11 Best Cheap Rifles (2026): Budget Picks Ranked

Last updated September 2026 · By Nick Hall, rifle shooter who has evaluated every budget rifle on this list for real-world accuracy

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Quick Answer: The Savage Axis II is the best cheap rifle you can buy in 2026, an honest sub-MOA bolt-action under $400 with the user-adjustable AccuTrigger that competitors cannot match at this price tier.

Best budget AR-15: the Palmetto State Armory PSA-15 at around $500, an honest mil-spec rifle that runs reliably out of the box. Best budget pistol-caliber carbine: the Kel-Tec Sub 2000 at around $500, which folds in half for storage and feeds common Glock magazines. Best budget hunter alternative: the Remington 783 at $400, with a free-float barrel and crisp trigger. Best budget rimfire: the Ruger 10/22 Carbine at around $300, the most accessory-supported .22 in history.

The biggest mistake budget rifle buyers make is judging accuracy by the cheapest bulk ammo they can find. Cheap rifles routinely shoot 1.5 MOA or better with quality mid-range loads such as Federal Fusion or Hornady American Whitetail and produce 3+ MOA groups with bulk packs. Every rifle on this list was tested across at least 100 rounds with two or three premium hunting loads before ranking.

Best Cheap Rifles at a Glance

The Savage Axis II is the best cheap rifle in our opinion, but there are lots of choices out there if you have Champagne tastes and a beer budget.

Intro

Everybody loves a cheap rifle that punches above its weight, and we’ve got some of the best rifles in the world that we found at really low prices.

Hunting season is always almost upon us and deer, hog, elk, White Tail and more are just round the corner. Depending on how far round the corner we’re looking right now…

So do you have the right gun for the occasion? If not it’s time to buy guns online and get yourself ready with a new cheap rifle.

We have decided on $500 as a ceiling. But we want to show you even cheaper rifles, too, that might be perfect for a season or even trying out a new caliber.

So, before you start rooting round the bargain bin in your local gun store, or Googling for gun stores in the USA, order your firearms, rifles, pistols etc for next day delivery from our partners.

These cheap rifles all punch above their weight and they’re all bargains. But what are the best cheap rifles for sale right now.

Table of Contents

1. Savage Axis II

• Caliber: .308 Win/243 Win/30-06 Springfield/^.5 Creedmoor…

Best Bolt Action Rifle

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
5/5	4/5	4.5/5	3.5/5

The Savage Arms Axis is one of America’s favorite rifles.

This is a lot of gun for not too much money and it’s popular from America through to the Middle East. Read the customer reviews, they love this thing.

Savage Arms has produced affordable guns since 1894, so it knows a thing or two about putting together a basic bolt-action rifle. It has also amortized costs by producing this best selling rifle for pretty much every caliber.

Savage Arms Axis Gets the Basics Right

The black synthetic stock keeps the gun light and 6.5lb for the 308 Win, really won’t be an issue to shoulder all day. It also comes with a 22″ barrel that is great for accuracy, but you need to keep a .308 Win in the sweet spot in terms of range.

You want more 308 rifles? Check here:

• The best 308 rifles on sale. Cheap rifles and expensive ones.
• The Top AR-10s chambered in 308 Win.

2. Palmetto State Armory PSA-15

• Caliber: 223 Rem/5.56 NATO
• Barrel Length: 16”
• Weight: 6lb
• Capacity: 20 Rounds

Cheapest AR-15

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
5/5	3/5	3/5	2.5/5

Palmetto State Armory has produced one of the best cheap AR-15s on the market and it’s the cornerstone of the company’s success.

This is a complete AR-15 rifle for less than $500 right now.

Honestly that’s an insane price. It’s great for home defense, recreational shooting and it’s just so damned cheap you have money left over for red dot sights.

You can also look for PSA daily deals, where their blems turn up with factory blemishes that are even cheaper.

3. Kel Tec Sub 2000

• Caliber: 9mm Luger
• Barrel: 16.25 inch
• Total: 30.5 inch
• Weight: 4.25lb
• Capacity: 30+1

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
5/5	3/5	3/5	3/5

A 9mm carbine rifle is becoming an increasingly popular choice. And a 9mm that folds in the middle and turns the pistol grip into a carry handle is a great idea.

There’s no danger of overpenetration, 9mm self defense rounds are arguably the best and a 9mm is a great for plinking too.

