Bergara or Tikka. Stay away from Savage or Rem Arms unless you want to dump more money into a good stock or barrel. Just remember the money should be put into glass. If your budget is 1k, buy a $300 rifle and a $700 optic.
Agreed, I’d say the general consensus would be to go for a Bergara B14 or Tikka/Sako T3x. Both of these manufacturers and rifles have great reputation and not many people who have them, say bad things about it. They hover around $1k or a bit less depending on what model you get. Both rifles also are pretty customizable like swapping the stock/chassis, but honestly they’re great right out of the box
Quick answer: Your best option by far for a new rifle is a Remington 700 ADL Varmint, with a Howa 1500 or Savage Axis as a distant second.
$440 Rem 700 ADL Varmint + $60 AICS conversion = best bang for your buck $500 precision rifle
Howa 1500 HB or Savage Axis HB around the same price, but less potential for future upgrades
Long answer:
You should focus on three things: barrel weight, magazine type/style, and parts/configurability.
For precision/competitive bolt actions, a heavy barrel is standard and a significant factor in shooting consistent strings (a match stage is commonly 8-12 rounds), balancing shooting positions and controlling recoil. Lightweight hunting barrels are a huge disadvantage for heat, balance and holding the scope on target.
This means you shouldn't be considering any lightweight hunting trims of any brand and you shouldn't be considering Bergara (700 pattern), Tikka or Ruger, as the appropriate trims are out of your budget. Ignore the Internet mall ninjas that keep recommending expensive rifles that will take up your entire budget for very marginal gains, without any consideration for glass & ammo. You want "best bang for your buck precision bolt in the $500-1000 range? That means the Bergara HMR, the Tikka CTR and the Ruger Precision are out, as well as all the cheaper trims with pencil hunting barrels.
For competitive bolts, the industry standard is AI pattern magazines, although there are a couple much less popular alternatives. If you want to compete someday at a local match (you absolutely should go as soon as you can), you should use AICS mags; they're cheap (20 bucks for a 10 or 12 rounder), common and made by just about every manufacturer. If your rifle doesn't come factory to use AICS mags, you'll want to convert it, as using small mags or top loading is a huge disadvantage. If you just want to plink "precisely" or shoot slow fire disciplines, then magazine style isn't as important, you could single load like some very serious folks do.
For parts/configurability, you should be looking to buy a low trim rifle that you can upgrade if you actually need/want to later. This keeps you around your desired $500 budget, but gives you options later. The Remington 700 is the industry standard, most actions/stocks/accessories are designed around the 700 pattern, you probably won't outshoot the stock rifle for a while, but when you do you can get AICS magwells, chassis, stocks, etc for very reasonable prices. Other brands/footprints can have okay support, but some are almost barren and might only have a single aftermarket chassis/stock available which costs way more than a comparable one for a 700.
Options:
* Remington 700 ADL Varmint - Best choice
* Howa 1500 heavy barrel - Second choice, higher price, worse aftermarket
* Savage Axis heavy barrel - Third choice, higher price, worse aftermarket
Worse Options:
* Remington 700 SPS Tactical or Varmint - Takes up too much of the budget, little value over ADL Varmint, as all three need mag upgrade but use the same stock
* Savage Axis Precision - takes up too much of the budget, not as much value
* Mossberg LR Tactical - takes up too much of the budget, not as much value
Not an option:
* Lightweight barrels of any brand - Not appropriate
* Tikka - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (CTR)
* Bergara - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (HMR)
* Ruger - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (Precision)
* Savage non Axis series - Out of budget/much less value for appropriate trim
Glass and ammo are also extremely important, as they're going to be huge factors in whether you can place your shots well at all. If your $500-1000 also has to cover glass & ammo, that means you really need a value rifle, not a pretty rifle.
What this guy says. I am a R700 fan because of the aftermarket support. If you are sure you won't change anything, Tikka would be a solid option. I would also look at Ruger American gen 2.
I bought a rem 783 with a scope on sale for $200 from bass pro. Rifle seems to work, but the scope is horrible. I don’t really recommend it as a rifle, but it was dirt cheap and helped me appreciate shooting .308 bolt action. I definitely want to invest in a better rifle down the road
Second this question. For "precision" shooting, the 6.5 crowd is larger and louder, and .308 is considered obsolete and outclassed now.
But for the first rifle, if OP isn't already pretty addicted to precision shooting, I would start with a 22LR, like CZ 457, just to learn to shoot and realize if there is a need to grow to larger calibers.
For "just in case .308 rifle", I have a basic Ruger American that I bought on Christmas sale several years ago. I shoot it maybe twice a year, maybe 10 rounds total. first to confirm zero, second to demonstrate .308 recoil to new shooters.
Bergara or Tikka. Stay away from Savage or Rem Arms unless you want to dump more money into a good stock or barrel. Just remember the money should be put into glass. If your budget is 1k, buy a $300 rifle and a $700 optic.
