Sub $600 22-250

Had very good experiences with Savage and the Weatherby Vanguard. My current varmint gun is a Savage Stevens 223 with an upgraded trigger, ran just over $400.
If you were hoping for heavy barrel, a Remington SPS varminter is just a hair above your stated budget. I had a very accurate 700 at one point, not sure what the new ones shoot like. There have been some incidents with quality control on a few Remingtons lately.
 
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A cursory overview of the CGN sponsors suggests that this may not be an easy question to answer:

P&D Enterprises: Tikka T3 Lite ss in .22-250 = $825
Prophet River: Weatherby Vanguard S2 in .22-250 = $729
TradeEx: Zastava M70 in .22-250 = $695
Al Flaherty's: Thompson Centre Dimension in .22-250 = $633 (sale price; close but no cigar)
Frontier Firearms: Savage Axis in .22-250 = $330, Savage 11 Trophy Hunter in .22-250 = $530

Other rifle makes/models chambered in .22-250 may be available elsewhere at the sub-$600 price-point,
but they are not advertised or not available from the sponsors.

So, at least from these retailers, the "best value" appears to be restricted to only rifles made by Savage.

(BTW, regardless of my chosen CGN name .. I do not own any products made by Savage, nor do I plan to at any time in the future. lol).
 
Savage didn't equip their Axis with a decent trigger, the Accutrigger. For similar money you can buy a Ruger American with a smooth, light trigger. The Ruger American is just over $400.
 
T/C has a couple other offerings and I think the Ruger American might fit the bill too. The Marlin and the Weatherby are off the table even if I could find a Weatherby on budget. I'm leaning toward Savage or T/C right now but would be interested in hearing from a few more American owners.
 
I always looked down on the Savages, until last year when I bought an Axis at an auction sale for $295. Didn't expect much - but it's as accurate or more accurate than any other rifle I own; I was happily surprised! Since I didn't feel like I had to 'baby' it, I spent $20 on Krylon camo paint, did the stock up, another $100 on a bipod and the scope I used was a $200 used Bushnell Trophy. I also have a Stevens 200 in .243, and again another inexpensive but solid 'working' rifle. They aren't pretty, but if you don't mind that I think it's worth a try, and then bump up to a higher quality one later.
 
sheephunter said:
T/C has a couple other offerings and I think the Ruger American might fit the bill too. The Marlin and the Weatherby are off the table even if I could find a Weatherby on budget. I'm leaning toward Savage or T/C right now but would be interested in hearing from a few more American owners.
Click to expand...

If you go with the Axis, mind you, for one hour of labour a gunsmith can polish the sear and install a lighter spring...making for a decent trigger...about $100.
I just like the Ruger American versus the Axis because it's as accurate, has a smoother bolt, an adjustable nice trigger,
and a better recoil pad all included at a low price.
 
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