Best precision rifle available on a budget

J

Jofootballo

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Minuteman
Jan 27, 2021
5
12
California
#1
I recently started looking for a new precision rifle for both hunting and target shooting, and was wondering what your guys' thoughts were on my options. I'm on a budget of around 6-700 bucks.
1: savage 10 fcp-sr in .308
2: Weatherby vanguard in .30-06
3. Zastava m70 in .30-06

#1 &3 are available at my local dealer, so I'd prefer to do that over order the vanguard online. Currently leaning towards the savage because of the threaded barrel and rail mount, as well as copious aftermarket support, but I heard the mags were kinda shitty. I'd like to hear any opinions
 
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#2
LOL.....gird yer loins for a bashing. You are within a dedicated bunch of precision shooters.....

If you don't spend $3000+ you are not even trying. Me? I'm a relative newbie and started with a Savage 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 CM and built to this:

Prone200yards.jpg


But Savage is junk and many will tell you Tikka or Begara or AI or whatever. This is an exclusive site with aficionados. Poor people or folks with budgets are frowned upon.

VooDoo
 
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#4
I have an FCPSR in 6.5 that shot awesome the whole life of its barrel. If you only have about $600 for the rifle, they’re solid. If you can spend more towards $1000, the Bergara HMR and Tikka CTR are tough to beat. Also, if you’re wanting a more hunting style rifle tikka T3X and Bergara ridge are great too. Howa generally makes an accurate rifle as well and weatherby uses the same action
 
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#5
Vodoun daVinci said:
LOL.....gird yer loins for a bashing. You are within a dedicated bunch of precision shooters.....

If you don't spend $3000+ you are not even trying. Me? I'm a relative newbie and started with a Savage 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 CM and built to this:

View attachment 7539816

But Savage is junk and many will tell you Tikka or Begara or AI or whatever. This is an exclusive site with aficionados. Poor people or folks with budgets are frowned upon.

VooDoo
Click to expand...
Am I a poor boy buying an RPR 338LM w/ NF NX8?
 
#6
Of those 3, Savage

There’s nothing wrong with a savage especially for a starter rifle

Of the calibers you listed, 308 is my choice

Yes you will get recommendations for Tikka, Bergara etc. You'll also get recommendations for 6.5 CM over a 308

Take all that comes with a grain of sand and do your research

But of what you listed. Savage in 308. Ruger Precision is another one to look into
 
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#7
I have a Savage and a Vanguard. No they’re not top precision rifles. No where close but both shoot well. For box rifles, both are very accurate. My Savage is the Ashbury Precision Ordinance collaboration. Here’s a target with 175 SMK hand loads with 42.2 H4895 and factory FGMM 175 SMK. C0CEDDA7-1330-4AF5-AC30-ED3B735B5D60.jpeg
3EECCCBA-1E0B-4E38-8D1B-28A5138E5FA0.jpeg
 
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#14
Vodoun daVinci said:
LOL.....gird yer loins for a bashing. You are within a dedicated bunch of precision shooters.....

If you don't spend $3000+ you are not even trying. Me? I'm a relative newbie and started with a Savage 10 FCP-SR in 6.5 CM and built to this:

View attachment 7539816

But Savage is junk and many will tell you Tikka or Begara or AI or whatever. This is an exclusive site with aficionados. Poor people or folks with budgets are frowned upon.

VooDoo
Click to expand...
Shoot, that's a good gun and it looks sweet too. No shame in that at all brother. The question is only "how does it shoot?" , after that, it's all pissing contest.
 
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#16
benmuncie said:
I have had many savage rifles, and some shot as good as custom barrels, while others were barely average. My suggestion is to buy a used savage ($300) and then put a custom barrel on it (youtube will show you how). Same money you are wanting to spend, but you end up with a custom barrel.
Click to expand...
This is the best actual answer to his question to get the result he wants....
 
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#17
Jofootballo said:
Sorry, yes I'm on a tight budget (broke college student). Didn't realize most people on here have an elitist complex lol. Thanks to those who actually gave some advice.
Click to expand...
I built my first rifle at 20 a few years ago. I bought a tikka and had it rebarreled by Meredith rifles. I sold that rifle recently and already regret it. I would lean towards a tikka ctr in .308 and a decent optic of your choosing.
 