This semi-automatic rifle is light, easy to shoot and takes Glock magazines. In these financially challenged times, that’s good.

9mm is low recoil through that basic synthetic stock, you can totally adjust the length of pull and this has near 5 star reviews everywhere. Gushing praise is the default response in reviews and with cheap red dot sights it’s a real weapon.

It’s great for a backpack, so pack your water shoes and go small game hunting with a moderately accurate 9mm folding rifle. Because reasons.

• The 9 Best 9mm Carbine Rifles. Pistol Caliber Carbines.
• 25 Best 9mm AR pistols on sale now.

4. Remington 783

• Caliber: .243 Win/308 Win/6.5 Creedmoor/300 Win Mag/30-06 Springfield…

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
3/5	3/5	3/5	3/5

The Remington 783 is one of American’s best selling firearms, ever.

It was launched in 2013, but you can trace its roots right back to the Model 700 and the 1960s that have served as home defense and in competitive shooting sports.

You can get a caliber to take anything from Coyote to White Tail through to the biggest North American game.

The trigger pull is adjustable from 2.5-5lb. So you can train your dragon to fire exactly as you like. You can see a striker-fired pistol trigger safety, too, which is a neat touch.

The barrel is free floating and the stock is pillar bedded on these bolt action rifles.

5. Ruger 10/22 Carbine

• Caliber: 22 Long Rifle
• Action: Semi Auto Rifle
• Barrel: 18.5″
• Total Length: 37″
• Weight: 4.5lb
• Capacity: 10+1

Best 22LR Rifles

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
5/5	3/5	4/5	3/5

If you are even thinking about saving money on your semi-automatic rifle, then think about cutting the cost of your shooting completely and scale down to a 22.

Do that and it’s hard to look past the best-selling Ruger 10/22 Carbine semi auto rifle, which is a legend in pretty much everybody’s eyes.

You can get a Ruger 10/22 Tactical, a Ruger takekdown rifle and lots of other options besides. Check out our list of the best 22LR rifles right here. You can also get cheap 22LR ammo just about everywhere and also things to hunt.

Related: Read our Ruger 10/22 in-depth review.

Ruger quality control is legendary, too. Buy a gun online now and get an icon of a semi auto rifle that you need in your life.

6. Winchester XPR

• Caliber: 6.5 Creedmoor, and eleven others from .243 to .338 Win Mag

Solid Hunter

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
4/5	4/5	4/5	2.5/5

The XPR comes in twelve chamberings, from .243 up to .338 Winchester Magnum, and both straight-wall deer cartridges are in there if your state needs one. Our .350 Legend and .400 Legend guides cover that side of it. For everywhere else we still think Creedmoor is the best hunting round you can buy, and a Creedmoor plus a .22 rifle covers you for pretty much everything short of big bears.

If you want to spend a little more money, or a lot, then check out this list of the Best Creedmoor rifles. 

What you are buying at this money is the M.O.A. trigger. Winchester builds its housing and internals from hardened carbon steel and coats the sear and actuator in Nickel Teflon, and the geometry is designed out to zero creep and zero overtravel with no take-up at all. On a rifle costing four hundred dollars that is not normal, and it is most of the reason the XPR shoots better than its price suggests.

The rest follows the same logic. The barrel free-floats, the receiver sits on flat interface pads and locks into a cross-mounted recoil lug so nothing shifts under recoil, and the full-diameter bolt is Nickel Teflon coated with a short lift that clears a scope. The detachable polymer magazine latches at the front and the rear rather than just dropping into a well. An Inflex recoil pad takes the edge off the magnums.

It is a plain rifle. No frills, no walnut, nothing to photograph. It just shoots, and at this price that is the whole point.

7. Mossberg Patriot

• Caliber: 7mm Remington Magnum/6.5 Creedmoor/243 Win/338 Win Mag…

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
4.5/5	3/5	3/5	2.5

You can seriously take an Elk at 1400 yards with this simple bolt-action rifle chambered in 7mm Rem Mag, or go hunting small game with its smaller siblings.

The customer reviews tell their own story, too, and every online gun reviews say this is one of the best rifles in the world for the money.

Does that make it the best low budget hunting rifle in the world? Well it is great for long range shooting, but the price of the ammo can sneak up on you. So choose your caliber carefully and stock up on cartridges.

Long Range Round on a Small Budget

The Mossberg is available in a good few calibers and colors, from black to flat dark Earth and basic camo. It’s a relatively simple black plastic stock, a fluted bolt-action that really does look like it belongs on a more expensive rifle and a 4-shot magazine.

