Have been looking at getting a rifle this year in the budget category, as some of you may know who have been very helpful in the threads I've posted so far.
Well I decided to go have a look at Wholesale Sports because they've got the biggest selection in town, and my Aunt works there. I didn't expect much because I don't live in a very big city, but they had at least one of every gun I wanted to look at, I thought I'd share my impressions.
The 4.
Remington 783
Ruger All American
Savage Axis
Weatherby Vanguard
First was the 783. I have always used rifles with wood stocks because almost everything I've ever fired was dads or gramps' gun. And the guns are as old as they are. I've once fired a .270 that belonged to a friend which had a composite stock and I was impressed, not that I can remember what the gun was, but it was solid. I keep being told by the sellers around town to get synthetic because it can take a beating compared to wood and its much better than it used to be.
Well this isn't true of the 783 as far as I can tell. It didn't feel like strong composite, it felt like plastic. It was less bulky than the pictures on Remingtons website seems to show, but it felt very cheap. The trigger had a striker pistol style trigger,with a safety on the trigger itself, which is interesting on a bolt action. Even the store clerk said he figured the rifle would stand up to maybe 3 or 4 years of moderate use, and with my semi-limited experience, I'd probably agree with him. Makes me glad I went to look at it in person, because it was at the top of my list for awhile due to price.
Pros: Safety features good for training kids. Detachable magazine. Light.
Cons: Feels cheap, magazine isn't all metal. Light
The All American was about on par with the 783 for value / bank-for-the-buck. The stock actually felt even cheaper than the Remington, although it did have mounts for rings already on it. The stock actually felt hollow to me. The trigger was a bit crisper than the 783, more like what I'm used to in my 788. but the mag was completely plastic. This one felt like a cheap airsoft gun.
Pros: scope mounts included, detachable magazine. again quite light. crisp trigger
cons: feels very cheap. magazine completely plastic. feels hollow.
The Axis was also synthetic stock, however it felt a bit more solid. Non detachable magazine. still felt a bit toy-ish, but not as bad as the other 2. The trigger was VERY squishy, kind of like my Cooey .22lr semi-auto. I didn't really spend a lot of time with this one because it was the last I looked at, and I wasn't actually all that interested in getting one anyway, so my opinion on it isn't really worth anything. I have a friend that has one in 22-250 and he just got a boyds in nutmeg for it for christmas, and his looks really nice so.... ymmv.
The Weatherby was the nicest of the bunch, and the most expensive by a couple hundred bucks. My thoughts were between this and the 783, just because of price I was leaning more toward the Remington at first. But after having my hands on it I really like it. It has a 3 position safety. the 3rd position actually locks the bolt so you can't open it. Nice safety feature for storage I suppose. Mag was internal, but all metal like it should be. Rubber grips felt okay, not my favorite but I understand why they are there. They were kind of like a rubber inlay in the synthetic, which felt solid almost like a wood stock, and it shouldered a lot nicer than the rest of the models I looked at. They had one in blued and one in stainless. The stainless was another $200 more and was noticeably heavier, I don't really think I cared for it much and the regular blued would do me just fine.
Pros: Solid stock with rubber grips, 3 position safety, much larger chambering options.
Cons: non-removable mag (not really a con, but a lost advantage compared to the other rifles), no checkered bolt (would be nice for the price point)
None of these came with iron sights, which seems to be rare these days anyway.
They also had 2 Pardus 2010 12ga shottys on the wall. I did NOT expect that. Had to get him to let me take a look. Also feels quite plasticy, but was very cool nonetheless.
Well I decided to go have a look at Wholesale Sports because they've got the biggest selection in town, and my Aunt works there. I didn't expect much because I don't live in a very big city, but they had at least one of every gun I wanted to look at, I thought I'd share my impressions.
The 4.
Remington 783
Ruger All American
Savage Axis
Weatherby Vanguard
First was the 783. I have always used rifles with wood stocks because almost everything I've ever fired was dads or gramps' gun. And the guns are as old as they are. I've once fired a .270 that belonged to a friend which had a composite stock and I was impressed, not that I can remember what the gun was, but it was solid. I keep being told by the sellers around town to get synthetic because it can take a beating compared to wood and its much better than it used to be.
Well this isn't true of the 783 as far as I can tell. It didn't feel like strong composite, it felt like plastic. It was less bulky than the pictures on Remingtons website seems to show, but it felt very cheap. The trigger had a striker pistol style trigger,with a safety on the trigger itself, which is interesting on a bolt action. Even the store clerk said he figured the rifle would stand up to maybe 3 or 4 years of moderate use, and with my semi-limited experience, I'd probably agree with him. Makes me glad I went to look at it in person, because it was at the top of my list for awhile due to price.
Pros: Safety features good for training kids. Detachable magazine. Light.
Cons: Feels cheap, magazine isn't all metal. Light
The All American was about on par with the 783 for value / bank-for-the-buck. The stock actually felt even cheaper than the Remington, although it did have mounts for rings already on it. The stock actually felt hollow to me. The trigger was a bit crisper than the 783, more like what I'm used to in my 788. but the mag was completely plastic. This one felt like a cheap airsoft gun.
Pros: scope mounts included, detachable magazine. again quite light. crisp trigger
cons: feels very cheap. magazine completely plastic. feels hollow.
The Axis was also synthetic stock, however it felt a bit more solid. Non detachable magazine. still felt a bit toy-ish, but not as bad as the other 2. The trigger was VERY squishy, kind of like my Cooey .22lr semi-auto. I didn't really spend a lot of time with this one because it was the last I looked at, and I wasn't actually all that interested in getting one anyway, so my opinion on it isn't really worth anything. I have a friend that has one in 22-250 and he just got a boyds in nutmeg for it for christmas, and his looks really nice so.... ymmv.
The Weatherby was the nicest of the bunch, and the most expensive by a couple hundred bucks. My thoughts were between this and the 783, just because of price I was leaning more toward the Remington at first. But after having my hands on it I really like it. It has a 3 position safety. the 3rd position actually locks the bolt so you can't open it. Nice safety feature for storage I suppose. Mag was internal, but all metal like it should be. Rubber grips felt okay, not my favorite but I understand why they are there. They were kind of like a rubber inlay in the synthetic, which felt solid almost like a wood stock, and it shouldered a lot nicer than the rest of the models I looked at. They had one in blued and one in stainless. The stainless was another $200 more and was noticeably heavier, I don't really think I cared for it much and the regular blued would do me just fine.
Pros: Solid stock with rubber grips, 3 position safety, much larger chambering options.
Cons: non-removable mag (not really a con, but a lost advantage compared to the other rifles), no checkered bolt (would be nice for the price point)
None of these came with iron sights, which seems to be rare these days anyway.
They also had 2 Pardus 2010 12ga shottys on the wall. I did NOT expect that. Had to get him to let me take a look. Also feels quite plasticy, but was very cool nonetheless.
