Budget Rifles

[Idahoarcheryhunter]

Ruger American

 

[AggieOutlaw]

Big fan of Savage rifles. All three are great choices.

 

[Amstaff]

A model you did not list in your original post is the Thompson Center Compass. My wife won a .308 T/C Compass in a raffle this past fall and I decided to keep it, rather than trade it or take the cash offer, and I'm really happy with the decision. This rifle retails for just north of $300, and I put on one of the cheaper Vortex scopes... a 4-12X40 Diamondback ($149). T/C Compass has a bunch of features for an opening price point rifle. Adjustable trigger, threaded muzzle, 3 position safety, flush fit magazine, MOA guarantee, and lifetime warranty. I adjusted the trigger, and took it to the range where it put 168gr Sierra boattail hollowpoints into just over 1/2" at 100 yards off of a leadsled. I liked it so much that I took it into the woods this past year and shot a nice whitetail buck and doe with it. If nothing else, add it to your list of rifles to get in your hands and check out.

Keep us posted on what you end up going with.

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Of the ones mentioned I'd go with the ruger. If I was being a contrarian I'd rather buy a good used rifle instead of a bargain rifle. It will never lose its value either.

 

[Epfd217]

I was in the same boat not too long ago. Over and over, the standout from that list is the Ruger American Rifle.

A step above in cost and quality is the Weatherby Vanguard, Marlin Xs7 and the Howa. Now you're getting between $550-700.

I ended up going with the Weatherby and I love it. That being said, whether for me or my daughter, my next base a rifle will be the Ruger. Hindsight says I can buy a good rifle with a good scope and probably have been cheaper than the rifle I have now.

 

[Sagesniffer]

Thanks for the input everyone! There's a lot of votes for the Ruger American. That is the one I haven't handled yet. So I'm off to the gun store to try one of those. I will let you know what I end up with.

 

[Baerman]

I picked up a Ruger American in the 6.5 Creedmoor, hipster with this crowd, and I really like it. After about 12-15 shots it was tacking nails at 100 yds. You'll find that if feels less expensive but don't let it fool you, they do shoot.

 

[Keeptrying]

Ruger American is OK. Light, accurate, and inexpensive. Ours in .308 has been a good rifle.

That said, I cannot stand the bolt not locking closed when the rifle is put on safe. We also had issues with accuracy after pulling the stock to remove material that was touching the stock, but found a bolt tightening pattern that worked to fix that.

I think that as far as budget rifles go the clear winner is the Savage 10/110 series rifles. Most can be had for a very reasonable price used, and honestly, with a little education identifying rifles that are basically unfired is not that hard.

A side by side comparison or the Ruger American and Savage 10 shows the Savage to have a more robust action, stronger bolt, locking bolt while on safe, and the Savage reputation for ease of barrel swap down the road.

Our last purchase was a Savage 111 in .300WM. $400 for the combo which included a Nikon scope we sold for $100. Rifle was never even sighted in. Probably shot a couple times at a cardboard box and then never used to kill anything. Great rifle in a a fantastic caliber for $300. Basically new. I could probably find a similar deal today.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Browsing over this thread I'm seeing a lot of kudos for the Ruger American. I guess I'm just not there. Bear in mind, I kind of had a bad experience with it, but here goes. I dislike the flimsy, hollow feel of the stock and I dislike the silly, phoney two-stage trigger (I can't remember what Ruger calls it, but Savage has the same trigger design - they call it "Accutrigger"). It's basically a trigger inside a trigger, meant to immitate the feel of a two-stage. But, I think it's shoddy. The whole trigger assembly just has too much play in it and the inner piece is made of very light-weight aluminum which could bend easily. I really do like the design of the bolt, very simple, one-piece design. Very little to go wrong there, and it runs smooth, basically.

So, anyway, I bought an American a while back in a .308. It was a package deal with a Vortex scope on it, the whole thing around $500. I was looking for a light weight rifle to take on long hauls and had read good things about the American. I thought maybe I could get used to the things I didn't really care for about it. So maybe I got the only defective Ruger American in existence, but it was terribly inaccurate. The best group I ever shot was about 3" at 100yds (using 150 grain Hornady SST's). I sent it to the factory, and they said there was a problem with the muzzle crown. It was a very frustrating experience and by the time I got it back I just really didn't want it anymore. Instead of getting accustomed to the things I didn't care for, they had become glaring in my mind, so I just decided to get rid of it. I actually never shot it again, but took Ruger's word for it that they'd fixed the muzzle crown and sold it too Cabella's for about $400.

