Low budget rifles, have you owned any one of these?

[Stinsok]

My mother inlaw said she wants to get her husband a "30 ought shotgun." I made sure she wanted a .30-06. She has a budget of 400.00. In this range I see several packages (with scope.) The Remington 770, The Mossberg 100 ATR, and The Savage Axix XP. He is an occasional hunter (very occasional) and will not be shooting across a canyon out west. I am concerned about recoil knocking the crap outta a 74 year old man.

[john grey]

If a stock is well made and the guy knows how to shoot, that's not too much gun for him. You're talking about a bolt rifle; you are not throwing 300 rounds at a time through that stick.

Remington is nice rifle, Savage would possible be the better trigger/barrel - potential accuracy (if the guy can shoot). With $400 down my way you can get some nice rifles. I don't have a beef w/ the Mossburg , but out of those - two are the ones I'd pick from based on the gentleman's type of usage. Remington got a nicer "feel" to the stock design, Savage will most likely shoot better out of the box.
No need for a 30.06 anyway, .308 is so close to '06 ballistics and has a short bolt throw, that's the way I'd go.

[Jinro]

I'm assuming he would be hunting deer? What about .30-30? Those are common deer hunting rifles and the recoil is very light.

[HeavyDuty]

With that budget I would go with a Stevens 200. It's Savage's economy line and is basically a pre-Accutrigger Savage 110.

See Stevens Model 200 Bolt Action for more info - just one web write-up at random.

I have one in .308 and am very happy with it.