i would have to say..


savage model 10 FCM " scout " rifle. comes with williams peep sights out of the factory. loves the 150gr. bullets and getting under 1" at 100yds with it.

depends on how much money you want to spend.
Savage, Tikka are 2 of the better out of the box rifles that wont break the bank

The Savage Weather Warrior models are in my estimation beautiful guns, light weight, stainless steel and ACCURATE! In .308 my favorite would be the 16FSS, it' s the short action. Has 22in. barrel and weighs 6.5lbs. Around $400 for a new one and you could put some nice glass on it.

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Great feedback Otis, thank you kindly.

Savage308, I understand your choice, was just looking at the weather warrior series, great rifles, good prices. Thanks. It boils down to the question of availability now.

Well onthe market is the clincher. Not a current production gun but I ended up with a darn good .308 for a nice price. Found a surplus FR-8 for $200 and had a used Bell&Carlson synthetic stock for a ' 98 action just gathering dust. So after buying the rifle, bedding it into that stock and doing a trigger job on it; I now have one fine little brush gun in .308. Fits me perfect and it' s darned accurate with the peep sights that it was issued with.

I just read a bit in " DEER HUNTERS YEARBOOK" 11th edition (outdoorlife books). The title is " The Long-Range And Short-Range Performance of Deer Rifles" . The author talks about hunting deer in the bush where shots are most often very close and a fast handling gun that will get him on a buck quickly is so important.(more important than the fine accuracy of a long heavy tack-driver). He also says that every once in a while he gets an opportunity at something in the 250 or 300 yards range. He used to use a Malin lever action 30/30 then a ruger semi-auto in .44 mag. But they were not up to the occasional longer shot possibilities. Now he uses a Ruger Model 77RLS (carbine) in .308 with a 3x to 9x Swarovski scope. He shoots 150 grain spire-point boat tail Interlocks from Hornady (factory ammo).

I have always liked the looks of the long ago discontinued winchester model 100 semi-auto. In .308 or .284 with a 1.5x to 6x or a 2x to 8x scope, I always figured this might be a great tool for this type of hunting.

Robin

If I were on a tight budget, I' d buy a Savage. For a little more money I' d go for a Tikka. My Tikka .308 is extremely accurate with a wide range of bullet weights, excellent trigger and fantastic workmanship. For even more money, take a look at a Sako. They are superbly crafted rifles.

Those are some of my favorites, but there really aren' t any bad bolt action rifles on the market now. Everybody will list their personal favorite as " the best" .

no longer made but the 788 remington