Budget rifles and durability

Some of the Budget rifles are very well made...Howa/Vanguard for example have 1 piece forged bolts (no solder/braised handle), forged integral lug receiver, hammer forged barrels, only piece of plastic on the rifle is the mag followers.
 
know lot of people who use the savage axis with no issues ( they have all took the factory scope off and replaced it with something better). I always bring a second rifle when hunting except for black powder because I only own one!
 
Budget is subjective... but there are so many good options new and used under $500 that will outlast you, most failures i have seen have been less to budget products and more related to user neglect/abuse and improperly set up equipment.
 
Rifles I have used teaching CFSC end up having issues due to being man handled. Its most often the magazines that give up first. Savage DBM magazines invariably fail, break, stop feeding well. Have had a rear gas baffle fall off a friend's savage in the field. Any rifle can fail (saw a Sako Finnbear bolt guide rail slide forward and prevent the action from opening) but I think the cheap plastic magazines and bottom metal assemblies on budget guns will never last as long as steel assemblies with the same use when used heavily.

I say lets wait 50-60 years and see how the well-used Axis, 783, Ruger Americans are holding up. Most hunters don't use the their rifles as heavily as working guns used by PH's, guides, wildlife managers etc.
 
Makes sense. I suppose there isn't much that can go wrong with a rifle if it's taken care of. I wondered if it is better to have one more expensive rifle as opposed to two cheaper ones.
 
Whatever you decide to get, understand how it works, and possible failure points. Make those areas you check before going hunting. Anything well maintained should last (there are some exceptions, of course).
 
I have a Savage axis that I bought one sale with a mail in rebate for like $260 or something in .223 that the scope sucked, but I put my .17 scope on it, a viper 4-16 and it's been great over maybe 500 rounds. I also won an axis II in a raffle and chose a .243 to fill a gap in rifles. The weaver kaspa scope has actually turned out pretty decent with use. My wife got her hunting license and PAL a couple years ago and chose the .243 as her favourite so I'm just happy she didn't pick my Tikka 6.5x55 with a decent Burris 4.5-14x instead.
I want a Remington 873 or Savage in either a heavy barrel .223 or a short barrel .300 blackout just for fun. I love my nicer guns, but some of the budget guns right now offer a lot for the price. It gotten pretty competitive recently to make something good for cheap.
 
kayaker1 said:
Rifles I have used teaching CFSC end up having issues due to being man handled. Its most often the magazines that give up first. Savage DBM magazines invariably fail, break, stop feeding well. Have had a rear gas baffle fall off a friend's savage in the field. Any rifle can fail (saw a Sako Finnbear bolt guide rail slide forward and prevent the action from opening) but I think the cheap plastic magazines and bottom metal assemblies on budget guns will never last as long as steel assemblies with the same use when used heavily.

I say lets wait 50-60 years and see how the well-used Axis, 783, Ruger Americans are holding up. Most hunters don't use the their rifles as heavily as working guns used by PH's, guides, wildlife managers etc.
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I suspect not well.

Have read three articles lately on some of the most used rifles to have ever seen the light of day. All four rifles written about were Pre 64 Model 70’s and all four are still serviceable.
 
I would put my money on M98’s, Mod70’s and CZ’s outlasting most. In my South African conservation work I saw some very well used rifles and there were some thoroughly beaten CZ’s, Mausers and Lee Enfields still doing duty. I am sure the same would be true of rifles carried extensively in the north.
 
I always take a back up rifle, in case my main rifle gets dropped, brown, scope bent, etc.

It is usually a Lee Enfield #1 sporter that I can lend to someone that needs a rifle. It is a vice-free, dead simple rifle that needs no instruction on how to load or shoot.
 
Ganderite said:
I always take a back up rifle, in case my main rifle gets dropped, brown, scope bent, etc.

It is usually a Lee Enfield #1 sporter that I can lend to someone that needs a rifle. It is a vice-free, dead simple rifle that needs no instruction on how to load or shoot.
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:)Good choice. I used to go with a very similar ;) 'relative'. A Jungle Carbine. As well as easy to use, it also proved to be VERY durable. It was one of my first, of about five, Jungle Carbines and the more it bounced around behind the seat of my old Landrover the better it seemed to shoot;).
 
Only issue I had with my Winchester XPR was every time I'd have to take a sharp turn the skidoo would tip in the soft snow and I'll get snow down to barrel, no other issues than that
 
nomad 68 said:
I always bring a back up rifle. Having said this, most"budget" rifles on the market today will likely outlast you.
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This!

I used to be a cheap f@ck and hunt with cheap rifle/scope combos. I've killed a lot of game too with those cheap combos as animals won't know the difference from a .30 cal 180 gr projo from a 200$ or 2000$ rifle.

The only time I've had an issue with a cheap rifle was with a muzzle loader that I tripped and fell in a ditch filled with 4 to 6 inch rocks. The stock broke at the tang and scope bent at a 30* angle. Cheap or expensive rifle would have been the same outcome. I went to Sail, bought a CVA Wolf combo for 299$ if I remember correctly, sighted it in that night and was hunting again the following morning. I've moved on out of that phase and hunt mostly with "expensive" rifles now but whenever I'm away from the house I bring a back-up. My coyote hunting rifle though is an early model Savage Axis in .223 and I beast the f@ck out of it and it is still a tack driver!
 
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