Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Need advice on best "value bolt-action 30-06"

If he isn't absolutely set on having a 30-06, CDNN has Marlin XS7s in either 243 or 7mm-08 for $250. I like the ergs of the Marlin stock better than the Howa 1500s, but a Boyds laminated stock for either would likely cost under $200.

24HCF member Savorino has a NIB stainless Marlin XL7 in 30-06 on GB for $465. This is probably the least expensive stainless bolt gun, that isn't a Savage Axis, that I've seen since Whittaker's sold out of the Marlin XS7s in 7mm-08 a few months ago.

Agree that good buys exist there, but feel my friend should buy "new" to get the warranty... He can't afford getting a used rifle at a good price and then having to re-barrel or have to rework the feeding system.

Your frugal fixed-income friend could buy a $250 Marlin XS7 from CDNN and Hornady American Whitetail ammo for about $22 per box. That would get him a good shooting rifle and good shooting ammo, then all he would need is a Leupold VX-1 3-9x40 and a set of 1" Weaver-style rings with which to mount it on the base that comes with the rifle.

I agree about the X7 Marlin. I think it was the king of the economy rifles, but apparently the market didn't agree with me. It seemed better thought out and put together than the Ruger American, and the stock was stiffer.

I hate "flyers". I get them with my pre 64 model 70 30-06 too. It's a featherweight rifle though, so that probably explains it...:

Marlin XL7 or a Savage. Either will very likely shoot very well and should prove to be very reliable. I currently have a Marlin in .30-06 that is shooting VERY well with no adjustments out of the box.

The market didn't kill the Marlin X guns, sometime after Remington bought Marlin in 2007, they made the decision to move Marlin's bolt action CF products to Remington and the X guns morphed into the not nearly as attractive Remington 783 line.

Get the 7mm08 Marlin from CDNN. As long as its deer sized game or smaller he wont be disappointed.

I would look for a new stainless close out priced Tikka

I have a friend with the Marlin rifle and it is, to me, a nice looking rifle. If I was looking for another rifle I'd certainly look at them. But the best even for the money you'll never get a right answer to until he goes out and look's them over for himself. I don't think he'll find a rifle that won't work well for him, most rifles are good rifle's. Unless he'll be shooting quite a bit, why spend more than he haws to on a rifle except, he need's to like it! That a personal thing.

Where he live's will make a difference too. I like my friends Marlin but have never seen one in any shop or store within about a hundred miles of here. if it were me I'd get him into a Bi Mart or Walmart and let him look over what they have. I wouldn't worry about 2nd hand rifles. I have a very old 30-06 that had to many corrosive primer's through it and the barrel is pitted pretty good but, you can't tell from the way it shoot's. My 25-06 and 308 were both bought 2nd hand, very good rifles, both of them. The 25-06 is a 700 ADL and the 308 a Rem 788. But he's gonna have to go look at what's there where he live's.

700 ADL 30-06 made before Dupont sold Remington.
Gloss blue and walnut, at reasonable prices.
Few hunting guns are ever shot much, most will last several lifetimes.

Take a look at a Remington 783. A way better gun than you would think for under $300.

Mine in 223 shoots better than my Ruger Predator in 223....
in fact both of my Howas in 223 do...

Thanks to all for these great suggestions.
I will be seeing my friend this next Saturday, and he will get the recommendations, and I know he will successfully land something on this list.

I appreciate your thoughtful responses!

Take care.

I'm not surprised. My Vanguard is very accurate with the Fiocchi 40gr Vmax loads I've been feeding it. Everyone is so impressed with the RARs, I thought I'd just be agreeable. For $329, it'd be a no-brainer for me, especially since I regard DMs on a hunting rifle, especially ones that can't be filled from the top, as inventions of the devil. At $249, the Marlins are also very attractive.

Way back when the RARs and Marlins were new, I did a side-by-side in a LGS. The RAR magazine rattled like, well a rattle. The Marlin was plain, but seemed solid.

