Rifle for my daughter

[BigVal]

My gf shoots an axis in 6.5 it's ok. She likes it. I personally prefer the rugar American at that price point or general price point. 

[JRod 8G8H]

I think the savage trophy hunter 111 is a fantastic gun however rarely under $500.. Can catch it on sale for 450 sometimes. Nikon bdc is best scope in its price range IMO.

Axis and American will be in your price range what about remington 700 or 770 with a synthetic stock? 

[TreeGuy]

I vote for a savage. The lightweight hunter is a phenomenal rifle, lightweight and a tack driver. I absolutely love mine and the recoil won't be horrible even though it's so light. Super easy to carry around and also easily moved around in a blind. You should be able to score one in your price range. Second would be a tikka. Gonna cost a couple bucks more but another great rifle.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

[REDNECK4LIFE32]

My wife loves her Remington 700 youth model 243 great caliber enough knockdown power for deer, perfect for varmit. Light weight no recoil. Bought hers couple years back not sure of price now tho.

[Lawdwaz]

3 minutes ago, REDNECK4LIFE32 said:

My wife loves her Remington 700 youth model 243 great caliber enough knockdown power for deer, perfect for varmit. Light weight no recoil. Bought hers couple years back not sure of price now tho.

Nice choice.....

[steve863]

I've seen Remington 700's sold for less than $500, so that is a gun that shouldn't be overlooked either.

 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Remington-ADL-Bolt-Action-Rifle-and-Scope-Combos/1368627.uts?slotId=0

[WNYBuckHunter]

15 hours ago, ny hunter said:

Look at a T/C Venture or Compass ...

No left handed option for those

[WNYBuckHunter]

14 hours ago, JRod said:

I think the savage trophy hunter 111 is a fantastic gun however rarely under $500.. Can catch it on sale for 450 sometimes. Nikon bdc is best scope in its price range IMO.

Axis and American will be in your price range what about remington 700 or 770 with a synthetic stock? 

R700 is too pricey and the 770 is extremely cheap feeling. She did not like the feel of it and neither did I

[WNYBuckHunter]

Also, I am not worried about a scope. Even if it comes with one, it will be swapped out for a 3-9 Vortex anyway.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I am not a huge fan of the accu-trigger, probably becasue of the feel and not being use to it. I won that Savage Axis in 308 in a gun raffle last fall. I HATE THE TRIGGER ON THAT. wish the Axis 2 and it had the accu-trigger.  The trigger on the axis is like trying to drag a semi down the road with one finger. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

4 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

I am not a huge fan of the accu-trigger, probably becasue of the feel and not being use to it. I won that Savage Axis in 308 in a gun raffle last fall. I HATE THE TRIGGER ON THAT. wish the Axis 2 and it had the accu-trigger.  The trigger on the axis is like trying to drag a semi down the road with one finger. 

Ill have to look into a Timney, like I put on my Remmy 700. Its glorious.

[steve863]

12 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

R700 is too pricey and the 770 is extremely cheap feeling. She did not like the feel of it and neither did I

Remington doesn't make the 770 anymore.  They now make the 783, which is supposed to be much better, although I don't think they come in left hand models.  Again, it has the barrel nut, accu-type trigger, ala the Savage Axis, Ruger American and several others which is not something I care for.   I would think if your daughter has shot guns with a normal trigger, the accu-trigger would feel very different to her.  Especially, if she then goes back to hunting turkey  or small game with a shotgun which will have a normal style trigger.  I think the change in trigger feel might be a bit too confusing for a youngster, especially.

 

https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-783/model-783-scoped

[Culvercreek hunt club]

2 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

Ill have to look into a Timney, like I put on my Remmy 700. Its glorious.

you know I like mine scary light but that thing is atrocious. 

[WNYBuckHunter]

2 minutes ago, steve863 said:

Remington doesn't make the 770 anymore.  They now make the 783, which is supposed to be much better, although I don't think they come in left hand models.  Again, it has the barrel nut, accu-type trigger, ala the Savage Axis, Ruger American and several others which is not something I care for.   I would think if your daughter has shot guns with a normal trigger, the accu-trigger would feel very different to her.  Especially, if she then goes back to hunting turkey  or small game with a shotgun which will have a normal style trigger.  I think the change in trigger feel might be a bit too confusing for a youngster, especially.

 

https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-action/model-783/model-783-scoped

Sorry, I misspoke, it was the 783 that she looked at.

[steve863]

6 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

I am not a huge fan of the accu-trigger, probably becasue of the feel and not being use to it. I won that Savage Axis in 308 in a gun raffle last fall. I HATE THE TRIGGER ON THAT. wish the Axis 2 and it had the accu-trigger.  The trigger on the axis is like trying to drag a semi down the road with one finger. 

I tried pulling that trigger on that Savage of yours, and have to admit it was one of the heaviest triggers I've ever felt on a gun.

