I just wanted to ask about the back of the rack.

I've got one Ruger American. I like it.
I've shot a Mossberg Patriot. I like it.
I've shot a Savage Axis. I like it.
I saw a TC Venture the other day for $250. Dang!

How do they all stack up? Best? Worst?

Honestly, as far as hunting-level accuracy is concerned, I haven't seen a whole lot of difference. The only thing I've seen that seems to be a turn-off is the propensity for cheezy stocks.

I own some of these.
Ruger American- had problems with rotary magazine. Ruger later made staggered type magazine. Rifle is very accurate with good trigger.
Savage Axis- mine did not have Accutrigger. Stock was little flimsy. Replaced trigger with a Timney. Glued trigger guard housing to stock, which helped to stiffen it. Rifle actually shoots pretty well.
TC Venture- I have 2 of them, A .270 Weathershield and a .308 carbine. Both are accurate. The trigger on the .270 needed an aftermarket spring to make it usable. The .308 had the magazine come apart while loading it one morning as I was going out to hunt. Grabbed back-up rifle to continue hunt. Later I repaired magazine by reassembling with some cyanoacrylate. This past fall I shot a nice 8 point with the .308. In 2016, I took an antelope buck in Wyoming with the .270.
Savage 10, 11, 16, 110. These 4 Savage rifles all shoot well and have been trouble-free. I sold the 1961 vintage 110 in .30-06 to a good friend who did not have a centerfire deer rifle.

try the used rifle rack for some used treasures that are not made with plastic

I have the Ruger, Mossberg, and Savage.

I like the accuracy of the Ruger, but don't care for the stock.

I like the "feel" of the Mossberg.

I don't like the Savage at all and can't think of a scenario where I'd own another one.

If accuracy was paramount, I'd probably buy the Ruger.

If quick to the shoulder handling was paramount, I'd probably buy the Mossberg.

The Savage cost me $215, used but not abused. I hope to get my money out of it at some point in time.

My wife has a Winchester XPR Compact in 7mm08 that definitely outperforms the $200+ investment. I like the Ruger American and the T/C Compass. No experience with the others.

I have had 2 Ventures. One was a 25-06 that was stupid accurate, dont know why I sold it. The other was a 30-06 and it was accurate enough for deer hunting, I just never got attached to it. A friend has one in 7-08 that is very accurate as well.

Have had several Ruger American centerfires, taking antelope, whitetails and axis deer with them. The stocks have improved since they were introduced, being considerably stiffer, though I still sometimes have to rasp the front of the barrel channel to get them really free-floated. The cartridges have included the .223 and .22-50 Remingtons, .243 Winchester, 6mm Creedmoor, 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 and .30-06. They have all shot well, but the most accurate was a 6.5 Creedmoor Predator. Loaded up some 140-grain Berger Hunting VLDs with H4350, using some charge around 42 grains, and the first group at 100 yards put 5 (not 3) into .33 inch. The triggers aren't as widely adjustable as they were at first, but it's easy to take 'em apart and clip off one coil of the spring; they then can be adjusted about like the originals, from around 2.5 pounds to 4. I have several Velcro-attachable cheekpieces that can be easily adjusted for the correct scope height. I haven't had much trouble at all with the magazines, and only one has been the new box magazine.

Have had one Savage Axis, which did not have an adjustable trigger, though I managed to modify it enough to work OK. It was originally a .22-250 and shot very well, without any fiddling with the stock. Put a Shaw .250 Savage barrel on it for a while, which also shot very well; in fact it may have been the most accurate .250 I've owned, and I've owned quite a few. But the detachable magazine needed to be really whacked to stay in the stock.

Have had a couple of T/C Ventures, a .243 and .308, and both shot very well with just about any load. Probably should have kept one, but have several .243s and .308s.

Own one Mossberg Patriot .308, which shoots at least as well as the T/C Venture and RAR .308s I've had. Killed a mule deer buck with it a while back, but it's now on loan to the daughter of a friend.

One of the inexpensive rifles I'd definitely add to the list is the Mauser M18, which these days can be found for $400 to $450 new. A very fine "cheap" deer gun.

Almost all tbe pricepoint rifles shoot well nowadays. That said, if I was looking for a reasonable deer rifle, I'd look for a .270 or .30-06 that somebody had traded for a .300 magnun or Creedmoor. Seems to be a lot of 'em on the used racks lately.

