"Budget Rifles" & Accuracy

[jammer300]

I have bought 2 savage axis rifles and love them. I bought my wife a 7mm-08 for deer and elk and I got myself a 22-250 for predator hunting. The 7mm-08 shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards with factory ammo and the 22-250 shoots sub 1/2 inch groups at 200 yards with my loads. I will say the triggers aren't the greatest I think they are about 8 pounds from the factory but with a little work you can fix that or buy a replacement trigger, I have got them down to around 3.5 pounds and they shoot great.

 

[stephenr6565]

I had the chance of shooting an out of the box weatherby vanguard 2 in a 6.5 creedmoor that was being used for a long range shooting school I wasn't going to the school, I just happened to know the guy putting it on he had about 10 of them and said they all shot 3/4" or better @ 100 yds using 140g A-max factory hornandy ammo he said some of them shot as well as 1/2" we took one of the ones that shot 1/2" up to the range and in 4 shots with a varying wind @1000 yds I shot a 16 oz arrowhead water bottle not bad for an out of the box rifle under $700 with off the shelf ammo in fact I was so impressed enough I will be buying my wife one for a deer hunting gun and for me to take up to the range and mess around with from what I heard you can get 5000+ rounds out of them until the barrel is junk and I am in no way a big weatherby fan at all in fact that is only the second weatherby I have shot in my life and I wasn't a fan at all of the first one

 

[kraky2]

You can pick up ventures around $350 on gunbroker.
I just got a 708 and my first three hand load recipes all went under an inch w/5 shot groups.
Got a bunch more to try but this could easily be the most accurate factory rifle under $600 that I own.

 

[motown]

If you are including the weatherby vanguard s2 into the mix then you might as well add the tikka t3 lite as the S2 sells for around $500-$550 and a blued tikka can be had for $550. I was just out shooting my T3 243 today that i dropped into a mountain tactical laminate stock and that rifle will shoot between .25-.5" @ 100 yards and i was getting .75- 1.25" groups @200 yards with 85 grain sierras and imr4064.

 

[Litehiker]

"Montana",

Nice looking rig. And very nice accuracy. Wish I didn't have to wait for the 6.5 Creedmoor version. Guess it came out first in .223 due to its great popularity.

I'm putting a Bushnell ERS 3.5 - 21 X 50 W/ H 59 reticle on mine in hopes of wringing all the accuracy out of it that it can give.

 

[MudRunner2005]

In the $550-600 range, don't forget the Browning A-Bolt II. They tend to shoot excellently from the factory, and many of them can still be found new in many gun shops for discounted prices. Local shops to me sell them for around $499-599.

You should look into the .25-06 caliber if you want a great caliber that is fast with decent barrel life.