Best base rifle

[buccaneerfan]

Hey guys! Just curious, which setup you would choose as a base, out of the box, rifle to get started. This would be a rifle that could be fairly effective at 1000 yds out of the box but would have the most options for upgrade at reasonable prices. As a kicker, I am fairly certain I would like to end up with a rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. I don't mind the rifle starting out as something else like 308, 7mm-08, etc as long as I could rebarrel to 6.5 CM. Any thoughts on makes, models, calibers to start out with are greatly appreciated!
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[HodgdonExtreme]

Why not cut to the chase and buy a 6.5 Creed from the get go?

Savage 12LRP comes with that chamber.

 

[Trapshooter12]

Why not cut to the chase and buy a 6.5 Creed from the get go?

Savage 12LRP comes with that chamber.

The club that I shoot at once a month has had two guys shooting Savages and having nothing but problems with them. Last month was quite funny as one guy was having problems he could not finish the match and when he stood up he said damned savage and gave it a light kick. The other guy claims to have barrel problems with his.

I do not know what models of Savage they are shooting.

But if I was getting into this game again I would do the same thing over again. I started with a 700p in 308 and after I shot the barrel out of it I converted it over to a 260.
The 700p I put a Timney in it and bedded the action and it would shoot under a minute groups with factory barrel.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

The club that I shoot at once a month has had two guys shooting Savages and having nothing but problems with them. Last month was quite funny as one guy was having problems he could not finish the match and when he stood up he said damned savage and gave it a light kick. The other guy claims to have barrel problems with his.

I do not know what models of Savage they are shooting.

But if I was getting into this game again I would do the same thing over again. I started with a 700p in 308 and after I shot the barrel out of it I converted it over to a 260.
The 700p I put a Timney in it and bedded the action and it would shoot under a minute groups with factory barrel.

I'm not a Savage fanboi though I respect them for what they are (inexpensive factory rifles that are easy to work on and generally shoot quite well), but I could tell similar stories of people having issues with their Remington, Tikka, Sako, etc.

If the OP is going to settle for a 308, and rebarrel to 6.5 later, I'd recommend a Howa. High quality rifles with lots of great features for very little money.

Bottom line though, is there's no "best" base rifle. There are plusses and minuses to every option. Remington, Savage, Tikka, Howa, FNH - all will do fine.

If you want to be able to rebarrel to 6.5 Creed later, any cartridge with a .473" case head will work....308, 7mm08, 260, 243, 22-250 etc etc etc

 

[buccaneerfan]

Thanks for all the input! I actually like the looks of the Savage lrp. As far as getting a 6.5 from the get go, I think Savage and Ruger are the only ones that chamber it. i could be wrong. I am also wondering which make will have the most upgrades available. Like it seems like finding aftermarket stocks for a Tikka or a Howa would be much harder than finding one for a Savage or Remmy. Just wondering if everything is like that. And if so, which setup is most likely to have the most options?
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[MysizeisMAGNUM]

Tikka T3 has my vote it's my go to hunting rifle. I love the light weight, and amazing accuracy out of the box!

 

[Pointman308]

I've shot thousands of rounds through my Savage without one hiccup. The action is as smooth as butter and it shoots 3/8 moa every time I take it out. I've made a few upgrades to it but nothing serious. I've never seen the "Problems" that others claim on here from time to time. The after market support has also gotten pretty good for Savage as well.

 

[Bender]

How many rounds did you shoot before you wore out your .308??

 

[Trapshooter12]

How many rounds did you shoot before you wore out your .308??

I didn't keep an actual count but it was somewhere over 6K through it. I figured it was time to replace the Barrel when I tried to seat the bullet to the lands and it wouldn't seat in the case.
When it was brand new and I seated to the lands and the rounds were to long for the Magazine.

 

[Infringed711]

I had a savage that had issues with dropping the spent casing back into the action. Savage paid for it to be sent in and fixed it in a few weeks (think it was like 2 or 3, it was a while ago). It shot sub MOA out of the box and all things considered it was a good little rifle for the money.