Recoil isn’t too bad and the recoil pad on the Mossberg Patriot hunting rifles makes all the difference. That aside, it’s a relatively straightforward, low budget hunting rifle that absolutely will get the job done and is good enough for basic shooting sports.

8. CVA Scout

• Caliber: .450 Bushmaster/45-70 Government/44 Magnum/243 Win

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
4.5/5	3/5	4.5/5	2.5/5

Really, you can have a this much power for less than $400 and the customer reviews are stellar for this break action single shot rifle.

In the continued absence of the Thompson Center Encore, this is now the top dog in the class.

It’s a one-shot gun with a break action, but if you get it right then this break open single shot rifle chambered in .450 Bushmaster is designed to drop absolutely anything at 250 meters.

That includes African big game, so North American game won’t offer any opposition if you get your shot right. If you don’t, you’ll need to master that break action and get a follow up shot off, fast…

9. Henry Repeating Arms

• Caliber: 22LR
• Barrel: 18.25 inch
• Total: 36.5 inch

Best Lever Action Rifle

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
3/5	3/5	4/5	3/5

Henry rifles are woven into American folklore and you can still live out your cowboy fantasies with a low budget lever action rifle.

You can order a Henry in much meatier calibers, right up to the fearsome 45-70 Government lever gun.

10. Ruger American Predator

• Caliber: 308 Win

Great Basic Rifle

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
3/5	3/5	4/5	3/5

This is a legend in the world of low cost firearms.

You can order Ruger bolt actions from .17 WMR through to 7mm. So why did we go for the middle of the road 308 Win?

We like these affordable rifles that are pure and simple.

Now the Ruger Precision Rifle is more accurate and has an adjustable length of pull and other major features.

Read a full review of 308 rifles here.

11. Keystone Sporting Arms Crickett

• Caliber: 22LR
• Barrel: 16 inch barrel
• Weight: 3.9lb

Best Single Shot Bolt Action For Kids

Price	Accuracy	Reliability	Prestige
2/5	3/5	4/5	2/5

The Keystone Sporting Arms Crickett is a cheap rimfire rifle for kids. That’s its reason to exist and even the slogan is ‘My First Rifle’. The company knows its place in the world.

So you get am entry level $150 rimfire rifle chambered in 22LR that basically does what it should. I mean it’s no Anschutz and if you want a better rimfire rifle we can hook you up here for sure.

But if you really want single shot bolt action rifles, they’re here…

Parts and Upgrades For Your Cheap Rifle

It doesn’t matter if you’ve gone for a semi-auto rifle, a rimfire rifle, an odd pump action or something higher end for competitive shooting, eventually, you’re going to need parts and cheap scopes, optics etc.

Shooting sports definitely need upgrades and even a single shot bolt gun will need something one day. You’ve got scopes, optics, gear, accessories shop and all that stuff to consider, so read a full review.

Read the gun reviews, talk to gun owners and do your due diligence with quality control. But rest assured, at some stage, you’re gonna change stuff.

Then you can get started on hunting gear, range gear and more hunting gear. Because that’s a game that never ends.

What About Ammo?

Yes we got all those things. You know it, especially rifle ammo, 308 Winchester ammo, pump action shotgun ammo, rifles, all that…

44 Magnum ammo and 357 Magnum ammo is pretty hard to find these days. 308 Winchester ammo, is getting scarcer and specialty rounds like 6.5mm Creedmoor, big bore S&W ammo and 338 Lapua Magnum are really turning into a mission.

You can start here with ammo for handguns, rifles & shotguns.

• Hunting ammo moves on price constantly, so the live board below beats naming a single retailer.
• Buy a case when your caliber dips. Deer season pricing is not the pricing you want to pay.

Save Money on Survival Gear with Military Surplus

If you want the best survival gear and tactical gear that doesn’t cost the Earth, then military surplus can be the way to go.

Get everything from outdoor clothing, hunting clothing and protective gear through to tools, knives and Mil Spec outdoor cooking gear. Military surplus is a broad spectrum of gear.

For military surplus gear, including hunting gear and protective gear, you can look here.

• Military Surplus at Sportsman’s Guide.

Want the cheapest honest path to a scoped, sub-MOA deer rifle? Read our full Savage Axis II review.

FAQ: Cheap Rifles

Frequently Asked Questions