Most accurate hunting rifle out of the box

[centershot]

I have always shot Remington 700. After reading what shooters have said about the new, "rr" Remingtons, I decided to look elsewhere. Bought Savage 12 FV in .223 and the bullets went into the target sideways at 50 yards. Sent it back to Savage twice and they told me to use a different bullet. Took the barrel off and installed a Shilen pre fit. I will buy Savage for the action since they are cheep.

I needed to buy a rifle for my son to shoot elk in Colorado. Went to four gun stores in Tucson and everyone said Tikka. He does not hand load and I was a bit put off by the look of the fiberglass stock. He wanted something light to carry and I suggested stainless as he may want to have the barrel threaded. I did a lot of research on the matter and that is what I chose. Topped with a Leupold 4.5 x 14 Scope, which cost as much as the rifle!

Hope he will be happy with it. I enjoyed reading the comments on this post. Gave me some confidence with the purchase.

 

[beemanjohn]

It really is a crap shoot if you are looking for a cheap hunting gun. If you get a good barrel it will shoot, if not, it will not.I bought a savage 16 varmint in 223 last year based on the fanboy BS about how great Savage shoots. Darn thing was gosh awful. It had one of those "woops" barrels Savage is so famous for. I ended up putting a custom barrel and Bell and Carlson stock on it just to make it shoot like the fanboys say they will "all day long". Now it shoots lights out, but I have over a grand in a cheap Savage.

On the other hand, my truck gun is a Walmart 700 ADL in 243 that shoots just great! One of the most accurate hunting rifles I have ever owned, and I'm 65 years old. It really is a crap shoot!

 

[wapiti25]

Talk to Arron or Mike at GunWerks. They will furnish you with a 1000yd hunting rifle ready to shoot. I recommend the 7mm Rem Mag, they have the ammo for the gun. "Buy once, cry once". I hunt with two guy's with their rifles and I copied their rifle for myself. I also went to their shooting school, no BS. we have taken elk, moose, mule deer, and antelope. My antelope this year was shot at 411yds in a 13-15 mph wind, one shot one kill.

 

[CTK]

It's not the arrow-

It's the Indian.

If you can't manage <1" groups @100yds
It won't matter what you hunt with & animals are going to suffer!

There are arrows that will not go under an inch @100y with the world's best Indian shooting them.

 

[Tommy64]

A cooper rifle

 

[centershot]

A cooper rifle

If you have the wampum.

 

[Eric Leonard]

CZ 550

https://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog...Z+550+CUSTOM+28NOS+26+FANCY+WALNUT+GLOSS+BLUE

 

[Knifeman]

Tikka t3. Nuff said

 

[onelastshot]

It's impossible to state which brad of rifle shoots best unless you've owned them all. I've owned quite a few over the past forty years; the best out of the box shooter, I'm talking about no aftermarket glass bedding or trigger jobs, has been my Cooper. I simply can't do it justice.

 

[drover]

I would agree with Cooper recommendation for an upper-end factory rifle. However for a mid-priced out of the box readily available rifle it is hard to beat the T-3's, they come with an excellent factory trigger, they use the same barrels as the more costly Sako.
I have been shooting Tikka rifles for quite a few years now and while they have 3 shot MOA guarantee I have found that generally they shoot closer to one-half inch for 3 shots and about 3/4" for 5 shots, that is hard to beat for a rifle that can be found for around $600. The feeding is perfect on them, the trigger is easily adjustable (one screw) to 2# weight of pull, and they require nothing more than mounting a scope and shooting.

drover

 

[people]

There are arrows that will not go under an inch @100y with the world's best Indian shooting them.

I like this. I was listening to a guy talk about how his slug gun is all anyone would need for deer. He never shot a deer farther than (less than 50yds). When I told him how far I shot my last few deer. He proceeded to tell me how I need to learn to hunt.

What works for him just would not work for how or where I hunt. He could use a rifle that shoots 6 inches at 100 and never know the difference.