New stuff is all ways interesting but ,I sorta look at the rifle rack for the nicer used stuff like mooshoo mentioned. 2 springs back I spotted a Marlin xl 7 in 2506 bought it for $200+ tax. I have yet to see one of these Marlins that wouldn't shoot well. Maybe it's my location but over the last few years I've picked up more than a few 03's and 03A3's that were partially sporterized from the 50's to 60's for 200 to 275 bucks. Used FN actioned rifles and their clones seem to be springing out of closets also for under $300. Thing is you can't jack around till August/September and expect to find these better used guns. You literally have to be visiting your LGS VERY often to score these deals. Good deals and good guns aren't allways easy to find especially when you want them together. Last weds morning after getting supplies I needed at Menards I stopped at box type sporting goods store to check out the used gun rack. There was a trim walnut stocked bolt action 22lr with a Vari x llc 2x7 on it.so I roll it over to read the barrel markings Savage Anshutz m164 next I looked at the price tag $379 had them pull off the stupid trigger lock so I could view the bore. I wasn't born yesterday and learned long time a go when in the gun shop and you see something you interested in you don't never ever let go of it or let someone else handle it. You damn well may lose it on the spot..The 164 came home with me I figured if it didn't shoot I'd bone the Leopold off it and sell it down the road. And no I don't need to worry on how well it shoots. Allways look at the used stuff never know when someone is gonna get stupid. That 164 got put in the rack 1 hr before I got there. MB

I like to do the same thing Bob! I also look at Gunbroker often for the same things.

It's amazing the accuracy that these "cheap" rifles offer today. In not the too distant past a 1 moa rifle was a real shooter, and you might have to go through a handful of rifles to find one. Today 1 moa gets a ho hum yawn. Kudos to the gun companies that are making a better product.

Want cheap?

Look for a H&R handy rifle on the used rack.

I have had several Ruger Americans in calibers 223, 22-250, 243, 7-08 and 308. All shot great but I had problems with all the magazines except the 7-08. I had a Mossberg Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor and it was exceptionally accurate, magazine fed fine but rattled like a tamborine I have 2 TC Compass rifles in 6.5Creedmoor and 223 that are very accurate, the magazines feed slick as snot and do not rattle. I did have to do a M*CARBO trigger job on them but that was it. The stocks on the Compass seems stiffer that on the other rifles in that class that I have used.

Personally if I was in the market for an inexpensive rifle, I would look for a JC Higgins Model 50, which was a Belgian FN Mauser action. They seem to pop up here and there, and at reasonable prices.

Another option is the Ithica imported Tikka LSA 55 (short action) and 65 (long action). These were produced by Tikka prior to their merger with Sako, and are superb rifles. They are not expensive and I have yet to see one that was not a shooter.

Either will last a couple generations (at a minimum) and have more pride in ownership than some of the economy junk they are putting out these days.

I bought a Savage Hog Hunter, because it had a threaded barrel. That thing flat out shoots.

Lately in my area I see plenty of second hand deer rifles for sale and the prices arent bad at all and nobody seems to be paying any attention to them. Everyone wants an inexpensive handgun or a tactical rifle

Regarding the LSA, A spare magazine is getting close to 1/2 the price of the whole rifle. What a shame as they are a fine rifle indeed.

I cannot speak for the TC Venture as I've never owned one, but I'd prefer an older used M-70 or M-700 to any of the others listed. I've also been pleased with the Howa and Weatherby Vanguard that I've purchased for under $300 delivered....yes….used, but still excellent rifles.

I picked up a Marlin 336 a year ago in 30/30, built in 1979, that shoots cloverleafs at 75 yards with Winchester 150gr Power Max bonded bullets.

$199 out the door at the Pawn shop for a walnut/blue piece of work. It will cover just about 100% of the deer hunting I do locally.

Do many people in the first half of their lives value the concept of "pride of ownership" anymore? If so, I'm not seeing it very often.

They will serve an Eastern woods hunter well for a lifetime. I bought mine back in the early 90's and I've killed more deer with it than any other rifle I own. No plastic or pot metal junk on them. Just solid blued steel and walnut.

I have a pile of "pride of ownership" rifles, the list including both pre- and later CRF Model 70s (one an O'Connor Commemorative with spectacular wood), two custom rifles based on JC Higgins 50s, one a walnut-stocked 6.5x55 and the other a not-cheap synthetic-stocked .338 Winchester Magnum, a Merkel single-shot break-action (also with spectacular wood), and other custom walnut-stocked CRF rifles from .243 Winchester to .375 H&H. Oh, and three very nice Sauer drillings. (I also have a bunch "modern custom" rifles with synthetic stocks many of the latest bells and whistles, all costing several times as much the "cheap" rifles.)