 

[JoshcBoucher]

If I knew then............. I've bought quite a few box guns, hoping to get what I wanted. Problem is what I want now, after a lot of trigger time, is a custom laser. It took 3 or 4 yrs, but here I am looking at doing a custom. If I could do it over. I'd get 1 gun to shoot for while. make sure I liked doing it. Then go custom. A custom is a little more than a new barrel. To start? What's your budget? Get the "best" you can afford...... Just looked at the Sale thread: 6.5 in a chassis for $17??.00, and there are some other nice ones there.

 

[105amatt]

Take a good look at the Remington 700 VLS. If you don't like the laminated stock, drop the barreled action in a HS, Manners, etc. The fit and finish of that barreled action is night and day better than the SPS line. It comes chambered in several calibers. My rifle started as a VLS 243.

 

[Sig Marine]

I started with a 700p in 308 and after I shot the barrel out of it I converted it over to a 260.
The 700p I put a Timney in it and bedded the action and it would shoot under a minute groups with factory barrel.

I agree with Trapshooter12, for something "out-of-the-box", I would look at either the Remington 700P or the 5R Milspec in .308. Both rifles come with a HS Precision stock and aluminum bedding block that only needs to have the recoil lug bedded to help its accuracy. Throw a Timney trigger on that bad boy and you should have a sub-MOA rifle that will shoot out to 1000 yds until you shoot the barrel out or decide to change calibers. After that, true the action and re-barrel in what-ever you want and you should then have a 1/2 MOA or better stick.

If wanting to spend a little money right out of the gate, a cheap Remington 700 SPS with the varmint barrel is a good choice but look to spend some $$ for a stock (and trigger). The action and barrel are the same as the 700P but the factory stocks on these models are too flimsy and accuracy will suffer. This is the best option is you are wanting a chassis system.

Good luck finding what you want...Sig Marine

 

[mdavlee]

Skip the ruger for long range shooting. Their bases and rings don't leave you many choices for scopes without machining the bases off and putting bolt on ones back. I had a ruger 6.5 creedmoor and it was a good shooter.

 

[buccaneerfan]

Great input guys! Thanks a lot! I was actually looking at either the savage lrp or Remington 700 vsf. Any thoughts on those two?
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[redneckbmxer24]

Accuracy international. Add a quality scope and buy barrels in other cals as you see fit.

 

[Pointman308]

Accuracy international. Add a quality scope and buy barrels in other cals as you see fit.

That's realistic for someone new.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Much more realistic than realizing factory rifles are pieces of crap for the most part and selling it at a loss. Or dumping a bunch of money into one and selling it at more of a loss.

You get a rifle that the only way you're going to want to sell it is to upgrade to a new model, because you're hard up for cash, or to get out of long range shooting. So why not just cut to the chase? It's cheaper in the long run, I wish I had just bought an AW when I got into this well over a decade ago. With all the upgrading and selling I did because there was always something wrong I could have three AI's for just what I lost.

 

[darth_ritis]

I've had zero frustrations with my two Savage rifles - 12 LRP in .260 and 10FP-SR in .308. Actually, nothing but praise for my Savage Mark II TR .22LR, too. My 12 LRP has been a dream from day one, nothing added but optics. The 10FP is lower cost yet still very accurate, but the stock is nothing to brag about. My 10FP-SR is getting an MDT chassis and Thunderbeast, so that's more of a project gun for me.

On the Remington side, +1 what Sig Marine said.

In general terms, Savage is (arguably) quite accurate right from the factory and easier to do your own gunsmithing on (re-barrel, etc), but there are more customization options for Remington and you can make a 700 positively kick ass with some extra benjamins. Classic Ford/Chevy Pepsi/Coke thing here - I've made my choice and I'm perfectly happy, but in the end the "best base rifle" for you will be one or the other.

Much more realistic than realizing factory rifles are pieces of crap for the most part and selling it at a loss. Or dumping a bunch of money into one and selling it at more of a loss.

