With Remington, stick with the Seven or 700. All of Remington's variant, "economy guns", with the exception of the 700SPS, are economy for a reason. The 783 seems to have a bit of a following but with all the necessary modifications needed to build a good rifle, you are further ahead to stick with the 700 for the availability of high quality aftermarket parts. I know a few members will get pissy, and they may even provide praise to the Savage Axis, but the 700 vs 783 is like comparing Sako to Norinco.
Model 7 or M77 Compact 308s
- Thread starter WhelanLad
- Start date
tactical lever
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Fox Creek, Alberta
I'd go a little further and avoid all of the economy guns, of all the major manufacturer's line ups. There's guns made for a reasonable price, and then there's just plain cheap!
Saw one fella had a couple of Savage Axis, and the one he used for hunting and took care of like his others rusted to complete crap. And higher price doesn't really guarantee you're getting quality either. Check out the reviews on the Ruger "Precision" rifle built on the American action. Another notable favourite (used to) spit out a plastic bolt shroud into the shooter's eye, in event of a hot round.
Hey why not a a HOWA Superlite I finally got around to to shooting mine in 308 on Thursday
It shoots almost everything I tried under 1 moa
They can be had on the short barrel so believe
I'm a Kimber fan for the most part but I am impressed with this unit I shot another last year in 6.5 and it was good but not as good as this 308
It shoots almost everything I tried under 1 moa
They can be had on the short barrel so believe
I'm a Kimber fan for the most part but I am impressed with this unit I shot another last year in 6.5 and it was good but not as good as this 308
tactical lever
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Fox Creek, Alberta
I said that I'd avoid the "economy" guns out of all the big manufacturer's line ups, but should say that I didn't include Weatherby in there. The Vanguard rifles used to be Weatherbys and very nice "un cheap" rifles themselves. They have been made by Howa quite awhile now, and while not as fancy as the old Vanguards, are well made rifles in their own right.
I had Model Seven and was not happy with it. The action is shorter than a standard short action 700. There's barely enough room to load a 308 sized round into the internal magazine. DBM bottom metal for the Seven is really expensive and the shorter action opening on the bottom creates feeding problem. Trigger is meh until I got a timney. And after all that investments the factory barrel still doesn't shoot very well.
If you only considering factory rifle:
- Tikka t3x compact or the battue is highly popular. But I consider the 20" barrel to be too long for my taste.
- Savage 110 Carbon Predator is also a great choice if you can dish out the extra money (they go on sale regularly).
- Ruger American Gen 2 Ranch has 16" barrel in 308. It's highly praised for accuracy and features.
- CVA Cascade SB is also a highly praised rilfe for accuracy and feature, and can be had new for less than $1000.
What I ended up doing after ditching the Seven platform is buying a Savage action and installing a 16" barrel myself. The tools involved are not expensive. One set of 308 headspace gauges enable you to go with any 308 based calibers in the future.
If you only considering factory rifle:
- Tikka t3x compact or the battue is highly popular. But I consider the 20" barrel to be too long for my taste.
- Savage 110 Carbon Predator is also a great choice if you can dish out the extra money (they go on sale regularly).
- Ruger American Gen 2 Ranch has 16" barrel in 308. It's highly praised for accuracy and features.
- CVA Cascade SB is also a highly praised rilfe for accuracy and feature, and can be had new for less than $1000.
What I ended up doing after ditching the Seven platform is buying a Savage action and installing a 16" barrel myself. The tools involved are not expensive. One set of 308 headspace gauges enable you to go with any 308 based calibers in the future.
When my boy turned 9, I went with the Ruger compact mostly because it was the same safety and action type as my other rifles. I figured if for some reason out hunting he had to use mine everything would be familiar. Went with laminate, may be heavier but what some call unbalanced work in a kids favor being heavier lowering recoil at the same time keeping the weaght at the sholder not on the outstretched arm.
As much as I love all the 308 based calibers, up and down, I went with the boring old 308. 1) The hundred+ moose shot around here by friends and family with 308 can't be too far wrong. 2) As a reloader of 30cal for 40+ years I had every bullet from 110 to 220 on hand. A minimum load in 110 was a fun shooting and did amazing destruction on action targets like paint tins filled with water.
Unfortunately the kid didn't pull a tag until he was 14, but with 150 btsp Hornaday it never needed a second shot.
As much as I love all the 308 based calibers, up and down, I went with the boring old 308. 1) The hundred+ moose shot around here by friends and family with 308 can't be too far wrong. 2) As a reloader of 30cal for 40+ years I had every bullet from 110 to 220 on hand. A minimum load in 110 was a fun shooting and did amazing destruction on action targets like paint tins filled with water.
Unfortunately the kid didn't pull a tag until he was 14, but with 150 btsp Hornaday it never needed a second shot.
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Yeah Tikkas are about twice the price 
had her chasing up a Tikka today for a feeel but she love the Franchi--- an we will go the Model Seven route for a try and then if not i shold be able to sell for a Win--- which would be nice if it isnt what she chasen--
had her chasing up a Tikka today for a feeel but she love the Franchi--- an we will go the Model Seven route for a try and then if not i shold be able to sell for a Win--- which would be nice if it isnt what she chasen--
