Looking to purchase a new 308 and looking for some input. This is actually for a friends kid, he is 11. Already decided on 308 so no need to debate the caliber. He is trying to keep the cost under $500. Would be interested in input including pros and cons on the ones you have personal experience with. He has been considering the following: Howa ranchland ($499), Savage model 111 ($399), marlin xs7 ($325), and remington 700 ($400). Some of these have combo's and I know the scopes aren't great but remember its for a kid with his first rifle and a scope could be upgraded later or buy without combo and put a nikon prostaff on it, good scope and not too expensive....... Thoughts?

Academy has weatherby vanguards and rem 700's for sub $400 before tax. Im a rem 700 fan, if that means anything to you.

.308 is a great round for deer, I shoot one myself. Out of the guns listed, I would personally lean toward the Savage or Remington for nothing more than availability of accessories, aftermarket stocks, etc. They are both good rifles, so it's really just personal preference, and my preference would be the Remington. Remington stocks are a dime a dozen, so you could cut it down if needed and easily buy a new one later as he grows into it.

I have the following now:
Savage 111 270 - Accutrigger is great and not at all sensitive to ammo shoot small group with all ammo and all hand loads I have put in it. Been very hard to optimize loads because all 130 SST's with 4350 powder ranging from 47 to 54 gr have same small group, out shoots any gun I own or have shot.

Howa ranchland 308 - good trigger not great, great stock and awesome length and feel. Shoots good once I optimized the bullet loads.

Winchester model 70 270- just ok, not even close to the savage or howa in my view.

no experience with the vangaurd, remington 700 or marlin

nice input on stocks. Agree bought my 10 year old a new stock for his 7-08 savage and had to buy a new youth wood stock from savage. not many options

Get a Weatherby Vanguard S2, guarantee sub moa from box and under $500

I'm a fan of both however I prefer the Remington over the Savage in this case because it comes in a short action. I don't know if Savage made any changes on their 111 model, but typically they only have long actions converted for use with the short cartridge. The .308 is meant for short actions. It just makes for a handier and lighter rifle.

I'd buy the 700 without the combo scope. Then a stock or cut the factory stock and install a recoil pad. Top it with a Burris Fullfield II scope.

On the savage I misstated. The model 11 is the short action the 111 is the long action. They do make the model 12 short action 308. Looks like the Remington is getting most of the love.

I will vote for savage. I've had better luck in general with stock Savage rifles than I have with Remingtons. I'm just not a fan of the Remington trigger.

if you notice, one of the biggest agruments for Remington is all the aftermarket and mod possibilities. I think Savage is better accuracy out of the box than Remington when it comes to that budget price point as long as it has an Accutrigger.

That said, both Remington and Savage are fine rifles that you can't go wrong with at any price point. I just don't general purchase some of the other manufacturers, but I'm sure they're good too.

Marlin bolts are the best value in my opinion.

Stevens 200, around $300 and a $200 Redfield. one helluva tack drving rifle with a quality scope. I know, I own both, got lots of other high dollar rifles, but my Stevens goes with me a lot.

I would vote for a Tikka, best gun you can buy at about that price point. TC Venture is also a good option.

I would go with any of them but the remington 700. I just dont trust their mechanical safety, as its been known to cause alot of accidental discharges. And I cant see them wanting to change out the trigger group right away. But thats just my opinion.

I shoot a weatherby vangaurd a lot and I love it. Check out the new vangaurd I want one bad

I have the Marlin XS7 and it's pretty nice I guess. It's the only bolt action I've owned so I can't relate it to anything else. I love the trigger though. I believe it's called the accu trigger if I recall correctly. I haven't put many rounds through it but when I was sighting it in it was a little under 1 MOA.

One thing to look at though is the magazine spring. The first 2 times I shot it I just put one cartridge at a time so I didnt realize this until after I had it a few months. But the spring in the internal magazine was bad so it wouldn't feed properly causing it to jam almost every round. That's the only problem I've had and the place I bought it from replaced it for free. I paid 370 for it with a cheap scope that came with it last August.

Savage/Stevens > Remington 700 adl (unless you buy an older 700).

Marlin XS7. Reasonably priced, great triggers, fantastic accuracy. And American made.

^this is a sweet gun for the money. I use to have both as guns for clients in 30-06 and 308...they are lighter so i wouldnt recomend for kids. To tell the truth i would have rather had them in .270

Also the howas there stock is sweet and both of them are priced good.

Absolutely a wonderful shooting gun and the "guarantee sub moa" is real. Friend bought same gun in 270 that I reload for him and we got it shooting 1/2 MOA @ 100 yards.

Will

Might want to consider the new Ruger American. Lots of good reviews but I have no real experience with them.

+1 on the Weatherby Vanguard S2. I have one in 308 and it's very nice. You could also do the Vanguard S2 Youth model. It comes in 308 and has spacers that makes the stock adjustable from I think 11.5 to 12.5. The last I saw, the youth S2's were mid 400's.

Vanguard

Just got a Ruger American rifle in 308; paid $318 including tax. Had to wait 3 weeks for it to come in as it is a new model for Ruger and apparently they are way behind in production.

Comparing it to my Thompson Center Icon, also a 308, it is a lot lighter; a plus for a small framed person as in your case. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but I'm looking forward to it.

308 Win is a tremendous round and it'll be a good one for a youth to grow into as well as be able to enjoy it immediately. The recoil is a non-issue and it is comparable to shooting a 243.

Whatever brand you decide on, I'm sure the young man receiving it will enjoy it for many years to come.

I bought the 308 rem Mdl 700 sps varmint from Dicks. Its got the 26" bull barrel and a really hardy, neat looking stock in real tree pattern. It shoots great, had it at inch and a half groups within 10 shots. With the heavy stock and barrel, it kicks like a 223, would be great great for a kid his age. Was used to getting pounded at the range by my 3006 rem 700. This 308 shoots better, kicks way less, and drops deer exactly the same as the 06. Total cost with scope was 600.00 with a 50.00 mail in rebate which I did get back about 3 months later.