trying to decide between bolt actions

[0371richwiner]

I'm looking to get a hunting rifle for when I'm in Washington. Mainly ill be hunting deer, cougar, elk, and antelope. I want to stay with the .308 cartridge due to me already having some and another rifle. I think Ive narrowed it down to these three rifles.

The Weatherly vanguard series 2, Remington 700, and the Thompson center venture. Let me know what you guys think pros or cons. Thanks in advance.

 

[8th SPS USAF]

Look at the Mossberg MVP it takes AR mags in 223 and 308 .

 

[boogieman]

Out of those 3 I would go with the weatherby. The new 700s have been having issues, and Remington quality control is lacking lately. I might be wrong but believe Thompson is owned by Remington now.

have you looked at the savages? I have had good experience with multiple savage rifles. I don't have any experience with it but have heard the savage hog hunter is hard to beat

 

[clfergus]

I have a Savage .308 11GCNS hunter. Beautiful gun, deadly accurate and cheaper than the options you mentioned if I recall right. I also have a new Ruger American in .270 and it too is a tack driver for a budget gun.

 

[blkrifle]

don't rule out savage. all that I have owned have been good shooters right out of the box.

 

[USMC-Johnson]

go savage...right now there are no 700's available unless you want an older used one. They have all been recalled.

Depending on pricerange check out the savage options. best out of the box rifles in my opinion right now.

 

[BoilerWes]

I would take a CZ over all 3 you have listed. If you want to do a bunch of customizing then the 700 is the way to go.

 

[dhamby]

If you are planning to buy a rifle and leave it as is then any of your options will do realistically. If you are wanting to do any work to it I would go Rem 700 hands down. Savage does not hold their value as well as the 700. Though it seems like most on this forum will push Savage, and I have nothing against them, but the 700 is just a better rifle overall. Savages are known for bolt issues and the trigger's, aftermarket or accutrigger, are not that great compared to the timney or jewel trigger on a remington.

 

[xM3RC1L3SS1x]

Go with Savage.

 

[red_zr24x4]

I'm going with Savage also, love mine

 

[M67]

Out of those 3 I would go with the weatherby. The new 700s have been having issues, and Remington quality control is lacking lately. I might be wrong but believe Thompson is owned by Remington now.

have you looked at the savages? I have had good experience with multiple savage rifles. I don't have any experience with it but have heard the savage hog hunter is hard to beat

Thompson is owned by S&W, and the Ventures have had 3 recalls if I remember right.

The Weatherby Vanguard is a Howa 1500, it's a good barrel and action but try both out, you might like Howa's 2 stage trigger better.

The Mossberg 7.62 MVPs are neat, but they put that junk UTG scope on most of them.

My big thing is elk with a 308. The 308 is a fine cartridge and in most cases, capable of taking anything in North America. But....elk roll in mud and I know several hunters who's not taken down an elk because of the mud acting like armor. They get shot, you see a poof of dust, and they walk away. Those hunters for the most part now use a 7mm mag for elk.

 

[6mm Shoot]

I have all three that you are looking at. The Weatherby is the most refined. Well the Weatherby I have is the Laser Mark. I love the fit and finish. It was given to me from my Dad. I passed it down to my Son. My Dad bought it for a bear hunt. It is in 300 Weatherby. He had a heart attack and never went on the hunt. I shot it some and it isn't fun to shoot. If you can get over the recoil it is a accurate rifle. I will never hunt anything that will take a 300 Weatherby to kill it.

I have two Remingtons. One is stock, it is a 700 ss bdl. It's a very accurate rifle with the hand loads I have worked up. It's a older 700, I have had for over twenty years. The fit and finish isn't as good as the Weatherby. I do have to say it is close. If I am shooting long range or hunting in a state that allows the use of a 308 it is my go to rifle. The other Remington I have is the reworked model 7. The smith that did the work is very good at his trade. I sent him a hard shooting inaccurate rifle and he sent me back a very accurate rifle that is a pleasure to shoot in 358 Hoosier. If you buy a Remington and it isn't what you want. You can turn it into what you want. The only other rifle that has as many after market parts for is the AR. Now days when I grab a rifle to just shoot and have fun with I grab the model 7.

I have a Thompson that is in 243 Winchester and it is a hoot to shoot. Little recoil and very accurate. I use it mostly to shoot paper. Fit and finish is better than the Remington. I don't think it is as good as the Weatherby though. It has a very smooth action and the trigger brakes like glass. It is a good fun rifle to shoot and easy to carry. I have had no problems out of it.

I also have a Savage and it is the sloppiest fit and finish of all the rifles I have. I must also say it is as accurate as the Remington and cost $100 less now than the Remington did 20 years ago. I have only had it for about four years. The wife got it for me. I like shooting it. It is a accurate rifle. It is what I would call a working rifle or truck gun. You are not going to worry if it gets marred up using it. My model 7 has a great wood stock and I hate getting it scratched. It is just almost to pretty to hunt with. Then that is what it was made for, hunting.

Any of the rifles that you have picked will do the job you are asking of it if you use a good bullet for what you are hunting. The best thing I could tell you is to go to a gun shop and handle them all and see what fits you best then go with that. They are all good rifles.

 

[in625shooter]

Out of your 3 choices I like the Thomson Center and I say that as someone with specific REM 700 experience. However
My next rifle will more than likely be this Savage 10/110 international hunter XP. If you do not care for the blued and wood they have several other offerings as well



except I will probably go with a long action in 270. You can find these for around $550 shipped from Buds.

 

[throttletony]

Out of those 3 I would go with the weatherby. The new 700s have been having issues, and Remington quality control is lacking lately. I might be wrong but believe Thompson is owned by Remington now.

have you looked at the savages? I have had good experience with multiple savage rifles. I don't have any experience with it but have heard the savage hog hunter is hard to beat

T/C is owned by Smith & Wesson. I thought the weathershield was applied directly to metal, and penetrated it as well (i.e. won't wear/scratch off)
The T/C is a good gun. My only complaint about the Venture line is the magazine, since it's all plastic . I'd just buy a 2nd mag and feel fine with the T/C. It even has 5R rifling!!!

Another option would be the Tikka T3 Lite in .308

 

[Joniki]

Take a look at the Ruger American. I am very happy with all of mine.

 

[45fan]

Remington is a good choice, even with the QC issues that they have been saddled with lately, I have shot several recent models that were stellar out of the box. T/C isnt a bad choice either, but there is something about a T/C that isnt a single shot that just feels wrong. Of the three that you mention, I would go with the Weatherby. Not because it is any better of a shooter than the other two (though I am sure that there are some who may argue that point), but because everyone should have at least one rifle in the save that makes everyone else a bit jealous, and a Weatherby is probably one that would do it. For a hunting rifle, I would hope that any of your options would be accurate enough to get the job done within normally accepted .308 ranges, but the Weatherby would just look better doing it.

 

[ModernGunner]

I'm a Weatherby guy (Mark V Deluxe), so I'll vote Weatherby. But the Savage and Ruger American seem also to be good choices.

 

[JonProphet]

Out of the box. I would go Savage. If you want the aftermarket support, go 700. I don't know much about the other manufactures.

 

[24Carat]

Another vote for the MVP .

 

[flashpuppy]

I have many Savage actions fully built out. I can not fathom why one would opt to go another route, especially for a hunter build. Price is right, simple enough to build, tons of aftermarket support, can be assembled by anyone with "some" mechanical skill at your workbench, extremely accurate for the most part.