I'll freely admit it.  I know nothing about bolt action rifles, but I've gotten an itch for a longer range rifle than my colt and PSA ARs.  I realize I'm not going to be shooting bull eyes at 800m any time soon, but I'd like a rifle I can grow into (if you will).  I was thinking maybe a Remington 700 in .308 but even then there are tons of options.  If the budget for the rifle is to stay under $1000, what would you guys recommend?  I'm not going to hunt with it, just recreational target shooting from a rest.

The  ruger scout seems interesting but my understanding is that it's a jack of all trades type rifle for out to 300m?

And go!

If you don't reload then 6.5creedmore or .308win are your best bets. I'd grab the .308 just because there's so much choice in ammo from crap russian blasting ammo to finely hand crafted boutique match ammo and there's usually more than one loading for .308 on gun shop shelves.



You say your budget is 1000 bucks, is that just the rifle or rifle and glass and mounts? Big difference. Good glass costs.



You could do what many people do for steel banging at modest ranges: Grab a Savage with a factory heavy barrel like a 10T 10FP 10FPSR 10FCPK etc... and drop an SWFA 10x42SS scope on it. You'll be right at or very near 1000 bucks and you'll have a rifle you can take all the way to 1000yrds when you learn how. I'd get the 10FPSR or another option with a threaded muzzle so you can slap a JP tactical brake on it (85 bucks right now at brownells, great price and performance combo). As you grow you can add a chassis stock or aftermarket barrel or trigger or whatever you want and you can do it yourself in the garage.



Remington, Tikka, etc... are all great options. They're more expensive and for a beginner, I don't think you'll notice the difference.

Solid advice.  I'll look into savage.  If I could get out the door for $1000 with ok glass I'd be happy.  I realize buy once cry once, but I'm more inclined to get my feet wet first since I've never fired a bolt gun of any type.

Do you live near Cabelas or within decent drive?

Cabelas exclusive rifle

That and a SWFA, as mentioned earlier, and you have a nice setup for right around a grand.

I ended up getting the savage 10t from cabelas.  I definitely preferred the way it felt and handled over the Remington 700s they had.

One thing for sure, buying a gun at cabelas is a long painful process

Thanks for the help

I purchased one rifle from a big box, and will never do it again. It was such a pain in ass....

Yeah if wasn't a cabelas only item, no way would I have tolerated being there so long

Took me 45 minutes to buy my boys savage rascal at cabelas...

Grats on new rifle, we demand pics,

How about a Ruger Precision rifle?  In 308 the MSRP is only $1400, just over your budget but they are very flexible/adaptable, the reviews are very good and accuracy is very good (~1/2 MOA).

For me, in my experience, the stock (and sights) are more important than the rifle.  If it did not fit ergonomically, I could not shoot it well.



ETA - there's one in 243 Winchester on Gunbroker listed at $800.

Which caliber did you buy?

I'll put in my vote for a Savage 11 in .308. Sell the Nikon scope that comes with it and buy something else. You will have a decent gun for $1000 that shoots better than you.

you made a great choice in the 10T, they are a very accurate rifles with a few great options. you got the accustock which has an aluminum bedding block running from the back action screw up to the front of the stock to support a bipod with out flexing. and you got the accutrigger which is a nice option, it can adjust from about 1 1/2 lbs to 6 lbs. and the other nice option is the knurled tactical bolt handle. the only draw back and its very minor is the scope mounting rail, it is a 0 moa mount and i would prefer a 20 moa mount. 5R rifling is also a big plus in my book too. it should serve you well and if you ever want to upgrade it there are tons of options. i almost bought the same rifle but it went off sale before i had the funds in hand.

i just did the same basic thing, i have never owned a long range bolt action rifle just rimfire ones. i did a lot of research before i bought mine to determine what options i wanted and price etc. i ended up going with the dicks sporting goods version the 11VT in 308 (retail $599.00) and its very similar to the 10T. its got the 24 inch bull barrel and a cheap bushnell 4-12 sharpshooter scope and a cheap pillar bedded Tupperware stock with no aluminum bedding block and it flexes something terrible. its also got the accutrigger just like yours but it does not have the tactical bolt handle like the 10T. the reason i went this route was it was on a black friday sale for $474.99 with a $75.00 mail in rebate so now down to $400.00 and if you sign up for a dicks credit card you receive an additional 10% off so now i am down to about $360.00 and i sold the 4-12 scope to a buddy for $50.00 (it retails for $100.00) so the rifle cost me about $310.00 plus tax.

this rifle was going to be my first long range sniper/target rifle and i wanted a few choice options but did not want to spend an arm and a leg to get it just in case i ended up not liking it. so after spending $310.00 + tax i ordered a weaver 20 moa rail off amazon for $25.90 and bought a choate tactical stock for $175.00 on a Christmas sale with free shipping. and i have a tactical bolt knob on order from savage for $31.00 and a limbsaver recoil pad on order from amazon for $32.33 and i got a metal trigger guard from savage for $27.00 to replace the plastic one it came with.and i already own a Harris bipod so good there and i had a leupold VX3 6.5-20x50 30mm scope mounted in Burris signature rings gathering dust in my safe so i was set. so i got a decent long range rifle for a reasonable price (i am a cheap SOB) here are some crappy pics of before and after with parts i ordered. i would also recommend going to www.savageshooters.com and reading up on your riffle the 10T is pretty popular over there.

here is how i bought it:



and here is the rail if you need a 20 moa one at some point:


and here is how it looks right now: