Looking to buy my first bolt action rifle

[ruger35]

If that doesn’t include the scope price you could come pretty close to putting together a custom yourself. My advice being this is your first bolt action, buy something that has prefits available. I’m a dedicated Straight Jacket Armory customer, check with them on prefits they may have on shelf and running a sale on. Sometimes they run decent sales on guns they have in-stock and ready to go too.

 

[JohnJohnson]

Does that budget include the scope? If so, what scope do you have in mind? And if not, what is the scope budget?

 

[TaperPin]

You can invest $3k in a rifle with all the cool stuff that shoots like crap, or use the basic/plain action of your choice, have a top barrel installed by a gunsmith ($1k) and shoot little groups. Either way is ok.

I think of any rifle as just a box of parts to be changed and swapped out to fit your interests. More parts are made to fit a Remington 700 pattern than any other, but Tikka, Savage, Ruger, Christensen, Mosberg, Winchester, Browning, Weatherby, or any major brand with a top quality $1k barrel will shoot well under MOA.

 

[JGood]

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[S-3 ranch]

It’s hard to beat a savage with decent glass and still be under budget
Avoiding fierce & Christensen is advisable especially if you’re a Canadian

 

[Petergon]

Tikka announced a 7prc earlier this year at SHOT Show. It hasn't appeared yet and the year is running out. But they announced it.

I would avoid Christensen and Fierce as they have QC issues more frequently than they should.

Seekins PH2 if you don't go with a Tikka.

Really? Then im waiting hahaha

 

[bojangles808]

the x bolt 2 looks promising if you wanted a ready to shoot 7prc. or a seekins. stainless tikka 7 mag swaped with a 7prc prefit and dropped in stock chassis of your choice wouldnt be bad idea either. but maybe a little more trickier being in canada.

 

[eric1115]

Looking for a 7prc though and tikka doesn’t carry them

I'd be rethinking chambering if I were in your shoes. If this is a first/only bolt gun, you'll be way more deadly way further with a 6CM or 6.5CM and a big pile of ammo you burn through every year vs a 7PRC and a smaller pile of ammo (budget and recoil means we all shoot little stuff more and better).

If you don't shoot many hundreds, preferably multiple thousand rounds a year, none of us has any business shooting game at the kind of ranges where 7PRC gives an advantage over a CM sized case.

Stainless Tikka
6CM prefit barrel (especially since Canada and no suppressors)
Rokstok when it becomes available to you.

 

[LostWapiti]

Tikka, browning, seekins, weatherby. Those are the only brands I would be considering for factory rifles.

Remember more money does not mean better. On tikka it’s very easy to get aftermarket stocks so it’s a great option.