#18
If it's for target/steel get it chambered in 6.5cm, beats 308 for wind effects, if you want to kill stuff 300wm. Savage or howa/weatherby vanguard twins for cost. If you are target focused I'd be looking at the howa varmint version rather than weatherby, the heavier barrels will be more accurate, less kick and group size will be more stable over a string of shots, it's the same action anyway
 
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#21
The advice to buy used and rebarrel is a good one. I'm not sure if these sales still run, but my first match rifle was a savage. I put it together right before the rpr came out. I bought a Cabelas exclusive 12fv for $350. There was a $100 mail in rebate. The action and trigger cost me $250 and tax. I took the barrel off and still have it. I put on a Criterion prefit in 243 Ackley and put the barreled action in an HS Precision stock with CDI botom metal that I bought in the PX for $350. I had under $1000 in the rifle. I put a Burris XTRii on it and shot matches with it for 2 seasons. I had less than $2k in the rifle with optics. It shot well and I went through 2 barrels on it. At the time that was absolutely all I could afford and still be able to practice and travel to matches. I think I could do it better for cheaper with today's gear. I did spend a lot of time working over the action and bedding the stock. It was a labor of love and I used time and tinkering to fix the deficiencies I didn't have the money to buy my way out of.

The path to take varies depending on exactly what you want to be able to do with the rifle. What kind of shooting do you want to do? What do you want to hunt? How much will you be walking with the rifle while hunting? Will you reload? Right away, or later?

This stuff can absolutely be done on a budget. It doesn't seem like it from reading some responses on here. The expensive stuff is nicer, but I honestly think I could spend a couple months practicing for a match with my old Savage and shoot within 3% of what I would with my $9k custom setup.

If you post a more specific use case for what you want the rifle to do we can be a lot more helpful. If you would rather, you can also PM me and I will help with what I did when I needed to get by on a tight budget for both reloading and the rifle setup itself.
 
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#22
kennyg said:
Savages generally will shoot pretty well out of the box. The common complaints seem to be feeding problems and weak ejection.
Click to expand...
Agree with weak ejection on mine. No feeding problems with Magpul mags. Any verified fix advice on the ejector is welcome.
 
#23
db2000 said:
Agree with weak ejection on mine. No feeding problems with Magpul mags. Any verified fix advice on the ejector is welcome.
Click to expand...

9/64” detent ball under the extractor usually does the trick. I’ve fixed several just by using that alone

I bought 100 detent balls for $4 from fastenal several years ago
 
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#25
MakeSawdust said:
The advice to buy used and rebarrel is a good one. I'm not sure if these sales still run, but my first match rifle was a savage. I put it together right before the rpr came out. I bought a Cabelas exclusive 12fv for $350. There was a $100 mail in rebate. The action and trigger cost me $250 and tax. I took the barrel off and still have it. I put on a Criterion prefit in 243 Ackley and put the barreled action in an HS Precision stock with CDI botom metal that I bought in the PX for $350. I had under $1000 in the rifle. I put a Burris XTRii on it and shot matches with it for 2 seasons. I had less than $2k in the rifle with optics. It shot well and I went through 2 barrels on it. At the time that was absolutely all I could afford and still be able to practice and travel to matches. I think I could do it better for cheaper with today's gear. I did spend a lot of time working over the action and bedding the stock. It was a labor of love and I used time and tinkering to fix the deficiencies I didn't have the money to buy my way out of.

The path to take varies depending on exactly what you want to be able to do with the rifle. What kind of shooting do you want to do? What do you want to hunt? How much will you be walking with the rifle while hunting? Will you reload? Right away, or later?

This stuff can absolutely be done on a budget. It doesn't seem like it from reading some responses on here. The expensive stuff is nicer, but I honestly think I could spend a couple months practicing for a match with my old Savage and shoot within 3% of what I would with my $9k custom setup.