[WNYBuckHunter]

2 minutes ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

you know I like mine scary light but that thing is atrocious. 

lol yeah Im the same way, I cant stand a heavy trigger pull. Ill let her decide, she can just try my R700 to see the difference.

[dbHunterNY]

17 hours ago, steve863 said:

Not to say that a rifle with a barrel nut won't work or shoot well.  I personally just don't like the look of them, and I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to how a gun should be made if I am to buy it.

i thought that barrel nut allowed them to maintain exact minimum head spacing when assembling all the pieces together, a big reason for the accuracy they're known for? i'm not much of a gun guy, so i'm asking.

[dbHunterNY]

41 minutes ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

R700 is too pricey and the 770 is extremely cheap feeling. She did not like the feel of it and neither did I

what about the 783? ...nevermind i read through. besides i'm not against savage.

Edited January 23, 2018 by dbHunterNY

[grampy]

My Axis doesn't have the Accu Trigger, but the trigger pull was aground 7.5 lbs when I got it. So I just ordered a new trigger spring from Amazon, and brought it down to 3.2lbs. Think I posted a thread on here about it a couple years ago. Was a simple easy fix.

[steve863]

12 minutes ago, dbHunterNY said:

i thought that barrel nut allowed them to maintain exact minimum head spacing when assembling all the pieces together, a big reason for the accuracy they're known for? i'm not much of a gun guy, so i'm asking.

That's what they claim.  I personally think ANY rifle one buys today will be more than accurate to kill any game walking.  That extra fraction of accuracy I might get out of a Savage won't convince me to buy one.  They've got to be the homeliest hunting rifles ever made.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

7 minutes ago, grampy said:

My Axis doesn't have the Accu Trigger, but the trigger pull was aground 7.5 lbs when I got it. So I just ordered a new trigger spring from Amazon, and brought it down to 3.2lbs. Think I posted a thread on here about it a couple years ago. Was a simple easy fix.

I would love that link

[MPHunter]

I bought a Ruger American last fall in 7-08. Like you I was looking for a reliable, not too expensive, gun that would kill deer. I put a Nikon Prostaff 2-7x on it and it shoots 1 1/2" groups all day with 140gr Federal Premium Vital Shocks. I also looked at the Savage Axis but just liked the feel of the Ruger better. In that price price range, you probably couldn't go wrong with either choice.

[chas0218]

19 hours ago, airedale said:

First of all the Savage 110 style bolt action has a reputation of being one of the most consistently  accurate designs period, the barrel nut has a zero downside other than aesthetics to some. I picked up a synthetic stock left hand plain trigger version in 7mm-08 for my wife, and did a trigger job and got a nice crisp 4 lb pull. Mounted a Leupold 3x9 I had laying around and picked up some 139 Hornady SST handloads at the Syracuse gun show. Once we got her sighted in the wife shot several 3 shot groups at 100 , she was getting 11/2 inch groups no problem. I am sure with some experimentation with some different loads I could get it to shoot even better but for fairly short range woods Deer hunting it was plenty good enough.

Al

The barrel nut is the poor mans way of doing head space, and not the best way to get the most amount of accuracy out of a gun. The barrel nut allows them to manufacture the gun cheaper by making 1 barrel to fit multiple actions. It's a great idea for what they use it for but you are going to get more accuracy out of gun that has a barrel fitted to that action. You can get barrel nuts and barrels for lots of other manufacturers, Tikka is a common one.

Edited January 23, 2018 by chas0218

[LET EM GROW]

We have 2 of the axis in 7mm08(black syn), 243(pink muddy) and 6.5CM.. Also own a ruger american in 270. For the price i like the ruger american over the savage.  But the savage axis still does what it is supposed to do. 

[airedale]

 

36 minutes ago, chas0218 said:

The barrel nut is the poor mans way of doing head space, and not the best way to get the most amount of accuracy out of a gun. The barrel nut allows them to manufacture the gun cheaper by making 1 barrel to fit multiple actions. It's a great idea for what they use it for but you are going to get more accuracy out of gun that has a barrel fitted to that action.

I am very familiar with the Savage 110 style action and yes the barrel nut is a cost saving feature but for me that does not detract from it's end resulting performance. The barrel is headspaced by a big lock nut and threaded into the receiver. The receiver itself  is produced from a single piece of seamless tubing and stamped parts are used wherever possible. The use of a separated bolt head makes the bolt lugs essentially self-lapping and resulted in perfect alignment and great accuracy without added machining. The end result is a rifle that can and could easily compete on the range and blow the completion away on a sporting goods store gun rack. With all else being equal the Savage 110 style action will easily hold it's own against the intended competition. The most accurate off the shelf rifle I have ever seen was a Savage single shot varmint rifle in 220 Swift using a 110 style action, one hole groups all day long.