Bolt Action Rifles - Good Read

[General of Darkness]

I'm just going to post the link to the thread. I'm looking at getting a bolt action and been doing a ton of reading. I'll probably get the Remington 700 Police in .308 since I've got two other .308's.

http://www.caprc.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=35

[madfranks]

I have a single-shot bolt action .22 as my last resort small game rifle in case of SHTF. The bolt action rifles have the fewest moving parts and are therefore the least likely to malfunction or break.

[hoarder]

Remington makes good bolt guns, but you pay for pretty. Savage is just as good (often more accurate) and costs less.
Ruger makes good bolt guns, too. Their scope mounting system is far superior to that of Savage and Remington, but unfortunately about 1/3 of their rifles suffer from poor accuracy. The scope rings are included in Ruger rifles.
Both of my bolt guns are Rugers. The others still rely on tiny screws to fasten an aftermarket scope base and this can make them slightly more prone to losing their zero if you have a clumsy moment.

[undgrd]

A picatinny rail may be an option for the scope mount on a bolt action. Works well and keeps zero nicely.

[steyr_m]

Something to consider, here's what I'll be building soon:

Stiller action - It's a Rem 700 action, but with the tac knob built on already and has the sweet fluting on the bolt. http://www.viperactions.com/ --> Actions --> Tac30, Tac300 and Tac338

Accuracy International Stock - It gives the ability for a mag feed, adjustable cheek piece, and folding stock http://www.accuracyinternational.com/aics_kits.php

I'll be using a Night Force 5.5-22 x 50 NXS, Jewell trigger, and shooting a 6.5x47 Lapua.

[hoarder]

A picatinny rail may be an option for the scope mount on a bolt action. Works well and keeps zero nicely.

It isn't so much the bases that cause problems with maintaining zero, it's those ridiculously tiny screws.

[SWRichmond]

I just picked up a used 700P in .308, completely stock rifle with 26" barrel, and am very pleased with it so far. First time to the range using the issue stock, some .308 ammo I had loaded for a different rifle (155 Sierra Palma and W748 for a short semi auto) and the really cheap scope the guy had on it I was shooting reliably under 1" at 100 yards with it prone, from a bipod. The stock, of course, is significantly less than optimum, and I have found that stock geometry has a huge impact on my prone shooting. Note, I never ever shoot from sandbags, never ever place anything under the rifle other than a bipod on the front and me on the back. No front bags, no rear bags, no unimaginably stupid portable rifle vises. Call me a purist: rifles weren't meant to be fired from a comfortably seated position, as such are found wanting in the field and the game cannot be counted on to walk past you while you are comfortably seated at a bench. Monopods turn rifles into crew-served projectile launching devices. Just not my thing.

I brought it home and added a 6.5-20X44 mildot scope and a Tubb adjustable buttplate
http://www.davidtubb.com/buttplate.html, which I highly recommend by the way. Same ammo, and after re-zeroing I shot three groups at 100 yards that measure 0.75", 0.75", and 0.56" right in a row. Next trip I will shoot some Federal GMM and some reload dups of that load and see what I get, but so far I am very happy. With the new scope and buttplate the rifle goes about 12.5 pounds. My intent is to get it to 1000 yards, and to do so I will probably need to start loading Lapua 155 Scenars or some other VLD type bullets. I've read I'll need about 32 minutes of elevation to get to 1000 yards from my 100 yard zero and the scope has 38 minutes of total elevation adjustment. Using Burris Z Rings I was able to push the POI at 100 yards to almost exactly full down on the elevation adjustment and midpoint on the windage adjustment, so I have almost the full 38 minutes of elevation adjustment available to go up form my 100 yard zero. With my luck it'll move up once I start shooting the Scenars at about 2950 fps and I'll have to re-zero the Z rings. With the windage midpointed, I can adjust for wind in either direction.

We'll see how it goes, but so far so good. Once I am truly satisfied I might put a McMillan A5 or an A3-5 on it, but that's another $700. I'd like to get the rifle bedded, get an adjustable cheekpiece, and get the weight to about 15 pounds.

[SLV^GLD]

Welcome to GSUS SWRichmond!

[Heimdhal]

Im suprised no ones mentioned the Mosin Nagant yet. Big, beefy round, fairly accurate, theres a few million of em out there, and you can arm 5 people for $400 bucks, so it makes a good total-shtf weapon for passing around.

Also you can play as Vassili Zaitsev or Simo Hayha (my personal favorite).

[Gaillo]

Most of my rifles are bolt-action rifles. If, as a great gun writer once said, "the only interesting rifles are accurate rifles", then most of the "interesting" rifles are bolt guns.

My favorites:

Sako Synthetic Stock (.260 Rem.)
Tikka Heavy Barrel Synthetic Stock (.223 Rem.)
Ruger 77/22 Synthetic Stock (.22LR)
Swiss K55 straight-pull (7.5x55)

I've owned and shot many, many magnum caliber bolt guns - but I just don't have the interest in those any more. The above rifles are MORE than enough for killing anything in the lower-48 states, they're miserly on the powder, and recoil is quite pleasant for all except the swiss - but it's FAR more tolerable than any .338, .300 Win, or 7mm Mag I've ever owned.

Oh... honorable mention goes to my Ruger 77 MKII in .243 Win. - it's my truck "beater gun" and regularly shoots 3/4MOA to 1MOA depending on ammo - it's one of the WORST shooters in my collection! ;D

[steyr_m]

Most of my rifles are bolt-action rifles. If, as a great gun writer once said, "the only interesting rifles are accurate rifles", then most of the "interesting" rifles are bolt guns.