If you post a more specific use case for what you want the rifle to do we can be a lot more helpful. If you would rather, you can also PM me and I will help with what I did when I needed to get by on a tight budget for both reloading and the rifle setup itself.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply. So I'm a relatively new gun owner, I'm not looking for something to enter competitions or tournaments or anything of the sort. The goal for me is just sub-moa, and able to kill anything elk and below. I'm just now getting into hunting, with my first planned trip being a hog hunt in central California. For this purpose I figure .308 or .30-06 is more than enough, or so I've read. 6.5 CM seems a bit light for what I'm looking to do. In terms of weight, it doesn't really matter much to me as long as it weighs less than 11lbs. I know hunters tend to like their lighter rifles, but I don't see what all the fuss is about. I went and saw my buddies gun guy two days ago, and he showed me a couple of his bolt rifles for sale, and I've been checking online though shipping and ffl fees make the online route more expensive.

So, in essence what I'm looking for is a gun that can shoot sub-moa for less than 750$, with about 100-150 set aside for glass.
 
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#26
savages belong to the 2 box a year fudds.

If ur golden ox got gored so be it.

Shot more critters then most people get to in a lifetime with a salvage.. never again.

Stupid shit like ejecting empties kinda matters.

Tang safeties are retarded and super ez to get to not work.

Magazines that won’t break when dropped 3 foot when loaded.

Bolts stroke actually matters. I don’t want to have to run a bolt a certain way otherwise it binds.

Oh and unless they have a pencil barrel they are heavy.

If ur bare bones budget find an old Stevens 200 in 7mm-08 or 243. Seen plenty at pawn shops over the years for 2-250$

Mount and swfa scope, 6x is best. 200$ they can be had. Bed a pic rail and use some swfa low rings.

Pick up a cheap reloading kit and either 105’s or 162’s and some lapua brass and a temp stable powder.
 
#29
Tikkas are great rifles -- Even the "Lite" models are very accurate, as long as they are used at a slower pace. You can find blued models at very reasonable prices.

Warne rings that fit the Tikka dovetail are very stable/strong and they are reasonably priced.

Then buy a clearance scope from Cameraland, Midway USA or SWFA.

This was essentially my first "quality" rifle set-up -- If you get a Tikka, you will likely never get rid of it, even if you eventually get something more "elitist"
 
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#30
Jofootballo said:
...in essence what I'm looking for is a gun that can shoot sub-moa for less than 750$, with about 100-150 set aside for glass.
Click to expand...
I think you’re asking for too much with that cheap of a scope. You said precision rifle, but how far do you plan to shoot? I think you’ll find any scope with exposed turrets to dial for longer shots, in that price bracket, will be an exercise in frustration. In your shoes, I would look at an SWFA SS fixed power, if you can find one.
 
#31
I believe you can find a Tikka in the price range you listed. My LGS has several used Tikka T3 Lites for $500-600. Don't develop a complex over folks who have larger budgets, it would be great if we could all afford the best of everything right out of the gate. I have a Zastava M70, and for the price it is a really well build hunting rifle, the stock is just ok on mine. I would not want to try any serious shooting with one due to the internal magazine and the Mauser extractor, both of those are personal preferences. The Savage is available right now, and there's plenty of aftermarket support that doesn't require a machine shop to fit parts should you want to change something down the road.
 
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#33
Jofootballo said:
I recently started looking for a new precision rifle for both hunting and target shooting, and was wondering what your guys' thoughts were on my options. I'm on a budget of around 6-700 bucks.
1: savage 10 fcp-sr in .308
2: Weatherby vanguard in .30-06
3. Zastava m70 in .30-06

#1 &3 are available at my local dealer, so I'd prefer to do that over order the vanguard online. Currently leaning towards the savage because of the threaded barrel and rail mount, as well as copious aftermarket support, but I heard the mags were kinda shitty. I'd like to hear any opinions
Click to expand...
First, discount the 30'06. It is a fine cartridge but you are NOT going to find but one or two match loads.
Second, if the savage is in your price bracket, get it. 10 years ago, they were well regarded here. It has the advantage of coming with a picatinny rail.
Do they have issues? Yes. But minor ones. I ran a 10PC through a 6 day sniper course and never had a problem, except the rifle was too light.
Don't invest in more than 1 spare mag, they actually work just fine.
Once you get settled, and build up a bit more cash, buy an Oryx chassis and switch to AICS magazines.
www.eabco.net

