sub 1000$ Gun (Not Custom)

[teddy12b]

I have no clue why people bash on Savage. The stock is junk yet my rifles have all shot lights out without any gunsmithing? Go figure.

I'm right there with you on this. I've got a 110FP in 30-06 and I shoot the same targets at 1,000 yards as the guys showing up with a AI costing 5 times the money. It blows my mind that people downplay Savage rifles because they cost less. The most accurate out of the box rifle on the market since the invention of the accu-trigger has been the heavy barreled savage rifle. If they cost twice as much they'd still be a bargain compared to any remington that I've ever seen.

The first thing most guys do when they buy any rifle of any make change out the stocks to something that suits them better. I've got a savage mark II FV-SR wearing a boyds tacticool, a 10FP-SR in 223 wearing a medalist, and the 110FP I mentioned above is in a duramaxx. Any of these rifles will outshoot or at worst be a close second accuracy wise to any comparable rifle from any other manufacturer.

I'll be happy to show up with my savages 30-06 and outshoot whatever other brand you're planning on buying. I'll even let you take my rifle for a test drive and fire as many rounds as you'd like.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I'm right there with you on this. I've got a 110FP in 30-06 and I shoot the same targets at 1,000 yards as the guys showing up with a AI costing 5 times the money. It blows my mind that people downplay Savage rifles because they cost less. The most accurate out of the box rifle on the market since the invention of the accu-trigger has been the heavy barreled savage rifle. If they cost twice as much they'd still be a bargain compared to any remington that I've ever seen.

The first thing most guys do when they buy any rifle of any make change out the stocks to something that suits them better. I've got a savage mark II FV-SR wearing a boyds tacticool, a 10FP-SR in 223 wearing a medalist, and the 110FP I mentioned above is in a duramaxx. Any of these rifles will outshoot or at worst be a close second accuracy wise to any comparable rifle from any other manufacturer.

I'll be happy to show up with my savages 30-06 and outshoot whatever other brand you're planning on buying. I'll even let you take my rifle for a test drive and fire as many rounds as you'd like.

I thought the newer ones with the accustocks have a hard to finding aftermarket stocks because their bolt patterns arent the same as the regular savage? Also, I was never bashing the Savage just from all my reading the tikka is a superior rifle...I was considering the savage and tikka but decided to raise my absolute budget to 1000 dollars for just the rifle so I wanted to see what other brands may or may not be better...such as an x-bolt stalker I saw for 800.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I'm right there with you on this. I've got a 110FP in 30-06 and I shoot the same targets at 1,000 yards as the guys showing up with a AI costing 5 times the money. It blows my mind that people downplay Savage rifles because they cost less. The most accurate out of the box rifle on the market since the invention of the accu-trigger has been the heavy barreled savage rifle. If they cost twice as much they'd still be a bargain compared to any remington that I've ever seen.

The first thing most guys do when they buy any rifle of any make change out the stocks to something that suits them better. I've got a savage mark II FV-SR wearing a boyds tacticool, a 10FP-SR in 223 wearing a medalist, and the 110FP I mentioned above is in a duramaxx. Any of these rifles will outshoot or at worst be a close second accuracy wise to any comparable rifle from any other manufacturer.

I'll be happy to show up with my savages 30-06 and outshoot whatever other brand you're planning on buying. I'll even let you take my rifle for a test drive and fire as many rounds as you'd like.

Please show me the AI's that you are referring to that cost 5x as much, if you are talking about caliber. If that's the case, calibers are a personal preference thing, and cannot really be measured by a cost to shoot basis, in my opinion. Also, handloading for any caliber puts them all about on the same level until you get into the comparing short-actions vs long actions vs magnums vs ultra magnums.

If you are referring to AI, as in Accuracy International rifles, then I will agree with your statement. You don't need a $6,000 rifle to shoot 1,000 yards.

Savage is not the most accurate out of the box rifle there is.....Please prove that statement. I'm not saying that anything else is better, I'm just curious what facts you have to support such a claim, other than your personal experiences, that none of us know.


Savage does not get bagged on because of what they cost. And if someone does bag on them for what they cost, that is simply immature.

They usually get bagged on because of people making comments like you did. The Accutrigger is not that great, I know alot of Savage shooters that remove them for aftermarkets. The Remington X-Mark Pro is also a ***, and should have never been allowed to leave the prototype stage.

I am not being brand-biased, I just want to see solid facts for the claims you are making to this man, who is asking questions.

Fact is that Remington Sendero and 5R MilSpec rifles have proven themselves for decades now. That's where my recommendations come from....Also from my personal many years of hands-on experience with each of those weapons (11 years for Senderos, and 4 years with the 5R MilSpecs)...I also don't lie about performance. I have shot plenty of Remingtons over the years that wouldn't group...But most of the ones I shot would right out of the box. And others might have needed a little tuning or TLC to make shoot good.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I thought the newer ones with the accustocks have a hard to finding aftermarket stocks because their bolt patterns arent the same as the regular savage? Also, I was never bashing the Savage just from all my reading the tikka is a superior rifle...I was considering the savage and tikka but decided to raise my absolute budget to 1000 dollars for just the rifle so I wanted to see what other brands may or may not be better...such as an x-bolt stalker I saw for 800.

