Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Most accurate hunting rifle out of the box

Blaser r8. Tikkas are really good

Blaser K95.

I have owned twenty something of them, and currently own 11, and all of them have shot well with almost anything you fed them with the only exception being a 25-06 that would only shoot 120gr VLDs. With those it did unbelievably, but not liking their terminal performance I got rid of it soon.

6 shot groups in the 0.7-1.0 in range at 110 yds are the norm with about 40% of them being able of cutting those groups in half with chosen ammo.

Sako Forester L579 .243 followed very closely by Remington 700 BDL 30-06. The Remington was purchased in 1977

My experience as well with a couple of 243’s.

That and my Ruger American ranch in 300 blk. Had to clean up the crown and tighten up the headspace on that one, so not right out of the box. It looked like the barrel had the mandrel pulled through to rifle it after the crown had been cut. It had little thin pieces of metal “flowing” out of the end of the barrel before I touched it up with lapping compound. Now it is my favorite tree stand rifle and shoots way sub moa.

Remington 700 classic 35 Whelen. Best shooter of all my rifles.

Remington 700 BDL 30-06. It shoots anything I put in it MOA.

Kimber Longmaster .308 I bought in 2005.

Scary accurate with handloads.

A limited run V2 in 6.5 CM that Weatherby made for Cabela's before they added the 6.5 CM as regularly cataloged item. It is the most accurate straight out of the box centerfire rifle that I've yet to own.

new once now a 40 year old Remington 700 Varmint BLD 222 Remington shoots 2`s and 3`s some 4`s right away . was too easy wish more rifles were so simple , this rifle shoots like a bench rifle .

Remington 700 270 adl and a bdl300 mag were both sub moa . Savage 22-250 also. Remington 673 in 6.5 rem mag. I shot it at 300 yards with 10 shots under 2 inch group. Good enough for me. Edk

My deer camp mate has one of those from then, maybe a little before. It has been very accurate with my handloads, and with a pile of vintage Lake City match ammo he inherited.

Mine is Remington 700 Varmint Special in 25-06. It will clover leaf 3 shots with factory ammo. Next is a Remington 700 in 7mm mag when the barrel was stainless but looked blued. Those are my most accurate common calibers. I also have a Remington 700 sporter in Rem 300 Ultra Mag that is sub MOA at ranges to 500 yards with factory Nosler partitions in 180 grain. My gunsmith told me all 300 Rem ultra mags are very accurate. I will not ever sell my top two.

Have had a pile of lemons in my life , but have been blessed with some real shooters
700 Varmint 243 , it shot everything from 70gr-100gr with excellent accuracy
H4832SC setting under 100 SGK would shoot .25”-.5” groups consistently, Nikon 4.5-14 buckmaster , once zeroed , never had to touch it again
It was hard unloading that gun , hope the new owner appreciated what he got

Then there is the Ruger American compact 308 , friggin hammers

Ruger Ranch 300 aac , another very accurate rifke , stuck a el cheapo 4x Tasco on it when I first got it just to see how it would preform , shot so well and scope was really clear , never changed it

Browning hi wall 45/70 , flat ass shot everything excellent

Savage 20 gauge slug rifle , easy to shoot 1” and sometimes less

British 303 with Tasco 3-9 Japan that would often clover leaf with core lokts and stayed in the 1” group and that was with full length original stock

Olympic Arms AR , 20” heavy barrel , bought it 30 yrs ago and still shoots consistently under and inch and often under .5” with right ammo , 1/12 twist


T/C icon 243 , another hammer and good looking too
T/C predator 308 another great one

T/C Venture 30-06 , one sweet 06 right there

Cooper 17HMR

Been a bunch of them , but seen a pile of lemons too

I had a Ruger 77V & a Model 54 Winchester in 220 Swift that were both outstanding with handloads, a 700 RS in 280 was amazing, a 700 Classic in 257 Robts. & another in 250-3000 that were reliably sub 3/4" rifles, a limited run pushfeed Model 70 in 300 H&H, & a 35 Whelen in a 700 Classic that wern't too shabby.

A shame about that boating accident.

A Remington Custom C in 270 Winchester, circa 1978, produced 1/4" groups from the get go.

The other that was equally accurate was a Savage Model 14 American Classic chambers in the 250 SAV. Foolishly I let go of the Remington, still own the 250.

With factory ammo, two of the best were Weatherby Mark Vs in 300 and 340. Both would cloverleaf with ammo they liked. Multiple Tikkas and a Sako in 7mmSTW were the easiest to find accuracy handloads in.

2007, 2008, don't recall exactly, bought a Tika T3 Lite 270 Winchester. 1/3 minute rifle with Federal Blue Box 130 grain. Very smooth bolt operation.

With a Tikka T3 .300 WSM, straight out of the box, after scope mounting and a shoot-and-clean barrel break-in session using factory ammunition, I full-length resized that brass and used Sierra 168 gr MK bullets in front of RL-19 powder, starting at 67.0 gr and working up to 70.5 gr (Fed 215 primers).

Have been thinking about this, and while most OTB factory rifles I've owned required a little tweaking, here are several that didn't:

CZ 452 .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire. The first 100-yard 3-shot group was around 1/4", and thousands of rounds later it still puts five into .5" or so.

CZ 527 .17 Hornady Hornet. It's first 5-shot 100-yard group with Hornady factory ammo went into .48" at 100, and the next two measured .55 and .60.

Ruger American Rifle in .22 Winchester Rimfire Magnum. It's the best-grouping .22 Magnum I've ever owned, and have had some costing $1000--and groups five rounds just about any ammo into an inch or less at 100 yards, some of them much less.

Ruger No. 1B in .22 Hornet. Bought this directly from the factory around 2000, and with the right handloads would put five into around .4" at 100 yards.

Winchester Model 70 Jack O'Connor Tribute .270. It's very first 100-yard group with a handloaded featuring the 130-grain Hornady Spire Point Interlock measured .41 inch. has grouped well under an inch with almost all handloads and even factory ammo ever since I "won" it at a fund-raiser auction at the Jack O'Connor Hunting Heritage and Education Center in Lewiston, Idaho in 2014. (It might be argued that this wasn't exactly a mass-produced "factory" rifle, but they built quite a few during a short period.

Pre-'64 Model 70 Winchester .30-06. Bought it lightly used maybe 15 years ago, and it hadn't been altered in any way. Made sure all the screws were tight--including the forend screw, usually consider a hindrance. Took it to the range with a box of 150-grain Winchester Silvertip factory loads, and it averaged around 1/2"--with a 4x scope.

Best right out of the box has been a couple of Sako 338's, a wood stocked AIII Deluxe version & an AV Fiberclass version.

Both would cloverleaf 3 shots on a regular basis, day in day out.

Can't find a pic of the wood stocked Deluxe, but the Fiberclass is below.

MM