BUDGET RIFLE

W16OEN

Well-Known Member
Hi All - need your help.
My mate is returning to the UK soon and would like to sort himself out with rifle, mod, scope and bipod. Trouble is he is on a tight budget and therefore what do you reckon is a good buy? I think the mod and bipod will be ok so could we concentrate on selecting a rifle and scope. I hear the Howa's and A Bolts are good value what about budget scopes? Is it true you get what you pay for? Should he consider a second hand quality set up? How would one know if the rifle had been abused through bad home loading. Calibre, I was going to suggest a 243 - fallow,roe and fox?
Thanks for your help.
 
i have 2 cz zk601, one in 243 and one in 308. they cost about £250 pounds each (second hand with rings) they both shoot sub inch no probs. I got barels chopped to 20" and threaded for £60 each and used 2nd hand leuopld glass.
the only problem ive found with these rifles is that with some scopes its difficult to get the eye relief for the scope. i couldnt mount my nikon back far enough and had to crane my neck. The leuopolds are no problem.
I have one mod in 30 cal and swap between the two.
I was contemplating spending a heap of cash but glad i didn't.
if hes on a real budget then you can get rid of the mod (i personally wouldnt go back to not using one).
 
W16OEN

what is your mates budget if its around the £600-£700 mark he should be able to get sorted for that with some shopping around.

spend the money on good glass/optics and a cheap rifle , better to go 2nd hand on good glass than 1st hand on inferior stuff that you will change a little later. i have seen good 2nd hand S&B scopes on here for the £300 mark

most rifles shoot straight even 2nd hand ones and if you look on sites like guntrader etc you should get some good deals, plenty of used rifles out the at the £200 mark , some a lot less.

good luck let us know how he got on ........neil
 
Sako A2 or Forester or BSA CF2 go for not much.
Howa bought the tooling from Sako for the Forester when Sako stopped making them.
Or a Lakelander or Varberger.
Check the bores with a borescope though.
£3-500
Meopta 7x50 new are £350 S/H for £175ish.
 
i would go with a second hand cz and spend all the rest on the best scope you can as jack said meopta are very good or if he can strech his budget to a second hand schmidt reeves deer management done me a good deal on a 8x56 at a show a couple of years ago (sorry cant remember the price)
 
While I can't help much with the rifle I would support the suggestions to go with a 2nd hand good quality scope. I got an 8X56 S&B for just a little over £250. It had slight ring marks but the scope and glass are excellent. I would also suggest that a fixed magnification scope would be the best place to look, that way he is buying top notch glass and doing away with the nice to have add-ons rather than buying not so good glass with lots of add-ons that might break on a cheap scope.

Macleods of Tain get a good name for scopes, though I've no experience of them, and usually have something to suit most people in stock with a fairly high turn over even if what you want isn't there today.
 
I had my first try with a Howa rifle in .308 at the weekend. Absolutely loved it. The action is crisp and smooth and it didn't seem to be choosy on ammunition. I've gone through so many rifles, good and bad, but if I was starting out I'd be happy with a Howa. Really didn't expect it to be that good.
 
I've got a Howa 243 with docter 6x42 and T8 moderator for sale right now for £700. A cracking rifle with brilliant optics. Photos in the classified section, PM if you want further info.
 
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