Great rifle for a good price! You won't be disappointed. I love my A-Bolt II Composite Stalker 7mm RemMag. Very accurate factory rifles. Brownings are probably one of the most accurate factory-produced rifles on the market, and always have been.

Aftermarket parts selection kinda sucks...But they don't really need much, other than a good pic rail, good rings, and a good scope to be a tack-driver.

 

[teddy12b]

I thought the newer ones with the accustocks have a hard to finding aftermarket stocks because their bolt patterns arent the same as the regular savage? Also, I was never bashing the Savage just from all my reading the tikka is a superior rifle...I was considering the savage and tikka but decided to raise my absolute budget to 1000 dollars for just the rifle so I wanted to see what other brands may or may not be better...such as an x-bolt stalker I saw for 800.

I didn't take your comments as bashing savage by any means. There are plenty of guys online who do bash savage though and they do it based on their price and not their performance. I just wanted to be clear to you that savage rifles aren't of poor quality despite what you may have read elsewhere on the internet.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I didn't take your comments as bashing savage by any means. There are plenty of guys online who do bash savage though and they do it based on their price and not their performance. I just wanted to be clear to you that savage rifles aren't of poor quality despite what you may have read elsewhere on the internet.

Now, that is a much better statement. And one I can respect. And I agree. They are not bad rifles, despite how much or how little the may cost. You can't always judge a rifle by its price tag. While I am a Remington 700 fan, and don't care for Savage, I will never downplay them. I have said I didn't like them, but never will I say they aren't good rifles, because that would be a false statement.

The only rifle brand I will talk crap about was the 1 Howa 1500 .223 I had years ago that the action had so much play I thought the bolt would pop out the back without hitting the bolt release. LOL Could have been a lemon, since the rifle was brand new, but it did deter me from owning another one. But from what I hear Howa has stepped their game up from all those years ago.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Now, that is a much better statement. And one I can respect. And I agree. They are not bad rifles, despite how much or how little the may cost. You can't always judge a rifle by its price tag. While I am a Remington 700 fan, and don't care for Savage, I will never downplay them. I have said I didn't like them, but never will I say they aren't good rifles, because that would be a false statement.

The only rifle brand I will talk crap about was the 1 Howa 1500 .223 I had years ago that the action had so much play I thought the bolt would pop out the back without hitting the bolt release. LOL Could have been a lemon, since the rifle was brand new, but it did deter me from owning another one. But from what I hear Howa has stepped their game up from all those years ago.

heard remington's downfall can be their factory triggers...do any of the models come with decent factory triggers?
Maybe I am being to picky about synthetic stocks if they cause so much issues...I just have heard things like "watch out, if you grip the stock to hard it flexes and touches the barrle" I have seen posts like this on the 700SPS, the tikka, the savage...basically everything with a synthetic stock haha

 

[teddy12b]

If you are referring to AI, as in Accuracy International rifles, then I will agree with your statement. You don't need a $6,000 rifle to shoot 1,000 yards. This is what I was talking about when referring to AI in my statements. It's just something that's stuck with me since I had a guy at the raneg bashing on savage and then he pulled out a AI with folding stock and couldn't hit squat with it.

Savage is not the most accurate out of the box rifle there is.....Please prove that statement. I'm not saying that anything else is better, I'm just curious what facts you have to support such a claim, other than your personal experiences, that none of us know. Other than my personal experience, I don't have anything else to base my statement on. I'd also like to read a scientific test on the accuracy of different brands of rifles but until then I'll continue to buy heavy barreled savages expecting to get 1/2" groups with match ammo right out of the box.


They usually get bagged on because of people making comments like you did. The Accutrigger is not that great, I know alot of Savage shooters that remove them for aftermarkets. The accutrigger is not the Holy Grail, but it did spark a lot of changes in the industry and even motivated Remington to change their entire product line with their new trigger so they could keep up. The Remington X-Mark Pro is also a ***, and should have never been allowed to leave the prototype stage. Completely agreed.

I am not being brand-biased, I just want to see solid facts for the claims you are making to this man, who is asking questions. All I can do if offer the guy free advise on what I've seen work really well and what I haven't. If I had on a white lab coat and all the money in the world to buy every rifle, compare it equally and report back I would. Unfortunately it's just not reality, and all I can say is what I expect out of a savage when I buy one.

Fact is that Remington Sendero and 5R MilSpec rifles have proven themselves for decades now. Sendero's are outstanding rifles, but the last time I checked I thought they were outside the $1,000 limit for this discussion. I'd love to be wrong on that and find a nice one myself. That's where my recommendations come from....Also from my personal many years of hands-on experience with each of those weapons (11 years for Senderos, and 4 years with the 5R MilSpecs) The best adivce you can give is about what your experience has been. Hopefully it helps the OP out and he gets a great rifle that he's happy with and he doesn't waste any $$

My responses in Blue. I don't think we're too far off here.

