Gary Reeder
Jim, first off, I am a handgunner and no expert in
Monday, June 03, 2019, 16:46

any way on rifles. In the last 30 years I have used a rifle exactly 3 times on hunts, all 3 up on the Arctic circle for Caribou. That being Canada no handguns are allowed.
Now to try to answer your question. A few years back I would have listed the mid 70s and 80s Remington 700 BDL and the Winchester Model 70. I don't think they measure up quite that good these days. When we first moved out here in Prairie Dog country I built 2 rifles on Winchester Model 70 stainless actions. Both in 22-250 Improved. They were full custom rifles so I can't list them. The smoothest rifle I have ever handled is the Colt Sauer. You could work the bolt with your little finger. I bought Colleen one in 300 Winchester Mag for her first African hunt. They are no longer made so I can't list them.
Now as I said I am not a rifle person so all this is simply my gut feelings. I own quite a few CZ rifles and while being great rifles, they are not the smoothest actions around. I like lever guns but the new ones are just not as slick and smooth as the older guns. They are just as strong but not as smooth working. I love a Ruger #1 but it being a single shot I can't really include it in the list of "what's best".

When Colleen had an African hunt planned in '93 I built her a 458 American on the Remington 700 BDL action. She didn't use it on that hunt but a couple of years later she used it with a single shot kill on a large Bison in South Dakota. Then 25 years later she used the same rifle in Africa on a buffalo of a different breed, her monster Cape Buffalo a few weeks ago.

But that was a custom rifle so we can't count that one.

Every morning over at our gun shop I help get all the guns out of the 5 safes over there where they go every night. So I do get to handle rifles and work the actions. So based on that little bit of info I would have to go with the Howa in their various forms. They have been around for many years and have built a lot of high dollar guns for S&W among others thru the years. We carry them in our shop along with Rugers, Savage, Winchester and several other brands. But to me the Howa has the smoothest action of them all and they feel more solid in the hand than some of the other guns with nylon stocks. So if I were to come out of the closet and start hunting with a rifle, the Howa would be my first choice. And again take that with a grain of salt from a non rifle hunter.