Best .308 bolt rifle under $1k

[dakaham]

Ok im sure this has been posted here time and time again but i cant find any of the posts.

So heres what i have going. Im looking for a .308 bolt rifle, i will have about $1600 to spend but i figure ime going to need at least $600 of that for optics. So whats the best for the money? Have looked at the remington 700's but not hearing great things from alot of people on the newer ones. Now it doesnt have to be a tacticool rifle just looking for something to punch paper at 200yds at the range and the occasional trip to the high desert for say 600yd shooting. only requirements i would have for it is at least a 22 inch heavy barrel. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

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[speelyei]

A Remington 700 would be fine. So would a Howa 1500. So would a Weatherby Vanguard Varmint in .308.
If you are comfortable with the Howa, you can buy a barreled action on gunbroker, and then choose from a variety of stocks, like Bell and Carlson, etc.
That would leave you plenty for a scope, rings, and bases.

You may want to entertain the idea of a different caliber, too. If you're just punching paper, a .22-250 comes to mind. Look at the .243 and .280, too.

 

[Swedish K]

Agreed - Savage 10 or a 110 and put the rest in to optics/ammo.

 

[geometro]

700 Varmint and Savage 10 are the usual suspects. The Howa 1500 varmint seems to be better than the Remington and Savage, however.

IMHO, the 700 5R would be the one to get with a budget of a $1000.

But generally, one usually invests more in the glass than the rifle.

 

[chowser2]

buy a stevens 200 329 dollars.
buy a savage barrel wrench 24 dollars
buy a shilen, CBI, or Mcgowen match grade barrel max price $339
go no go guage 24 dollars

to change the barrel all you have to do is loosen the barrel nut and unscrew it with the barrel
put in the go-nogo guage and screw the new barrel on and tighten the barrel nut.

you would even have money left for a stock.

here is mine it is the third on from the top

shoots about 1/4 MOA when my friend shoots it, and about 1-1.5 moa when I shoot it

 

[chowser2]

Also If I were you I would look into a 6.5 creedmoore, are 6.5x47, they have about 30-40% less recoil, less affected by gravity/wind, and shoot more accuracy at long distances.

the stevens is a savage action on a crappy stock. so you can add a rifle basix trigger and have less than a 1lb trigger pull for real cheap

 

[SnapShot]

i bought a remmy 5r earlier this year, best i have shoot it was 1/2 inch grps with some reloads, granted im pretty new to long range, and reloading for accuracy, but uasually i have a .75 - 1 moa rifle. im happy enough, i dont mind the xmark pro trigger, but i do like the savage acu trigger. both are pretty easily adjustable. but the savage is more of a 2 stage.

if i had to do it again, im not sure, i really like the fit and finish of the 5r. but i hear some many good things about the savages.

 

[iamme]

Savage. Cabelas had a nice deal on a 10 with a nice Choate Tactical stock. That would leave you a couple hundred, or pick up the McMillan model and have a little less left over.

 

[rdb241]

Everybody and there high dollar bolt guns. I bought a Winchester model 70 short action 26" heavy barrel back in the 90's for $650.00. I have a $125.00 Tasco scope with mil dots mounted on top. I can consistantly hold 4" groups at 200 yards. This rifle had brought home 8 of my 9 deer. I hunt the wheat fields of eastern Washington and have the gun zeroed at 200 yards. I'm into the entire gun for under $800.00. It is the best shooting rifle I own. I would not get rid of that gun for anything.




I forgot to mention that my Win model 70 is in .308

 

[The Quiet Man]

Everybody and there high dollar bolt guns. I bought a Winchester model 70 short action 26" heavy barrel back in the 90's for $650.00. I have a $125.00 Tasco scope with mil dots mounted on top. I can consistantly hold 4" groups at 200 yards. This rifle had brought home 8 of my 9 deer. I hunt the wheat fields of eastern Washington and have the gun zeroed at 200 yards. I'm into the entire gun for under $800.00. It is the best shooting rifle I own. I would not get rid of that gun for anything.

