Get what you pay for????

Doodle30 · #1 10-26-2008, 02:43 PM

Hey All

My Dad had hunted for basically his whole life but in the last few years he has gotton away from it. (In Nova Scotia)

Now that I started hunting here in Alberta we have discussed the idea of Father/Son hunts and Dad's desire to hunt has returned. Got his NS whitetail tag for this year.

Any way into my question. In all those years my Dad used a borrowed gun so I was thinking of buying him a gun for Xmas. Problem is I can't really afford the $1000 it would take to get him the higher quality guns.

I see a Savage Arms at WS Sports for $399. Does this price indicate a low-end weapon? To me it would seem that while some gun makers are obviously better than others all would make a capable product.

Any suggestions for good value without creeping up the price scale to far.

Not trying to cheap-out on a gun for my Dad I am trying to get the best gun I can for the limited amount of cash that I have.

Look forward to the responses.

Jason Balesdent · #2 10-26-2008, 02:51 PM

Poke around some of the forums about the Stevens and Savage guns here. Folks are getting accuracy WAY beyond what the price would indicate. Just one suggestion, if it comes with a scope, drop a couple hundred more, buy a good one and chuck out what came with the rifle. But otherwise it seems you get a lot more than what you pay for with those rifles

Alberta Bigbore · #3 10-26-2008, 02:59 PM

Stevens 200 are proven shooters.

John Spartan · #4 10-26-2008, 03:24 PM

Stevens are a good rifle. Savage, Tikka also make good rifles as well. The other thing to consider is checking out the Buy and Sell section on this forum as well as going to the Equipment Exchange on Canadian GunNutz. Don't skimp on the optics.

NoKlu · #5 10-26-2008, 03:29 PM

My Stevens .243 shoots .46" groups but they do need a little work. The stocks flex and they need to be stiffened and bedded. There is all kinds of info on how to do this on the net. I got lucky and found a new wood stock for $45.at the Calgary gun show. I would not hesitate to buy another Stevens as it is the best shooter in my safe.

Doodle30 · #6 10-26-2008, 04:42 PM

Thanks Guys

Would you guys expect every Steven's 243 to require some type of upgrade Noklu decribes or would you consider that a rare circumstance.

Prefer not to give a gift that requires work before it is in good working form?

LacLaBicheNS · #7 10-26-2008, 04:51 PM

Where in NS are you guys from? I'm from antigonish

Doodle30 · #8 10-26-2008, 04:58 PM

Small town called Kennetcook. Not much there so unlikely you even know where it is. It's near the Bay of Fundy between Truro and Windsor.

MK2750 · #9 10-26-2008, 08:13 PM

I'm also from NS. You should remember that 99% of the shots in NS are under 200 yards and the majority are under 50.

He is going to love anything you give him and there is not hardly a person in NS that thinks 400 bucks is cheap.

Optics are much more important here then back east. I hunted with a fixed 2.5 power down there without a problem. You can get a quality fixed power scope very reasonable.

Be sure and get him out here for some action. My Dad loved his trips to Alberta.

Good luck with your purchase,
MK

stand junkie · #10 10-26-2008, 08:30 PM

mossberg makes what is called a 4by4 in cal from 243 to 300mag scoped with syn stock for 530$ to 580$ good guns shoot nice.

Cal · #11 10-26-2008, 09:41 PM

Savages are great guns for the price, very acurate. I prefer them to tikka rifles, they are both inexpencively produced rifles that shoot very well, but for some reason tikka's are the same price as a ruger, remington, or weatherby vanguard. I think the wetherby vanguard rifles are a little better deal for the money than savages, but they also cost a little more.

airforce2 · #12 10-26-2008, 10:01 PM

remigton makes decent rifles and most are under 700dollars

Doodle30 · #13 10-27-2008, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MK2750

I'm also from NS. You should remember that 99% of the shots in NS are under 200 yards and the majority are under 50.

He is going to love anything you give him and there is not hardly a person in NS that thinks 400 bucks is cheap.

Optics are much more important here then back east. I hunted with a fixed 2.5 power down there without a problem. You can get a quality fixed power scope very reasonable.

Be sure and get him out here for some action. My Dad loved his trips to Alberta.

