I know that this is an impossible question to answer accurately, so no flames please .
IN YOUR OPINION , what is the most consistently accurate (on the target range) factory centerfire rifle for under $1500? Weight, caliber, materials, projected use, etc are unimportant. I am only referring to shooting the smallest groups on paper, so factory "target" rifles are eligible.
This should be a fun topic, so let the games begin.
Jim
Posts: 1206 | Location: Georgia | Registered: 21 July 2000
I can only speak for what I have used, so this would be a Remington LTR in 308, straight out of the box with nothing done to it other than putting on the Leupold 4,5-14 LR
Posts: 1605 | Location: Wa. State | Registered: 19 November 2001
I am not a big bench shooter, but I am going to throw my $.02 in anyway. I purchased a Savage about a year ago and right out of the box, it was shooting 0.75" groups at 100 yards. This gun is over a $1,000 less than your maximum price (not including the scope). It groups much better than my Browning and when shooting from 300 and 600 yards at my gun club, it grouped at least as good as my friend's custom Rem. 700. I just purchased a Model 70, which I will be comparing it to once Ivan blows through.
George
Posts: 839 | Location: Greensboro, Georgia USA | Registered: 17 July 2004
This same question was asked a couple of weeks ago. My answer is still the same. Savage. Can't really say this from experience but when all the gun rags compare rifles, custom, factory and semi-custom guns, Savage all ways comes out on or very near the top. I don't think you can say it is because of advertising dollars either, cause I'm sure that Savage is not the big spender of all the gun company�s out there. For the record I don't even own a Savage bolt gun. I should try to fix that though.
Shawn
Posts: 773 | Location: Louisiana | Registered: 31 May 2002
Hate to say it, but probably Savage. I don't even own one of the durn things but every one I've shot at the range was a tack driver. I'm sure you could get lucky and find one Ruger, Remchester etc. that was better, but I believe you have a much better chance of getting a shooter with the Savage. I shot the new accutrigger a couple of weeks ago on a guys 308 Savage and it was really a jewel.
Posts: 1242 | Location: Houston, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2002
For the less expensive rifles - in my experience Savage has been the most accurate. I�ve had disastrous luck with Ruger, but many on this board and others have different experiences. One problem with this type of question is that many people give a response based off a single sample of multiple brands. You would have to shoot hundreds and hundreds of each to have a true statistically valid study. I don't have enough experience with premium priced rifles to even hazard a guess.
Posts: 498 | Location: Georgia | Registered: 13 January 2002
It does my heart good to hear from all of the Sako fans! None of the Sako's I own are younger than 30+ years old but they have made a believer out of me.
It's a damn shame, the guy has upped the pot to 2K and most of you suggest a Savage! HA! Well, I gotta agree, Savage is the most accurate "out of the box" rifle I've ever purchaced too. Not the prettiest and no where near the most expensive, but definatly the most accurate. I've never owned or shot a Cooper or a Sako though.
Terry
Posts: 6315 | Location: Mississippi | Registered: 18 May 2002
Are only bolt guns elgible? If not, a Rock River Arms lower receiver mated to a White Oak Precision (or Accuracy Speaks or Compass Lake Engineering) match upper would meet your price requirement, more than likely meet your accuracy requirement, and be a hoot to shoot as well.
HTH,
Monte
Posts: 341 | Location: Wenatchee, WA | Registered: 27 February 2002
Haven't had a Cooper yet but plan too. Of the rifles I've had the Sako 75 is the choice. Several of mine have shot 3 shot groups at 100 less than 3/8" (or 3/4 at 200), but it's either too windy in Oklahoma to do it every time or I'm not good enough shot to do it every time. FYI Sako's guarantee is that they won't leave the factory unless they shoot 5 shots into less than 1" at 100yds for the model 75's, and 3 shots under 1" for the Tikka's. Sako makes their own barrels............DJ
Posts: 3976 | Location: Oklahoma,USA | Registered: 27 February 2004
I have Rems Rugers others and some custom stuff.By far the Savage varmint/tactical rifles I own and have shot are the most accurate rifles out of the box. Most well do .5s with good ammo and a good shot. I have one tactical that well do .250 a lot of the times and .375 most of the time. I have seen several that well do .5s with a lot of groups under that. This is with just taking them out of the box throwing in a know hand load and hitting the range.
I have seen rem rugers win and other do it all so but the savages seem to do it a lot more offten per rifle then the rest. That said I don't think they are the best rifle for certain things but for varmint hunting they sure shoot.
Posts: 19736 | Location: wis | Registered: 21 April 2001
Quote: Cooper makes very accurate rifles, right out of the box. They each come with a factory test target that is usually one small hole.
... but the target is shot at about 40 yds, indoor. Still, Coopers are very accurate out of the box. Accuracy wise, it is probably a toss up between a Sako varmint in 6mm PPC and a Cooper in an equivalent caliber. And the Cooper wins hands down in terms of available calibers. It is a personal matter whether you like their stocks. I prefer the handfilling pistolgrip of the Sakos to the very slim and open pistolgrip of the Cooper. But I guess that has nothing to do with accuracy potential...