But one thing I have appreciated about the cheap synthetic-stocked rifles that have appeared in the past decade or so is that most tend to shoot very well right out of the box, and the triggers can also be easily adjusted . This has not been my experience with many more expensive factory bolt-action rifles, including classics like the pre-'64 Model 70, or most Remington 700s--or even JC Higgins 50s, which can have kinda weird riggers.

This is because the cheap rifles were designed AFTER rifle companies knew a lot more about what makes rifles shoot well, especially stock bedding. In fact, I have grown a little weary with spending both my time and, sometimes, extra money getting pride-of-ownership rifles to shoot as well as OTB "cheap" rifles, especially the Mauser M18. For around $400 I know the M18s will shoot great, and if the factory trigger pull doesn't please me it only takes a couple minutes to fix it, unlike many pre-'64 M70 triggers that will not adjust to less than 4-1/2 pounds, so require taking apart and rebuilding to get the same sort of pull.

All of which is partly why I answered the OP's question with my experience with various cheap rifles, instead of the common Campfire suggestions of buying anything else.

Are all the M18s built on long actions? I was reading a description of a M18 in .243 Win and it said “compatible with all Rem 700 long action bases”? I didn’t know if that was just an editing mistake, or if there are no true “short action” M18s?

As I recall, they all are built on long actions, with different magazines for the .243 and .308 Winchester.

I bought a T/C Compass last year with a Vortex scope on it. 6.5 Creedmoor that shoots MOA. $350. I'd deer hunt anywhere with it.

Ron

The Mauser is certainly intriguing, but I haven't seen them in stock locally yet.

Thanks all for your input. I haven't found the next shamanic deer rifle, but I'm always looking.

Upstream somebody mentions it............."not attached" to it.
That's the prob w cheap and or not pretty rifles.

They just have no soul.

There's nothing wrong with inexpensive tools that do the job well.
But they stay as tools and nothing more.

The sad fact is these cheap new budget guns will usually shoot circles around the “standard” more expensive gun. But they aren’t heirlooms. Everybody agrees, the only thing good about them is how well the ugly bastards shoot.

I’ve owned 8 Ruger Americans. I never had a problem getting 1/2 MOA out of any one of them.

Todd

Bought a Zastava .308 off gunbroker. Basically it's a cheap large ring mauser,I paid about $475 all included. It needs to be bedded and re-finished. It's a work in progress,but it's a great value for the money.

I have two Savage Stevens 200 rifles I purchased a number of years ago on a close out deal for $189 each. I originally bought them for loaner/truck/ATV rifles and that is what they have been used for mostly. They have become what I hunt with the most as they are a good reliable tool that I don't worry about getting scratched up, rained on or loaned to someone in camp that needs a rifle. Ugly as heck but very accurate and have been dependable. It is crazy when I think how many animals have been taken by me and a number of other people with those rifles. They just plain work. One stays in my truck at all times and the other lives in a gun boot on an ATV at the ranch. They are definitely not heirlooms just plain cheap tools that get the job done. If they were to get stolen I wouldn't be happy but allot less upset than if one of my "heirloom" rifles did. My dad has one also and he calls it his Tupperware rifle due to the stock.

One of my heirlooms was a pretty cheap rifle. My Dad bought me a Remington 788 .243 when I was 14 for getting good grades. I think he paid $109 for it new. He put a Weaver K4 on it. I killed a bunch of groundhogs with it, but never a deer. I'd also deer hunt with it any day. I'm 60 now.

Ron

Most of my junk is synth stock, for durability.
Have a couple walnut rigs that were used, dinged up.......purchased because they still look good but am not afraid to hunt them.
Just purchased a nicer stocked rifle of some collector status.
So nice as to be almost unusable for hunting.

Screwed myself.

I'd rather have a used SS 700 ADL or SS Howa/Vanguard than most of the current budget rifles. They aren't bad expensive to start, don't take a ton of tinkering to get to shoot okay, and can be restocked later if you want to have something with a little more "pride of ownership".

With that being said, it is likely that some of the newer designs will outshoot the 700 or Vanguard, if that's all that matters. Me, I'd rather have a MOA rifle I really like than a half MOA rifle I can't warm up to.

Back when I was looking for cheap deer rifles for my kids, I was purchasing used Savage Model 340s or their Stevens equivalent in .30-30. At the time they were in the $200 range and usually included a lesser brand scope. I'm not sure you could sell one for that money today, but they were excellent deer rifles and the .30-30 cartridge is surprisingly accurate out of those rifles. I haven't looked at a factory new rifle in at least 25 years, maybe more like 35, so I can't opine as to what's a good quality inexpensive deer rifle today, but I'm pretty sure no one is looking for the older Savages anymore, except guys on a nostalgia kick.