 

[Bigeclipse]

I appreciate everyone's responses. I am even more confused now than ever.
So far looks like:
Tikka lite is decent but kicks hard because of how lite it is.
Savage is decent but gets bashed a lot about flimsy stocks.
Remington 700 is decent and has a great history but is more expensive and some say over priced.
Xbolt is decent but again is more expensive than the tikka and savage for maybe not a lot of gain.
Vanguard is decent but also more expensive and maybe with not much to gain.
Then some commented on some guns I have never heard of which left me even more confused.

I was hoping to come on here and hear an almost general concensus as to what most would buy with a 1000 dollars or less and now I am confused more than ever hahahaha.

 

[MudRunner2005]

heard remington's downfall can be their factory triggers...do any of the models come with decent factory triggers?
Maybe I am being to picky about synthetic stocks if they cause so much issues...I just have heard things like "watch out, if you grip the stock to hard it flexes and touches the barrle" I have seen posts like this on the 700SPS, the tikka, the savage...basically everything with a synthetic stock haha

Yeah, the newer factory triggers are pure junk, in my opinion. I have 1 rifle with an X-Mark Pro (external adjustment), and another with the older X-Mark (non-external adjustment). The regular X-Mark isn't THAT bad, but still not what I'd call good. My favorite Remington triggers are the style before the X-Mark, with the flat wide trigger with the vertical ridges in it. A good smith can tune one of them almost as clean and crisp as any aftermarket trigger I've ever felt.

The cheaper line of rifles that don't have good HS Precision or B&C stocks on them, I would say would need a good aftermarket stock. Or atleast would recommend it.

 

[Bigeclipse]

Yeah, the newer factory triggers are pure junk, in my opinion. I have 1 rifle with an X-Mark Pro (external adjustment), and another with the older X-Mark (non-external adjustment). The regular X-Mark isn't THAT bad, but still not what I'd call good. My favorite Remington triggers are the style before the X-Mark, with the flat wide trigger with the vertical ridges in it. A good smith can tune one of them almost as clean and crisp as any aftermarket trigger I've ever felt.

The cheaper line of rifles that don't have good HS Precision or B&C stocks on them, I would say would need a good aftermarket stock. Or atleast would recommend it.

could you give me an example of a a remington, browning, or whatever that comes with a HS precision or B&C?

 

[teddy12b]

I was hoping to come on here and hear an almost general concensus as to what most would buy with a 1000 dollars or less and now I am confused more than ever hahahaha.

On the bright side of that, there's a lot of people who are very loyal to whatever manufacturer they prefer for very good reasons. We live in a time when you can buy a rifle from just abuot any of the big manufacturers and walk away with an outstanding quality firearm. The confusion you're having right now, is a really great position to be in because you have an ocean of choices and can find something that will suit your needs/wants very closely opposed to having everyone on here agree that XYZ gun is the best and then if you didn't like something about it.

Remington's are outstanding with more aftermarket support than anything else. As much as I love savage the stock selection for Remington's is so much better. As much as I like the aftermarket support for Remington's in my experience I've had better luck with savage's on the accuracy department. It's the difference between a 1/2" (110FP) vs 7/8" (SPS Tact) which is pretty minimal in the shooting distances you're talking about.

You've gotten a lot of solid advice from a lot of different angles, now you need to go shoulder some rifles and see what you like, not what we like.

 

[MudRunner2005]

My responses in Blue. I don't think we're too far off here.

The Senderos are just outside the $1K mark, usually around $1,100-1,200 from what I've seen lately.

Yeah, I wish I could buy one of everything and try them out too, and compare, but unfortunately, like you, money stops that from happening. LOL

Glad we could see eye-to-eye on a number of things. Just remember, there's always gonna be dicks in every sport that ruin things for the rest of us, or leave us with a disdain about certain things. But I usually just ignore that crap...Or try to atleast.

When I posted that response, I was just wanting the OP to get a fair representation for comparison, as any and all rifle brands will have shooters and lemons. Anything man-made has the potential for failure. Which is why I put almost all factory rifles on a similar level, simply because any mass produced rifle will never be quite as capable or have the precision advantage as a custom-built rig. Tolerences in the custom are always gonna be tighter, unless you happen to get a fluke rifle that ends up perfect from the factory. Luckily for me, I ended up with several 1-hole factory shooters. Is that a common occurance, I wouldn't say so, but I also believe the nut behind the trigger has alot to do with it. I think alot of your average folks out there who claim their rifle won't shoot good, aren't capable of shooting groups like they think they should. Just my personal opinion. All rifles have to pass a test from the factory, and if it won't shoot then it gets sent back to be fixed till it will.

 

[BrentM]

I agree with teddy, your call at this point to shoulder them and find a fit.