 

[CTK]

I would agree with Cooper recommendation for an upper-end factory rifle. However for a mid-priced out of the box readily available rifle it is hard to beat the T-3's, they come with an excellent factory trigger, they use the same barrels as the more costly Sako.
I have been shooting Tikka rifles for quite a few years now and while they have 3 shot MOA guarantee I have found that generally they shoot closer to one-half inch for 3 shots and about 3/4" for 5 shots, that is hard to beat for a rifle that can be found for around $600. The feeding is perfect on them, the trigger is easily adjustable (one screw) to 2# weight of pull, and they require nothing more than mounting a scope and shooting.

drover

I have always wanted to try a Tikka. If for anything just to see what all the excitement is about. I was going to buy a youth model for my son. Went with the savage axis instead. Should have bought the Tikka.

 

[CTK]

I like this. I was listening to a guy talk about how his slug gun is all anyone would need for deer. He never shot a deer farther than (less than 50yds). When I told him how far I shot my last few deer. He proceeded to tell me how I need to learn to hunt.

What works for him just would not work for how or where I hunt. He could use a rifle that shoots 6 inches at 100 and never know the difference.

I shot some ranges today on one of the fields that I hunt. This year I am not going to set foot anywhere in this field other than where I enter. Very possibly I may have a 400y shot. I do not want to shoot that far but the topography of the field and high CRP grass limit my setup. I would not take that shot with 2" gun. I think there are more 2" rifles out there hunting than there are sub- moa ones.

 

[Eric Leonard]

I shot some ranges today on one of the fields that I hunt. This year I am not going to set foot anywhere in this field other than where I enter. Very possibly I may have a 400y shot. I do not want to shoot that far but the topography of the field and high CRP grass limit my setup. I would not take that shot with 2" gun. I think there are more 2" rifles out there hunting than there are sub- moa ones.

this is a really good way to kill mature bucks,,if you can get set up 350-500 yards away from where they hang out mid day and have something steady built to shoot off of and know the ranges to all the spots where you can get a clean shot and practice alot at those ranges so when he shows up you can lay him out,,,if you go to messing around in a mature bucks sanctuary you are likely not to see him at all,,

 

[Rsadams]

I think the problem is there is alot of 2moa shooters out there and not alot of half moa shooters out there... No matter how much you spend if you can't shoot it won't shoot.... I see some high dollar rifles at my range shooting 1.5 and 2 moa all the time.. I know it's not the gun...lol

 

[people]

I shot some ranges today on one of the fields that I hunt. This year I am not going to set foot anywhere in this field other than where I enter. Very possibly I may have a 400y shot. I do not want to shoot that far but the topography of the field and high CRP grass limit my setup. I would not take that shot with 2" gun. I think there are more 2" rifles out there hunting than there are sub- moa ones.

Oh 100% true on the 2 Moa rifles. Some rifles will not ever be better than a couple MOA. This is excluding military surplus rifles and just focusing on "traditional hunting" rifles. Down south lever rifles are very popular a person would be hard pressed to get a 1" rifle. Up here those budget rifles are very popular. You know the ones that all the big chain stores carry. They come in several "dear" calibers and are less than $400 with a scope. I have shot a few of them and lack luster comes to mind. Heat affected them all. Out to several hundred yds they work fine.

Ammo makes a huge difference in a rifles capability. A friend of mine used my r700 in 223 to test different factory ammo. WPA would hold a very nice 5inch group. Not surprising at all as it is poor quality ammo. What I did find interesting was some what should be good ammo did not shoot very well at all. Then some ammo that you would think would be questionable shot very shot surprising well.

I shoot long range in the field very frequently. I try to shoot as far as I can. What I do is setup and take aim on my target (rock or steel) and fire a shot maybe 2. I will then move so it is a different shot. Angle, distance, sun, wind it is a new shot. I will also hold enough so my barrel will cool down. While it is not a true dirty cold bore shot, in my hunting rifles the accuracy will be the same. Then fire just one or two shots. I will do this a few times. I am only interested in that first shot. I regularly shoot 800 to 1,500yds. I am not bragging at all just explaining what I do as many will read this. I am not focused on shooting only long range when hunting but I like being prepared for that long shot when it comes up. My personal experience has proved to me that a 400yd head shot is very do able. Yes the deer plays a huge factor in this.

