There are other makes available, if you're willing to fix them to get them to shoot. I prefer out of the box sub-MOA accuracy myself. That why I prefer Remingtons. You can get good accuracy in a $2000-$3000 rifle but Walmart sells it for about $425.00 with scope mounted.
There's just something about shooting the best selling centerfire rifle in the world that's made right here in America that makes you proud. We can still produce good quality at a fair price.
The new FN Winchesters are also very good, you just have to pay a little more.
Kimber, Ruger, Mossberg, & Savage still produce some nice rifles that can be made to shoot if you like to tinker a lot.
What a bunch of bull crap – but I have come to expect nothing less from you.
The last two new Remingtons I’ve shot, both in your beloved .30-06 and both with Remington factory ammo, failed to shoot under 1-1/4MOA with their best groups with 1-1/2 MOA more typical. Sorry, but if I had to stake my life on inexpensive out-of-the-box accuracy I would choose Savage over Remington every time.
I would expect a “$2000-$3000 rifle” to be accurate but you certainly don’t have to spend that much to get an accurate rifle. The $300 Savage .30-06 I bought shoots better than MOA with handloads and at least as well as the previously mentioned Remingtons with factory ammo. The even less expensive Stevens rifles, while much more cosmetically challenged, seem to shoot the same as they are basically the same rifle.
That the M700 may be “the best selling centerfire rifle in the world “ is something I cannot dispute as I have no numbers to prove otherwise. From the 1950’s until the recent change in the trigger design, however, they also suffered a serious flaw in the trigger design, something Remington was aware of and refused to do anything about for decades. The Safety Modification program they’ve instituted does not fix the problem but merely masks it. Contrast that to the safety recall Ruger implemented for the old three-screw Ruger revolvers. The Ruger recall was well advertised for decades and the fix was free. Remington has done a much poorer job of getting the word out (intentionally so, I believe) and they want $20 to modify the trigger in such a way that the problem is masked rather than fixed. Remington put the safety of their customers second behind corporate profits. Sorry, but that is not behavior that makes me proud of a company or proud to own their products. It’s just one reason I own more Ruger than Remington rifles.
Ruger and Savage rifles are both produced here in the United States. From a reliability and safety aspect I prefer the Rugers to both Savage and Remington.
From what I have seen, the best out-of-the-box accuracy comes with the Savage rifles. I do “tinker” with my rifles, floating the barrel if they are not already floated and adjusting and polishing the triggers as needed, regardless of the manufacturer or model. There is no difference in the amount of tinkering that I do with the Ruger or Savage rifles than there is with the Remingtons. When all is said and done, my best shooting rifles are my M77 and M77 MKII Rugers and a 1975 Remington M700 BDL. My walnut stocked Remington M700 shoots well enough for hunting purposes but it isn’t going to win any competitions.
