Ruger American Predator vs. the Savage Axis vs. the Mossberg Patriot

[TNHunter18]

I am trying to make up my mind on which rifle I want to purchase. I have never shot any of the three above, but thinking of getting into rifle hunting. Would any of the three be better than the other options? Or should I just save a little longer and go for the Tikka T3x? Caliber will more than likely be a .308.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Fit and finish will be better with the T3X. Tikka may have slower twist rate.

But at least the Savage and Ruger (no experience with the Mossberg) have the potential to shoot commercial ammo very well and hand loads exceptionally well.

 

[wnelson14]

Bergara b-14, Howa, Weatherby Vanguard. Those would be my pick.
Bergara Remington 700 footprint, easy to upgrade stock and trigger, etc.
Howa 1500 big following on aftermarket parts can spend a little more for a threaded barrel option or better stock.

 

[XLR]

Go with something that you can upgrade in the future! The Tikka would be what I would wait for!

 

[hereinaz]

Are you the kind that will buy, then want to upgrade, then buy again and again? Or, will you get a rifle and it will be good enough?

You mentioned budget guns. Of those, I would shoot the Savage or Ruger.

Lots of guys start with one and then keep upgrading more and more. If that will be you, then wait for a Tikka.

 

[slick]

Agreed with the above. You can change a Tikka slowly over time with large aftermarket support.

If you just want bare bones and don't plan to change anything- Ruger American

 

[Harvey_NW]

I own 3 of the 4 and would say your best bet is just save the extra and buy the Tikka.

Ruger American Predator shoots great and has a solid connection with the aluminum bedding blocks, but I have an ongoing battle with Ruger because even with factory ammo it jams before the casing hits the feed ramp and gets kicked up out of the mag. After sending it back twice with them saying it passed their functions test I'm going to address it myself.

The Mossberg Patriots shoot decent, but the action is super sloppy with a floating bolt head, and they have a cheap plastic bedding block with integrated mag well that you can't put much torque on the action bolts without cracking it (ask me how I know ). So unless you glue that in solid there's really not much you can do for bedding if you like to tinker.

I steered clear of the Savage Axis because of the cheesy thin plastic mag latch.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I recently bought the Predator in .308

 

[TNHunter18]

Thanks for all the input. I haven’t really thought about the upgrades but it makes sense to wait on one that I will be able to upgrade as I do more with a rifle. I think I might wait on the Tikka. I might do some more research into the Howa also.

 

[DunnCoHunter]

I have a savage axis, one brother has axis II, and my dad and other brother have the ruger American. My brother in law has the mossberg. You probably can’t totally go wrong with any of them. But I will say, the ruger definitely has issues with ammo jamming and not feeding. I am a bare bones kind of guy who doesn’t shoot past 300 yds so the savage axis has been great for me. I did upgrade the trigger with a $15 kit from Mcarbo. That helped a lot. The factory trigger was rough. I’ve also contemplated upgrading the stock with a Boyd’s but it’s hard to justify for me when it keeps getting the job done.

My recommendation would be go with the Axis II over the regular Axis. That will give you the accutrigger.


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[ReddingArcher]

My daughters Ruger American in 6mm creedmoor is stupid accurate for a cheap gun. But that sucker doesnt feed at all! I end up having to single feed everything in it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Tikka is better but Ruger American is the best of the budget rifles.

 

[BLJ]

The RAP is the only one I have experience with (308). I would recommend getting the model with the AICS magazine. I’ve had no feeding issues at all with the factory Ruger 3 round magazine or Magpul 5 and 10 round magazines.
I’ve had very good accuracy and reliability from mine over the last 3 years.
That being said, the price of them have gone up quite a bit since then and are close enough to the Tikka now to really make a person think.

 

[Jack321]

For a "budget rifle" I'm a huge fan of the Axis II. I have a buddy that has an original Ruger American in .308, trigger was spongy, but I hear they've upgraded. Haven't fired a newer one to compare. Another buddy has a Mossy Patriot in 30-06, he's thinking of selling it. The best it shoots is 2 inch groups at 100 yds. Pretty sub-par compared to other rifles.

My dad, my two brothers and I all have the Axis II in various calibers (two 30-06s, a .308 and a 6.5 Creed) and every one of them shoots clover leafs with factory ammo.

These Axis II's are stupid accurate.

My dad's. 308 especially.

No joke, my dad's no sniper & he's just an average guy, doesn't shoot a ton & is just a weekend warrior hunting type, but that little .308 of his makes him look like a pro. He routinely shoots clover leafs with 175 gr Terminal Ascent & 165 gr Hornady Outfitter ammo.

I'm shocked at the accuracy & am looking at an Axis II .308 just to have as another one.

