I want to buy an inexpensive .308 bolt action, need input please.

[GOG]

I'm on a tight budget, so I'm looking at three basic .308 Win. bolt guns in the cheap price range. I'm looking at rifle and scope combos. The Ruger American, Savage Axis II and the Mossberg Patriot. All have synthetic stocks and come with scopes mounted. All have adjustable triggers.Two have Vortex 3-9 x 40 and the Savage has a Bushnell 4-12 × 40 on it. Cheapest of the bunch is the Savage.
The Mossberg has a fluted bolt and barrel and a target crown. The Savage stock has some kind of camo that I never heard of. So other than a difference of around a hundred bucks, they're very similar.
I hope some of you guys may have some input on them. Thank you in advance.

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[Nosferatu]

Ruger.

 

[MasterChief]

Magazine considerations? Threaded? Scout versus deer rifle?

 

[Flopsweat]

Here's some light reading on the subject.

The Best Budget Hunting Rifles, Put to the Test

We put four of the top budget hunting rifles through rigorous accuracy and handling testing. See how these rifles stacked up.

www.outdoorlife.com

 

[Mono1]

Brother-In-Law just bought a Ruger American last year that is pretty sweet.

I like my Remington 783, which is impressive out of the box, but I did a lot of upgrades to mine cuz I just can't leave things alone.

Would highly recommend a Timney 1.5 lb trigger for either one, which are available, and are easy to install.

 

[Mono1]

Brother-In-Law just bought a Ruger American last year that is pretty sweet.

I like my Remington 783, which is impressive out of the box, but I did a lot of upgrades to mine cuz I just can't leave things alone.

Would highly recommend a Timney 1.5 lb trigger for either one, which are available, and are easy to install.

Remington 783 .308 Caliber at 100 yards, albeit with hand-loads...

 

[Flopsweat]

Brother-In-Law just bought a Ruger American last year that is pretty sweet.

I like my Remington 783, which is impressive out of the box, but I did a lot of upgrades to mine cuz I just can't leave things alone.

Would highly recommend a Timney 1.5 lb trigger for either one, which are available, and are easy to install.

The only one out of the three that I've shot is the Ruger American. I shot one 10 round group. Including a "flyer" (a bit away from the rest) I made about a 1.5 inch group at 100 yards. A brand-new shooter (first time ever shooting a rifle, third time shooting anything) shot a 5 round 2 inch group with it. Totally stock gun with the factory sight scope which was fine at 100 yards. The gun looked well built - not fancy but not cheap. And the recoil was less than I expected from a bolt action 308. Not a lot less.

edit: scope not sight

 

[drstrangelove]

Ruger American. Just expect to sand away enough barrel channel to keep it free floated. The plastic stock kinda sucks. Will need to get a bolt-on Kydex cheekpiece. Triggers are very good for a Savage Accutrigger ripoffs.

 

[TTSX]

Get the savage. It's not a 110 series so that sucks, it is still a savage and has many of the features that make the 110 so darn good. I'm biased though, as an owner of 5 Savage hunting rifles, each one from 6.5 creedmoor to .375 Ruger is an easy 1moa or better gun with factory loads

 

[Flopsweat]

Get the savage. It's not a 110 series so that sucks, it is still a savage and has many of the features that make the 110 so darn good. I'm biased though, as an owner of 5 Savage hunting rifles, each one from 6.5 creedmoor to .375 Ruger is an easy 1moa or better gun with factory loads

LOL, the only Savage I own is a Model 64. Not a good representation, and I think I only still have it because what could I get for it.

 

[TTSX]

LOL, the only Savage I own is a Model 64. Not a good representation, and I think I only still have it because what could I get for it.

 

[Flopsweat]

View attachment 1754027

I should probably take that...

 

[GOG]

I forget which, but two are four rounds and one is five. Main duty will be on a bipod or rest in the woods. There are long shots here, but most of mine will barely be100 yards and long might be two hundred.

 

[Flopsweat]

I forget which, but two are four rounds and one is five. Main duty will be on a bipod or rest in the woods. There are long shots here, but most of mine will barely be100 yards and long might be two hundred.

At those distances, it sounds like any of the three would be more than sufficient.

edit:

Also, the Ruger and Mossberg are 4 +1 and the Savage is 5 +1.

Mossberg Patriot Predator Specs

• Caliber: .308 Win.
• Capacity: 5+1, detachable double-stack magazine
• Action: 2-lug bolt, fluted
• Stock: Synthetic, Strata camo
• Weight: 6 pounds, 8 ounces
• Trigger: Adjustable, 2 pounds, 14 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 22 inches, 1:10 twist, fluted, Cerakote finish
• Length: 42.25 inches
• Optics: Single-piece rail installed
• Price: $490

Ruger American Specs

• Caliber: .308 Win.
• Capacity: 4+1, detachable double-stack magazine
• Action: 3-lug bolt
• Stock: Black synthetic
• Weight: 6 pounds, 2 ounces
• Trigger: Adjustable, 3 pounds, 15 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 22 inches, alloy steel, 1:10 RH twist
• Length: 42 inches
• Optics: Single-piece rail installed
• Price: $469

Savage Axis Specs

• Caliber: .308 Win.
• Capacity: 4+1, detachable double-stack magazine
• Action: 2-lug bolt
• Stock: Black synthetic
• Weight: 6 pounds, 5 ounces
• Trigger: 5 pounds, 15 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 22 inches, carbon steel, 1:10 RH twist
• Length: 42.5 inches
• Optics: Drilled and tapped receiver
• Price: $382

 

[oremike]

I've not had either the Mosburg or Ruger but do own a Savage Axis II mine's in 25-06 and as said before is quite the shooter. I'm sure you can't go wrong with either of those rifles but my vote is for the Savage, I've had a bunch of them and every single one shot very well with no issues. When I was looking for exactly as you describe I looked at Midway USA and the left handed 25-06 was discounted about $100.00 so I bought it and haven't looked back.

 

[Greenbug]

I had a Mossberg Patriot in 223 when they first came out, it was a terrible shooter, maybe 4" at 100 yards. Don't know if they have improved anything since then, but didn't care to find out considering how bad my experience was. Both the Ruger and the Savage are good to go in my experience for cheap rifles.

 

[street]

I've nothing to say about the quality of any of the choices, but would simply add that the cost difference between the Ruger American line and the Ruger American Predator line is not excessive, and IIRC the Predator version has a heavier barrel which is also threaded.

 

[P7M13]

Go sample each one and see how it feels.
I'll never buy another Axis. Maybe they've significantly improved since Gen 1.
I have a Ruger M77 Hawkeye that is one of the roughest guns I've owned, and was super difficult to develop a load for. Yeah, it's not an American, as a higher end model, I would expect it to be better than the American. It has made me wary of Ruger QC.
A buddy had a Patriot. Cheap stock but felt smooth when I shot it, and much better than my Axis. I was ~1.5moa with it, he was consistently sub-moa.

 

[Stomper]

My .308 RAR is MOA for the first three shots before the barrel gets hot and the groups open up a bit, but if you're shooting more than one (maybe two) shots while hunting, you're doing it wrong. It shoots like a laser with Remington 150gr Core-Lokt ammo.




Several years back I took a deer 1.5 hours into opening day and only fired one shot right through his heart.

 

[Tlock]

Another vote for the ruger american.