Bolt Rifle under $300

[Nrut]

On the upside I LOVE my compact. My 308 cast loads are doing well and it took low rings with a 1.5-6X 32mm scope. Sweet little package. I just need a bare strap sling for it.

NVScouter,
Actually I am fine with the .308..
The ability to switch barrels would be a nice feature however, "if" we could access inexpensive barrels like you can down in the U.S.
Must say though I am as excited about getting this "janky" Ruger American as any other rifles that I have bought in the past because I see it as the "most" perfect rifle for what I want to use it for..
It has every feature that I could ask for excepting not having open sites which can easily be remedied..
But first I am going to try a "janky" cheap red dot site as recommended by another member on this forum and the is a Bushnell TRS -25...
Oh the horror!!
If this Ruger American turns out to be a accurate, rugged and reliable rifle as what is being said about them, then I will buying at least one more in .243 and .223 if they remod their mag. box to accommodate the 75 gr. Hornady A-Max..
Guys over at 24hrCampfire are already ragging on Rugers CEO about that..

Having said all that I wouldn't buy a Savage Axis, Remington 770, or Mossberg 100ATR because they hurt my eye's..
But that's just me and I certainly wouldn't look down my nose at someone who did..
Unless of course they were to throw money at them and buy a Boyds lami stock like a friends son did!
LOL

[MBTcustom]

OK you want a sub $300 sporter? Here's my Sunday rifle I'm working on (I call it the Sunday rifle because I work on it on Sundays for an hour or two).

I got everything for this at the last Tulsa Gunshow.
I was walking by a table and saw a janky action with a janky 308 cal barrel on it, stamped ".308" in chicken tracks lettering.
About an hour later, I was walking by another table and saw this sporterized Type 38 Arisaka, that they didn't know what caliber it was in (turned out to be 6mm Remington). I picked it up for $125
I unscrewed the janky $40 barrel off the janky action and recontoured it, cut off the threads, rethreaded for the Arisaka, and crowned it. I borrowed a 308 Palma Match reamer from a buddy across town (lucky break). and chambered it minimum headspace.
I grabbed a rusty piece of steel I got from the scrapyard (I think it's a 4140...ish? steel) and whipped out a crummy looking bolt knob.
I sawed off the original egg bolt knob, and used my oxy/acetylene torch to weld the new one on the bolt (BTW, I made my heat sink out of a rusty piece of rebar also reclaimed from the scrapyard).
I used my craftsman belt sander to bust the bolt knob down into a butterknife kinda sorta profile, and finished with needle files and sand paper.
I dipped the action lovingly into my bluing tanks.
Then I made some steel pillars and bedded the action in the stock with Devcon 10110. Two pads right over the action screws.
I grabbed a rusty piece of 4140ish carbon steel about 1.5" in diameter (given to me by a friend) and milled it down into a weaver scope rail.
I yanked the scope off a muzzle loader I got from my neighbor for $50 with all the goodies, and screwed it in place on the rail.
Took a look down the barrel and bore sighted the scope in.
While all of the previous was going on, I kept buffing the stock down with 0000 steel wool and rubbing in another coat of trueoil every other day.
Finally last Sunday, I drove out to the range and popped a few into the target at 75 yards, and was pretty happy with the accuracy. This would certainly put down any deer in North America out to 400 yards as is.
So here ya go. A custom rifle that's got my personality wrapped up in it (ie, has a nice personality I guess, but could rub two pennies together till they shriek! LOL!) All for less than $200.
Yep. It's a real bubba.
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[Love Life]

My thoughts:

Donors: Of the ones you listed I would pick the 700 action as 1st choice followed by the Savage as a 2nd choice. I wouldn't even entertain a Ruger or Mossberg. That's just me, but oh well...

Remington 700: Chatting it up with many big name smiths, the general consensus is the Model 700 actions coming from Brownells are worth every penny. They are made on CNC equipment and are some of the best 700 actions they have seen come from Remington. Additionally Remington actions are accommodated by a HUGE aftermarket. HUGE. Remington actioned guns are also worth more on resale.

Savage: They work, can have extractor issues, but they work. Plus you can swap barrels easy peasy. Sadly, a savage is always a savage and will suffer in the resale department. Savages are no slouch on accuracy though.

Custom actions: Funny thing here...some still require truing. I'll leave it at that.

Winchester CRF action: I'm bias to this one, but it is the bomb.

Barrels: Pick your poison from the makers

Price: Quality costs money. It always has and is worth the price. When I shoot a rifle, I want to know that the off shot was me. Not the barrel rubbing the stock, not a crooked chamber, not a too long action screw, not poor stock fit, etc. That's what I need from a rifle...period. Everything else comes second to that.