 

[JLT]

I think the problem is there is alot of 2moa shooters out there and not alot of half moa shooters out there... No matter how much you spend if you can't shoot it won't shoot.... I see some high dollar rifles at my range shooting 1.5 and 2 moa all the time.. I know it's not the gun...lol

I agree! The shooting sports are most similar to golf in the following respect - All kinds of folks think that you can just buy a better game. Top shelf equipment offers more than a marginal contribution to the results, IF you know what you're doing, but that stuff ain't self-executing.

If I may share a range experience in support of the general point. Last year I was sharing the 200 m. line with a fellow that was shooting a nicely turned-out F Class rifle. BAT, Brux, Shehane, Jewell and Nightforce components, a very nicely assembled 6 BR. I was shooting something much more modest in terms of components yet my groups were quite a bit smaller than his. He started to carp about his rifle, saying that there must be something wrong with the bedding or the barrel, etc., etc. We got to chatting and he asked me to shoot a group with his rifle, just to validate his observations. I got behind his rifle and quickly put three into something in the neighborhood of 3/8" to 1/2" (nice trigger, that 2 oz. Jewell!). He asked me to shoot another group because he'd shot 'flukes' like that a few times. Three more on the target, same result. As politely as I could, I offered the opinion that the rifle seemed to be performing very well. I'm certainly not the best rifleman around, but I believe my fundamentals to be solid, and I found his rifle very easy to shoot well. I suggested to him that the problem could be inconsistent rifle handling and, to his credit, he admitted that he never thought about how that could be important. He's enjoying his 6 BR very much these days, shooting much better than he did a year ago.

 

[CTK]

Oh 100% true on the 2 Moa rifles. Some rifles will not ever be better than a couple MOA. This is excluding military surplus rifles and just focusing on "traditional hunting" rifles. Down south lever rifles are very popular a person would be hard pressed to get a 1" rifle. Up here those budget rifles are very popular. You know the ones that all the big chain stores carry. They come in several "dear" calibers and are less than $400 with a scope. I have shot a few of them and lack luster comes to mind. Heat affected them all. Out to several hundred yds they work fine.

Ammo makes a huge difference in a rifles capability. A friend of mine used my r700 in 223 to test different factory ammo. WPA would hold a very nice 5inch group. Not surprising at all as it is poor quality ammo. What I did find interesting was some what should be good ammo did not shoot very well at all. Then some ammo that you would think would be questionable shot very shot surprising well.

I shoot long range in the field very frequently. I try to shoot as far as I can. What I do is setup and take aim on my target (rock or steel) and fire a shot maybe 2. I will then move so it is a different shot. Angle, distance, sun, wind it is a new shot. I will also hold enough so my barrel will cool down. While it is not a true dirty cold bore shot, in my hunting rifles the accuracy will be the same. Then fire just one or two shots. I will do this a few times. I am only interested in that first shot. I regularly shoot 800 to 1,500yds. I am not bragging at all just explaining what I do as many will read this. I am not focused on shooting only long range when hunting but I like being prepared for that long shot when it comes up. My personal experience has proved to me that a 400yd head shot is very do able. Yes the deer plays a huge factor in this.

The best custom rifle may spray factory ammo that it does not like. I think a lot of hunters buy factory ammo based on sale price, marketing, or "what they have always used". Rarely is it tested. Perhaps 5 shots to "get it on at 100". I worked with a guy that has shot a 170" whitetail. He had more hunting experience than me. He showed up one Monday complaining about missing 2 deer. He said that he could not understand the misses as his gunsmith bore sighted the rifle when the scope was installed. I think that factory rifles are increasingly capable of great accuracy. The tactical rifle craze seems to have raised awareness that consistent accuracy requires more than one trip to the super center.

