I like Savage rifles. You can get a very accurate rifle at a very reasonable price, the "Weather Warrior" is less than $500 in my area. Then you can get a very good scope and be under the $800 mark. Savage makes a great rifle, I have 2, both shoot less than 2 inches with factory ammo.
Welcome to the forum!! This is a question ask alot on here,there are many good rifles in that price range(remington,ruger,browning,ect).You really need to hold them to get a feel of how they shoulder for you.As far as calibur,What are your needs---Deer,elk,bear,moose???Here are my picks.
Deer and down--25-06
Deer,elk ---.300wm
Elk,bear,moose .338wm
You already have a calibur that is the most versatile of all.
I also have a preference for the Savages but don't forget to save some of that moneyfor a decent scope. The Nikons are always a good choice. A nice cal. that I just picked up is the 7-08. Real good ballisticsand the down range hitting power should be excellent for many types of game.
Take a look at these guns that I have been lookin at: BAR LongTrac, BAR Safari, BAR ShortTrac, Remington 700 BDL, Ruger M77 Mark 2, and the Remington Model 750.
__________________
"Deep in my soul... is ducks."
-- Keep the wind at your back, the decoys pretty, and shoot 'em in the face!
Rem 700 SPS in 7mm-08 for about $470, Leupold rings and bases for about $45, Nikon Monarch 3x9x40 for about $220, sling and swivels for about $25, 1 box of your choice of factory ammo for $20, 2 sixers of quality microbrew for another $20 = $800 of fun.
I don't have one as of now, but my next rifle will probably be a Savage for two reasons.
1. I am a lefty and they offer more lefy models than anyone else. 2. Because from the ones I've seen and all the stuff I have read, they simply can not be beat for price vs. accuracy.
As for calibers. You are going to get A LOT of different opinions.
There are some who think you have to have a .50 caliber for a deer. Then there are some who think that shooting a tooth pick sized piece of lead will get the job done.
As for me, I like to keep it simple. .270Win or .308win. Two of the most popular calibers of all time which will give you a few advantages. Ammo is easy to find. Ammo is cheaper.
Or if the 30-06' has worked for you for so many years. Why change calibers? Buy a new 06'.
If you're willing to spend that kind of money I would save up just a little more to make room for a scope and puchase a Kimber. In my opinion that's where things start to become nice and you don't need to modify this or that or adjust the trigger etc... I'd love to have a Kimber but I think I need to take a Savage for a test drive first.
Tom
__________________
I have come to understand that I really enjoy learning things the hard way.
I say Remington, I have a Remington 673 in .308 Win, and it's a tack driver, it's a nice, upscale kind of rifle, but they've been on sale recently, I got mine for about$675.
I have seen them cheaper, but they're downright excellent rifles, and in my opinion, and inthe opinion of my local gun dealer's owner, Remington is the best for the money.
Savage is good, but some of them, unless you get a higher-end one, have a very rought action that I don't see as neccessary, and they have the Accu-Trigger, which some like, and others hate. I actually like it, I think it would be great on a varmit rifle, but I just don't see it as neccessary for general hunting rifle.
As for cartridge, I would get a .308 Win, it's good for hunting under 300 yards.
It has light recoil in comparison to others, but is well known for it's accuracy, in fact, many snipers choose the .308 Win.
As for ammo, I like to shoot Federal Powershoks, you can buy them cheap from Wally World (Wal-Mart), and they shoot great, they also have very high velocity, they shoot 1 inch higher than HornadySST's.
The Powershoks, are fairly popular with antelope hunters.
Right gun for the price?
