Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Which left hand budget rifle?

Take a look at the wood stocked Axis. It looks pretty good and the local Walmart has them for $344.

I didn't even know there was a wood stocked Axis!

It only comes in a right hand model, but the rifle looks much better and feels much better than with the tupperware stock. It looks like an entirely different gun with the wood stock. You would have to order a lefty from Boyds. I have a left hand Axis and plan on a Boyds nutmeg laminate before fall. I just cleared up some bills and now have some disposable money again. I am also going to order a Contender laminate in nutmeg too.

You're right. That Axis II in hardwood is a big improvement.

I have had several Savages and one Ruger American. Savage isn't a long term regular use rifle. The Ruger American would be in a better stock. In .308 it is a lightweight gun with some punch in the recoil department due to a narrow butt. Ignoring the recoil issue, I'd say get the Ruger and add a Boyd's laminate stock down the road when you get some more sofa money.

Not ignoring the recoil issue, if you chose a cartridge with available ammo down in the 120gr range, you might like shooting it a bit more. A .260 would be ideal, but that's not an option. Closest you can get in the LH Ruger is 7mm08 or .270. Both have lighter loads available.

Sorry to hear of your health issues. I work in cardiac surgery and can understand somewhat of the challenges you're going through with your recovery.

The 7mm-08 would be even easier to work up to(recoil-wise) over the .308 and would give you similar "on game" performance as it is simply a .308 case necked down to 28 cal. It is a great and very capable deer cartridge out to 300 yds. And, finding ammo is not difficult if you don't reload as it is a fairly popular cartridge.

Another thing to consider is that these budget rifles with their cheap, flimsy plastic stocks do not handle recoil very well.......translating to more felt recoil.

Also, a Ruger 77 Hawkeye or Tikka T3 will include free scope mounts with your purchase so there's another $40 to $50 you may not have considered that you will need to add to your budget rifle cost.

Good luck in your search,

Leftybolt

Sorry about the ticker and the Sofa. I would drop way down to a .243 or .260 if in that condition or would load down the 308 with 130's.

But if I had a limited budget I would be looking for a quality used gun. I have worked on customizing Savages and Rugers and they end up costing as much as a Model 70 or 700 in the end.

If you replace the stock and get a good scope and mounts that's $500+ right there. Sometimes you can find a Rem 700 sps in that range sometimes with a cheap scope included.

If light recoil is of prime concern I'd avoid the Ruger American in .308. One of my hunting partners has one and it kicks worse than my .30-06 Hawkeye.

I must admit that 165's in the Ruger American .308 got my attention. 150's at about 2650 are pretty pleasant for me. Might be different a few years from now, I used to enjoy a .338 WM; not any more.

Good to know! I may have to rethink this.

Not sure what kinda critters you are after (moose?)?

For lighter recoil, let me recommend , I know, *gasp*, the creedmoor.

Black Bear annually and Moose when I can pull a tag.

tree-0-eight then.

http://leeloaderdata.com/data/270win.htm
http://leeprecision.com/cgi-data/instruct/RE1422.pdf
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/8...277-diameter-140-grain-spitzer-box-of-50

Shame they don't do the LH in a 6.5mm.

I would get a used Lh savage 10 or 16 308 with accutrigger.

I'm leaning that way.

I have a .308 left-hand RA and it is a great rifle. I have put a thousand rounds through it and it shoots 1/2 moa with Hornady 150 IL @ 2934 fps. I also have a couple left-hand Savages in 30-06 and .308. Either rifle will serve you well and both are very accurate. I have never seen a Savage that would not shoot extremely well. I am kind of looking at another in a local shop, that is a .270 (no use for a .270, but would re-barrel to something else, if I get it).

Can't speak for the Ruger, but I've built a couple customs now based around the Savage Axis. Definitely not what you want if you're after a lightweight rig, but they're not the heaviest rifle either.



This first one is a left bolt/right port in .223 Rem with a Boyds Prairie Hunter stock. The action received the full works: face shaved to accept a standard 110-style recoil lug, trued and timed, bolt body fluted, reworked bolt handle and installed an AccuTrigger that was massaged down to 1-1/2 pounds. Work was done by Fred Moreo. Barrel is just the factory tube for now, but it puts five inside of 3/4" at 100 all day long so i can't complain considering the action isn't bedded.




This second one is actually the first one I built which is in .284 Winchester. Same work on the action, but with a Timney trigger and a different rework of the factory bolt handle. Barrel is a 23" Shilen #4 contour. The stock is the Pro Hunter from Sharp Shooter Supply, but I'm probably going to change it out for a Boyds Classic or another Prairie Hunter as it's just a little bulky and heavy. Good for a varmint rifle that you're shooting prone or off a bench, but not ideal for carrying or off-hand shots. This one was also blasted and parkerized.

All that said, I would agree with the others above and recommend you save up for a higher grade rifle to start with. In the long run you will be money ahead and you will have a lot more options available to you should you ever want to do anything with it.

I see LH 110 Savages on Gun Broker about monthly for under $350 with shipping. I have acquired 2 and needed to quit looking or I would have many more.

i've been picking up lefty savages in the last few years really cheap at gunshows and yardsales. i been rebarreling them to what ever i want.i now have,260,7mm08,270,3006,22-250,6mm.don't have much in most of them.