I tell this story to people sometimes and they look at me like I have two heads, "Really? I have an American and it's pretty accurate." Maybe they are, but that wasn't the experience I had with the only one I've owned. But beyond the sourness over it, I'd still just tend toward a different budget rifle. I don't know why most companies are going to that same gimmicky trigger design for their budget line, but if I were looking for an economy rifle at this point, I'd give the Remington 783 a look. But that's simply because I've owned several Remingtons over the years and had great experiences with them.

The Winchester XPR is also interesting. I've never shot one, but I'd give that one a look too since Winchester has been making hunting rifles since the fall of Rome and hasn't gone the way of that goofy trigger design that Savage started. They also have longer barrels, which will increase velocity and (in some cases) accuracy.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Also, I should add my wife has shot a pile of deer with a lefty Savage Model II in a .243. It's pretty accurate. I'm not that crazy about it, I guess, but she shoots it great and it seems to have it where it counts.

 

[JohnCushman]

Brian,

I had 3 rifles that wouldn't shoot SST's worth a crap. I switched ammo and the groups came right back. My wife's Ruger American in .308 touches shots together at 100 yards with 150 grain Federal Fusions. I tried Hornady loaded SST's with my 25-06 and got similar results that you got, as well as my 30-06.
I shot SST loaded ammo out of an old 30-06 and couldn't hit anything. My buddy hand loaded some with the SST bullets and I got great results. But, with factory loaded rounds, I got really poor results.

Maybe your rifle just didn't like them? It happened to 3 of my rifles with them.

 

[AggieOutlaw]

Similar experience with a Mossberg Patriot. I couldn't find a load that it shot accurately. Finally it liked Nosler Accubonds but I bought the 308 to shoot cheap. The Accubonds were as expensive as Fusion for my 300 Win Mag.

By the way, I don't think the accutrigger is shoddy by any means. It's not meant to replicate a two-stage. It's a safety on a light factory trigger. It's the best factory trigger I've shot to date. And the fact that it comes standard on a $400 production rifle is pretty amazing. I noticed the Patriot's accutrigger knock off was not near the quality of the Savage. No experience with the American trigger. But the Savage is great.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Brian,

I had 3 rifles that wouldn't shoot SST's worth a crap. I switched ammo and the groups came right back. My wife's Ruger American in .308 touches shots together at 100 yards with 150 grain Federal Fusions. I tried Hornady loaded SST's with my 25-06 and got similar results that you got, as well as my 30-06.
I shot SST loaded ammo out of an old 30-06 and couldn't hit anything. My buddy hand loaded some with the SST bullets and I got great results. But, with factory loaded rounds, I got really poor results.

Maybe your rifle just didn't like them? It happened to 3 of my rifles with them.

The SST's were only one of type of ammo I tried. I shot fusions, Core-Lokt, Hornady Interlock - those all grouped around 5 or 6 inches at 100. The worst was the Interlock. I mentioned the SST's because they were best, and at 3", that's just not useful. Since that was the best I could do after cleaning, aligning, and tightening up everything, and doing everything I could think of, that was when I contacted Ruger and sent it in with letter detailing everything I'd tried and several grid targets I'd shot.

 

[Brian in Montana]

Similar experience with a Mossberg Patriot. I couldn't find a load that it shot accurately. Finally it liked Nosler Accubonds but I bought the 308 to shoot cheap. The Accubonds were as expensive as Fusion for my 300 Win Mag.

By the way, I don't think the accutrigger is shoddy by any means. It's not meant to replicate a two-stage. It's a safety on a light factory trigger. It's the best factory trigger I've shot to date. And the fact that it comes standard on a $400 production rifle is pretty amazing. I noticed the Patriot's accutrigger knock off was not near the quality of the Savage. No experience with the American trigger. But the Savage is great.

I'm accustomed to crisp, single-stage Remington and Weatherby Vanguard triggers. Those "accutrigger" designs just seem shoddy to me. Don't like them. And, nothing personal, but I do think the design is meant, at least in part, to immitate the feel of a two-stage. If it's simply a safety feature, there wouldn't need to nearly as much drag in the inner part before you reach the main trigger and break the shot. And the name of it may be telling: "accu" trigger, as opposed to "safety" trigger.

