Looking for rifle recommendations

AJCrowley

AJCrowley

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Hi everyone,

Hopefully this is the right forum for this question, please excuse me if it's not.

I'm looking to buy a rifle, and I have a fairly detailed list of "wants", the more of these I can get, the better. I'm thinking I could probably get something closer to what I'm looking for used, since some of my wants could be after-market. I'm not a rich man, so can't afford to spend a fortune, and would like to keep it below $1,000 if possible, not much more. I'd like something that will last a very long time if properly cared for.

I'm pretty new to the sport, so if anyone has any opinions on any of these features that may be a waste of time/unnecessary/undesirable, I'm more than happy to listen to people with more experience than I have. None of this is set in stone.

The primary use of the rifle will be target shooting, so I want something as accurate as possible (hence posting in the Precision forum), but I'd also like something I can take deer or moose hunting (which rules out restricted).

Anyway, here's some features that I'd like to see in my purchase:

.308 cal
Bolt action
Detachable magazine
Iron sights (option to change to scope at a later date)
Bipod
Muzzle brake

Anyway, that's about it for the features I'd really like to see. Rifles I've had my eye on so far have included the Remington 700 and Tikka T3.

All opinions welcome and appreciated.

Cheers!
 
I bought an Australian Interntional Arms Lee Enfield from Marstar. 7.62Nato (.308) with a scope for under $1000. I like mine, and consider it the best value around for a good target rifle.
 
I am far from a precision shooter but it would seem you are already decided.Either would be a good choice.
Id forget the iron sights and muzzle brake. And if your guns a shooter you don't need the detachable magazine. One shot will do.Especially moose. ( no deer in Nfld)
Given most moose are shot less than 150 yds anything that can shoot close to MOA will work and one shot is enough.
308 is a great caliber even tho I am a fan of the 7 mm and 6.5 mm bullets
Good luck.
 
DATAM said:
I bought an Australian Interntional Arms Lee Enfield from Marstar. 7.62Nato (.308) with a scope for under $1000. I like mine, and consider it the best value around for a good target rifle.
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These look really great. I'm a big fan of the 10 round clip as well.

Thanks for the tip!
 
Obtunded said:
Do you reload or not?
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As of right now, I'm just getting started.

Reloading is something I'd like to get into, but I only have so much money to begin with, and the rifle is my first priority, so I see that as something to get into a while down the road (after I've collected enough empty cartidges to make it worthwhile too).
 
You can buy things like a muzzle brake and bipod later, get shooting first. If you are not opposed to purchasing used, brows through the EE in both the hunting and target rifle sections. Another place to check is at the TEC Tradex site that can be found at the top of the page. High quality Husqvarna rifles can be found there in good condition at reasonable prices, but don't limit yourself to a .308. The .308 is a great cartridge, but so is the 6.5X55, and for that matter so is the .223, and you will be in less need of a brake with a small bore. As you say, you're just starting out, so its not like you have thousands of dollars tied up in .308 components.

I agree that the rifle needs to be your first priority, but purchasing off the shelf match ammo is expensive in the extreme. For the cost of 4 or 5 boxes of factory match ammo, you could have a small Lee press, an ABL powder scale, (ABL= anything but Lee), a Lyman manual, a Lee case trimmer, a deburring tool, a set of dies, a container of Imperial sizing Wax and another of Imperial Dry Neck Lube, 100 Winchester cases, 500 primers, 100 Sierra Match Kings, and a pound of 4895 or Varget.
 
Boomer said:
You can buy things like a muzzle brake and bipod later, get shooting first. If you are not opposed to purchasing used, brows through the EE in both the hunting and target rifle sections. Another place to check is at the TEC Tradex site that can be found at the top of the page. High quality Husqvarna rifles can be found there in good condition at reasonable prices, but don't limit yourself to a .308. The .308 is a great cartridge, but so is the 6.5X55, and for that matter so is the .223, and you will be in less need of a brake with a small bore. As you say, you're just starting out, so its not like you have thousands of dollars tied up in .308 components.