Last Thursday night, a buddy wanted to shoot my 6.5 creed & he bought a box of ELD-X ammo just so he wasn't burning up my ammo. My 6.5 creed shoots .5 -.75 sub-moa with 130 gr Terminal Ascent.

The ELD-X shot sub-MOA as did the Nosler Ballistic Tip & the ELD-M.

I'll be honest, the fit and finish isn't the best on the Axis, the bolt isn't as smooth as my Savage 110, but so what?! So the bolt takes just a bit more effort to open, big whoop. For a $320 Wal-Mart Special that shoots 0.5 inch groups and has the accutrigger, who's gonna complain about that?!?!

 

[PNW CAMPER]

I was recently researching this same topic. The Tikka is certainly a notch above the others, but it is also significantly more expensive in my opinion. Ruger, Savage, Mossberg, etc there is a group of rifles in that lower price range, that are all similar, each has its pros and cons. I went with the Ruger American Predator (RAP) in 6.5 Creedmoor. I have had good experiences with Ruger customer service and my other firearms from Ruger. So, I went with what I know. So far, no feeding issues, they have 2 different mag types. I wanted the flush mount type, as I just don't like having a mag just hanging out there. Seems like I always have the extended mag catching on all kinds of stuff and that is some prime real estate for where I like to put my hands and carry my rifle as well. Thats just me, too many years with a lever gun. Probably not many upgrades, if any in my future. Its fine the way it is. Yes, it is much better than a 1 MOA rifle out of the box.

 

[TNHunter18]

I agree, I went into this looking at budget guns. But @hereinaz brought up a good point about buying then wanting to keep upgrading. This is the main reason that I may wait until I can buy a Tikka. I also came across the custom Tikka thread and this really opened my eyes to rifle customization. I have generally been a stock user, just buy it and use it but am going to look into more of the customization options available for rifles.

Someone else mentioned a B-14 and a Howa 1500. These are also options that I haven't looked at before but on preliminary research, really like. Definitely not an easy decision but hopefully I can find a store with any of these in stock so I can handle them to see what fits me best.

 

[spur60]

The RAP is the only one I have experience with (308). I would recommend getting the model with the AICS magazine. I’ve had no feeding issues at all with the factory Ruger 3 round magazine or Magpul 5 and 10 round magazines.
I’ve had very good accuracy and reliability from mine over the last 3 years.
That being said, the price of them have gone up quite a bit since then and are close enough to the Tikka now to really make a person think.

Same experiences with mine. RAP in 6.5 creed. I use the factory mag hunting, and 10 round magpul AICS for plinking. No feeding issues with either. More accurate than it should be given I paid less than $400 for the gun.

 

[WI in the west]

i have a savage axis. it shoots great but, it feels cheap ,like it came from a happy meal.

 

[Jack321]

I agree, I went into this looking at budget guns. But @hereinaz brought up a good point about buying then wanting to keep upgrading. This is the main reason that I may wait until I can buy a Tikka. I also came across the custom Tikka thread and this really opened my eyes to rifle customization. I have generally been a stock user, just buy it and use it but am going to look into more of the customization options available for rifles.

Someone else mentioned a B-14 and a Howa 1500. These are also options that I haven't looked at before but on preliminary research, really like. Definitely not an easy decision but hopefully I can find a store with any of these in stock so I can handle them to see what fits me best.

So true.

Now, after reading all of this, I agree with pretty much everyone who has an Axis II. Yup, it's inexpensive, but it shoots.

Now, full disclosure, while I am looking at another Axis .308, I am also looking at buying a 300 Win Mag in Tikka and customizing it with a new fiberglass bedded stock, premo scope, Cerakote finish, etc.

I'm a "factory" style kind of guy. Every gun I own is straight from the factory. Minus a few Timney triggers in my Rem 700s (their triggers had issues) for safety purposes, everything else is stock.

But it's about time in my life to having a custom rifle. But I can't afford a Gunwerks, or Montana Rifle Co or G7 rifle. So I'm going to piece it together on my own. But it'll look just like them custom builds. So for my semi-custom build, I'm going with Tikka.

The best thing is there's so many options for good rifles nowadays for every budget.

You could go super inexpensive (notice I didn't say 'cheap', cuz cheap implies 'bad') with a $320 Axis II in .30 cal, some $35 Weaver Stainless Steel Rings and a $150 Leupold scope means you have a rifle that will hunt anything in N. America and shoot MOA!

Or you can go with a $2,000 semi-custom Tikka just because you like the look! Or $7,000 for a Montana Rifle Co!

Sometimes my wife just rolls her eyes at me!

 

[Rich M]

I wouldn’t buy a mossberg rifle. Heavy.

Have a Ruger American and it is a 1/2 inch gun. Why would i “upgrade”?