Btw, Blasers are normally surprisingly accurate right out of the box - and mostly don't need any tweaking (trigger etc). Anschuetz is another accuracy product, as is the Swiss Gruenig and Elmiger. - mike
Posts: 6653 | Location: Switzerland | Registered: 11 March 2002
I have a Ruger 270 that will shoot a round three shot group at a 100 yards it has Leupold scope on it. It will do that with Nosle 150 Part. or Federal Preuim ammo. The only thing done to it was a trigger job. Plus it was all made in the good ole USA!!!!!!!
Posts: 132 | Location: Ky | Registered: 21 June 2003
Quote: Interesting answers guys, but I had absolute accuracy as my main criteria. Maybe I should rephrase the question....What factory rifles under $1500 are normally capable of accuracy in the 3/8" or better category at 100 yards? If neccessary we can expand the cost figure to no more than $2000 to get to the best possibilities, but only if we can't come up with an option in the original price range.
Keep the replys coming .
Jim
Jim, Cooper makes very accurate rifles, right out of the box. They each come with a factory test target that is usually one small hole.
They're good looking, too. About $1100 and up.
George
Posts: 14623 | Location: San Antonio, TX | Registered: 22 May 2001
Mbogo, I am a little bit of a SAKO nut, but I have had extremely good luck with every Sako 75 I have purchased. (over a dozen of em) A couple needed a little trigger tweaking to suit me, most just my adjustments with their factory adjustable trigger. The last several I have bought have had stickers on the box that said "sub moa out of the box" I don't know if this is a guarantee, but all of mine are at least that good. Great magazine setup, several different models, i.e. wood/blue, syn/stainless, lightweight syn/stainless with fluted barrell. I will say that I have put a McMillan stock on all of my synthetic stocked models, like most synthetic factory stocks I didn't care for them at all. The factory barrels are Walthar/Lothar and are excellent. None of their rifles get to a customer without they aint been shot by SAKO, which I think is great, I have a buddy who had a factory tour a few years ago and he says they will actually tweak/reject a rifle if it isn't a shooter--Just my .02
Posts: 3563 | Location: GA, USA | Registered: 02 August 2004
My Sako 75 Varmint lamanated SS in .223 with carful handloads of match bullets will do 3/8" or better at 100 yards.It has its troubles as not feeding with a full magazine, feeds fine with just 3 in the clip. At a recent egg shoot at 200 yards 3 of the top 7 rifles were Sako 75 varmints in .223 or 6 PPC. So for a accurate factory rifle I would go with the Sako 75 SS Varmint in 6ppc. That I feel is the most accurate factory rifle out there. BillyR
Posts: 170 | Location: Kentucky U.S.A. " The land that is dark with blood" | Registered: 31 May 2004
Nothing that you can count on being that accurate for that price range. We all get lucky from time to time, but the only guarantee of that level of accuracy is $$$$. I believe Fulton Armory guarantees their Krieger barreled rifle (AR -15 style) to give .5" groups for about $1,600.00. JCN
Posts: 7158 | Location: Snake River | Registered: 02 February 2004
I am surprised no one has mentioned the Sako 75. I have no personal experience with the 75's but have read many positive things. I too am in the group of Savage dislikers, my dislike comes from a negitive experience with an older savage and the hate for a long action in 223!
Interesting answers guys, but I had absolute accuracy as my main criteria. Maybe I should rephrase the question....What factory rifles under $1500 are normally capable of accuracy in the 3/8" or better category at 100 yards? If neccessary we can expand the cost figure to no more than $2000 to get to the best possibilities, but only if we can't come up with an option in the original price range.
Keep the replys coming .
Jim
Posts: 1206 | Location: Georgia | Registered: 21 July 2000
I think this is simple. Buy a Remington 700 Varmint or Sendero. Then spend the extra money having it 'tweeked' a step at a time. I have one that I just floated, not bedded, and the trigger adjusted. It's now down to sub MOA. I've got less than $600 in it. I would think that if I wanted to, I don't, it could be made even better. capt david
Posts: 655 | Location: South Texas | Registered: 11 January 2004
Haven't had experience with Savages or Rem 700s but most Sakos, Interarms Mark Xs and Mini Mausers, and some of the new CZs will shoot 0.75" or better. Think it mainly depends on the individual gun, the load, etc.
Posts: 9487 | Location: Texas Hill Country | Registered: 11 January 2002
The most accurate out-of-the-box rifle that I ever bought was a Remington 788 in 222Rem. It's 30 years old and still shoots under 1/2". Too bad it's not still in production. If my memory is correct, I believe that it was $129.
Nashcat
Posts: 331 | Location: MiddleTennessee | Registered: 26 May 2002
I have yet to see a Ruger Varminter in 22-250 or 220 swift that wouldn't shoot bug holes with hand loads right out of the box. As far a Guaranteed no matter what groups with factory ammo would be Weatherby. If you want guaranteed sub MOA then buck up for their MOA option which guarantees it to shoot sub MOA with factory ammo or they keep working on it until it will. Anyone else have a written accuracy warranty for under $2000???
