I am looking for a plain, field grade .30 caliber bolt action rifle, 30/06 or .308 caliber with iron sights, something to keep on my ATV on my property. Might take a deer with it, might just shoot it a bit, just want something I can carry with me and not worry about beating it up.

I have seen a Winchester Model 670 rifle in 30/06 caliber that the guy wants $400 for, has some cheap see through mounts and a Tasco scope, iron sights are still on the rifle. He wants $400, seems like a lot for a plain Jane field grade rifle.

I had years ago a Remington 788 rifle in .223 caliber, a detachable magazine rifle that gave me years of service. Would love to find one of these in .308....

What other field grade .30 caliber rifles are out there with iron sights? I have a Ruger American with a scope, this would be great if offered with iron sights, but this is not the case.

What was Remington's other field grade options to the Model 700?

Even a Sears or Montgomery Ward version of a bolt action .30 caliber rifle with iron sights would work.

Good luck finding a 788 rem . Owners love them and tend to hang on to them forever . I bought mine in 1976 and a bushnell 2.5-10 scope for it . Stock was sanded and tongue iled back some 20 years with a couple re coats and had a recoil pad added after a cut 1.5" off it . Took the sights off then and never used them . Killed a lot of deer with , some very close .

How about a mosin-nagant ?? Iron sights . Price is right . SP ammo is avalible and will exceed 308 power and there accurate. Other wise your gone have to check brand sites af or models to fill your needs or pawn shops .

My old rifle .
107_4223_zps195aae78.jpg Photo by hardluk1 | Photobucket

x2 on getting an old M91. A shooter might set you back $200, and you won't worry too much about getting it dirty, or banging it up.

Remingtons Models 721 and 722 can usually still be found for low prices on gun racks. They were discontinued when the M700 took their place in the 60's,,so none of them are new!
The 721 is the long action and was aviala ble in 30-06. The 722 ashort action that was made in 308. Each in a variety of other calibers too.
Iron sighted as they came from the factory, though D&T'd also. Many carry a scope site when found for sale now.
Maybe these are too elderly for your liking,but they are decent,if not plain rifles.

An Ishapor Enfield 2AI SMLE may do it for you. Factory chambered in 7.62Nato,,they work fine with 308. detachable 12rd box mag. They aren't cheap anymore, but they are an iron sighted hardy sort that can take a fall and stumble and not come out needing a band-aid.

Look for the 'store brand' name on guns made by Winchester. Sear sold a M70 with their name on it. Probably someothers around.
There's a JC Higgins built on a MAuser 98 action (Model 54 ?) that gets passed by sometimes. Sharp eyed gunsmiths grab them for the Belgian made 98 action. They were made in 270 and 30-06.
High Standard, Marlin, H&R and others sold rifles built on Belgian FN 98 actions too in the 50's,60' and early 70's. Some Sako actions too.
Some of those were iron sighted guns and can be had good price,,,sometimes.

788s shoot way better than their original price tags would indicate. I have had two over the years, and my dad still has a .222 with a original walnut stock which is kind of rare.

The 788s may not be as strong as a Model 700, but they have very fast lock time and mine never appeared fussy about loads. I did eventually have to bed both of them but seems like I have to do that with most bolt actions sooner or later.

Why not consider the Remington 760. They are plentiful reasonable and handy and they have iron sights. I was in a gun shop in Minnesota recently he had four or five of them under $400.

__________________
Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Can't help you out with the collectable older guns, but Marlin makes the X7 in a lot of calibers including .30-06, .308, and .270 that come with a mounting rail on the receiver which will accept scope rings or other optics. Guys I talked to and gun reviews seem to think the accuracy, design and economy of the X7 makes it one of the best hunting rifle buys available. I guess I'll find out because yesterday, I bought a new .30-06 X7 for $200, and added a Nikon ProStaff 3x9x40 BDC scope that put me back a total of $369 for the complete outfit. Got to get it out to the range when time permits.

For what you are after, a lever gun in 30-30, or 35Rem. might be easier to find, especially at a pawn shop. Good for knocking around in the woods.

__________________
USN Submarine Service '66-'71

My opinions, forget anything with the name Remington on it, too many
reasons to go into here but start with over rated and over priced. The
Win 670 you refered to is way overpriced. Good rifles but can often be
bought without scope for $250. The push feed Winchesters made post
64 are good rifles and can be good buys in general. Some were sold
under store brand names. Do you handload? Japanese 7.7 Arisakas
in basically unfired condition due to the ammo unavailability can be
bought on the auction sites for $150 up. Cases are easily formed from
30-06 and 8mm brass and they use common .311-.312 bullets. The
rifles are extremely simple and strong. Mosin mod 44s are found on
the auction sites sold by owners, not dealers, for very good prices.
You might get lucky and find a Chinese SKS at a good price but that's
hard to do these days. The FN 98s sold be Sears and others used to
be cheap but the word got around so they're no longer cheap. Some
of the best buys around in factory sporters really are the post 64
Win 670s, 770s and even the mod 70s with synthetic stocks, but
many of those had no sights. There are cheap sporters like the
Mossberg 800 and some Savages around but they just aren't often
seen. Check GB often.

