General Purpose 18 in 308 bolt gun

[steve m]

Sorry if this has been discussed before. I am looking for a general purpose, quick handling 308 bolt gun. Precision accuracy is not needed, "Minute of deer/hog" will do. Purpose is an all around hunting/plinking rifle. Would like one that has detachable box type magazines, feeds well and not pricey, $700 range without optic. Looking to stay in the 308 caliber as I have accumulated lots of 308 ammo. Any reviews or experiences welcome.
Thanks
Steve

[diving dave]

Ruger Scout is not a bad option.

[jstalford]

you could also do an american with magpul stock.

[WillBrink]

Ruger Scout is not a bad option.

I have the 16" and so far, a solid choice for the $. Only complaint is the action could be smoother, but people say it smooths out over time. I assume the loss of velocity between 16" and 18" is minimal. I wanted compact vs accuracy or "Minute of deer/hog" as OP said.

[steve m]

leaning towards the ruger in polymer, done some research and found that magul pmag 7.62 AC should fit.

[WillBrink]

leaning towards the ruger in polymer, done some research and found that magul pmag 7.62 AC should fit.

They do and they work well. No issues with them. I really like the feel and the look of the wood laminate, but can see the value in the polymer, which is a few $ less too.

[steve m]

Will,

How is the Ruger doing, any issues that I need to be aware of?

The polymer for me is good as I hate to scratch up my wooden guns. The Polymer Scout is supposed to have some sort of new Muzzle device on it.

Thanks]
Steve

[aclawrence]

Another vote for Tikka. I have the Tikka T3 compact in .308. I believe it’s has a 20” barrel and a shorter lop stock. It’s fits me great bc I’m shorter and it is handy for carrying through the woods. I’ve been considering getting the barrel cut down to 16 or 18”. From what I’ve learned it won’t make much difference ballistically for the ranges I will be using it for. The new models are T3X. You can find good deals on the T3’s. Tikka almost always shoot moa also.


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[Cold/Bore]

Another vote for the Tikka T3. For a bit more, you could get the T3 CTR with a 10rd detachable magazine:
http://cdn1.tikka.fi/sites/default/f...ical_rifle.png
But if you’re willing to go with .260 you can fin them under $700. Here’s one in for $675:
https://www.gunsmidwest.com/tikka-t3...rem-20-hb.html
Otherwise the best price I have found on a 308 CTR is around $875.
If I had the money, I would go with the Arctic:
http://cdn1.tikka.fi/sites/default/f...T3x_Arctic.png

[oregon45]

The Ruger Scout rifle is pretty darn good out of the box, although the muzzle brake is extremely loud and unnecessary on a .308. The synthetic stocked 16" Scout was my favorite of the bunch; very fast handling.