From their site: Get guaranteed accuracy of 1" or less. As a custom option on Weatherby Accumark and Super VarmintMaster (SVM) rifles, Weatherby will guarantee a SUB-MOA (.99 in. or less) 3-shot group from a cold barrel at 100 yards (with specific calibers only). We will select the rifle and provide a factory-shot test target along with the specific ammunition load information. Rifle will feature an engraved bolt with distinctive �SUB-MOA.�
Now that you've upped it to $2K, I'll chime in for the Blaser R93, although I've owned both of mine long enough that I paid less than $1,500 for each of them.
If I do my part, both of mine will keep three under a half inch in five calibers, which are all I've tried so far.
And that's right out of the box for a sporter weight rifle using selected factory loads.
Posts: 13757 | Location: New England | Registered: 06 June 2003
Quote: Now that you've upped it to $2K, I'll chime in for the Blaser R93, although I've owned both of mine long enough that I paid less than $1,500 for each of them.
If I do my part, both of mine will keep three under a half inch in five calibers, which are all I've tried so far.
And that's right out of the box for a sporter weight rifle using selected factory loads.
mrlexma,
Yes, I have a 270 Win Blaser R93 with wood stock that shot 3/8" with factory Remington 130 grain from the first sight in group (I bought the Remington ammo to get the rifle on paper, since it was the cheapest thing the dealer had, and I didn't have anything loaded at the time ). Since then I have found a couple of handloads that will equal or slightly improve on that.
My synthetic stocked R93 doesn't do quite this well, but with 375 H&H or 300 WBY barrels it does a half inch quite often, with some groups being under that.
The other factory stock sporters in calibers larger than 25 that I have which will shoot as well consistently are a couple of Remington 700's in 270 Win (and a CZ 527 in 7.62x39 that thinks it is a miniature bench rest rifle ). One of the 270's will usually do around an inch at 300 yards (and on my better days will get down to 3/4" at that distance).
I have not worked with the recent model Savages, but might give them a try since so many people have good results accuracy wise with them.
I have several varmint weight factory rifles that meet the accuracy criteria specified including some older Remington 700 V's, Sako Varmints, Steyr/Mannlicher heavy barrel, Ruger 77V, etc. These are factory stock other than trigger work by me, and calibers range from 222 Rem to 25/06.
There have been, and still are, a number of other good shooters in my collection, but not quite in the category that we are discussing (more like the 1/2 to 3/4 range).
As stated, I am interested in factory rifle accuracy. I purposely did not refer to custom rifles where the question of how much accuracy you can build into a rifle is only limited by how much money you are willing to spend, been there and done that .
I have an itch for a new "toy" to shoot little groups with and which won't be used for hunting, so I simply wondered about some of the presently available rifles and the results that people have had with them. My choice will probably come down to either a new rifle as discussed (probably heavy barrel), or a used bench rest rifle. I haven't done any competitive shooting in years, and probably won't in the future. It will be just for my own gratification.
Thanks for all the replys, Jim
Posts: 1206 | Location: Georgia | Registered: 21 July 2000
IF you're talking about an AMERICAN-MADE rifle, I'd say it's a tossup between Remington and Savage. Winchester and Ruger also produce some extremely accurate rifles, but Rem. and Sav. seem to do so more consistently. I hear less complaints about these two. If you are open to a foreigner, then take a good look at the Sauers! They are also under $1500.00.
the most accurate stock rifle i own is a cz 537 in 223, i did the trigger job & it shoots in the .3"'s.. none of my customs will do that well.. i paid $380 for it as a scratch & dent from Williams Precision.
Posts: 1125 | Location: near atlanta,ga,usa | Registered: 26 September 2001
The most accurate factory rifle I have come across has been the Weatherby Mark Vs. I have shot 2 270 Wby Mags and 1 7mm Wby Mag Mark Vs, they all would shoot groups less than an inch at 200 yards w/ factory ammo, that's right Factory Ammo. I just bought a Mark V 7mm Wetherby Mag so, we will see if that will make 4 that will shoot into an inch at 200.
I would say from the rifles that I own and have shot for others, that the accuracy would have to go in this order:
1) Weatherby Mark V (definitely not the Vangaurd)
2) Reminton 700s
3) Savage Rifles (any Model Bolt Action from their line)
4) Winnie 70s
I haven't dealt w/ the Sakos but, the guys I know that have say they are very accurate shooters.
Good Luck!
Reloader
Posts: 4146 | Location: North Louisiana | Registered: 18 February 2004
.
HA! Well, I gotta agree, Savage is the most accurate "out of the box" rifle I've ever purchaced too. 
Not the prettiest and no where near the most expensive, but definatly the most accurate. I've never owned or shot a Cooper or a Sako though.
). One of the 270's will usually do around an inch at 300 yards (and on my better days will get down to 3/4" at that distance).
