well its about that time for me to buy my first rifle. I would like to have a .270 or 30-06 and my budget is 300 - 450. I will be using this rifle for pretty much all my hunting..hogs and deer. really the only rifle i can find around that price is marlin xl7. I am going to wait and do some research before i buy. i need some opinions thanks.

Get the Marlin you won't be disappointed. I've got a pair(7mm-08 and 308) and they're hard to beat for the money.

check and see what the remington ADLs are going for...can make plenty of upgrades later if you feel they are needed.

Marlin will be submoa out of the box. Remington most likely won't for the price you want.

Howa rifles are extremely accurate out of the box. i own one and i love it.

What!? I'm the first one. Go with a Savage, and get off the .30-06 and .270 wagon. Savage .308 will kill anything in Texas. There is more information about .308 Win out there than can be digested in a year.

Whatch the debates start up.

For your stated budget, I would take a look at the Weatherby Vanguard and Howa 1500. If you also need a scope in that budget, I would look at the Marlin XL7 and Savage Stevens 200. I would avoid the Remington 770.

If a scope needs to be included in your budget figure, I would go with the Stevens from Academy for $200 and then get the best scope you can afford with the rest of your budget along with a decent mount. Don't make the mistake of putting your whole budget into the rifle and only having enough left over for junk glass.

I've had an XS7 and have a 200. Both are good no-frills rifles with great accuracy for the money. A nice thing about the Stevens is that it has a ton of aftermarket parts available so you can keep upgrading it later if you want.

Howa, Savage, Marlin, Stevens in your price range. And +1 on the .308 recommendation.

I don't think I've heard anything bad about the new Marlin rifles, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I have never shot one personally though. I have a Stevens 200 in 223 that is a tack driver, great gun for the money. Even with the rifle, sling, case and a Nikon scope I have less than $500 in it, and they come in a lot of different calibers. If you can swing $450 you might check the pawn shops, you could probably get a really good used rifle for that price.

That is very true.

You could also look on the Trading Post here to find a simple 3-9 x 40 Nikon, Leupold, Burris, or even a Millet that will get you started. Later you can upgrade the scope, if needed, and sell the starter scope on the Trading Post again. There's nothing wrong with that as long as it's not damaged.

There is a synthetic Remington 700 in 30/06 w/a Leupold scope in the trading post on this forum right now for $500 too....not mine and don't know the seller, just a head's up!!

I have a marlin xl7 and a stevens 200. You wont be dissapointed with either. They both shoot sub moa out of the box

Never had any problems with my Remingtons out of the box...and I have a few. I agree with the .308 advice. That and 7mm-08 Rem. though I will admit, I just got a Rem. 700 in 7mm-08 and haven't shot anything with it except paper...will be using it on hogs soon. Out of the box, it was sub MOA with a decent trigger. Get good glass!!!

I second the savage. Ive had about 300 dollars in work done to my 110 and it will out shoot me. BTW it also outshoots my buddys custom 300 win that cost him 2500 OOOUUUCCCHHH

I agree with Eric... Get the Marlin. I have one chambered in 25-06 and let me tell you, for the money you wont find a better shooting rifle out there. Put a nice chunk of Nikon glass on top and you have a heck of a rifle.

That is, of course, your opinion.

Look around at shooting competitions and see if you find more Savages and Remington 700's than Marlins.
I'm just sayin'

Marlin, Savage, and Remington all good.
My first was a mossberg 30-06 atr 100 w/ scope
at Academy for $ 300.00 Right price and gets the job done.

Savage is the most accurate factory rifle there is.

Looks like we're on the same team.

And they are very reasonably priced. I have one of the most tricked out factory .308 rifles Savage makes and got out the door for less than $800. It is almost .5 MOA with no mods, shooting hand loads of course.

My other one, Savage model 12 in .22-250 has produced 1/4 MOA with no mods to the rifle, shooting hand loads.

Here, .43" at 200 yards 55gr. Sierra GK HPBT



I've posted this pic before, but thought it was worth sharing again since we're talking about the quality of mass produced rifles.

Fixed there are a few rifles out there that will out shoot them.

Which ones?

Fn spr A3G comes to mind will shoot at least .5 MOA out of the box, per fn, everyone that I've seen do .25" moa

Edit: Alomst forgot Fn says thats with box facyory match ammo not reloads.

I would look at savage. However disagree with the scope comment. A high end scope on a cheap rifle will only shoot as good as the shooter and the gun IMO.

Hey guys thanks for the great advice! Well i went to academy to look at some guns as well as bass pro shop (just to look not buy yet) and I looked at what they had in stock..Remington 700 adl in .270, mossberg 100 atr in .270, and a couple of savages. unfortunately they did not have the xl7. i also looked and almost got the Glock 27 lol thats for another time. anyways i want to look at the xl7 now. what do yall recommend for a scope to put on it?

The Mossberg is supposed to be a pretty accurate gun but all I've seen is magazine reviews on it, never seen one in person at the range.