I agree that the rifle needs to be your first priority, but purchasing off the shelf match ammo is expensive in the extreme. For the cost of 4 or 5 boxes of factory match ammo, you could have a small Lee press, an ABL powder scale, (ABL= anything but Lee), a Lyman manual, a Lee case trimmer, a deburring tool, a set of dies, a container of Imperial sizing Wax and another of Imperial Dry Neck Lube, 100 Winchester cases, 500 primers, 100 Sierra Match Kings, and a pound of 4895 or Varget.
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I wasn't aware that reloading was so cost effective. From what I've read on this board, it sounds like roll-your-own generally offer greater accuracy than factory ammo too. Very interesting stuff.

As for calibers, .308 seemed like a good choice based on my requirements and what I've read, but it's certainly not set in stone, if the round is capable of taking down a moose, that's the most extreme use of it I'd be going for. I did manage to smarten up from my initial "magnum fever" (thankfully before buying anything), thanks to some very informative posts on this board :)

I guess I should probably start doing some research on reloading....

Thanks again everyone for all the fantastic info.
 
308 is a very versatile cartridge and capable of terrific things. It is however not an "ideal" cartridge in that it has significant recoil, consumes lots of powder and its bullets are more expensive than a smaller caliber. When starting out and trying to develop good technique, a heavy-recoiling rifle like a 308 can produce many subconscious habits such as flinching in anticipation of the shot. This WILL affect you accuracy. Shot off a bench in a light rifle, this caliber can hurt.

If you are going the factory rifle route and would like to keep things manageable, I suggest a 223.

Your Achilles heel is your desire to stay with open sights. They are fine for having fun, but an optical sight will improve your accuracy. Before i get trounced on for suggesting scopes are better than iron sights, I should point out that there are shooting disciplines that incorporate purpose-built aperture sights, however these units are about as expensive as a scope and require special mounts.

A Remington LTR, or "police" model (their heavy barrels are a must for target shooting) or some of the heavy barrel Savages, such as the LRPV are great choices for getting started, and all of these are frequently seen used.
 
Obtunded said:
308 is a very versatile cartridge and capable of terrific things. It is however not an "ideal" cartridge in that it has significant recoil, consumes lots of powder and its bullets are more expensive than a smaller caliber. When starting out and trying to develop good technique, a heavy-recoiling rifle like a 308 can produce many subconscious habits such as flinching in anticipation of the shot. This WILL affect you accuracy. Shot off a bench in a light rifle, this caliber can hurt.

If you are going the factory rifle route and would like to keep things manageable, I suggest a 223.

Your Achilles heel is your desire to stay with open sights. They are fine for having fun, but an optical sight will improve your accuracy. Before i get trounced on for suggesting scopes are better than iron sights, I should point out that there are shooting disciplines that incorporate purpose-built aperture sights, however these units are about as expensive as a scope and require special mounts.

A Remington LTR, or "police" model (their heavy barrels are a must for target shooting) or some of the heavy barrel Savages, such as the LRPV are great choices for getting started, and all of these are frequently seen used.
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if your going down for dissing iron sights at long range...so am i brother...also...a stevens with a new barrel (easy as hell to switch) and some stock modifications is cheap and dead on accurate
 
I believe he mentioned that he would like to moose hunt with this rifle. If that is the case then stay with the .308 win.
In the future he could get a second barrel for target shooting. i.e. 6.5 x 55.
I have a second barrel for my Sako in .308 win. Takes 20 minutes to change barrels.
 
I'm certainly not averse to putting together my own rifle either.

I've been looking for a site that offers some kind of customization package for a complete rifle (something nice and interactive would be best, but I'm having a hard time finding anything that makes me confident that I'm not missing something).

