Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Rifle for the one gun hunter

Ruger American.

I've had Savages, those rub-board barrels would keep me from from another.

My first rifle was a sporterized Remington 1917 enfield. Paid $150 when I was 14. Was my only rifle till I was 24. From coyotes to elk. Still have it. Had it rebarreled to 300 H&H and reworked the stock and floorplate. You can still Buy them cheap

I have an American in 30-06 and a Savage mod. 11 in 300 WSM. The Savage is very accurate. The only place I can fault it is that it's hard to load. You really have to push hard to get the cartridges down in the mag. I wish it had a removable mag. It's kind of ugly but I couldn't care less. It's accuracy overshadows it's looks by far.

If he has $500

Tell him to save another hundred or two before he buys so he can buy a good/better mounts and glass

Great advice keep it coming.

He is a member of this site his name is Sena88. I will refer him to this thread.

I know that this does not work in Kalifornia...

But, maybe a trip over the hill to Reno or someplace

Does not get much cheaper that this

http://phoenix.backpage.com/SportsEquipForSale/330-remington-700/45527080

Since "he is on a very tight budget" maybe he could try out a few friends guns before spending his money on something that may or may not work out for him? Most guys I know would like to show off their shootin' irons. Nothing like hands-on experience.

He's been hunting with my Remington 700 ADL in 270 Winchester. But here in (commi) California, they just passed a law that won't let him borrow my gun. Now I can only loan my guns to family members.

I would see if I could find him a Colt Light Rifle. I have seen several that sell in the $500-600 range. Probably be about the best "cheap" lighter weight rifle you can find for the money. And as he gets the funds, he can have Melvin rebuild it to make it a more honest lightweight if that is what he is after.

My $0.02

I knew they were going after ammo purchases, but this I hadn't heard about.

Tikka t3

If I had to do it all over again I would save a few more bucks and buy either a M70 or a M700 as my first gun. Synthetic stock ,stainless. Buy a used Leupold on the fire. That way after you spend 20k on your next ten rifles over the next ten years that dont satisfy you can sell them and buy a mcmillan edge for your original rifle and hunt happily ever after.

Thanks for posting leonten. I'm the friend he was talking about. I'm honestly thinking about maybe getting a savage my uncle has one and he said it's a great gun for the price. I think it feels pretty nice. Either that or the Ruger American.

Buy a Savage, great gun for the money. Savage Hog Hunters go for 375.00

I haven't looked at the current Savage rifles but when I got my model 11 12 or 13 years ago, they didn't have butt pads. With a 300 WSM, you'd definitely notice the recoil. It had a synthetic stock and I installed a pad myself. The stock was hollow so I cut a 3/4" thick plug, sanded it to fit, and epoxied it inside the stock about 1/4" below the surface. Then I filled the gap with more epoxy and sanded it flush. That gave me a good solid surface to screw a pad to.

First choice, quick and easy and within his price, would be a low priced Savage. I have a Savage 111 package rifle I bought used for about $250, threw away the original scope, put a Leupold on it and it shoots hunting hand-loads within MOA. It has killed a few tons of game from moose to tiny island blacktail deer. The plastic stock was uncomfortable in my hand due to tiny extrusions from the seams of the mold, so on my first caribou hunt with it I kept paring off the rough spots with my knife until it feels very smooth and good in my hand. I like the detachable magazine.

My personal first choice would be a Tikka. I'd save up for a T3 Lite in stainless synthetic. My sons and grandsons now own five or six of them and they are simply the smoothest handiest good shooting non-custom rifle I know of that has no need of aftermarket enhancements.

By way of reference, I've owned and hunted with a couple of custom rifles, three Remington 700's, a Remington 600, 788, Mauser, and a few others. The low priced Savage bolts work well and the Tikka is sweeeet.

Would be hard to beat that combo for the cost.

DF

Little heavier, but it will be easier to shoot and for someone shooting factory ammo the round it hard to beat:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11827321

That's a good deal and an excellent package for the one gun hunter chambered in .308 Win. Only con I see is probably have to replace the 30 mm scope rings for 1" instead. Not a big deal. If it were a left hand bolt, I'd be tempted.

Cut the link beyong the big number and it lights up, works with a click.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11827321

DF