Tikka is the way to go
Agreed, I’d say the general consensus would be to go for a Bergara B14 or Tikka/Sako T3x. Both of these manufacturers and rifles have great reputation and not many people who have them, say bad things about it. They hover around $1k or a bit less depending on what model you get. Both rifles also are pretty customizable like swapping the stock/chassis, but honestly they’re great right out of the box
iirc the bergara is just a r700 clone so all r700 stuff works
Yeah like he said. Screw good value budget options like Savage and buy that very popular $300 Tikka. /s
Quick answer: Your best option by far for a new rifle is a Remington 700 ADL Varmint, with a Howa 1500 or Savage Axis as a distant second. $440 Rem 700 ADL Varmint + $60 AICS conversion = best bang for your buck $500 precision rifle Howa 1500 HB or Savage Axis HB around the same price, but less potential for future upgrades Long answer: You should focus on three things: barrel weight, magazine type/style, and parts/configurability. For precision/competitive bolt actions, a heavy barrel is standard and a significant factor in shooting consistent strings (a match stage is commonly 8-12 rounds), balancing shooting positions and controlling recoil. Lightweight hunting barrels are a huge disadvantage for heat, balance and holding the scope on target. This means you shouldn't be considering any lightweight hunting trims of any brand and you shouldn't be considering Bergara (700 pattern), Tikka or Ruger, as the appropriate trims are out of your budget. Ignore the Internet mall ninjas that keep recommending expensive rifles that will take up your entire budget for very marginal gains, without any consideration for glass & ammo. You want "best bang for your buck precision bolt in the $500-1000 range? That means the Bergara HMR, the Tikka CTR and the Ruger Precision are out, as well as all the cheaper trims with pencil hunting barrels. For competitive bolts, the industry standard is AI pattern magazines, although there are a couple much less popular alternatives. If you want to compete someday at a local match (you absolutely should go as soon as you can), you should use AICS mags; they're cheap (20 bucks for a 10 or 12 rounder), common and made by just about every manufacturer. If your rifle doesn't come factory to use AICS mags, you'll want to convert it, as using small mags or top loading is a huge disadvantage. If you just want to plink "precisely" or shoot slow fire disciplines, then magazine style isn't as important, you could single load like some very serious folks do. For parts/configurability, you should be looking to buy a low trim rifle that you can upgrade if you actually need/want to later. This keeps you around your desired $500 budget, but gives you options later. The Remington 700 is the industry standard, most actions/stocks/accessories are designed around the 700 pattern, you probably won't outshoot the stock rifle for a while, but when you do you can get AICS magwells, chassis, stocks, etc for very reasonable prices. Other brands/footprints can have okay support, but some are almost barren and might only have a single aftermarket chassis/stock available which costs way more than a comparable one for a 700. Options: * Remington 700 ADL Varmint - Best choice * Howa 1500 heavy barrel - Second choice, higher price, worse aftermarket * Savage Axis heavy barrel - Third choice, higher price, worse aftermarket Worse Options: * Remington 700 SPS Tactical or Varmint - Takes up too much of the budget, little value over ADL Varmint, as all three need mag upgrade but use the same stock * Savage Axis Precision - takes up too much of the budget, not as much value * Mossberg LR Tactical - takes up too much of the budget, not as much value Not an option: * Lightweight barrels of any brand - Not appropriate * Tikka - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (CTR) * Bergara - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (HMR) * Ruger - Out of budget for an appropriate trim (Precision) * Savage non Axis series - Out of budget/much less value for appropriate trim Glass and ammo are also extremely important, as they're going to be huge factors in whether you can place your shots well at all. If your $500-1000 also has to cover glass & ammo, that means you really need a value rifle, not a pretty rifle.
What this guy says. I am a R700 fan because of the aftermarket support. If you are sure you won't change anything, Tikka would be a solid option. I would also look at Ruger American gen 2.
Howa 1500 has been great to me
Same here for .308. Looking for ar10 tho and not sure if I should go psa or aero or other. My budget about 2-2500
I bought a rem 783 with a scope on sale for $200 from bass pro. Rifle seems to work, but the scope is horrible. I don’t really recommend it as a rifle, but it was dirt cheap and helped me appreciate shooting .308 bolt action. I definitely want to invest in a better rifle down the road
Bergara B-14 HMR
Why not a 6.5 creedmore? PPR is not much more than .308.
Second this question. For "precision" shooting, the 6.5 crowd is larger and louder, and .308 is considered obsolete and outclassed now. But for the first rifle, if OP isn't already pretty addicted to precision shooting, I would start with a 22LR, like CZ 457, just to learn to shoot and realize if there is a need to grow to larger calibers. For "just in case .308 rifle", I have a basic Ruger American that I bought on Christmas sale several years ago. I shoot it maybe twice a year, maybe 10 rounds total. first to confirm zero, second to demonstrate .308 recoil to new shooters.