mrbb

MY 2 cents is this, when ever you go budget line rifles, you like buying a puppy, some will be better than others of the same make model, all comes down to how the stars line up the day it went down the production line
but that said, MOST all modern rifles will be able to shoot small groups with a little work on your part
first and biggest hurtle is finding a load/bullet combo it likes, and this goes for ALL rifles, or 99% of them

I have high end custom rifles that will shoot poorly with some loads and with one's it likes, it s a well past sub 1/2" MOA rifle all day long

BUT when you start with proven parts it leaves you with a larger window of room to make things better
the rem 700 action is a long standing starting point of some of the most accurate hunting rifles out there

MY simple rule of thumb is this on NEW rifles
Savage seems to make the MOST accurate rifles out of the box on AVERAGE
rem IS A SECOND place holder, and after yrs of selling and shooting rifles, I class the rest in third, they all seem to be GREAT or so so, back to pick of the liter deal!

HOW accurate YOU are makes a BIG difference here too
your expectations on a rifle will ONLY be as good as you are behind it too
so keep this in mind, MONEY doesn't buy skills!

stalkingbear

I see what you are saying, and agree somewhat. The Savage rifles are accurate partly to a cost cutting design. Savage makes their bolts multi piece, so that the bolt head is more or less "floating" and thus it flexes so both locking lugs get contact. The slop actually accidentally makes for more accuracy on average. The Remington 700 action is basically a round tube. You cannot get any simpler than that. I've NEVER seen a 700 action that didn't require quite a bit of truing up or "blueprinting" before being consistent. My own personal preferred action is the Browning A-Bolt 2. It's far more advanced design, with several design features I consider to be greatly superior to the 700 action, and with the same attention, it'll shoot with any 700 or Savage, all other things being equal.

Boondock Patrol

I know this is probably late, but want to put in my 2 cents. I purchased a Savage Axis II chambered in .270 a few years ago for $300 dollars. It came with a Weaver scope and an Accutrigger right out of the box. On my first outing with it, I shot .66 MOA. I was floored. I will not be in the market for another big game rifle until this this fails on me. I love it! I have shot with many buddies who have spent well over $1000 on their rifles and shot just as well and often better. This firearm setup is designed to do sub MOA, now its just up to the shooter to do the good shooting. Lots of guns out there! The Ruger American is very comparable. Get one and try it out. As for me and mine, I will not be letting go of my Savage Axis II any time soon. Great thread start!

Berserker

Old thread, but I would go with a Leupold VX-2 for around 2-250, if you are going to hunt. After that lots of $350-500 rifles out there. Gets you under $800. I am not a huge fan of Savages, I have had some failures I don't think should happen with a bolt. But they are popular.


Next I would buy a Lee classic press for around 150.

270sniper

You could find a new Kimber rifle for under $800 at Cabela's when on sale

poninskib

There are so many options on sub MOA rifles out there anymore. Im very partial to Savage rifles, any of the 10-12-16 rifles will perform well under MOA once you find the proper food for it. Of course optics quality are just as important as the rifle itself. The midrange Athlon Optics scopes will fit into your price range with a new savage and will last you a very very long time. As far as my choice of factory ammo (I roll my own) id stick to BHG or Federal Gold Medal Match with 168 grain Sierra Gamekings.
Happy shooting!

Erno86

This summer's Outdoor Life magazine had a review of the best sub-moa bolt gun rifles --- Most were in the $2,000 range...but the "Best Buy" was the Mauser M18 in 308, for $700; that had averaged .88 moa five shot group.@ 100 yards. Sub moa guaranteed.