I'm a big fan of bolt-action rifles. The ones I own are WW2-era weapons for collecting and hunting rifles. I'm finishing off my build for my AR and then will be working on my build for a bolt "tactical" rifle.

There's an advantage for making every shot count with the bolt. You'll save ammo by not using a "spray-and-pray" weapons. In a SHTF situation, I'd have a bolt-action in 5.56 for 75 yard plus and a short-barrelled AR (or shotgun) for close-quarters. This will probably save ammo in the long run.

[mightymanx]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned the Mosin Nagant yet. Big, beefy round, fairly accurate, theres a few million of em out there, and you can arm 5 people for $400 bucks, so it makes a good total-shtf weapon for passing around.

Also you can play as Vassili Zaitsev or Simo Hayha (my personal favorite).

There is a dude on you tube tagging steel out to 1000 yards with hand loads and a mosin still in the original stock albeit bedded and the upper hand guard removed.

Great guns and cheap as hell even today for outfitting an army they all shoot "minute of man" to 500 with iron sights and surplus ammo from the 70's. pretty good for a 100+ year old gun.

And for the record Ludmilla Pavlichenko is my favorite and pretty cute back in the day while she was racking up over 300 kills.

[Heimdhal]

I'm surprised no ones mentioned the Mosin Nagant yet. Big, beefy round, fairly accurate, theres a few million of em out there, and you can arm 5 people for $400 bucks, so it makes a good total-shtf weapon for passing around.

Also you can play as Vassili Zaitsev or Simo Hayha (my personal favorite).

There is a dude on you tube tagging steel out to 1000 yards with hand loads and a mosin still in the original stock albeit bedded and the upper hand guard removed.

Great guns and cheap as hell even today for outfitting an army they all shoot "minute of man" to 500 with iron sights and surplus ammo from the 70's. pretty good for a 100+ year old gun.

And for the record Ludmilla Pavlichenko is my favorite and pretty cute back in the day while she was racking up over 300 kills.


Yeah, Ive seen those and its crazy!. The amount of gun you get for the money is hard to beat. With just a little in-garage work and some elbow grease you can double its performance as long as you have a good bore to start with.

And to put minute of man at 500 yards in perspective, thats still sub 3-4 MOA, which aint to bad, liek you said, for a 100 year old gun shooting 40 year old ammo.

The ammo is another plus, because its basicaly equal to .30-06, but cost about a 1/4 the price per round.

[Phoenix]

MO-SEEN...MO-SEEN...MO-SEEN!!

;D

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/0004.jpg

[steyr_m]

Yeah, Ive seen those and its crazy!. The amount of gun you get for the money is hard to beat. With just a little in-garage work and some elbow grease you can double its performance as long as you have a good bore to start with.

And to put minute of man at 500 yards in perspective, thats still sub 3-4 MOA, which aint to bad, liek you said, for a 100 year old gun shooting 40 year old ammo.

The ammo is another plus, because its basicaly equal to .30-06, but cost about a 1/4 the price per round.


I agree with you 100% about the Mosin–Nagant, but I think it's a good rifle for someone on a minimum budget. If you can afford more, do it. The Mosin–Nagant is accurate; but inconsistant compared to a modern rifle, plus it will probably have the 60+ years of wear to make it's reliablity questionable.

A basic Rem 700 or a Savage topped with a good scope chambered in a NATO round would be better. A NATO round chambering will always be available in SHTF, old surplus will dry up quickly.

[Heimdhal]

Yeah, Ive seen those and its crazy!. The amount of gun you get for the money is hard to beat. With just a little in-garage work and some elbow grease you can double its performance as long as you have a good bore to start with.

And to put minute of man at 500 yards in perspective, thats still sub 3-4 MOA, which aint to bad, liek you said, for a 100 year old gun shooting 40 year old ammo.

The ammo is another plus, because its basicaly equal to .30-06, but cost about a 1/4 the price per round.


I agree with you 100% about the Mosin–Nagant, but I think it's a good rifle for someone on a minimum budget. If you can afford more, do it. The Mosin–Nagant is accurate; but inconsistant compared to a modern rifle, plus it will probably have the 60+ years of wear to make it's reliablity questionable.

A basic Rem 700 or a Savage topped with a good scope chambered in a NATO round would be better. A NATO round chambering will always be available in SHTF, old surplus will dry up quickly.


No doubt there and I agree. Im thinking for extra fire power to have around in case something bad goes down. You could arm quite a few people for very little money with some mosins or even cheap sks's. Well, SKS prices have damn near trippled....

Having a modern, well built and reliable bolt action is definitley a good choice and a top priority as well. THeres not much you cant do with one, pre or post SHTF.

[Book]

Im thinking for extra fire power to have around in case something bad goes down. You could arm quite a few people for very little money with some mosins or even cheap sks's.



When something bad goes down those who didn't already buy and practice shooting THEIR OWN weapon will be even more useless. Putting a Mosin or SKS in their hands isn't going to suddenly improve their character.

:D

[Phoenix]

I agree with you 100% about the Mosin–Nagant, but I think it's a good rifle for someone on a minimum budget. If you can afford more, do it. The Mosin–Nagant is accurate; but inconsistant compared to a modern rifle, plus it will probably have the 60+ years of wear to make it's reliablity questionable.


Unless you're attempting a sniping assassination, the Mosin, even a carbine, will do whatever you truly need it to do.

As for reliability, a Mosin with all parts working and properly maintained is something you can trust with your life.




A NATO round chambering will always be available in SHTF, old surplus will dry up quickly.


Some people have more 7.62x54R surplus on their property than all others have 7.62x51/.308 in the whole county! ;D