other companies that offer sights.

 

[etrain16]

Thanks for the idea and company. I just sent them a message after looking on their website. I'll do some more searching on other companies that offer sights.

I know there are other options for iron sights, I just like the Tech Sights and they're the one that came to mind. Definitely recommended if they're available for that RAR.

 

[Mark W.]

My son has the Mossberg MVP Varmint with the 24" fluted barrel. He has a Mueller 4-14X mil dot scope on it and with handloads it shoots better then 1/2min accuracy off the bench. He found that far and away the best magazines for it were the metal 10 rd. He really likes it. He's had it now going on 5 years.

 

[WAYNO]

I've got both. They both are quite comparable. Pick your favorite, or pick the cheapest. Everything else is apples and apples. In my opinion the edge goes toward the Mossberg, just cuz it has adjustable sights.

 

[ktd]

I think they're both fine. I like the Mossy but some complain about wobbliness in the bolt and sometimes mag. Doesn't bother me any. I wish they would come out with the 300 BLK they keep not making. Because of that I'll probably pick up a Ruger next instead.

Interestingly, I didn't get an MVP because of the AR mag. I got it to teach some LE friends precision rifle without wasting my 308 ammo on them and the rifle itself was cheap and accurate. Turns out I really like the detachable mag for range use. It makes it much easier to make safe during a ceasefire and that is worth something to me.

 

[ktd]

Design wise, the Ruger is a more polished design. The MVP is based off a re-engineered chitnzy budget rifle. I think its fine for a 5.56 though, they did a good job redesigning it. The MVP has a more solid stock, Ruger is somewhat flimsy plastic, but much better than say Remington or Savage cheap plastic stocks. Ruger is a push button mag release, Mossberg is a front rocker latch. Ruger comes only in a Ranch configuration with tan stock (I guess you could lump the Ruger Compact in this group, it would be somewhat like the MVP Predator). Mossberg has a Predator and Patrol version for a light carbine, one is more clean traditional and the other more LE oriented.

I think the trick is to handle the bolts and jiggle the mags. Whichever one annoys you the least is the one to get. They shoot about the same and you can change stocks and add sights to the Ruger if you really have to.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Given the mentioned choice, Ruger would be whay I would choose. Main reasons, it' almost a exact copy of a Tikka T-3 but with a faster twist barrel, and the bottom metal allready set up for detachable mags, and the cost is much less. That said, the Tikka is a much nicer rifle, but the cost is up there.
Savage stalking rifles are another option, based on the Anschutz action and finely tuned to 5.56 cal. It' a real sleeper of a rifle! Save a few bucks and put a Boyds stock and a good set of irons, and you have a stellar rifle! Savage have some of the best barrels out there, it's hard not to choose one!

 

[ktd]

Savage stalking rifles are another option, based on the Anschutz action and finely tuned to 5.56 cal. It' a real sleeper of a rifle!

If I recall correctly, those haven't been imported in a long time. Plus there are Anschutz-Savage rifles, Savage-Anschutz rifles, and Anschutz marked Krico rifles imported by Savage and are all different rifles to confuse things. Also no AR mag and probably true .223 chambers not 5.56, and almost certainly long twist.

What model number Savage? Is this something current production?

Savage does make a scout rifle that is somewhat what the OP is lookig for except it uses its own proprietary mags. Fine rifles in their own right.

The Ruger did remind me of a Tikka looking at the bolt.