First rifle which to buy?
 

I have hunted 13 years in a shotgun deer zone all my life and used a 870 slug gun. Now it got switched to rifle. I have saved up $400.00 to buy a rifle. I have been looking at the Marlin XL7 and the savage m 111. I have chosen between the 30-60 and the 7mm. I have never shot a 7mm but a 30-06 i have But kick really dosent scare me i came from slug guns which really kick alot. I would really like a do it all rifle. Which of these rifles do you guys like better? What other suggestions do you have? I know i can't get the marlin in a 7mm. i also have my eyes on the remington model 700 adl combo and the weatherby vanguard.

The Savages are known for their accuracy. If I had to choose between the rifles you mentioned, I'd go with the Savage. You would be well served with either an '06 or a 7mm mag. There is no bad choice between the two.

My choices in order would be the Vanguard or Remington as number 1 choice, then Savage, then Marlin.

The recoil of the 30-06 and 7mm Rem mag are nearly identical so don't worry about that.

IMO if you are only going to have one cartridge then the 30-06 would be my first choice.

To me the vangaurd is weatherbys bottom of the barrel rifle kinda like the 770 remington. The remington 700 is what I would look at. Then Id look at savage. I cant say much about the marlin bolt rifles cause Ive never spent any time with one. You can customize every inch of a 700 because everyone makes something for it. As far as chambering either one will do fine on anything in the lower 48 and then some. I agree with big bulls though about the 30-06. I would choose it first.

First rifle and then a one rifle guy with $400.


Marlin in .30-06 and you still need rings and a scope.

Do you have any actual experience with the Weatherby vanguard / Howa 1500 (Howa makes the vanguard for Weatherby)? Because you you couldn't be more off base with that statement if you were standing on the moon. Remington, Savage, and Marlin should aspire to make their rifles with Howa's quality.

The vanguard/Howa 1500 is one of the strongest action in production today. In 2000, Howa also acquired the ISO 9001 certification.

The receiver is a forged steel flat bottom piece and incorperates a massive tapered recoil lug machined into the bottom of the reciever while the other three use a washer type of recoil lug sandwiched between the barrel and receiver.

The vanguard uses a one piece forged two lug bolt....... which means it isn't a casting, there are no pinned or brazed on bolt handles like with the other three, no pinned on bolt heads like with the Savage and Marlin, or anything of the sort. Just solid steel.

The bolt body is ventelated to expel gasses away from the shooter in the event of a case or primer rupture. The bolt face also completely encompases the cartridge head just like the Remington does.

The extractor is m16 style and is one of the strongest and robust extractors available aside from a mauser style claw extractor.

The barrel is hammer forged.

The bottom metal (trigger guard, floor plate) is actually made of metal instead of plastic. The trigger guard is aluminum and the floor plate is steel.

+1 ...great comeback.

You can't go wrong with any of your choices, you need to handle them all, I agree with the .30-06, many different loads to choose from. Also put a really good or at least a decent scope on it

As bigbulls stated the Weatherby Vanguard is an excellent rifle and would be my choice in this case. If you look around, many times the Howa 1500 is priced a little better than it's Vanguard brother. This savings could then be put towards optics.

Personaly any of your choices of makers are good ,I have Savages in 308 and 30-06' with no complaints and have shot with many freinds and family with 700BDLs for 30 years not 1 complaint about either rifle family.

Cartridges there's a place where I'm quite biased and will say 06' every time anybody asks about an all pourpose cartridge. Open market it is available everwhere ammo is on the shelf. You can buy loads from 100grn varmit HPs all the way up to 220grn moose slayers in about any shape you want . If you decide to hand load for it you can open it up from 40-250grns.

Good hunting

i have it narrowed down to the remington 700 adl with the scope combo on it i know its a cheap scope but it should work for a year and i can get that for $425. Or i am looking at the marlin for $299 and putting a scope on it and going that route. most of the Weatherby Vanguards i found are around $425 with no scope. I found a used one thats a 270 for 500 but i would really like to buy a brand new rifle.

Check out the Savage Edge. Great reviews all around (Google it). I just picked up one with the cheap mounts and 3x9 (Bushnell) for $280 from Dunhams Sports, for a wedding gift.

I also got one without a scope that I will put a decent set of rings and glass on (paid $260 at Cabelas) for myself as an "extra". Couldn't pass it up at the cheap price along with the excellent reviews.

Sooo....$260 gun, $50 Leupold rings/bases, $170 Nikon Buckmasters (New on Ebay)....With tax you have about $500 in a nice package (what I did, anyways...). Not top of line, but a great package that will serve you well. Trigger is not that bad, either. And I have Accutriggers, Timney's etc. on other rifles. Yes they are better, but I've seen LOTS that were worse.

My other guns are "overpriced" to say the least, and I won't feel bad one bit using this one!

Between the Savage and Marlin, I'd lean toward Marlin. It has gotten great reviews, and the price is a little lower, which could then be reinvested into slightly better optics. In addition to the XL-7, you might want to look at the XLS-7 in either .308 or 7mm-08. The 700ADL is a nice rifle too... I've got four 700's and they're all excellent shooters.

you being a "shotgunner" the trigger won't be a big deal to you. That's the only part of a howa/vanguard that IMHO could use improvement. I know it's suppose to be "adjustable" but it still leaves a lot to be desired. I have a howa that the paint on the stock is wore off because of shooting. I just built a pair of Indiana rifles, the 358 wssm on a 300 wsm and my 35 short on my shot out 308 both are in BC stocks. I like the way they feel and shoot. IMHO a 7mm kicks more than a 06 and I don't care what anyone says. But the reason I'd go with a 06 is any hardware store in the USA has ammo and usually a choice of bullet weights and manufactures. Oh someone was saying that they would go with a remington 700 because of aftermarket parts, ain't nothing compared to what's there for the 1500 Howa/vanguard. But good luck with what ever you deside. Oh the last "pachage" rifle from savage, the scope lasted 15 shots but the one before that is 200 or so and is still going strong.

Marlins and Mossbergs are both nice as well, and have great ratings Check out Gunbroker.com for price checks. Walmarts can actually order rifles in for you (the Mossberg was $257 at mine, without junk scope).

The only thing I don't like about the Marlin is the "gloss" bluing finish. I prefer the matte finish of the Mossberg and Savage instead. Doesn't affect the shooting, but I HATE that old, glossy blue that shows fingerprints like crazy. The matte is a little more resistant to tarnish/rust, and doesn't reflect light as much either (reflection not too much of a concern...).

Can't go wrong with any of these. Your scope and rings will (i.e. should) be about the same price, however, as the gun.