Good luck with your purchase,
MK

MK I agree 100%. My Dad currently carries a 30-30 with a fixed power scope and doesn't have a problem with it. I want to get him a rifle that he can carry out here as well even though it will probably be more than he needs when hunting in NS.

Cal · #14 10-27-2008, 07:20 AM

Most stevens and savage rifles would benefit from a trigger job, unless they come with the acu trigger, and stiffening up the stock. The same goes for nearly every rifle currently produced with a synthetic stock for under 1000 bucks. The gun will perform fine without all that work though and I wouldnt concider it mandatory. Check out the thread that some dude posted about adjusting the pre acutrigger triggers. I think I'm gonna try it pretty quick here. As for stiffening the stock I've seen guys epoxy old conecting rods, borrowed from any old V8, into the forearm under the barrel and that works fine should you chose to do it. The barrel bedding is not going to be neccessary unless you think your dad wants to go for 1/2 moa groups all day. As the guns are pretty light I wouldnt go too big on the calliber, my buddy has a savage in 270win and the recoil is tollerable, I imagine in a 300 mag it would suck.

Okotokian · #15 10-27-2008, 01:05 PM

Doodle, consider who you are giving it to... an old fellow who used to borrow a rifle to hunt, and now wants to try it again a little bit. I'm sure that Savage, Stevens, any of the other less expensive guns will just do fine for your dad. Trigger work, bedding, stiffening.... bah humbug. I could be wrong, but I don't think he's wanting to get into competitive target shooting or hiking up 3000 feet and taking mountain goats at 400+ yards. He's probably wanting to bag some deer at 150 yards. Any of the guns mentioned here would do fine at that as is. Spending hundreds extra to get a quarter inch more accuracy is just not going to be good value. Get him an inexpensive but decent 30-06 and he will be a happy man.

Doodle30 · #16 10-27-2008, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Doodle, consider who you are giving it to... an old fellow who used to borrow a rifle to hunt, and now wants to try it again a little bit. I'm sure that Savage, Stevens, any of the other less expensive guns will just do fine for your dad. Trigger work, bedding, stiffening.... bah humbug. I could be wrong, but I don't think he's wanting to get into competitive target shooting or hiking up 3000 feet and taking mountain goats at 400+ yards. He's probably wanting to bag some deer at 150 yards. Any of the guns mentioned here would do fine at that as is. Spending hundreds extra to get a quarter inch more accuracy is just not going to be good value. Get him an inexpensive but decent 30-06 and he will be a happy man.

Thanks Okotokian and all others that posted. I appreciate all the advice.

huntinstuff · #17 10-27-2008, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doodle30

Thanks Guys

Would you guys expect every Steven's 243 to require some type of upgrade Noklu decribes or would you consider that a rare circumstance.

Prefer not to give a gift that requires work before it is in good working form?

My son is 9 yrs old and shoots sub MOA with an "out of the box" Stevens 200 in .243..............

I doubt you can go wrong with a Stevens. You should be able to put together a Stevens 200 with rings and bases and a new Leupold 3x9 for close to $600 bucks. Your dad would be well served with a rifle like that.

Cal · #18 10-27-2008, 09:38 PM

The bushnell trophy's are pretty good scopes for the money with one of those on top a stevens you might be able to do it for around 500

Rusty P. Bucket · #19 10-28-2008, 10:03 AM

Try some 'dumpster-diving' Doodle!!

The used gun racks actually hold all kinds of gems. My best rifle is a used Ruger #1 that I got for a 500 beans. I dived into the bargain bin and came up with a set of used Lee reloading dies for 15 bucks and I'll be darned if that gun wasn't the best I ever had! Some of the gun geeks around here helped me do some load development and I grabbed a mint scope from Bobby B. for a song and a dance. It would shoot .75" groups all day long too.

Alot of these turkeys are full blown gun junkies. They love to experiment with loads and new guns: they will buy a good gun, trick it out and get it shooting like a house on fire - and then get bored with it and sell it off so they can buy another one to play with. Their loss is our gain!

If you see what appears to be a smelly, plaid clad grizzily bear rooting around in your garbage can - don't shoot! It is merely your friendly neighbourhood Rusty P. Bucket, in search of treasures and bargains!