Advice on a new 308

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Hey fellas, I’m looking at buying a bolt gun in 308. Budget rifle would be preferable, sub $1400.
I would want something that takes aics 10 rounders.
no bigger than a 20” barrel.
Shooting distance would be no more than 800 yards at steel.
A combo of bulk ammo and decent factory stuff.
Light would be nice.
So far only 2 have caught my eye: Ruger American in the Magpul stock 20”. Or a Sig Cross if I save for longer. But I’m relatively impatient

Am I being unrealistic?
 
Nothing wrong with the Ruger American. I have one in .223 and with handloads get well under 1MOA groups. If you want to spend more money, by all means consider the Bergara, it's also a fine rifle as is the Sig Cross. Nowadays, most, if not all, bolt action rifles over $1200.00 are capable of sub-MOA accuracy. Since you're planning to use bulk ammo, including decent factory ammo, you may or may not achieve 1 MOA but it won't be the fault of the rifle. Anyway, just my $0.02.
 
Tikka CTR in 308 would serve you well. Most guns are accurate, but the feel of them and the overall quality is vastly different. I don't care if a Ruger american or savage shoot 1 hole, I'm not spending money on either
 
Ruger American Predator in the Hunter Stock or if you can find a used Ruger Gunsite Scout.

Not sure if any of the CZ 557 rifles take 10 round AICS mags?
 
Another vote for the T3 CTR. Honestly it’s fantastic out of the box if you’re ok with a plastic stock. The TRG mags are better than the AI mags in my experience. Shoot it for a year as is and by then you’ll have money for an aftermarket stock if you’re so inclined. My 20” CTR in .308 is a hunting rifle in the fall and has also successfully been used for PRS past 800m. My 24” CTR in 6.5 is my PRS gun and has no trouble out to 1000m. For your budget you’ll have a rifle with an excellent mag, a trigger that honestly does not need upgrading, a decent bolt knob and a picatinny rail. It’s good to go out of the box.
 
So many good options in .308. you can tune a Remington to exceed a far more expensive rifles capability for under $1400. Does that budget include the optic?
 
Another vote here for a Tikka. Used one if you are lucky, or the CTR can be a good start.
Eventually put a chassis like the MDT XRS and you'll have a nice all-around rifle, capable of PRS as well as hunting.
The stock CTR use nice 10 rounds mags, and if you go with the XRS or another MDT chassis you'll be good with your AICS mags.
There is plenty of nice prefit barrels if you want to upgrade in the future.

Dark
 
It would be advisable to feel a couple stocks/chassis before you decide. That magpul hunter wouldn't be comfortable for extended shooting sessions. The grip angle is more suited for hunting. Also, there is a Ruger in it. Seriously just look at a tikka that fits your price and dump the factory stock for an xrs or bravo or chassis of your choosing
 
Jamie said:
This !
Click to expand...

Savage has gone to hell recently, quality and quality control issues. Bought one brand new recently and all the rifling at the muzzle was buggered severely, as well the crown was not cut at all just a horrible rounded nub with a hole in it. Had to box it up and send it back to them. Six weeks so far and counting. Will never buy another one. Stay away!
 
Another very underatted mention- Howa 1500 or weatherby vanguard. I have a 308 vanguard which is essentially made in the howa factory in Japan just like the howas. In some ways they are more solid and robustly built than a tikka and are on par or possibly better in terms of accuracy and prescision. Out of the box with some handloads I was getting under half moa groups.
 
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