There's some great recommendations in this article, but I get a strong sense that there would be a significant amount of shopping around to get all the parts that I wanted, which would be fine for a project rifle that I could take months to slowly assemble, but when I want to get something that I can basically spend a day putting together, then take to the gunsmith for any work that's either out of my skill range, or that I don't have the tools to do, followed by just some fine tuning, it becomes a less viable option.

Well, I'm glad I've got some time to educate myself, rather than just going out and impulse buying the first rifle that feels right.
 
If you have an action that works for you, and a stock that is both ergonomic and functional for your purposes, you can switch barrels on almost any rifle. I have multiple barrels for my rifles.

Without a doubt, the fastest and safest type of barrel change is with a Remington or other threaded action. When you have a barrel PROPERLY chambered and head-spaced to the very action you are usinging, it is as simple as spinning one off and putting on the next. They are already headspaced so you cannot f*ck-up and blow yourself up with an improperly headspaced rifle. The barrel screws in as far as it can and stops - instant proper headspace.

I know several competitive shooters that have rigged up barrel vices on a trailer hitch draw bar. Just insert the action wrench and twist.

I overlooked your moose gun criteria, so I must concede that yes, 308 is a far better choice, but the 6.5X55 Swede is both a helluva good 1000 yard cartridge, and a great moose cartridge as well. Easily found in factory ammo too.
 
Savage model 14 Euro Classic...has everything you want except the brake (which you don't need on a 308) and comes in at around 900 new...it's more a hunting rifle than a target rifle, but should be more than precise enough for someone getting started out.
 
Obtunded said:
Without a doubt, the fastest and safest type of barrel change is with a Remington or other threaded action. When you have a barrel PROPERLY chambered and head-spaced to the very action you are usinging, it is as simple as spinning one off and putting on the next. They are already headspaced so you cannot f*ck-up and blow yourself up with an improperly headspaced rifle. The barrel screws in as far as it can and stops - instant proper headspace.
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Hey Ian,

Do you have all your recoil lugs pinned to your Rem actions that you use as barrel swap guns?
 
AJCrowley, since I authored that article, I will throw in my 2 cents.

Getting stuff for a Savage or Stevens build is easy and most parts can be had through Cdn suppliers.

With the right parts, you can go from a competitive F class rifle, to hunting varmints, to chasing cape buffalo in only a few minutes per swap. Cost would be low compared to other platforms.

Not sure if you saw my other article on a 223 tactical rifle build? Will show you what a simple Savage action can do.

Let me know...

Jerry
 
Great article, thanks Jerry.

I've still got a few weeks to work it out and change my mind (which I seem to be doing almost daily at this point, which is why it's good that I have a while before my PAL gets here), but I think my current plan of choice is to get a Savage 14 Euro Classic.

They're very reasonably priced, and come with just about everything that I want, and I've heard good things about Savage, it seems like a good starting point. I might splash for a bipod, sling and a 3-9x scope off the bat, and down the road add a lower caliber barrel, assuming it's compatible, from what I've gathered so far, it doesn't sound like it will be a problem.

This looks like it should meet all my objectives, and give me lots of options for further customization down the line.

One thing I'm not quite clear on - I've got the impression that changing the caliber of a rifle is often as simple as just screwing on a different barrel, but what about the action? If something's made for 308 cartridges, will it just as easily handle 243s (the rifle is available in that caliber)? I assume I'll also need a different magazine for the lower caliber rounds? Will the smaller magazine be compatible with the action on this rifle?

Now, ask me again tomorrow and we'll see if I'm still singing the same tune :)

On the plus side, I am making steps towards the more sensible, from wanting my first firearm to be a handgun, to the magnum fever, to now (hopefully) picking at a sensible all purpose rifle. I understand the tradeoffs with an all purpose (something that does everything pretty well is less likely to do any single thing extremely well), but I'm starting to feel more confident in what I'm looking for.

Cheers.
 
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