ORYX Chassis Stock fits Savage 10 SA/RH - OD Green

oryx is a reasonably priced chassis stock for savage short action rifles and is suitable for hunting and prs competition. convert my savage, savage conversion stock, oryx chassis, mdt chassis, savage chassis, savage stock, precision rifle series, prs, prs rifle, prs stocks, prs chassis, 106263...
www.eabco.net www.eabco.net
Do NOT waste your time or money on a 200 dollar scope, they will only frustrate you and eventually fail. They will not have enough adjustment range to get you where you want. (certain caveats apply)
The SWFA 10X or 12X are pretty much the gold standard for entry level tactical scopes for a very good reason, they are very well made, but new ones are unavailable right now.
This would be worth jumping on:

Riflescopes - Used & Demo - SWFA Outdoors

www.samplelist.com www.samplelist.com
 
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#34
Might even want to move down to one of the 6.5’s, depending on the size of the animals you are planning to hunt. However, if target shooting is anywhere on the menu, don’t go heavier than a .308. .30-06 is a fine round as are just about every round that uses that case but its not a round much used for target shooting anymore. So, match grade components are either very difficult to find or just don’t exist.

The dreaded/loved/hated/revered Creedmoor general comes with a fairly tight chamber and a long throat. Good for target use, fine for hunting with long for caliber bullets.

I own a Vanguard and it ranks as my favorite hunting rifle. And, price wise, the base models are below your budget. Using a Howa action, chassis and other parts/stocks/chassis are available. (My Vanguard cost about $550.00 from a lgs so I know they are affordable and they shoot). As with anything Weatherby, you can spend as much as you want, but you don’t have too. And, did I mention, they shoot!

If the dream is eventually getting more involved than jsut shooting a box stock rifle, go with the Savage. They are the quintessentia rifle for modification. Shoot it now, add, change, do whatever you want later. Example. I purchased our son a left handed, used Savage in .25-06 when he was a senior in high school. Currently, it wears a 6.5x284 barrel, a custom target stock, a picatinny rail and a really nice Vortex scope. One would not recognize what I purchased and what it appears now, 21 years later. And the thing shoots. (And always did, no matter what the modification he did to it).
 
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#35
For the price point you've suggested, I believe the Savage is your best bet. They shoot well, well enough to have a bit of fun. The glass is going to be where you're going to have a difficult time. You're budget will have to be tripled to get a rifle and a decent scope.

Sorry, but you can't find a decent scope that's also inexpensive.
 
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#37
FWIW, here is a good review of of the FCP SR, note that the author ended up putting it in a chassis and dramatically improved performance.
Just be careful about loading the bipod/front end of the rifle and you should get decent accuracy.
Upgrade as soon as you can to the Oryx or something similar.
rifleshooter.com

Savage Model 10 FCP-SR Review

Rifleshooter.com reviews the Savage Model 10 FCP-SR I never owned a Savage rifle. I’ve read reviews and heard other shooters sing their praise. With over 20 years in the sport, I decided to …
rifleshooter.com rifleshooter.com
 
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#38
If you can stretch your glass budget just a bit more I’d recommend the Cabelas Covenant 4 4-16 scope. I’ve used that and once you calibrate it with your ballistic software it does a decent job. I had the SFP version on my 300 WM. With the turret adjustment and the hold over using the reticle I was able to reach a mile with it. Glass is okay and it does have parallax adjustment. For the hunting / entry target type shooting you described it’ll work fine. I’ve seen them for around $200, sometimes less on sale.
 
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#39
If you can find a used Nikon FX1000, that's an excellent mult-purpose scope (in the 4-16x50 variety). I use the 6-24x50 on my tactical PRS gun and the only time I'm missing is because of the shooter (and a lack of money, time, and land to develop perfect DOPE in various environments).
 
