$300-$350 Bolt Action Rifle

C

chewbacca

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Mar 17, 2007
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I am looking for a bolt action rifle, and I have about $350 to spend on the rifle itself. I am looking at the Savage Stevens 200, Mossberg ATR and the Marlin XL7.

i have found a lot of positive reviews on each, but I am wondering if anyone owns or has at least shot all three, or even two of the three, who can give me a comparison.
 
For $350 you should be able to bump up from the stevens to a savage 110. That gets you the accutrigger. Thats what I went with and I've been really happy so far.

More information about what you want to do with the rifle might help you get more suggestions too.
 
i would look at used bolt rifles i have seen remington 700's sell for ~$350 in common calibres like .30-06", i paid $400 last spring for a 700 ADL with a synthetic stock and a big big simmons scope (6X-18X IIRC) in 7MM rem mag, used bolt rifles are usually a good deal, most folks carry them a lot more than shoot them, i have seen only one bolt rifle which was close to having a shot out bbl and it was a .264 win mag which does that fast anyway, i would rather have a lightly used 700 vs a new savage or mossberg myself, though savage and mossbergs are ok too for the $$, i just think remington 700's are hard to beat for a bolt rifle.
 
I would agree on saving up a bit more and buying a Savage, they are just about the most accurate out of the box factory rifle made, unless you want to spend a bunch more money that is. If not then any of the others would make an acceptable rifle, all in all they are just about equal. Handle all of them, try them for fit, see how the stock and sights come up for you. Caliberwise I would stick with either .308 or .223 simply for cost reasons. Plan on spending a decent amount on a scope as well, putting a 20 dollar scope on a good rifle reduces the rifle top the quality of the scope.
 
If you are skint, get the Stevens . . . if you have the few extra bucks get the Savage you will not be disappointed.

While not the prettiest rifles out there (which isn't selection criteria for myself), the out of the box Savage with a accu-trigger is really hard to beat.

I've got a .17HMR bolt action tack driver and a .308 heavy barrel both with accu-trigger. Might never have to buy another rifle ;)
 
Thanks for the feedback guys. I was thinking new, but I will take a serious look at used based on what I have read. if I could move up to a Savage 110 or Remington 700 I would be very happy.

I plan to use the rifle for hunting white tail deer. I was looking for a fairly light rifle that would easily accept a scope. I have enough 30-06 ammo to make it worth while for me to go with that same caliber in the new rifle, plus I know a guy that reloads this, so I can get it on the cheap if I save my brass.

Again, thanks for the input.
 
I bought a Savage in .30-06 for my son. It is a nice rifle and was very affordable. It came in a "hunting package" with a mounted scope, for around 300.

Ed
 
Now that I have shifted gears, can any of you guys tell me the difference between the Savage 110 and 111? A local store has a 111FCNS with a scope for $449 list, I am thinking that I could probably go that high since it already has a scope, but I don't know if this is a lesser model.
 
I beleive the 111 is the long action, but I may have that backwards. Its not a lesser model, and I'm pretty sure its based on the 110 action.
My savage rifle is a model 11. Got it in .243 win, rifle only for $319 about 3 years ago. The package deal scopes are generally pretty serviceable, but I opted to buy them seperately. For the $100 or so difference you can probably find a nicer scope online, and the rings and bases aren't that expensive either.

EDIT: Just checked the savage website and I was right. The 111 is the long action for the 11 series. If you want a long chambering like 30'06 you need the long action. For something smaller like a .223 you would get the short action. They're the same rifle just scaled for diferent chamberings. The 111 should be a very nice deer rifle for you.
 
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Thanks Matt,

I did some more looking and found that the model 10's and 11's are short action, as you said. If I want 30-06 I need long action, a 110 or 111.

I also found that the 111's have a tapered barrel, and are the "Hunter Series" the 110's have a heavy non-tapered barrel and are for varmit hunting.

I think I am going to keep looking around, I have talked to some others who said the same thing you did, I could put on a better scope that hte packaged one for the same money.
 
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