Rifle choices Savage, Remington, Ruger

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Hudsey

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I am looking at buying a rifle for varmint hunting and just general target shooting. The calibre I am going to buy is the .243. I would like to find out members opinions on which rifle would be the best for ACCURACY, RELIABILITY and just general ease of maintenance. The rifles I have selected are the Savage 11FYCXP3, Remington Model 700 SPS, and the Ruger M77 Hawkeye. They seem to have good reviews and lots of loyale owners, but any opinions or information you have would greatly help me choose.

Thanks in advance

One last thing is it best to just save a $100 and buy the blued barrel or is the stainless barrel worth the extra? Again I will use it for hunting and there might be glare from the stainless.
 
Accuracy has more to do with the shooter than the rifle. Any of the rifles you mention should do fine. I personally run a Savage. I can't complain, the rifle shoots well and has had zero issues. That being said, bolt action rifles from known manufacturers will rarely present a problem.

AS for blued or stainless barrel. I never saw the advantage of a stainless barrel. Some say it helps prevent rust/corrosion. I say, take care of your rifle and you won't have rust/corrosion problems. Some also say that stainless steel barrels are more accurate than blued barrels. I cannot attest to the claims of such gains.

Decide what you "need" as far as options or characteristics are concerned. Make a list of what you "want" with respect to options and characteristics. Then decide which rifle fits your budget and meets your needs and wants.

90% of factory rifles will outshoot 90% of rifle shooter.

TDC
 
I think those are three good rifles. The limitation on the Savage in my opinion is the stock is poor quality and is the kind of stock that gives synthetic a bad name. To buy a laminate stock Savage you are looking at $800 price range, now its no longer a bargain gun. Wholesale Sports has the Ruger M77 All Weather 243 for around $669.00 on sale http://www.wholesalesports.com/onli...egory_id=10110012010338/~pcategory=1011001201. SIR has the All Weather Hawkeye for $644.00. I have one M77MarkII in 223 and its stock is one hell of a lot better than the Savage. Its stainless and comes with excellent factory rings and integral base. I think its a much nicer gun than the Savage, excepting only the trigger, which is a little heavy. The Hawkeye is supposed to have a lighter trigger. Trigger weight can be remedied by a gunsmith if it really is too much weight of pull. Can't comment on the Remington as I don't own one, but their overall reputation is good. You can't really go wrong with any of the guns you've listed, but its nice to know the weaknesses, and IMO for the Savage its the stock, and the Ruger its the trigger, possibly no problem with the Hawkeye. Overall I give the Ruger the edge, and its a fine looking design compared to the Savage. Based on the Mauser's design.
 
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Id go with a savage 12 stainless with a heavy barrel, i have 3 savages actions very very smoothe shoots awesome and they are light i am more then staisfied stainless has not really had any glare effect for me while hunting doesnt change anything.
 
Moose, what kind of stock did your Savages come with, and if it was the synthetic, did you have any problems with the stock touching the barrel, or barrel to stock clearance moving about as mine does? For the record, I like my Savage, but won't be happy with it until I get it in a better stock.
 
Hi

Thanks for the input so far everyone. I went to the store the other day and held all 3. They all felt good to me, I think the Savage and the Ruger felt the best. The savage seemed like the bolt was kind of sloppy. Is this something common or perhaps just that gun at the shop? I am leaning toward the Savage because of the accuracy claims and the trigger. The price is also $534, while the Remington is $567 (not much difference), and the Ruger is $645. If all things are pretty well equal and the savage is as accurate as people claim then that makes it the better buy to me.
 
I have had a 4 Savage 110/10FP rifles all .308, 2 with tupper wear stocks, one B&C Duramaxx and one McMillan, all were very accurate, the Duramaxx stocked one had the tightest group of with a certain type of ammo. Except for one, all like different ammo, one regular stocked model like everything I put through it and was pretty consistant. I have had 2 700P rifles, both liked different ammo, one was a little tighter then the other, and I had a Ruger 77 heavy barrel in a wood stock. @ 100 yards, the Ruger was the most consistent with all types of ammo, now that being said, any of the above will proe most accurate for you, you just have to find the right load. For the money, the Savage is hard to beat.
 
At one time if I wanted a rifle that would shoot right out of the box I would of chosen a Remington. Recently I hear more and more people say that they can't get the newer Remington triggers to adjust to where they want them. Once you have to get a gunsmith to adjust the trigger for you, there is little advantage of the Remington over the others. Without the advantage of a dependably adjustable trigger, the Remington looks somewhat over priced compared to the competition. Both the Savage and the Remington seem to have the most after market accessories available for them. From the standpoint of reliability I would consider the Ruger due to it's CRF action, but I wouldn't expect it to shoot as well as either the Remington or the Savage without some tweaking. The Savage is aesthetically the rifle I like the least, but this is a personal prejudice, and there are far to many satisfied Savage customers for me to impugn the reputation of the quality of the newer rifles.

I have reached the stage in my life where I find it difficult to be happy with an off the shelf rifle. Any of the brands mentioned will be improved for accuracy work by the addition of a match barrel, custom trigger, and a custom stock - preferably a fully adjustable one that allows not only the proper length of pull, but one that also aligns the eye with a large objective high mounted scope.
 
I just ordered a Savage in 243 today!

So, I'd say Savage.

This is not arbitrary. I was selecting between Remington 700 and Tikka T-3 also. The Tikka was first off my list - although they are great rifles and very accurate out-of-the-box (priced right too!). The reason this one's out is the 1:10" twist rate of the T-3 was too slow for what I want to do. I think the Savage 1:9.25" will handle 100+gr bullets better.

I've been disappointed with Remington's Quality Control Standards lately. The last (new) Rem 700 had about 20% contact on the locking lugs.... Remington will have to build something GREAT before I return...

I know a few guys who have built custom bench guns on Savage actions too. They shoot great right from the box so there is lots of flexibility with Savage.

Good luck with your choice.
 
I have seen lots of precision rifles built on Remington actions. I have also seen the accuracy from out of the box Savages that was impressive for a factory rifle. What I don't see is Ruger or Browning based precision rifles.
 
Out of the choices listed, I would go with the Savage. I have only owned 1 Rem 700 and one Ruger 77. I have also owned a Savage and a Stevens. All were quality guns but to be completely honest, I now have 2 Tikka T3s and a Win 70. I wouldn't trade my Tikkas for anything and the stainless Tikkas are matte finish with absolutely no glare.

The Tikkas are not for everyone as they have too much plastic for some people and you don't have to play with them to make them shoot accurately, some like to play.
 
I was in the same predicament that your are in just this fall.

I ended up going with the Savage 12fv in .243 with the heavy barrel. The deciding factor was the accutrigger.

I experienced the best out of the box accuracy I had ever seen and all I did was put a scope on it... and a cheap Tasco at that. I now have a Bushnel 3200 elite 10 power on it and will probably never get rid of it. This was my first Savage and I will buy Savage again.

As for the bolt being sloppy... I haven't noticed that with mine..
 
Don’t forget about the CZ line of rifles. The most consistently accurate firearms I have ever owned are/ were CZ rifles (and pistols). No need to change barrels, stocks triggers or other parts, just shoot them.
 
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