Quality parts+quality gunsmith= Ultimate happiness.

Or....you can get you a cheapo barrel, rent a reamer, go to town with the hand drill, and always wonder why you can shoot 3 shot 1 MOA groups, but your 5-10 shot groups are over MOA.

Accuracy, consistency, and looks all come from a custom smith. Not only that but the rifle is built FOR YOU.

You get small nuances like the barrel being cut so you can run your bullets to mag length and still jam them, you get a bolt knob that clears the scope eyepiece in spades yet is still easy to grab and manipulate. You get a gun tat will put the 10th shot into the same group the 1st shot went into whether you shoot it fast or take your sweet time between shot. You get a gun that just works like it is supposed to. You get a gun that exhibits the same level of accuracy and consistency from 100 yards to 1,000 yards. That is worth many pennies, and will build confidence in your equipment, which will allow you to focus on the important stuff. Like trigger control, breathing, cheek weld, etc. This will allow you to win a couple cases of Mountain Dew at informal shooting competitions.

If you step into a build, jump in feet 1st. You'll be happier in the end.

Shameless plug: Listen to Goodsteel. He builds an outstanding rifle that is more accurate than the person behind it. I could have went with any big name smith out there, but I didn't I picked Goodsteel and it was a wise investment.

[MBTcustom]

Thanks for the plug LL, but the point I was trying to make is that if you keep your eye's peeled, you can find a donor action for cheap that is miles ahead of some of these modern cheap actions, and it can be made into a very nice sporter on the cheap. It's not quick, but if you are willing to wait, you can have superb quality for low money.
Give me enough time, and I can make a rifle from bar stock with a set of needle files and a DeWalt drill LOL!

I wasn't trying to look down my nose at anybody. What I'm saying is that you can do this too!!!!
This is just a simple matter of obtaining a few basic tools and learning how to use them. If anybody has the desire to do this, I would be more than happy to help you with your project. (actually, I'd be more than happy to help you with any project you decide to do even if it's a Savage rebarrel).
It's not the kind of thing where you spend $300 and invest two hours labor and get a new boomstick. Its more like you spend $200 on the rifle, $100 on the tools, and 6 months on the build. The good news is when you are done, you have all this capability, and all these tools, and you realize you just scratched the surface, so beware, it's rather addicting!
I love rifle building. Once I discovered the fact that it all boils down to having a file, and knowing how to push it, I was hooked!
"You mean the finest guns on the planet are made by hand with cheap tools?!?!?"
That's exactly what I mean.
Most anybody reading this could make their own Holland & Holland shotgun with minimum outlay for materials. You need a good set of files, and a good vice, a torch really helps, you need an oil lamp, chisels, and enough sand paper to make a good sized piñata.
One stroke at a time, you can build a masterpiece.
Unfortunately, no matter how much you spent on your files, and no matter how much sandpaper you bought, you can't put material back that isn't there in the first place.

I'm not knocking anybodies build on the cheap. All I'm saying is that the satisfaction of doing something really special is like a drug.
Some might say that they don't want to do this because they would be afraid to hunt with so pretty a gun, push down a fence with it, or drop it or something.
Look at the link in my sig line. When I was dragging that deer up out of the gully, my feet went out from under me, and I body slammed my Sako on a rock, scarring the stock badly. The guy I was with was all shocked and squeamish about the damage that had been done. I told him "Dude, don't worry about it! I made it and I know how to fix it! LOL!)
Why would you be torn up about scarring something that you built with your own hands?!?!? When that happens, you're not going to be on your knees screaming NoooOOOoooOOOoooOOOoooOOO to the skies like you would if you had bought it from a custom maker! You're going to be thinking: "Oh shucks. Now I have an excuse to redo this rifle over the summer for next season.
woe.
is.
me."
Hah! You're going to have to resist the urge to just start over from scratch with a different caliber, a better piece of wood, a different cold blue!
It's an OBSESSION I tell ya!!!!
There's no hope for me!

Sorry Warf. I'll butt out of your thread now. I'm just trying to tell people that they have options for quality at the low end of the price range! The only tradeoff is time spent, but it's the most fascinating journey you can imagine, and there are old gunsmiths and tinkerers that are going to take all the little tricks with them if it is not learned/rediscovered by us!
I think I came across like an elitist, but that was not my intent, and I'm really sorry if that was the way you guys took it! I was trying to tell you that I hold an extremely high standard of quality in my work, and it doesn't cost me a thing! That Arisaka up yonder was built for the sole purpose of proving duplex loads. If I blow it up, I'm not out much money at all. Nevertheless, as long as I'm building a rifle, I might as well do it right just because I enjoy the heck out of it.
To quote Emmit Brown from "Back to the Future" in response to Marty's question:
"Doc, you built a time machine......out of a Delorean?!?!
"The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine, you might as well do it with a little bit of style!

