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Good post. I almost bought a Husqvarna 270 2 weeks ago. It was a sweet rifle, but after inspecting it closer, I noticed it had a crack in the stock behind the tang. I was really disappointed!!! Also, a lot of guys don't even know what a BSA rifle is, but I've had a few and they are all great shooters. I'm down to one now, chambered in 308 Norma magnum. BSA sporterized/built it from an M1917 military rifle. One of my favorites.

Ha ha.. It's a sweetheart rifle. I guess I shouldn't call it an "economy" rifle, just because I got it for cheap. I looked them up, before I bought it, to see what they are selling for and was shocked. Nearly $1,000.00!!!


I believe back in the day, they were an economy rifle though, if you read this article, I also bought after getting the rifle:

Was it a 1640? Something about that stock design seems to make that happen a lot. All my Huskies get the rear tang bedded with relief (two layers of bedding tape) from the wood because I'm paranoid about damage and replacement stocks are nearly impossible to source now.

Great rifles. I place them in the same category as the Stevens 200:



Exceptional rifles for the money. I didn't like that gray stock they put on them, so swapped it out with a Savage trophy hunter (also another great rifle for the money) stock with DBM. That rifle was one of my favorite sleepers.

I hear you. I left plenty of clearance at the tang on my new Mauser pictured above, as well. Don't want to crack that beautiful stock!!! As for the Husky, no it was not a 1640. I stopped looking at it, after I saw the crack. I hear you about stocks being hard to find. I probably would have just put it in a ramline or something.. But then it takes away from the beauty of a nice walnut stock.

Fair enough. I thought you were referring to me adding a few uses.

I'd greatly prefer a Kimber Hunter but given they don't seem to be in any hurry to make more, thought I'd explore cheaper options.

Handled a Ruger American a little bit ago. I wasn't bad at all. The stock do feel cheap but it fit pretty well. Also handled a Salvage Axis - pass. I have smallish hands and the pistol grip was modeled for a 10 year old girl.

Off to Buds Gunshop and Smoky Mtn Guns tomorrow to handle a Mossberg and maybe see one of the newer Remingtons.

MM - good feedback - thanks for the info.

There are a couple marlins on classifieds.
Think one was a stainless 7-08 for $550.
I have a hunter and few tikkas. Tikka hands down and I think the new 243 comes 1:8 twist

Not just the 1640s. Nonetheless, I am a total fan of the commercial Mauser action rifles. Now that everyone seems to have a delusional woody for 700s, etc., the 98 variants tend to be a stone bargain.

Ruger American 308 bedded in a Boyd’s stock.
Howa 1500 6.5 creed in a Bell and Carlson.
Both shoot MOA or better with factory ammo.

If I had to pick sub $500 guns off the used rack for the rest of my life, they would be Howa’s.

I've had and shot several Ruger American's. I do like the Predator version and all have shot way better than a cheap rifle should. But I've had magazine troubles with the standard 4 round magazines. Both the original rotary version and the newer 4 round stagger feed version. If you get a short action the 3 round straight feed mag made for 450 BM will feed any of the short action 308 class cartridges much better. The versions that use AI style magazines or the 223's that take AR magazines work well too.

But those have priced themselves out of my interest level. I paid $350 each for the Predators I owned. I've seen the standard rifle sell for $200. Today the Predator is $500+. At that price point I'll pay $100 more and get a blue Tikka. Everyone wants a $750 SS Tikka, and I do like them better. But the Ruger's aren't SS, and the blue Tikka's aren't that much more than Ruger anymore.

The Mossberg looks good, but knowing the rifles history I just can't bring myself to buy one. They were originally made by the now defunct Raptor rifle company as the cheapest bolt rifle you could buy in the 1990's. The company quickly failed. Charter Arms bought the rights to the design and made the rifle briefly before giving up on it. Finally, Mossberg bought the rights to the design. Mossberg did a better job with QC, and they have expanded the features. But it is still the same basic design that failed twice before.

And the design has seriously injured several people when the bolt lugs did not go into battery and the bolt came back into their face when they fired.

Get a tikka or a Vanguard s2.

My 6 Creed is one of the cheapest rifles I put together. It isn't super heavy, it was weighing around 7.5 lbs with Alpine stock and 4-12X40 Redfield Revolution. It's at my GS right now getting shortened and threaded for my suppressor.

J - good info. Thanks.

Nice looking rifle! Where did you find the Alpine stock?

Bought 2 off the classifieds here and found one on eBay, all sold too cheaply IMO. I made a faux Alpine .308 with a Sportsman's Kuiu rifle for $499 for my daughter. Then my buddy got the last one for his Howa .223 rifle.

Daughter's faux Alpine.

Congrats to the lady!

That was 5 years ago when she was 15, but still makes me proud. She learned a valuable lesson that day. Her first shot wasn't great at first light, but she spent 8 hours and 5 miles of tracking to finish the job. He was a smart buck and was hard to track, and she felt horrible for not making a good first shot. It was a big relief for her when she was able to anchor him.