#40
Tikka is the best bang for the buck

never buy a Savage no return on investment, aftermarket support is lacking, many gunsmiths avoid them,

The SH Rifle from APO is based off a Remington 700, gets air gauged and looked at prior, with chassis it's ready to role at $1995 but this a bit after market

APO | Sniper's Hide Rifle

This Special Edition SABER M700 is a uniquely designed precision rifle inspired by Frank Galli, former USMC Scout Sniper.
www.ashburyprecisionordnance.net www.ashburyprecisionordnance.net

Tikka, the answer is always a Tikka
 
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#41
fdkay said:
FWIW, here is a good review of of the FCP SR, note that the author ended up putting it in a chassis and dramatically improved performance.
Just be careful about loading the bipod/front end of the rifle and you should get decent accuracy.
Upgrade as soon as you can to the Oryx or something similar.
rifleshooter.com

Savage Model 10 FCP-SR Review

Rifleshooter.com reviews the Savage Model 10 FCP-SR I never owned a Savage rifle. I’ve read reviews and heard other shooters sing their praise. With over 20 years in the sport, I decided to …
rifleshooter.com rifleshooter.com
Click to expand...
I did read that review prior. Of all the reviews I've read that one was the only one that said the accuracy was poor out of the box, which did scare me a bit. I've been looking at tikkas this whole time too and they don't seem very easily available in my area for a decent price. The search continues
 
#43
Jofootballo said:
The goal for me is just sub-moa, and able to kill anything elk and below. I'm just now getting into hunting, with my first planned trip being a hog hunt in central California. For this purpose I figure .308 or .30-06 is more than enough, or so I've read. 6.5 CM seems a bit light for what I'm looking to do. In terms of weight,
Click to expand...

So basically you're looking for a hunting rifle that you can "target shoot" every now and again.

Of the three you listed the Weatherby Vanguard (a rebranded Howa 1500) is your best choice. Get it in 6.5 Creedmoor. It will kill anything elk on down.

Get this one: https://weatherby.com/store/vanguard-laminate-sporter/ The laminated stock will add a little bit of heft and is far more rigid and stable than the injection-molded plastic shit that comes on most off the shelf rifles.

There's a shitload of decent scopes in the $500 - $1000 range, not so much below that. So you're going to have to up your budget
 
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#44
it’s beyond the ability of the vast vast vast majority of shooters to exceed the capabilities of what a tikka in 6.5 slinging 147’s topped with an swfa 6x can do.

From a fitness level.

From having sorted kit level. The rifle is just one piece of about 40 things that a guy has in the pack. Nice to hit ez buttons and keep decision making fatigue for other pieces of kit that are more ambiguous in nature.

From an ability to building shooting positions in the field under stress , manage recoil for those positions and make first rounds hits in the 95% rate on vital size targets past the distance a 6x magnification will hurt you.
 
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#46
Glass is more important than the rifle IMHO. Suggest looking for a used Weaver or Bushnell with Japanese glass for 400 or so.

For the rifle, if you need it now, find a box store special - I think you can find Savage FV's for 250 when they couple a sale with a rebate, or a Ruger American Predator, or a Thompson, etc for ~300. Best if you can hold them and dry fire...

If not in a hurry, I'd try to find a 700 or a Tikka. Big difference in weight, feel, and trigger. If you can hold them, you should immediately know which you prefer.

308 and especially 30-06 are hated right now, so you might be able to find one cheap. With the long throat of a stock Remmy, you can seat long and run 208's out of a 308 with the same ballistics of 147's out of a 6.5 Creed. 30-06 even better - assuming you reload. If not reloading, 6.5 is the better choice IMHO, but are in much higher demand.
 
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#49
BullGear said:
Mine too. It shot better than I could. Great starter rifle in my opinion. But I guess you can say that about any rifle.
Click to expand...
The factory barrel I had shot sub moa and after a barrel swap many rounds later it’s a consistent sub half minute gun and on days that I do my part I can get quarter inch groups at 100. In my opinion a very good starting point for a shooter
 
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#50
A friend of mine just picked up a very slightly used Bergara HMR for $650 and the thing shoots amazing. If it were me, I'd be saving for a few months, maybe selling some shit I don't use so much anymore in favor of getting a Tikka or a Bergara.
 
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