Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Which budget rifle is King?

TC Ventures have had 2 recalls. Trigger and safety problems.

I am partial to the howas myself. Some on gunbroker can be had for well under $400. Buy one of those and throw it in a Sako Classic McMillan and you have a fine rifle. My current one, a 300 wm, with a 3-9x40 conquest is becoming my favorite rifle. Not much a 150 gr ttsx at 3300 fps wont handle.

I used to say that the Tikka T3 was not a budget rifle but as of late I have changed my thinking on the subject. Here's what I came up with.

Budget rifle $300-$600

Mid rifle $600- $1000

Caddilac rifle $1000-$2500

Keep in mind my theorizing is based on the middle class citizen who now are somewhat lower than middle class. And it is only my opinion.

With that said if the Tikka T3 truly is a budget rifle it is the budget rifle of my choice. I think I would classify it as the caddilac of the budget rifles. I appreciate such features of the Tikka rifle such as the strong and durable polymer parts because they do bring the weight of the rifle to a point that fits perfectly in my opinion. I also appreciate the high level of accuracy and the butter smooth functioning of the action.

Though the Tikka T3 may be the rifle I choose to carry I do not consider it to be the King of the budget rifles. To be King I believe the rifle must offer a lot for the $ spent and though I pay to get a Tikka because of features I like the features are pricey enough it doesn't meet the best bang for the buck.

The verdict is still out for me exactly which rifle is the King of the Budget rifles however I am leaning some toward the Ruger American.

Shod

I've owned them all and the American is the King of the budget builds. Although many mentioned in this thread are fine rifles, the RAR is the king of low dollar/high performance.

This past summer , my son , who is a budding rifle looney , traded for two RAR , one in 30-06 and one in 7mm-08 . I bought a new 243 carbine for the nephews and future grand kids . I shot them all with handloads developed for other rifles and was thoroughly impressed . They all shot groups plenty good enough to hunt with , with loads that were not tailored for them at all . I was so impressed with the 30-06 that I decided to play with it a little .I looked at what 30 cal bullets I had around and then loaded 150's with imr 4064 , 165's with H4350 and 180's with H4350 , loaded the different weights to identical charges of 52 grains for the 150's ,58 grains for the 165's and 57 grains for the 180's and used coal that was indicated in the manual and then shot for group and chronographed . The 150's all chronographed around 2900 , the 165's all around 2800 and the 180's all around 2750 . You could have hunted any of the loads depending on your preference and POI was close enough that no sight adjustment for 100 yards was necessary .That was with standard bullets from Hornady , Speer ,Nosler and Sierra.

Since I dont consider the Tikka T3 a budget rifle anymore I would give the nod to the Ruger American as the king of budget rifles...........Hb

Gotta side with flave, Howa/Vanguard. $ for $ it's hard to beat what you get, plus it doesn't have the ugly nut on the barrel.

Used, quality. Hard to beat that $80 Ruger tang that I chopped the muzzle bulge off to 17 inches. Shoots 1.25 MOA. Have killed several tons of game out to @ 360 yards.

All but one of my other rifles shoot as well or better. All 2nd hand except the Win94 which has been in the family, purchased new, since 1927.

Just bought an unfired S&W 1500 (Howa) 300 Win Mag in a B&C stock with a Burris 3x9 ballistic Plex from an estate sale for $325

Doesn't get more budget than that.

Working in those constraints, I'd roll with the Savage trophy hunter for best budget rifle...every one I've ever shot has been lights out and they probably kill more deer than any other rifle carried in the group of guys I hunt with.

If you step up to the "Mid" level CZ-550, that's my go to rifle...beyond that??? Don't know.

Well, several years ago you did sell me that $100 takeoff stainless 700TI .260 barrel which I screwed unto the 725 SA with a former .244 rusted out bbl, given me for free plus a little work on a couple other guns he had. Went on exactly upside down, bolt lapping only, adjusted the head space. Shoots factory 140 Corelokts MOA. Shoots like crap with any other bullet weight.

I'm still trying to decide if I should complain about that bum barrel......

