Stag Arms Pursuit Review: A Great Buy in a Precision Rifle

The Stag Arms Pursuit joins an honorable line of quality precision rifles that won’t break the bank. This well-appointed bolt action is fun to shoot, delivers good accuracy, and has a street price of $1,600.

It’s a solid rifle, weighing in at about nine pounds, and has a feature set optimized for long-range shooting. One of the rifle’s best attributes is the quality of feedback it gives the shooter. Not only does the rifle’s weight soften the recoil of this 6.5 Creedmoor, but the stock geometry and other ergonomic design elements make it easy to call shots and control the rifle’s recoil impulse while shooting prone or from supported positions.

The seeing

Stag Arms Pursuit Specifications

• Action: Three-cam bolt
• Stock: Synthetic
• Cartridge: 6.5 Creedmoor (also available in .308 and 6.5 PRC)
• Capacity: 5+1
• Weight: 8 pounds, 15 ounces (measured)
• Trigger: 2 pounds, 14 ounces (measured)
• Barrel: 20 inch, 1:8 twist, thread 5/8-24
• Length: 39 ¾ inches
• Price: $1,600

Most important features

• Three-cam action with 60 degree bolt throw
• Synthetic stock is easy to adjust and configure for long range shooting
• Tool-less bolt removal
• The full Picatinny rail has a declination of 20 MOA
• User adjustable trigger

Highlights of the review

• Smooth cycling action
• Well thought-out ergonomics
• Rifle provides excellent feedback to the shooter

Stag Arms Pursuit Accuracy

The rifle shot an average of 5-shot groups less than 1 inch in diameter using a variety of ammunition types including:

• AAC 140-grain SMK (.888 inch)
• Berger 130-grain Hybrid OTM (.923 inch)
• Federal 140-grain Berger Hybrid (.964 inch)
• Federal 140-grain OTM (.903 inch)

The average of all ammunition shots (34 groups with nine types of ammunition) was 1.036 inches.

Data from 20-shot groups

Controlling the chase

The Pursuit fires a Remington 700 cartridge and if you’ve ever shot one, you’ll find that sliding behind the Pursuit is as comfortable as putting on your favorite pair of flip-flops.

The rifle is fed by a detachable AICS-style box magazine—Magpul’s popular 5-round polymer P-Mag—that slides easily into the machined aluminum chassis. Deep cuts on both sides of the magwell provide plenty of surface area on the magazine well for the shooter to grip, making loading and unloading the magazine nearly foolproof.

The oversized dual paddle magazine catch in front of the trigger guard is easily reached with the trigger finger and when pushed forward, the magazine automatically drops out. The catch has sufficient spring tension to prevent accidental magazine release, but is not overly stiff.

The lower bolt lug is located at the 6 o’clock position and has no difficulty extracting the top cartridge from the magazine and guiding it forward and into battery.

During our evaluation, we never had any issues with feeding, extracting, or ejecting rounds, although we did find that applying pressure to the bottom of the magazine well caused the bolt to become slightly stuck on the magazine well tabs. This isn’t an uncommon hiccup on rifles powered by AICS magazines, but it’s worth noting.

Stag Arms has equipped the Pursuit with a TriggerTech Primary trigger. It’s a single-position design with a flat face that’s user-adjustable — and it has a traditional Remington 700 two-position safety. It switches back and forth from safe to fire in an easy, positive manner.

The trigger has no creep or pull and ours broke at 2 pounds, 14 ounces, a good weight for general precision rifle work.

Ergonomics of Stag Arms Pursuit

The Pursuit’s stock features a cheek piece that’s adjustable for height, a wide, blocky grip that keeps the hand nearly vertical, and a pronounced cut at the bottom that creates a hook for the free hand to control the rifle and accommodate a rear shooting pouch. To raise or lower the cheek piece, you loosen a latch with an Allen key.

The stock of the rifle is interesting because it is a two piece design and you can remove the stock via a locking pin like you would find on an AR style rifle. When you slide it to the side you can slide the stock free of the aluminum receiver.

The stock has a bit of a wobble, but it’s not distracting, and this feature allows the rifle to be quickly disassembled and stored more compactly. You could also swap out the stock for other styles, but at the time of writing Stag did not offer replacements.

The grip has a raised textured pattern on both sides and some horizontal lines molded into the front, while the front has a beavertail profile with fine pebbles. The texture is not aggressive, but provides a firm grip.

Both the front and bottom are equipped with QD cups on both sides to which you can attach a carrying strap.

Mounting accessories

The Stag Arms Pursuit is accessory-friendly. The bottom of the forearm is flat and houses an aluminum insert with five M-Lok slots along its length, as well as another QD cup. A segment of Picatinny rail extends bayonet-style from the end of the forearm to mount a bipod.

There is also an M-Lok slot on the bottom of the stock, which allows you to attach a bag rider, which is included with the rifle.

On top of the receiver is a full-length Picatinny rail with 20 MOA declination, providing plenty of room for a scope and other items such as levels, timers, and the like.

Finally, the cylinder is provided with 5/8-24 threads for a damper or brake.

Gun Options and Accessory Pack

Another nice feature of the rifle is the goodies bag that comes with it. Besides the bag rider it contains an ARCA rail and a plastic spacer to change the length of the trigger of the rifle.

With this addition, the rifle is ready to destroy steel during the next long-range competition.

Currently, the Pursuit is offered in three chamberings and three different stock colors. We tested it in 6.5 Creedmoor, which comes with a 20-inch barrel. You can also get it in an 18-inch .308 Winchester, or in 6.5 PRC with a 22-inch barrel. Colors are black, brown, and OD green.

Running the Stag Arms Pursuit

Take the accuracy of the rifle on one hand and the solid ergonomics on the other and you end up with a rifle that is capable and a lot of fun to shoot. The undercut buttstock lets you control the connection between the recoil pad and your shoulder and fine-tune your grip. The good trigger geometry (and good trigger) enhances this feeling of control.

Under recoil the rifle tracks straight, allowing for accurate shot calls. The oversized bolt handle and smooth action made it easy to stay in the scope while cycling the action for subsequent shots.

The dual plunger ejectors in the bolt face always ensured that the spent cartridges were ejected from the bolt, no matter how fast or slow we turned the bolt.

Even after many shots the rifle ran smoothly. The action never jammed or became difficult to operate. To get the action back into pristine condition after firing hundreds of suppressed shots, all we had to do was give the bolt a quick wipe down with an oiled rag.

Shooting the rifle prone and from various supported positions, we had nothing but praise for how the Pursuit handled. It performs as well as some rifles costing twice as much.

Fit, finish and aesthetics

The blocky lines of the stock and action didn’t appeal to everyone who reviewed it, but I think it looks nice. It’s not a flashy gun — although the spiral grooves on the barrel do give it some visual flair — but it does have an attractive, purposeful aesthetic.

The Cerakoting on the rifle is smooth and even, while the contours on the receiver and action break up the lines of the rifle without being garish.

Overall the rifle shows a good metal-to-metal fit and the joining of metal and synthetic elements is also well done.

Pros and Cons of Stag Arms Pursuit

There is a lot to like about the Pursuit and not much to say that is negative. Stag Arms has done an excellent job with this rifle.

Advantages

• Large value
• Good accuracy
• Solid ergonomics

Cons

• Slight wobble where the stock and receiver meet

Final Thoughts on the Stag Arms Pursuit

This rifle made a big impression on the Outdoor Life test team and deservedly won a Great Buy Award for the value it represents.

For someone looking for an affordable way to get into the long-range game without sacrificing any essential features, this is an excellent choice.