Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Given a budget of $1500

Lots of ways to answer to this question. I’d look at the Remington M-700, the Tikka T3x, and the Winchester M-70 chambered for 30-06, 308, 270, or 7mm RM. Barrel length would be between 22” and 24”. I’d definitely go stainless/synthetic plus a fixed 4x or a good 2.5-8 or 3-9 variable with an objective bell smaller than about 45mm in field-detachable mounts. I’d zero it at 200 yards with the heaviest bullet that the chosen cartridge will move at 2,700 fps, and go forth.

My latest attempt is based on a Remington Model 700 ADL Package Rifle (https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-700/model-700-adl-stainless-synthetic-scope). I replaced the bases with Nikon Weaver-style bases, then started testing cheap factory loads. Remington 150-grain CoreLokt ammo and Winchester 150-grain Power Points both went sub-MOA with velocities over 2,800 fps, so I was happy. I wanted to make as few mods as possible, but I also wanted a shorter barrel, better groups if I could get them, and the ability to shoot with a tight sling without the POI shifting.

I had Brett Evans of NW Armswerkes (https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Interest/NW-Armswerkes-453136081456406/) cut the barrel to 22”, bed it into an HS Precision stock, and provide factory BDL-style bottom metal. He determined that this rifle was actually chambered for 7.62 NATO, so he ground 0.005” off of the recoil lung to make it a 308 as marked. Work took 12 days.

• With bases but without optics, it weighs 6.92 pounds as opposed to 6.51 before (and the 6.3 of a Tikka) and the balance is a bit farther aft.
• Weight with a 4x Leupold (shown) is 7 pounds, 11 ounces—heavier than a lot of options but it balances well. It's also easier to shoot well than a flyweight.
• About 2/3 of the barrel lettering is below the stock line due to the recoil lug modification. Not ideal but not a deal breaker.
• I can definitely feel the shorter chamber—closing the bolt on RP factory cartridges reveals a very snug fit that wasn't there before, and I can’t close the bolt at all on some handloads that were a snug fit before.

It shoots better in initial load testing but I’m not the guy to get the most out of it from the bench. It groups several loads in less than 1.5" at 200 yards pretty often, and while it doesn't shoot the 150-grain PowerPoint load as well as it once did, it's still pretty good with plain old 150-grain CoreLokts.



Reduced-power deer load.


Favorite factory load.


My round count is just shy of 900, and the barrel seems to be settling in and getting more accurate.

This rifle is more accurate than I can hold and powerful enough for anything I can afford to hunt. Total cost was about $1,100 without glass. Use the rest of your budget for ammo.


Okie John