Ten Great Mid-Priced Bolt Action Hunting Rifles
BY Herschel Smith
3 years, 4 months ago
These are some nice rifles, and they all shoot < 1 MOA out of the box. I especially like the Tikka T3X Lite and the Savage 110 Hunter.
Of course, you could go with the Savage 110 Ultralite with its carbon fiber wrapped barrel, and get an even lighter rifle (< 6 pounds). But then you’d be spending twice what you’d pay for the Savage 110 Hunter to reduce rifle weight by one pound. And get a prettier looking gun.
On December 9, 2020 at 2:23 am, Georgiaboy61 said:
A big thumbs up for CZ, a company that offers a lot of value for the money. Their American 557 line with Turkish walnut stock is built to quality the equivalent of the Winchester Model 70 and other rifles at higher price points, and it is accurate as well. CZ is also worth considering if you want a rifle chambered in a caliber more-common to Europe than North America, such as 7×57 Mauser or 6.5×55.
The examples of the Tikka T3 Hunter series that I have run across have been very nicely-finished rifles with attractive features, and they can be had for $850 or so if one shops around. Tikka is the more-budget conscious brand name under Sako, and although you won’t get as fancy a rifle in a Tikka, it should shoot just as well as its more-expensive counterpart.
I don’t have direct experience with Kimber, but have an acquaintance who owns one and is very pleased with it.
If one is willing to shop the used marketplace, there are excellent, even superb examples of Winchester M70s, Remington 700s and Savage 110s on offer at many retailers, as well as on sites like “Gun Broker.” Cabela’s ‘Gun Library’ carries many of these as well. Remington’s recent products have fallen on hard times and are not of the quality they once were, but some of the older bolt-action rifles from that company are an excellent value.
Don’t neglect sporterized versions of .303 Lee-Enfields, M1917 Enfields, M1903 and M1903A3 Springfields, German (and other) Mausers, and Arisakas as well. Properly modified, perhaps rebarreled, some with beautifully-figured stocks, many of these custom rifles are jewels to own and shoot. And many have been rechambered in calibers common to North America.
On December 9, 2020 at 9:32 am, teslawasframed said:
I can heartily recommend the Mauser M18. Just got mine in 308, very pleased with it. $420 from Euro Optic, special is still going.
On December 9, 2020 at 10:10 am, Ned2 said:
I would also include the Winchester XPR.
Available with Vortex scope for under $700.
Also with detachable mag and bolt safety.
On December 9, 2020 at 12:31 pm, Bill Sullivan said:
Can’t beat the Savage 10/110. Out of the box, usually MOA or better. My 4 position target rifle has over 5,200 rounds of .22-250 through it, and never a reliability or accuracy problem. And I have a very old 110 in .30-06. I was going to re-barrel it into another target rifle, but it shoots too good to take it apart.
On December 9, 2020 at 9:10 pm, X said:
I know everybody likes to talk shit about Remington these days, and deservedly so for a number of reasons.
With that disclaimer, a couple of years ago I picked up a Model 700 .308 stainless synthetic ADL at a big box for $399 and it shoots and handles great. It is a go-to meat-getter, especially in bad weather. I liked it so much that his year when Wally World had blued synthetic 700s on sale in .223 I snatched one up for $290. It shoots dime-sized groups at 100 yards. I was very proud of myself until a couple of weeks later, they lowered the price to $199 — and a couple of weeks after that, to $79.
Yep, you read that right. Wally was selling short-action 700s for seventy-nine bucks.
Unfortunately the issue is kinda moot right now with Remington having gone bankrupt, so if you didn’t score one you’re going to be out of luck for a while until production is back up and running under new ownership.
And yes, I am familiar with the horror stories of some of the junk Remington produced in recent years. But they weren’t ALL bad…