 

[Tufrthnails]

Browsing over this thread I'm seeing a lot of kudos for the Ruger American. I guess I'm just not there. Bear in mind, I kind of had a bad experience with it, but here goes. I dislike the flimsy, hollow feel of the stock and I dislike the silly, phoney two-stage trigger (I can't remember what Ruger calls it, but Savage has the same trigger design - they call it "Accutrigger"). It's basically a trigger inside a trigger, meant to immitate the feel of a two-stage. But, I think it's shoddy. The whole trigger assembly just has too much play in it and the inner piece is made of very light-weight aluminum which could bend easily. I really do like the design of the bolt, very simple, one-piece design. Very little to go wrong there, and it runs smooth, basically.

So, anyway, I bought an American a while back in a .308. It was a package deal with a Vortex scope on it, the whole thing around $500. I was looking for a light weight rifle to take on long hauls and had read good things about the American. I thought maybe I could get used to the things I didn't really care for about it. So maybe I got the only defective Ruger American in existence, but it was terribly inaccurate. The best group I ever shot was about 3" at 100yds (using 150 grain Hornady SST's). I sent it to the factory, and they said there was a problem with the muzzle crown. It was a very frustrating experience and by the time I got it back I just really didn't want it anymore. Instead of getting accustomed to the things I didn't care for, they had become glaring in my mind, so I just decided to get rid of it. I actually never shot it again, but took Ruger's word for it that they'd fixed the muzzle crown and sold it too Cabella's for about $400.

I tell this story to people sometimes and they look at me like I have two heads, "Really? I have an American and it's pretty accurate." Maybe they are, but that wasn't the experience I had with the only one I've owned. But beyond the sourness over it, I'd still just tend toward a different budget rifle. I don't know why most companies are going to that same gimmicky trigger design for their budget line, but if I were looking for an economy rifle at this point, I'd give the Remington 783 a look. But that's simply because I've owned several Remingtons over the years and had great experiences with them.

The Winchester XPR is also interesting. I've never shot one, but I'd give that one a look too since Winchester has been making hunting rifles since the fall of Rome and hasn't gone the way of that goofy trigger design that Savage started. They also have longer barrels, which will increase velocity and (in some cases) accuracy.

No disrespect at all, just my .02. I own several Savages with Accu triggers and one RA with their version. I want to know if you know of a factory trigger in a sub $500 rifle that you can adjust to 1 lbs, 8oz and get it to break each and everytime at that weight. Accu triggers aren't perfect, but the blade is what allows them to safely be adjusted that low without allowing for a bang fire. My 6.5 creed is set at 1 lbs 8 oz and my .270win at 1lbs 14oz. They will break within an oz everytime I put the trigger scale on them. I'm allowing for the random break that is an oz low or high. Now I can only get my ruger to adjust down to 3lbs 1 oz, but I havn't researched it any further if I can swap springs. both of the Savages will go lower, but that is where I like each of them. Again I'm not bashing your opinion of them at all, just giving mine and my experiences.

 

[1_pointer]

The "safety" part of the trigger is easily and safely eliminated or rendered out of the equation.

 

[Heroinmyownstory]

My wife shoots the RA in 7mm-08. It is absolutely fantastic. She shoots hsm with a 140 grain berger bullet. It is an absolute tack driver.

 

[Brian in Montana]

No disrespect at all, just my .02. I own several Savages with Accu triggers and one RA with their version. I want to know if you know of a factory trigger in a sub $500 rifle that you can adjust to 1 lbs, 8oz and get it to break each and everytime at that weight. Accu triggers aren't perfect, but the blade is what allows them to safely be adjusted that low without allowing for a bang fire. My 6.5 creed is set at 1 lbs 8 oz and my .270win at 1lbs 14oz. They will break within an oz everytime I put the trigger scale on them. I'm allowing for the random break that is an oz low or high. Now I can only get my ruger to adjust down to 3lbs 1 oz, but I havn't researched it any further if I can swap springs. both of the Savages will go lower, but that is where I like each of them. Again I'm not bashing your opinion of them at all, just giving mine and my experiences.

To each his own. And I never mean any disrespect when I post here, and I didn't take any from your response. For several reasons, I just don't care for the accutrigger design. But, as I mentioned before, my wife's .243 has one and she shoots the heck out of it.

 

[mtmuley]

I don't care for the Accutrigger either. Good triggers tuned correctly work well. Without the wierd blade safety aspect. mtmuley

 

[Laelkhunter]

You don't have a Thompson Center Venture listed, but I would like to suggest it. I got one in 30/06, it shoots groups under an inch consistently, and has an excellent trigger. I paid $300 for it, but they are going for around $375-$400 now.