Brian Pearce, a writer I trust to be honest and meticulous, did a review on a couple of the Marlins and also used one in another article. He seemed very impressed, and not just for the money. It's a shame Remington dumped them in favor of that abortion they introduced later. Looks like a case of Not Invented Here to me. It would have been easy to just stamp their logo on the better rifle.

When I was looking for a similar "do all cheap beater or truck gun" to fill this same role as a reliable rough use & loaner stand by shooter, having had couple of T3's & 2 695's, a SAKO 85 260 & 2 dozen or more SAKO's in years past, a CZ 550 9.3, , a half dzn S&W (Howa) 1500's, more tang safety Ruger 77's than I can remember, and 8-10 post '64 M70's - from picking out my choice of wood from the factory shipping case of 5 rifles, a 1979 USRAC XTR Fwt Rbts, out of the 1st production run of USRAC shipments to Texas, that my distributor employer rc'vd as promised...

I saw all the gun shills printed hype, and put a couple RAR's, Marlins and whatever else I could find in that RAR +$250/ $350 initial price range on every stocking retailers counter side by side & walked away from them as they all needed tuning of some sort IMHO...and bought a couple TC Ventures. DA me sold one at a profit unfired that I should have kept - a NIB WS AP camo 308 I was into at under $300, and am putting a NIB plain vanilla black & blue 270 together right now - with Warne Steel & a Vtx CFII 4x12x50 - I'm into for about $300 for the bare nekk'd gun.

Only thing I ever saw in the last 10 years I wanted to buy in that price point was a S&W Husqvarna 30'06 that needed some tlc on the stock, and hesitated a day too long when the dealer would not come off his $300 price. Snooze Ya Looze bites me too.

Why? Why did I take a flyer on an unknown product that had gone thru a Major Recall & had had the Mfg'er bought out...market research & one on one conversations with early adopters... AND ...I could not find a better deal at the time & would have bought one of the Howa 1500/Weatherby S1 closeouts if it were as cheap as the Venture was, with the at the time $75 Rebate on Venture's that was available thru last year.

Look at the TC Website for the laundry list of FAB's (Features/Advantages/Benefits) that as a former gun industry rep of 13 years, made the most sense for me...Lifetime Warranty, MOA guarantee, 5 R rifleing system, pillar bedding, receiver ejection port top access thru the open bolt adjustable trigger yadda yadda were the key factors, as well as the several early adopters statements about accuracy....and my perceptions of the cheap feeling and cheesy sounds during bolt cycling + the flimsy fit and feel of the RAR's stock with it's egg shaped fore end vs the Ventures better fit & finish, grooved soft touch grip panels and triangular shaped fore end with it's flatter more stable shooting rest. Now that I have finally completed the move to a new location some 200 miles from where'd we'd been for the last 10 years, a year after the original plan called for, I'm looking forward to putting my Venture 270 thru the wringer, and have bought roughly a K of 6/7 styles of bullets to do it with....and moved to within 15-20 minutes of a 365 day accessible 200 yard club range to do it AT.

Haven't seen the new TC "mo cheaper" offering yet, but I am expecting it to be a "Lite" version of the Venture's features, which can be seen on the TC website.
Ron

They seem solid, but like pretty much all TC stuff, have been beaten to a bloody pulp with the oogly stick. One exception was the Classic .22.

Of course my sense of style was formulated in the 50s and 60s so they may be beautiful to those whose tastes are more modern.

This^^^

Don't know when Dupont sold Remington, but I'd look very hard for a 700 with a B or C prefix serial #....

Too bad the OP and his friend can't go to a few gunshops or pawn shops and pick out a good older rifle. I'd much rather have a sporterized 98 mauser, m1917, Ruger Tang safety, Ruger m77 mkII, used Hawkeye, Older Remington mountain rifle, Remigton 788, etc. etc. vs. a new RAR or the likes: (vanguard or Howa), el-cheapo Remington 783, 710, or even POS Savage Axis. However, YMMV....