I don't post often but, every now and then, something happens that I believe needs to be passed along as information for other members.
Many times, I've been reading posts from members asking for advice on the purchase of a hunting rifle. That subject is fraught with so many overlapping variables as to make a specific answer nearly impossible. Among the variables: "What caliber?" "What manufacturer?" "What are you hunting?" "Open spaces or tight quarters?" And on, and on, etc....
All that said, here's something I came across quite by accident.
About three years ago, a friend had a rifle he'd bought but didn't like. It was a Marlin XL-7 in .270 caliber, right handed, no scope. I'd been looking for a backup, camp rifle to have just in case my now 33-year-old Howa Model 1500 (see: Smith and Wesson/Weatherby Vanguard) gave up the ghost after an episode of me falling on it, me falling on it after falling off of a horse, me dropping it while hiking, me dropping it after falling down a rock slope, etc....
Anyway, it was light, he wanted less than $300 for it, there was almost no wear, no rust, and it was in the same caliber as my Howa. So i bought it and...Blessed Redeemer...could that thing shoot. The first time I took it to the range (2011) it shot lights out with factory ammo (Remington Core Lokt, 130gr, PSP). Fine by me. It went to hunting camp that year.
The next summer, I decided to work up a hunting load for it. I also floated the barrel and bedded the action just to have something to do and "Bingo." Three round cloverleaf. I did a minor adjustment for windage and elevation and it drilled the center out of the target. Note: The overall length shown in the picture is WITH a Lyman Comparator. The actual OAL measured from base to tip was at the SAAMI spec (3.340") which gave me a little more than .060" distance from the lands on this rifle (ALWAYS check that for every rifle and load work up). Needless to say, it went to camp that year too. As it did in 2013.
On a whim, I purchased and installed a new scope (my wife loves me and I promised she could fly down to Florida to visit our granddaughter this summer) which was a Leupold VX-3, 4.5 x 14 x 40, with a Boone & Crockett reticle (more than 2x's the price of the rifle), took it to the range, sighted it in, and fired 9 rounds. The results are as you can see.
I've done a lot of reading about this rifle and it is almost all entirely good - especially in the arena that matters most. It is just flat out a shooter. There is no doubt in my ever more cloudy mind that this rifle will now and forever always shoot better than I can and proves it every time I take it out. The three rounds around the edge of the edge of the "Eight Round Group" picture were mostly caused by the .300 Win Mag at the next table. Those things could make a boulder flinch. The "Ninth Round" was fired at another target to make sure of what I was seeing from this inexpensive rifle.
Bottom line here is that if I ever am asked for an opinion on what would be a great gun at an inexpensive price point, guess what my answer will be. Further, you can bet that it will never be sold...