[GabbyM]

No one has mentioned the poor Howa actions in this thread.
I've had one since the 1970's in a Weatherby Vangaurd long action. Like it a lot better than any Remington I've owned. For one it actually feeds as fast or as slow as you want to stroke the bolt. Five round mag and solid bottom metal. At least on mine.
Flat bottom receiver with integral recoil lug. Good trigger and the receiver has an anti bind rail running through the left bolt lug to keep it running smooth. Saeco type extractor. Only thing is they are heavier than a Remington. Howa sells a barreled action at $385 from Buds. Should be lots of those cheep plastic stock Wall-Mart guns out there cheep. Mine is a wood stock pre wall-Mart deal. Replaced that sharp angled Weatherby stock with a Boyd's Sporter in walnut a couple months ago.

My FN Win M70 Sporter in 30-06 feeds so smooth sometimes I wonder if it picked a round up. It always does. That is unless you short stroke it.

[Love Life]

No one has mentioned the poor Howa actions in this thread.
I've had one since the 1970's in a Weatherby Vangaurd long action. Like it a lot better than any Remington I've owned. For one it actually feeds as fast or as slow as you want to stroke the bolt. Five round mag and solid bottom metal. At least on mine.
Flat bottom receiver with integral recoil lug. Good trigger and the receiver has an anti bind rail running through the left bolt lug to keep it running smooth. Saeco type extractor. Only thing is they are heavier than a Remington. Howa sells a barreled action at $385 from Buds. Should be lots of those cheep plastic stock Wall-Mart guns out there cheep. Mine is a wood stock pre wall-Mart deal. Replaced that sharp angled Weatherby stock with a Boyd's Sporter in walnut a couple months ago.

My FN Win M70 Sporter in 30-06 feeds so smooth sometimes I wonder if it picked a round up. It always does. That is unless you short stroke it.

Good call on the Howas. They get rave reviews for the most part, and fiddling with them in the gun stores they are actually quite nice.

Now them Winchester model 70's...so smooth and mine feeds and ejects no matter how fast you work it. I like to work it smartly. It'll throw brass in your hand or 5 ft away depending on how fast you work the action.

So many good choices these days.

OP- Please keep us updated on your build!

[Nrut]

GabbyM,
I have to agree with you on the $385.00 barreled Howa action from Bud's..
That is steal!
Don't own myself but have read plenty of posts on 24hrCampfire by guys that use them as is, and as customs..

[MBTcustom]

GabbyM,
I have to agree with you on the $385.00 barreled Howa action from Bud's..
That is steal!
Don't own myself but have read plenty of posts on 24hrCampfire by guys that use them as is, and as customs..

Yep, no flies on that. Come to think of it, I guided a friend of mine in building one for his son's first rifle a couple years ago. That guy was a class act all the way. Howa barreled action, Richards laminated stock, pillars, glass, scope mounts, Leupold....the works.
He did everything I told him to, and took his time doing it, and got it right. It was a father/son project and I gave them advice as it was needed.

Come to think of it, his son just bagged his first deer with that rifle at 200 yards this year. Guess it worked out OK for him!

[GabbyM]

Reason I replaced the stock on that Weatherby VG is I like the rifle. Could of just traded it off on a new Win 70 in 270 caliber. Would have had a better rifle. But have grown fond of that rifle over about forty years. Don’t have any of my old cars or motorcycles. Nor ex wife. I have that old rifle. Memories of hunts. It’s never let me down. I have two Remington’s that I could drop in a heart beat. Actually one has been sitting here for a few years with a bolt handle snapped off the body. Lugs and receiver races have a surface finish similar to an asphalt road. There is no love there at all. I’m a machinist so am thinking I’ll get access to a lathe where it will take a full day to fix it. Have a brand new Shillen barrel for it. Fajen beavertail stock. When it comes down to it I don’t care about it. So it just sits around in a pile.

You hear Love Life and myself talk about our new FN M70’s like they are special. That’s because they are. I own several rifles. My M70 is special. My Remington 870 Wingmaster I purchased in 1971 when in high school is special. Fond of my SP-1 Colt but don’t love it. I get cheep tools at Harbor Freight. I acquire guns, make them or buy them with the premise they are hear to stay and deserve a place in the life I have. Which as a machinist is a life of quality craftsmanship. Have not spent my working life fretting over one ten thousandths of an inch just to surround myself with junk guns. looking at my Win M70 and don't see anything I'd not send out of my own shop. With my name on it. Gun rags trash the triggers. Hell I've not touched mine. It has some take up but I'm an old man of 58 years and can get shaky after a long hump. Trigger is adjustable if you want to. IMHO it is set just right for a hunting rifle.