FWIW, I think you got a very good deal. I saw a used X7 in .308 Winchester on the used gun rack at the local Cabelas last week for $370.00. Nice camo stock, no sights, no optics. If I hadn't just purchased a Savage 99c I would have been tempted.

Regards,

Dave

Remington made a less expensive version of the 700, called the 78. It had a birch stock, blind magazine, bead blast finish, no checkering on the bolt knob. They are good shooters if you can find one.

You might also consider a Savage 340 in .30/30, or a Sears or Western Auto clone of this gun. Every one of these I have owned shot well.

Howa makes a good rifle, but I am unsure about iron sight models.

Yeah, I thought so too. A local ranch and home supply store had them on sale. Guy behind the counter said they had six in .30-06 and six .270s. I couldn't pass up that price. From what I can tell from looking online, a new X7 normally runs about $350 to $375.

Well, here's the update....

I was thinking long and hard about the Winchester 670 in 30/06 caliber, considered your recommendations about a Mosin Nagant, lever rifle in 30/30 caliber, scoped "Value" bolt action rifles.....

Mosin Nagant: Too heavy, straight bolt action too slow, too painful to clean with corrosive surplus ammo.

Lever action 30/30: I have had a few, don't like the sights. Most have a bead front sight that obscures the target past 50 yards. In my use of a rifle, most shooting is done for recreation, occasionally hunting. So the rifle must be accurate and fun to shoot.

Bears: In my neck of the woods, we have bears, black bears, naughty camp ground bears that have been trapped and released to the National Forest around here for a second chance. Food habituated and not afraid of people. So, it is not uncommon to see black bears on the roadway, near the dump and in my blackberry patches. Never felt threatened by one of them, but if I do, I want a .30 caliber rifle (30/06 or .308) minimum.

I have a scoped Ruger "American" in 30/06 caliber, shoots good, but is not particularly fun to shoot, nor is it a great utility, ATV or truck gun. Don't want to bang up the scope. This is my "Go To" rifle when seriously hunting deer.

So, I think I have found the answer. Stopped by my favorite pawn shop yesterday, and in the confusing pile of rifles available (literally, rifles stacked upon one another), what stood out? A used Ruger "Gunsite" Scout rifle in .308. Like new, with the box and everything that came with it, also a cheap Chinese made Scout Scope. Price? $650 including tax...

I put it on layaway, figured that every cheap field grade rifle I had been looking at was $400, $250 more for a rifle with peep sights, detachable magazine, Mauser type action would make me happier in the long run.

So, look for pics of a Ruger Scout Rifle and a range report in the near future.

Well the OP seems to have worked out his situation , but I put my $0.02 on the orig situation.

Rem M788 was a unique design , nd has its own cult following. The Win M7 nevermind , win M670 was a standard pushfeed M70 bbl action with matte finish in a "hardwood" stock. Underrated in its day.

Plan A - As you make the periodic rounds of hole in wall gun stores aand pawn shops , keep eyes open for older plain bolt rifles that retain iron sights.

Plan B - Current "value" rifle lines such as the Marlin X7 and Mossberg 4x4 .

Plan C - Reasonable priced lever gun , and upgrade the sights to peep , nd fiber optic/ gold bead/ sourdough of your taste.

Ranger514: do you mind sharing the name and location of the store selling these rifles?

Thanks,

Dave

Murdoch's Ranch Supply in Kalispell, MT. Hope they have some left.

I'm not really fond of the Remington 700 action for a variety of reasons
but they do work pretty well and many folks do like them. The local
Dicks sporting goods store sometimes lists the 700 ADL model with a
synthetic stock at a sale price of $359-379 at various times. They
come with iron sights and .308 is one of the calibers offered.
Sometimes they offer various models of the Savage 110 line for less
than that. I like the Ruger 77 MK II rifles but $650 for a used Scout
carbine with a throw-away scope sounds like way too much to me.
But...i'm a bargain hunter and not everyone else is.

A good used Rem 700, Win 70, or Ruger 77 is definitely worth a look when considering a purchase. Many of these good quality used rifles have low mileage on em and some don't see the woods every year. Usually can be had for a reasonable amount of money. Also many prefer walnut and decent high polish bluing not being offered as much today. Better quality too.

For a bang around ATV/truck gun I'd go Savage or one of Mossberg's new Patriot rifles unless you're set on the older models. I'll echo others on this thread and say avoid anything new from Remington.