Best budget hunting rifle

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ez bake

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Are you talking about the Rem 770 / 710 junk? If so, then well, reread the first sentence.

The Stevens 200 is a solid gun, that gives up nothing in the way of construction. And being based on the Savage 10/110 design, if you like it, you can change everything on it; stock, barrel, trigger, bolt handle etc. All available off the shelf.

I'd get a Stevens 200 long before getting a 770 / 710 (or the cheaper Mossberg they've always got on sale).
 

_CY_

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one of the best buys of ANY large caliber weapon is .....

Mosin–Nagant can be found dirt cheap...with bonus of ammo being equally cheap. purchased my Mosin-Nagant in excellent condition with 500 rounds of ammo for $125.

this is the same rifle outgunning our troops in Afghanistan. they camp out 500+ yds up high or just out of range of .223. with ammo cached all over, weight is not a penalty.

7.62 x 54r is not 30.06... but for the $$$ cannot be beat... easily takes down anything around here.

What is the best budget hunting rifle for deer and pig? Ho
w good is the remington scope and rifle combo? I've heard that its best to spend most off your budget on the scope? it won't be used alot. I'm not wanting to spend as much as a remington 700.also will 308
be ok for dear or do I really want a 30-06 thanks
 

ldp4570

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Another good one or two is Swed mauser in 6.5X55, and the second is the Swiss K31 in 7.5X55. The K31 can be quickly mounted with a St. Marie scope mount. Ammunition for both is fairly easy to find now days. Both have plenty of thump, and range.
 

z06man

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While the Mosin, Swede and K31 are all good enough for what you're looking for, they're not the best for a low budget.

The Mosins are super cheap and so is ammo, so if you plan to practice quite a bit, it may pay off in the long run, but you will have to drill and tap the receiver for a scope mount and buy or bend the bolt for scope clearance which will cost you the time of a gunsmith unless you do machine work. By the time you're done, you've put at least as much into it as the Stevens and I can almost guarantee the Stevens will outshoot it. There are gems that will shoot with the best though if you get lucky. Most of the ammo is corrosive, so maintenance is higher than a modern firearm/cartridge too and you can't find it just anywhere though it is far from rare.

The Swede will run you $300-400 and you'll have to drill, tap and bend the bolt on it too. On the plus side most are very accurate and you can find ammo at Walmart, Academy, Bass Pro and most places that have a fair ammo stock.

K31's are usually in the $250-300 range but require a special scope base which run quite a bit more than most base sets. The mount is offset to the right which makes shooting it for a right hander a little awkward but doable. These are also very accurate and have usually fantastic triggers, but unless you want to order ammo online, not a lot of local places stock it, you won't have a lot of options and it is usually more than others for the same quality.

If you are ok with shooting with iron sights, any of these are fine rifles, but since you want to add a scope, I don't think they are you're best choices. I love those rifles and have all of them, BTW.

A friend of mine bought a K31 recently for a steal and is using it for a deer/hog rifle, but I can already see in the long run it is going to cost him more than a good modern bolt gun and it has already cost me several extra hours at the reloading bench to keep his ammo costs reasonable.
 

ronny

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If you're talking cheap, and you can live without a scope, it's Mosin.

If you just have to have a scope, you can equip a Mosin with a "scout" mount which attaches to the rear sight.

It's hard to get any cheaper and the ammo is cheap, too.

If you want accurate, then the earlier comments on the Swedish Mauser and the K31 are applicable. They will shoot with Remington all day long.
 

gaseous maximus

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I'd get a Stevens 200 long before getting a 770 / 710 (or the cheaper Mossberg they've always got on sale).

I agree, the 770/710 system is pretty much, mechanically, not so good.
Another rifle I would consider ,and I don't own one, but used to sell them is the Marlin b.a. in XL-XS series, I think. They have several very desireable features,(pillar bedded , adj. trigger, replaceable trigger guard), and to me the rifle Just feels right. Academy used to sell the bare rifle, with plastic stock, for around $279 I believe. It seems like they now also have a combo package with 3x9 scope. While the mil. surplus rifles are certainly viable options,if at some point you decide you want/need a scope, to mount one RIGHT ain't cheap. The way I look at scopes is this. Even the cheap ones are pretty good, better than the best of open sights. Note the number of rifles not even equiped with open sights. On a local hunt if a scope messes up you probably haven't lost a whole lot, (hopefully),as opposed to the far away,(hunt of a life time), and you can up grade to a more expensive scope at any time you desire. As to 30/06 vers. 308 win., everyone has an opinion, mine is that they are pretty much equal. 308 can shoot surplus ammo. 30/06 can better handle heavier bullets.
 

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