I’ve been wanting to pick up a nice .308 bolt gun lately and the guy at the local gun store goes on and on about the 700ss 5r he has.
For the price point, about 1k, is that the best bet for quality and accuracy or are there other guns I should look at that are in the same price range?
Thanks,
Dan
I had a 5R for a while (no longish ranges around so I couldnt justify keeping it long-term) and enjoyed shooting it from the perspective that I never found myself blaming the gun/glass/mount for poor shooting. That being said it was made painfully obvious as I mounted my MK4 4.5-14 on it that this was waaay more gun than i truly “needed” but that can be said about a lot of our toys.
Bottom line is that if i would have bought a 10FP or something along those lines it would very likely still be with me as it is a lot easier not to get pissed about not shooting a $1200 rifle than it is about a $2200 rifle and I am sure the maximum potential accuracy of a Savage is still well out of my grasp. My reasoning for initially going with the 5R was that it is an industry standard, any gunsmith can work on them, any high-end riflemaker can work magic on them and that was the eventual plan but it worked out much differently. I recommend you do a self-assessment and figure out your needs. If you want something that you can get crazy with and still be able to give to your grandkids get the 5R no doubt, If you want something you can shoot out of the box and have a good time with get a 10FP and Super Sniper optic and spend the difference on ammo/training.
IMO the Howa 1500 is a better buy.
If you like the stock, that is certainly a nice gun. I prefer more of a vertical pistol grip, so for that price I would get an SPS-V and add the stock of choice, from B&C to Manners.