I have had 2 Savage Axis rifles. One shot consistent 1/2 inch groups after trigger pull was lightened to 3.5 lb. The other functioned perfectly but 1 1/4 groups was the best I could get with it.
Had Marlin XS7 and it was the smoothest and had the best finish of the budget rifles. Accuracy was good for hunting standards. I consider it the best buy of the less expensive rifles. Can be purchased in the $300 range.

I now have the Thompson Center Venture and it is the best handling and most accurate rifle I own. It is 243 and shoots 60 Hollow point Sierras over imr4064 into 1/3 inch group at 100 yards. 100 soft point Hornady's group at 3/4 inch with H4831sc powder. 100 Sierra prohunt over imr4350 groups around 1 1/4 inch.

The most talked about in this area is the Ruger American. I do not see many being purchased. Most owners complain about the flexing stocks but brag on the triggers.

My favorite budget rifle is a used at the Pawn shop or LGS Remington 700 ADL. I have gotten several over the years for between $200-$300. Usually can't find one if I need one though. One time at a little gun shop a guy was starting up in a storage shed next to the highway, he had 2 sps rem 700's for $200 a piece. I only had enough cash for 1 unfortunately.

I bought a Marlin XL7 in 25-06 from a 24HCF member in 2012 that has proven to be a very good shooter, surprisingly accurate with 90 grain PPU hollow points and 117 grain Hornady American Whitetail.

It shoots as well, maybe even a little better, than my 1st tier 25-06, a Remington 700 parts gun.

I got a Venture compact in 308 this year. Made some light loads with 125 B-tips for my neice and daughter. I have to go find another gun for them not, this one's mine. I did have an issue with the extractor not wanting to let the bolt cam over on the case rim but that was an easy fix. Trigger is 1.75 lbs and shoots half moa, what's not to like considering I spent 375 after rebate on it.

Waaaaaay under! I got a SS SPS at Dick's for $379 with a $50 rebate. I used it as a donor for a build from Redneck.

Hate to admit it, but I too would have to agree with Travis. After reading this thread, I asked myself, which of the guns mentioned would I put in my safe and the Howa came out on top, value for the dollar. If I could afford a bit more, I'd go with the Wby Vanguard 2. At least those are solid, conventional type guns made out of steel.

DF

700 ADL and Howa/Vanguard have topped my budget rifle list for decades. All I paid under $375 for. I can still get them for $379 right now.

As for the RAR, it seems a solid value. I was actually going to build on one, until the rotary magazine fu**ed that up. Now I will need to purchase another ADL or Howa.

If anybody has one for sale, S/A with .473 bolt face, I'm all ears. I don't need the barrel, nor any tupperware stocks.....

The new Remingtons don't have the best reputation for consistent quality. Some say they're OK, other comments aren't as kind.

The Howa/Vanguard may be less of a gamble.

DF

It seems to me that the guys who buy Remingtons, and have always been buying Remingtons, keep buying Remingtons with no complaints, or very little. I hear lotsa whining from guys I know damn well don't even run 700s or have never owned more than 1 in their life.

I have a bunch of them here. 3 are newer. One had a bad extractor. It was a 5 minute fix at Karl's house. Remington even sent me a spare in the mail, FOC. Still have it in the envelope.

Other than that, of the bunches of 700s I have owned/do own, no troubles. None. All shoot very well. Contrary to what you may read, they required no tinkering or changing of parts to do so. Just a trigger adjustment.

I have owned many other rifles that shot very well, but required more attention out of the box. Savages that mined copper like a prospector and don't feed right, CZs with horribly rough actions and terribly tuned triggers, Winchesters with hot glue "bedding" that needed removed and rebedded to shoot, and Ruger 77s and #1s with horribly rough barrels that never produced very good accuracy in any factory form, etc., etc.

I have not had any troubles with Vanguard I have owned since the 1980s. Not the best trigger, but a trouble free tackdriver.

I may add that every one of above rifles cost me more than my last 2 Remington purchases that work/shoot very well.

For $379 a 700 ADL is still very hard to beat. Regardless of what you may read on the internet......