American, M-18, XPR, or Momentum?

H

Hollow Point

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looking for a new hunting rifle in the sub $800 range in a 7mm or bigger caliber. Does anyone have any first hand experience with the Ruger American, the Mauser m-18, Winchester XPR, or the Franchi Momentum? they all seem to be slight variation on the 3 lug design with the barrel nut. Are there any of them that are know to be bad and should be avoided?

Other option is to keep an eye on the ee forum and hope a good deal comes up there.
 
Especially in that price range. 800 bucks with tax is not much gun on the new market these days but it can get you a lot on the e.e

Or buy one of those guns used for 650 dollars
 
XPR would be the best of that bunch by a good margin, better trigger, better fit and finish.
Best made rifle in that sub $800 range are the Howa/Vanguard rifles by far, but traditional 2 lug 90 degree throw.
 
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Personally, I’d be keeping an eye on the EE for a lightly used T3. Win M70, Ruger Hawkeye, or Remington Model 7 or 700 are all options at that price as well.
 
The American uses the barrel nut design, the M18 is a press fit barrel, not sure about the other two? Of your list, I would go with the Ruger, lifetime warranty is nice and Ruger has it. They have improved the stocks on them over time (at least on the predator line, I would imagine on the regular American as well). I also prefer the tang safety of the Ruger. The one dislike I have for the Ruger is that the safety doesn’t lock the bolt closed, not really a big deal though. Also, the Ruger is a hammer forged barrel, more barrel life out of hammer forged.

I think the Mauser is hammer forged as well, but I turn away at the press fit part. The Sauer 100 is the same. Mauser and Sauer are owned by the same company, just like Winchester and browning are both owned by FN. On that note, I’d throw the AB3 in the mix as well. If it was me, I’d find a used x-bolt, I prefer them above all others.
 
Rifleman87 said:
The American uses the barrel nut design, the M18 is a press fit barrel, not sure about the other two? Of your list, I would go with the Ruger, lifetime warranty is nice and Ruger has it. They have improved the stocks on them over time (at least on the predator line, I would imagine on the regular American as well). I also prefer the tang safety of the Ruger. The one dislike I have for the Ruger is that the safety doesn’t lock the bolt closed, not really a big deal though. Also, the Ruger is a hammer forged barrel, more barrel life out of hammer forged.

I think the Mauser is hammer forged as well, but I turn away at the press fit part. The Sauer 100 is the same. Mauser and Sauer are owned by the same company, just like Winchester and browning are both owned by FN. On that note, I’d throw the AB3 in the mix as well. If it was me, I’d find a used x-bolt, I prefer them above all others.
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Gotta quit the "Ruger has a lifetime warranty" thing, they have no warranty, at all. They do have good customer service in the US after sale, they will fix anything current model cheaply or free if defective, discontinued models you are on your own.
In Canada the after sale service is not so much, and the 2 American rifles I had were horribly machined, the bolt sounded like a zipper when worked, and the tool marks on everything including the barrel made Norinco look like a high end manufacturer.
Ruger makes good rimfires like the MK pistols and 10/22 that last a lifetime, they make a decent revolver but the Canadian prices are higher then S&W which they pale in comparison to, they make a nice $2000 single shot rifle, there is nothing else I would look at buying Ruger for. There are many better center fire rifles on the market, many better center fire pistols, the few stable products they produce are OK for the price, but they also make a ton of overpriced low quality garbage today.

Screenshot-20200807-213007-Chrome.jpg
 
Rifleman87 said:
The American uses the barrel nut design, the M18 is a press fit barrel, not sure about the other two? Of your list, I would go with the Ruger, lifetime warranty is nice and Ruger has it. They have improved the stocks on them over time (at least on the predator line, I would imagine on the regular American as well). I also prefer the tang safety of the Ruger. The one dislike I have for the Ruger is that the safety doesn’t lock the bolt closed, not really a big deal though. Also, the Ruger is a hammer forged barrel, more barrel life out of hammer forged.

I think the Mauser is hammer forged as well, but I turn away at the press fit part. The Sauer 100 is the same. Mauser and Sauer are owned by the same company, just like Winchester and browning are both owned by FN. On that note, I’d throw the AB3 in the mix as well. If it was me, I’d find a used x-bolt, I prefer them above all others.
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I owned a browning a-bolt 2 years ago but I never Liked the way Browning says to take your gun to a gunsmith for things you should be able to do a home, like strip the bolt to clean and oil it. I look at the x-bolts with the big button on the bolt handle to unlock the bolt, and I can't help but think that its just another entry point for water and dirt that I can't clean myself.
 
Hitzy said:
Gotta quit the "Ruger has a lifetime warranty" thing, they have no warranty, at all. They do have good customer service in the US after sale, they will fix anything current model cheaply or free if defective, discontinued models you are on your own.
In Canada the after sale service is not so much, and the 2 American rifles I had were horribly machined, the bolt sounded like a zipper when worked, and the tool marks on everything including the barrel made Norinco look like a high end manufacturer.
Ruger makes good rimfires like the MK pistols and 10/22 that last a lifetime, they make a decent revolver but the Canadian prices are higher then S&W which they pale in comparison to, they make a nice $2000 single shot rifle, there is nothing else I would look at buying Ruger for. There are many better center fire rifles on the market, many better center fire pistols, the few stable products they produce are OK for the price, but they also make a ton of overpriced low quality garbage today.

Screenshot-20200807-213007-Chrome.jpg
Click to expand...

Very interesting, has not been my experience. I sold a mini 30 to a friend of mine (I purchased it new in 2010). He could never get it to shoot well and noticed that when using Ruger rings it crushed the scope tube, not from over tightening though. He contacted Ruger, they said send it in. They checked and found the scallops in the receiver were machined crooked. They sent him a whole new rifle. This would have been around 2016. I would have expected them to only replace the receiver, but a whole new rifle is awfully decent of them.

Now, it was explained to me that this was due to their lifetime warranty, but perhaps I misunderstood.

Anyways, I’ll believe what you posted and will no longer tote the Ruger warranty. Thanks for the correction.
 
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