Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles What's the best value in hunting rifles today?

That is a good deal, saw that this morning. I just wish they still had the aluminum floorplate though. Thats the one change I really didnt like on the hawkeyes. That piece of steel on there feels like they hung a weight from the magazine and branded it with the Ruger Logo. The original shiny stainless MKII's with aluminum floorplate was about as close to indestructible as they come. I'd love to find one with iron sights.

I picked up one of the All Weather .280 Hawkeyes for myself, an All Weather .30-06 for a wedding present and Daughter #1 picked up a lefty walnut .308. Also got a walnut .30-06 for a wedding present but that didn't work out and the rifle is back in my safe. They all shoot great. If I wasn't in the middle of (probably year long) build of a .308 AR I'd probably get another.

They are available now. I sold 2 last month.

Savage. Cheap, they shoot really well.

Tikka, you won't be disappointed in an accurate rifle. It's also well made.

Whats the deal with the new Hawkeye stainless finishes? When the hawkeye came out, they all had that gritty matte finish, I know they changed the blued ones to a very nice satin, what if anything was done to the stainless?

Frank you know your gonna drop that bad boy in a McEdge....you don't care about that factory stock😏 Hope you're doing well...

hanco - "Cheap, they shoot really well." Please clarify "cheap" for me as nothing today is "cheap"...less expensive maybe but not cheap. I've several Savage short actions and they provide good value for your $$$ and are accurate. Have no opinion on the AXIS models as I've not handled any. Homesteader

We are in the golden age of accurate affordable rifles and superior optics a working man can afford. Other than Remington's POS bargain model you almost can't go wrong buying one. I didn't like the feel of my Ruger American it was too flimsy and barrel light for me but it shot quite well. I've bought a couple of Savage Axis rifles without accutrigger and the need trigger spring tweaking to shoot well but they do. I bought a Howa this week for $330 in 25-06 and I'm guessing it will shoot and feel good. The Tikkas are nice but to me the Weatherby Vanguard is the best bang for the buck today. The idea that you can buy a 300 or 257 Weatherby for under $500 is hard to fathom when you compare performance and cost vs a MK V or custom, I love my 300 and it really shoots. A VX2, Zeiss Conquest, Meopta Meopro, SWFA SS, Burris FF2, Sightron S2, and a bunch of others for under $350 mean that we have great choices today.

Some good advice there...I still think Tikka's are tough to beat. If you cant warm up to the plastic, the Vanguard is a solid rifle. Throw a FFII on there and your set. Its almost unfair for what you pay.

Where can you find a good deal on a Tikka SS Lite 308?

Who cares what others think....spend your money on what you want.

The other day I wanted a new rifle. I looked at several brands including the Savage and the Tikka. I purchased the Savage. To me it's a better value.

About half my rifles and handguns were acquired gently used.

Hard to beat that for value when you get them at the prices I've paid.

Just about the best value in a rifle, today, is a pre-'64 Model 70, in a commonly produced chambering (such as .30-06) that has had a minor modification, like a non-factory recoil pad added. Bought my Featherweight for $700. It isn't likely to depreciate.

pal, I'll give you $705.00 for that fine rifle.....

Give me a moment to think about that....NAH!

But I'm right about the best value being a rifle that you can always sell for MORE than you paid for it.

Amen brother. You got that right. Try going on down to the next gunshow and selling a Remington 783, 710 or RAR. A couple of my buddies only buy the really cheap rifles like these and they have had the pleasure of TRYING to sell a used cheap rifle and it didn't go too well for them. I don't think they will ever understand, but it was an eye opener for them nonetheless....

Add a SWFA and you're out the door for around $700 and can slap a lot of stuff silly with factory ammo

I'm going to disagree a bit, although I do prefer that my rifles will sell for more than I have in them.

'Value' is a qualitative measure. Some of my firearms have sentimental 'value' that far exceed their monetary worth. Others I may have paid 'too much' for at the time but bought because I wanted them and couldn't find them for less.

My custom 6.5-06AI cost more than I'll ever get out of it but I don't care at all - I had it built for a purpose and it fills that role well. When I told Big Brother it was my '600-yard clay pigeon shooter' his response was 'I hope it does more than that.' It is and it does, but if that was all it was good for I'd be happy with it.

I'm the kind of guy that scratches his itches and generally finds that doing so is very satisfying. If the scratch produces the desired results, I really don't care about some hypothetical sell price.