 

[LHSmith]

Oh 100% true on the 2 Moa rifles. Some rifles will not ever be better than a couple MOA. This is excluding military surplus rifles and just focusing on "traditional hunting" rifles. Down south lever rifles are very popular a person would be hard pressed to get a 1" rifle. Up here those budget rifles are very popular. You know the ones that all the big chain stores carry. They come in several "dear" calibers and are less than $400 with a scope. I have shot a few of them and lack luster comes to mind. Heat affected them all. Out to several hundred yds they work fine.

Ammo makes a huge difference in a rifles capability. A friend of mine used my r700 in 223 to test different factory ammo. WPA would hold a very nice 5inch group. Not surprising at all as it is poor quality ammo. What I did find interesting was some what should be good ammo did not shoot very well at all. Then some ammo that you would think would be questionable shot very shot surprising well.

I shoot long range in the field very frequently. I try to shoot as far as I can. What I do is setup and take aim on my target (rock or steel) and fire a shot maybe 2. I will then move so it is a different shot. Angle, distance, sun, wind it is a new shot. I will also hold enough so my barrel will cool down. While it is not a true dirty cold bore shot, in my hunting rifles the accuracy will be the same. Then fire just one or two shots. I will do this a few times. I am only interested in that first shot. I regularly shoot 800 to 1,500yds. I am not bragging at all just explaining what I do as many will read this. I am not focused on shooting only long range when hunting but I like being prepared for that long shot when it comes up. My personal experience has proved to me that a 400yd head shot is very do able. Yes the deer plays a huge factor in this.

Here is a dose of reality for others contemplating 400 yard headshots on deer:
A typical .30 cal. spitzer w/ 3000 m.v. will move 11" in a 10 mph crosswind, 5" in a 5 mph crosswind ...and so on. The time of flight is 1/2 second ( a deer can move his head from upright to feed position in less time). How many competitors can take a cold bore shot on a target and hit dead center bull every time without sighters showing the conditions between you and the target- wind, light, mirage. Consider that the kill zone on a headshot is perhaps 3" diameter......again the target is not stationary.

 

[people]

Here is a dose of reality for others contemplating 400 yard headshots on deer:
A typical .30 cal. spitzer w/ 3000 m.v. will move 11" in a 10 mph crosswind, 5" in a 5 mph crosswind ...and so on. The time of flight is 1/2 second ( a deer can move his head from upright to feed position in less time). How many competitors can take a cold bore shot on a target and hit dead center bull every time without sighters showing the conditions between you and the target- wind, light, mirage. Consider that the kill zone on a headshot is perhaps 3" diameter......again the target is not stationary.

You do bring up three very good points. Not to hijack this thread but it should be covered.

1. If your deer is skittish or on high alert you need to make the best decision for you. I have shot a few at this distance and watched far more where they were just not moving at all. My best story to this was in the happy times in ND. I shot a doe who was bedded down. I hit her in the head. Her friend jumped up and did not know what to do. I hit her in the head also. A third doe then jumped up she knew she needed to run but did not know where to go. She was bouncing so she got a chest shot. A head shot would have been very questionable so I took the safe bet. My brother as calm as can be. "good thing I did not want to shoot one." This is a thinking persons game. The reasons you brought up do matter. I have passed up many shots because everything was happening too fast. This is why I practice at such long distances and hate paper target shooting. When you are getting first round hits what does it prove to shoot X number of more shots on paper?

2. How many target shooters hit dead center? You have spotters there is no need to actually know where your first shot will go. If you are good a hit in the black or blue is good enough. When I shot service rifle I liked the EIC competitions because there were no sighters. I am 100% sure if we got rid of sighters scores would tank right away but after a bit you would see many first round center hits.

3. This one goes to how a person hunts. How do you hunt and what is your skillset. If you work within your skills and hunting styles you will be successful. My family almost never gets a head shot as they shoot at pushed deer. I hunt like a sniper is though to hunt. I get into position hours before sun up and lay there. When deer know there is no threat they are very different critters. They will be very still. I am a fan of big magnums for hunting because they bring performance at distance. If you are shooting a popgun with hard bullets some shots get very hard to pull off.