Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters A little (hopefully) constructive criticism

That's why I chuckle when I see some of the posts here. There are a few posters that can afford a wall full of expensive custom rifles, but most can't. The majority have std rifles - 700s, Savages, assorted Winchesters and Rugers. They might put a Leupold on it, but most folks use Bushnells, Vortexes, Nikons, etc. Some rifles - 700s especially - may have had trigger work done, but as far as improvements are concerned, that"s about it.

The pursuit of cheap rifles has driven 90% of the improvements we've seen in the marketplace. Shooters want more! Better out of the box triggers, better stocks - yes, synthetic is superior to wood - and CNC machining is vital for industry to cheaply and efficiently get rifles into the marketplace.

It is a huge shift. For some reason, most of my shooting friends would rather have a cheap birch stock than a cheap poly one. To each his own, but my plastic stock is more likely to shoot better out of the box than their budget grade wood. If my plastic needs bedding, it's easier to manage than wood.

Some folks crab about poly stocks or funny looking Accu-triggers, but they will get the job done as well or better for less cost. These rifles have aftermarket accessories for poor folks that want to add or improve as funds allow. Yay Axis! Thanks Ruger for the American! It would be nice if Remington could manage to build a decent budget rifle. They tried and failed a few times.

If you can afford it, there are nice rifles available with beautiful wood and a fab metal finish. For the majority, the budget rifle is a welcome, viable avenue to keep the shooting sports from dying.

More people on this board have "cheap" rifles than will admit. It's not cool or socially acceptable to say, "I really like my Axis or American!" So they talk around the subject or "prevaricate".

All hail the econo-rifle!