Browing makes very beautiful rifles, but I can say I have never been terribly impressed by their performance. My suggestion would be keep it in the cabinet if you can and let it build some equity. If you don't have any sentimental value and do not care to lose the firearm, go ahead and trade it for a Remy or a Savage.
Remy= + Readily available parts, good after market products, decent accuracy out of the box. Good caliber selections. Great action to build off of. Military pedigree. Industry leader in long range performance and quality of action.
- Will need some trigger work to gain increased accuracy, acction will need to be trued to attain optimal accuracy due to its one piece bolt construction, everyone has one!, glass bedding should be done. Requires a gunsmith to change barrel for novice shooters and most other upgrades.
Savage w/accutrigger= + Great trigger and easily adjustable from factory. No smithing required for the trigger, excellent accuracy out of the box. In my opinion one of the best platform to start your next build. New accu-stock an option for certain models. Most stocks pillar bedded. Action does not need to be trued due to its two piece bolt head. Calibers can easily be changed by changing the bolt head and barrel w/ barrel lock nut and wrench. Starting to gain popularity in sniper applications and F-Class shooting along with other various competitions. Becoming an industry leader in long range performance.
- Not much known about the accu-stock or its quality. Limited after market parts. To change calibers you must know how to headspace and buy after market spanner wrench to fit barrel nut. Glass bedding should be done for optimal performance unless using the accu-stock. Have to pay attention to ordering a base due to, two different contors at the rear of the action. One is flat and the other is rounded. Caliber selection could be better, but covers the most common calibers in use.
Howa= Affordable rifles with very good accuracy. They don't get the credit that is do them. They have a pretty stout action and offer a good variety of aftermarket parts and caliber selections. With a little trigger work, they are capable of one hole groups with factory barrel. (I know because I shoot and reloaded one in 25-06 that did just that with a sporter 24" barrel.)
-Trigger is a little spongy even after smithing. Could use an after market, but the creep really is quite managable. Have not heard of too many guys building off of this action.
Overall I am a Savage shooter, so my opinion may be a little bias. I have two Savages and love'em. They shoot very well, and accuracy I can afford. When I do my next build, it will be on a Savage comp action or a Howa. If you are looking for a excellent quality action out of the box that requires zero smithing, than the Savage is the best route. Affordable accuracy with a great rifle. Parts growing more available through private and corporate suppliers.
The Howa in my opinion is another fine action that really only requires some trigger work to make it capable of its top performing accuracy. They are great first time rifles and I dare say fairly easy to reload for. Good accuracy out of the box. Solid action, but the trigger is something that should be taken care of immediately if you want top notch performance. A trip to the gunsmiths would take care of that nicely.
Remington's have a very good reputation. I did own a remy and was pleased with it until furthering my shooting needs. I just didn't have the money to put into all the parts necessary to build a proper accurate action that the Remy is capable of. If you are looking for an action with lots of aftermarket options this is the way to go. Solid action that has seen combat across the globe.
Let us not for get the Mod 70 Winchester. Good solid action and very capable of sniper quality rifle. Carlos Hathcock a top military sniper during Vietnam didn't seem to have any problems hitting his targets with a hunting rifle.
A little long winded, but I hope this helps and these are observances on my opinion ONLY! The rest of you on this site be nice to me, I'm just trying to help.
Tank