[warf73]

I've stayed away from this thread for a few days as its seems everyone knows what I want for a rifle. I do thank everyone for the great advice on the brands of rifles that I asked about and other brands that are out there also.

This is what I invisioned as my 358 Winchester build:
The metal all blacked out.
Stock not being plastic but wood in the pepper shade.

Here a few pics I found on the web of the rifle I invisioned once completed.

and this one without the big scope and bypod.


Either of these rifles I would be proud to own and pass on to my son. I'm not a glossy type of guy, I only own 1 really shinny gun rest are either dull blueing, mat black or satin stainless, and the same goes for my pistols.

[NVScouter]

I did the Savage switch barrel thing. Its ok but not worth it in the long run IMHO. Yes no gunsmithing and easy to do caliber change. But to try and use it like a T/C Contender its not very good. Now if I lived in a country where I had to pay permit or license every rifle a switch barrel makes perfect sense.

I sold my savage because the floating bolt head and cock on close drove me nuts. I'm a Mauser guy I guess and they felt weird to me. The Ruger American doesnt feel janky at all. I'm buying a 223 soon but hadnt heard the 75g wont fit but like my mearsurements previously not suprised. That 1:8 twist needs to be able to feed the 40-75g boolits it can shoot! I may get the .22MAG first while they play with that.

I still get Mausers/Springfields in the $200 range here and there. I frequest gun stores and pawn shops when I travel as well as put out the word of stuff I'm looking for. Or sometimes they find me. My area also hates Craigslist so we have many Facebook hunter only gear swap accounts that we trade on. Guns come up all the time you just have to be fast if the price is good.

[lastborn]

Tag future use

[FergusonTO35]

Late to this party but thought I would mention that I have had a Howa 1500 for 21 years now. It's an old Interarms gun, originally chambered in .30'06 with fancy Weatherby style glossy stock. The rifle has never let me down and I've killed most of my deer with it. As useful and historically significant as the .30'06 cartridge is I've just never cared much for it.

I've long been an admirer of .257 and .264 caliber cartridges and putting a new tube on the Howa would be the cheapest way to get one. So, I sent the action off to E.R. Shaw in Pennsylvania. A few months later it came back with a 1:10 twist magnum sporter profile barrel in .257 Roberts. I added a Weatherby Vanguard synthetic stock that I painted OD green and had a very talented smith work on the trigger. The scope is a Weaver V10 in Leupold mounts. Have only been able to put 30 rounds through it so far but the results are promising.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

how do you feel about the yugo mausers with the bent bolt handles are they a good starting place , there are 2 sitting in a local shop for a fair price

I am having 358 dreams also

[NVScouter]

A friend of mine just offered me a Springfield 1903 for $250 I your interested.

[MBTcustom]

how do you feel about the yugo mausers with the bent bolt handles are they a good starting place , there are 2 sitting in a local shop for a fair price

I am having 358 dreams also

Should work OK, but I would hold out for a good deal on an Argentine or a K98. They are hard to get a good deal on, but not impossible. I just picked up an absolutely pristine Argy sporter for $218 Tuesday. I'm very curious to see how it does.

[jonp]

You can find deals if you look. I was in an LGS in a small town and saw a funny bolt on the rack. The stock was a Monte Carlo but rough with a crack however it had lyman 57 peep and was stamped Karl Gustav 1917 6.5x55. Not popular in that area. Action like butter. I pointed out the crack and asked how much. Got it about $150

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

A friend of mine just offered me a Springfield 1903 for $250 I your interested.

unless he wants a ruger old army in trade I will have to wait till my funds come back from buying the ruger but I would love a 1903 of course if the barrel was good and the gun not already bubad up I would probably have to leave that 30-06 so it could keep my M1 company

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

Should work OK, but I would hold out for a good deal on an Argentine or a K98. They are hard to get a good deal on, but not impossible. I just picked up an absolutely pristine Argy sporter for $218 Tuesday. I'm very curious to see how it does.

I see some of the 1891 Argentine mausers have what looks like a box magazine and others appear not to what is the difference , I see one on arms list in Dallas,tx for 249 with a scope

[MBTcustom]

I think what you are seeing is the difference between the 1891 Argentine, and the 1909 Argentine.
The 1891 Argentine had a straight grip, and a magazine that extended below the rifle.
The 1909 had more of the standard Mauser pistol-ish grip, and had a flush fitting hinged floorplate with the catch in the trigger guard.
They are both fine rifles to build on, and the fact that we can own them for less than $2000 each is one of life's seldom appreciated blessings.