You get a rifle that the only way you're going to want to sell it is to upgrade to a new model, because you're hard up for cash, or to get out of long range shooting. So why not just cut to the chase? It's cheaper in the long run, I wish I had just bought an AW when I got into this well over a decade ago. With all the upgrading and selling I did because there was always something wrong I could have three AI's for just what I lost.

An expensive pill to swallow, but in the long run this is generally true for most things. Buy once, cry once.

If money's tight, I think it's OK to get started with basic stuff, but plan to use it for years and run it to death while you save up for what would have been the best choice the first time. The worst plan is starting at the bottom and upgrading (at a loss) to the next slightly better level, over and over and over. Definitely the most expensive and painful way to go. I've done it before ... not smart.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

Much more realistic than realizing factory rifles are pieces of crap for the most part and selling it at a loss. Or dumping a bunch of money into one and selling it at more of a loss.

You get a rifle that the only way you're going to want to sell it is to upgrade to a new model, because you're hard up for cash, or to get out of long range shooting. So why not just cut to the chase? It's cheaper in the long run, I wish I had just bought an AW when I got into this well over a decade ago. With all the upgrading and selling I did because there was always something wrong I could have three AI's for just what I lost.

OP, read this guys post a few times and let it sink in a little.

If you spend ~$3500-4000 on an AI AT, you'll never, EVER need to upgrade it, and it will never be worth less than ~$3k.

A good chunk more money right out of the gate, yes... but I challenge you to find ONE person that's regretted the purchase of an AI.

 

[WVshooter]

I don't know how consistent they are but I got a 700 5r SS .308 a couple years ago and had a few custom touches done and I love it. Out of the box it had no problem with .5" groups or better. I did spend some money on it with a new manners stock so I'd have detachable magazines and I had the barrel cut down and threaded. None of that really helped accuracy though. I just wanted it to look cool and have magazines. I have probably $3800 or so in the complete gun optic and all. $1600 of that is in the stock and custom work though and it shot just fine before.

Maybe it was a bad investment, I don't know. For a few hundred more I could have had a GAP without the optic and then would have felt compelled to at least spend 2k on an optic for it. It was easier for me to piece this gun together and get it how I wanted it than it would have been to save up 6k and dump it all at once on a rifle project.

 

[MoBoost]

Nobody needs or should be starting with an AI: for the same money you can buy a decent US-made base rifle, decent glass and a years of worth ammo.
And after you burn all that ammo in a year - you'll have NOTHING left - all the ammo is gone, the barrel is gone, the glass is beat-up; but that's what shooting is about - learning; saying that it was a "waste" is shortsighted.

Afterwards, maybe then you'll "need' an AI ... or not. AIs are designed to win wars not matches - you decide.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Starting with a top tier rifle is a hinderance I suppose. What the fuck do I know, like I said, I've only been doing this for over a decade.

 

[RRW]

Much more realistic than realizing factory rifles are pieces of crap for the most part and selling it at a loss. Or dumping a bunch of money into one and selling it at more of a loss.

You get a rifle that the only way you're going to want to sell it is to upgrade to a new model, because you're hard up for cash, or to get out of long range shooting. So why not just cut to the chase? It's cheaper in the long run, I wish I had just bought an AW when I got into this well over a decade ago. With all the upgrading and selling I did because there was always something wrong I could have three AI's for just what I lost.

Agree 100%. The amount of money I wasted on rifles over the years, I could have bought the 2 AI's I have now a few times over. I would have saved a lot in the long run by just getting the rifle in the first place.

 

[buccaneerfan]

No need to get heated guys. I love the idea of an AI. I guarantee it is definitely the way to go. But when you are an elementary teacher in the lowest paid state in the union, it's hard to come up with 3500$ or more at once. My thought was to start with something decent, then upgrade a barrel, then a stock, trigger, break, etc. It would be much easier coming up with 600-1000$ every couple years. One thing I have been wondering about is the finish. Should I be looking at blued or stainless? Does it even matter or is it all just preference?
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[redneckbmxer24]

You can get 0% financing through mile high. Just a monthly payment at that point.