I'm still wanting to try Big Bore silhouette. If you experienced shooters will give me a little advice. I would want to buy a stock rifle in a good caliber that's not too exotic. What brand/model/cal and what brand/model scope would you recommend?

The Remington 700 will undoubtedly be the most recommended here. There are 3 good ways to buy them:

1) Watch for the sales on them at Dicks Sporting Goods. They have a pretty nice sale on them.
2) Watch for the Remington factory rebate that Rem does every year. Generally it is at the beginning of the year.
3) Buy one used. (I vote this one)

No need to pay retail prices.

The Rem 700 SPS (Special Purpose Synthetic)... aptly renamed "Shi**y Plastic Stock", is actually a good baseline starter rifle. You can toss the stock later as you want to upgrade. If you can, go for the stainless SPS models. I personally think they are made a little better. I've pretty much sworn off current Remington products until they go back to better quality. My recent purchase of a SPS Varmint about 8 months ago soured me a little. The Rem 700 of today is a much rougher version of yester-years M700.

Due to my opinion on the current stock of Rem 700 rifles I just recently purchased a Savage to try out in a 6.5mm. The opinion in the real world is that Savage's quality control is on the rise. I'll find out once the rifle arrives.

Caliber choices... that is a can of worms! Pretty much the popular "consensus" is 7mm-08 or something in a 6.5mm (.260, 6.5x47, 6.5CM, 6.5x55... etc)

Another choice is a Tika T3 (in 6.5x55). Many in use by folks on here and 1 MOA accuracy is common. Reasonably priced and from all reports a good rifle.

Thanks Bob and Trent. Trent, if you have time give us a report on the rifle .

Like Rodney Dangerfield I wonder why Savage gets so little respect ?
The Savage web site shows 4 rifles available in .260 or 6.5 Creedmore .Two others have muzzle brakes.
With the Accutrigger and the Accustock it seems a good starting point.
Lots of aftermarket parts are available and the option of changing your own barrel is a added plus .
No I don't compete in high power, but I am impressed with Savage out of the box accuracy.
I will stay tuned to see what the real experts have to say

Leadlobber wrote:Like Rodney Dangerfield I wonder why Savage gets so little respect ?
The Savage web site shows 4 rifles available in .260 or 6.5 Creedmore .Two others have muzzle brakes.
With the Accutrigger and the Accustock it seems a good starting point.
Lots of aftermarket parts are available and the option of changing your own barrel is a added plus .
No I don't compete in high power, but I am impressed with Savage out of the box accuracy.
I will stay tuned to see what the real experts have to say

I almost bought a Savage last year but shied away because there are no first hand reports on durability, but it would be great to hear how one held up to a season's worth of practice and competition. Is it durable, or designed for a few deer shots once a year?

BCloninger wrote: I almost bought a Savage last year but shied away because there are no first hand reports on durability, but it would be great to hear how one held up to a season's worth of practice and competition. Is it durable, or designed for a few deer shots once a year?

The Savage actions are very beefy, especially in the Target models. I am going to have a tough time making Standard class in my model 12 without sacrificing some barrel weight. I've read many posts from competitors (mostly F Class, Tactical and Long Range Precision) using the Savage platform and wearing out barrels with no issues. I have no doubt that this model 12 will last me my entire silhouette career.

Trent
If you have time please do a report on the rifle's groups and feel.
Thanks
Glen Ring

glen ring wrote:Trent
If you have time please do a report on the rifle's groups and feel.
Thanks
Glen Ring

Absolutely. Gonna be another 4 months before it is in my hands though. I don't know if there is a back log or what, but Savage told me there is a 20 week lead time. I am hoping that was an exaggerated estimate and I get it quicker. How often does that happen though?

I guess in my post above I should have said "ordered" instead of "purchased". Sorry about that.

No problem Trent. I'm a patient old guy. When you do get it please give us an update and your impression of the rifle.

If I had it to do again,
I would have just bought the Savage 10 Precision Carbine in .308. Great little gun, Sub MOA outta the box, Sporter style barrel, and .308 components are SO cheap. Plus it weighs 7lbs, so lots of room for a scope. Sure it may beat you up a little, but for a starter, can't beat it. ALSO, the 2011 Savage catalog has alot of .260, and 6.5mm options in it now too. Guns you don't have to mess with from the store, easy peezy.

Find a nice Weaver or Used Leupold target scope on Ebay, if you watch, you can get them pretty cheap.

Hey Trent, did ya get the rifle yet? If ya did how do you like it!?

I think the quality is going south for Rem. They have been taken over by the 'damn bean counters'. The Tika and the Savage would be good choices. Spec on the Rem is 1 1/2 MOA now days.

CZforlife wrote:Hey Trent, did ya get the rifle yet? If ya did how do you like it!?

Nope, I talked to Savage about 6 weeks ago and they said that it would be the end of October. I am going to call them again today and get an update.

Hey, maybe I'll see you at a match soon. I am moving to Georgia in a couple of months.

WOAH!!! Georgia! So you'll definenlty have to attend the Florida state championship in Jacksonville when the time comes!