My wife bought a Win Mod 70 in the early 90's and it is an excellent shooter. It is almost as accurate as my orginal Ruger 77 from the middle 1980's. Both are keepers. I suspect it would be hard to go very far wrong with most Winchester, Ruger, Savage, or Remington rifles. Pick one you like and enjoy it.

 

[SnapShot]

those win model 70's are good shooters. in fact they used to be the sniper rifle of our troops some time ago. in fact pre 64' model 70's can fetch a high price for custom jobs because it is believed one of the best (flatest) actions to bed.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

See my thread in this section titled "Howa Performance". The Howa 1500 (same action, barrel, and mfr as Weatherby Vanguard, and S&W 1500) is unbeatable in a sporting type rifle. Groups of 1/2" at 100 yds are common with mine, and the trigger is the best I've ever had on a sporting rifle. Prices range from $450 to $800. That leaves lots for optics.

See the comments on Howa 1500 in .308 at How good are the Howa bolt rifles? - THR

 

[OR4X4]

With the bottom metal conversions to turn the howa 1500 into a DB being only $98 makes them very attractive.
That said the Savage model 10 is an excellent target rifle! Plus they come already DB.

You can find a nice quality Mauser action and barrel, and set them into a Mcmillan stock and have a little left over for optics too.

If you want to do much of the 600+yd fun then you should look at getting a 26-30" heavy contour barrel.

 

[Mason3379]

I love my Remington 700s but I would look towards a Savage long range hunter or Long range Precision if I was gonna buy a new rifle. Seems Savage is putting out some quality "out of the box" rifles!

 

[OR4X4]

Necessity is entirely seperate from best performance..

Sure, he hits a target a few times. That is no $1K budget rifle like this thread is about either..

Unlike many forum go-ers I'm not very entertained by a youtube video of one guy shooting one well built rifle at an unverified 1000 yds. Without any comparison groups between that rifle and another equally built with the other barrel lengths.
There is no data to be collected from a study group of one guy with one rifle at some random range.

Shorter barrels are inherently stiffer, so they CAN be more accurate all other things equal (taper rate, rifling, ect). The problem is velocity when stretching the range out.

 

[Gunner3456]

I simply can't imagine someone putting that much money into a bolt rifle. To each his own I guess. I have a Ruger tang safety dandy that I bought new in about 1974. It will drive nails. I didn't think or know about .308 when I bought it so It's a .270 which is a great caliber.

I'm thinking of buying a Weatherby Vanguard in .308 for $400 from Bi-Mart, and putting about $300 worth of glass on it. I'll be sure to look around at several and look at the targets included to get a nice accurate one. With some hand loads and my chrony, maybe I can improve it.

Sometimes the accuracy of a gun comes down more to the shooter than the gun. I have a couple of friends with real high dollar tacticool rifles, and after they shoot a group, I grab my basic .270 and shoot a group inside of theirs.

To each his own.

 

[ZigZagZeke]

With the bottom metal conversions to turn the howa 1500 into a DB being only $98 makes them very attractive.
That said the Savage model 10 is an excellent target rifle! Plus they come already DB.

You can find a nice quality Mauser action and barrel, and set them into a Mcmillan stock and have a little left over for optics too.

If you want to do much of the 600+yd fun then you should look at getting a 26-30" heavy contour barrel.

What do you mean by "DB"? And where can I find the conversion kits? The one thing I don't like on my 1500 is the material the trigger guard is made from.

 

[iamme]

Detachable box mag, though I don't know who has em for $98. Cdi is who id recommend.

 

[nitestocker]

Agreed - Savage 10 or a 110 and put the rest in to optics/ammo.and shoot a lot i prefer a 300 win mag or 3006 both will outperform the 308

 

[OR4X4]

<broken link removed>

The Howa company is who offers the kit for $98. Half that cost is the $52 they charge for the magazine too. They only offer them for their SA rifles though.

I'd assume at that price, it's going to be the same or similar material to the one you aren't thrilled with already.

The CDI bottom metal is only $209 which is very reasonable as well. I just don't like that it commits you to AI mags which are extremely overpriced.