Rifle suggestions

Chambers

Chambers

Joined
Jul 11, 2001
Messages
1,137
I'm interested in starting to shop around for a "do it all" general purpose rifle.
I'm looking for something that I could take hunting if I decided to. I'm thinking deer at most. Something that will do a lot more paper punching than anything else, tin cans at 100+ yards, but at the same time something that would fill "The Zombies are coming" role as well.

Just a basic all around "yeah I can do that" Rifle.

Now the factors that come in to play here. My background is hunting the bayous and woods of Louisiana, I know bolt actions and I know Lever actions. I have zero millitary experience so these fancy all black looking things (AR-15?) are completely foreign to me. I'll learn if I need to, if it turns out that's my best deal but I'm not real interested.

I'm also on a budget.

Anything over or approaching 1,000$ is right out. I just can't even begin to afford that. $500 or there abouts is my budget.

I'm looking for the best bang for the buck as it were, you know? The most rifle for the money.

Point me in the right direction guys.
 
Unfortunately I am not speaking from practical experience, given where I now live but I would like to suggest surplus rifles.

An SKS is very popular and inexpensive rifle and I read that people use it to hunt deer. You can also use cheap Russian made 7.62x39 ammo and the rifle shouldn't complain since that is what is was made to shoot.

If you like bolt action then a surplus Swedish Mauser (6.5mm and 8mm), a British Enifield (.303) or a Russian Mossin Nagant (7.62 Russian) might be in your future. Alll are inexpensive and are generally available in different grades from really used to brand new.

Hope this helps,

Dimitry
 
allow me to be the first to say 30/30 levergun, deer yup, zombies, yep, cost, yep and its something you are already familiar with. If you want more rounds but still enough punch for deer then maybe 44mag lever gun

enjoy
 
Can't go wrong with a .30-.30 or .44 magnum lever action. Available for way less than $500. The .30-.30 will have better downrange punch (especially if you check out the new Hornady bullets) and the .44 you can carry more rounds to fight the zombies. If you have good eyes, you don't even need a scope. Probably the most "PC" rifle you could get too if you care about such things.

I'd also put in a vote for a Savage bolt action in .308 with one of those new accutriggers. They did have a "Scout" version of the Savage, but from what I read, it was nowhere near as accurate as Savage's usually are. Haven't shot one though.

Edited to add that I looked around a little bit and found Savage .308 and other calibers, already mounted and scoped as a "package" for right around $500 from gunsamerica and you can probably get a stainless and synthetic stocked one for not much more.
 
Supposed to be a pretty decent rifle for the money.

Man, I wouldn't even begin to suggest the best all around caliber, but when I was in your exact situation a few years ago I went "old school" .270 winchester. It's perfect for just about anything that walks or crawls here in the US.

One thing I'd do is hit all the pawn shops and local gun shops and look at used/consignment rifles. There are some serious deals to be had out there if you look.

Have fun.
 
One of my favorites is the good old Winchester 38/ 357 lever action Trapper. Consistent, reliable and durable. And less than $500 without shopping too hard. The 38 shells are fine for plinking, paper punching,and even for anti- personnel use. But when "The Hills Have Eyes" becomes reality :D , then load up with 357s. There is also the interchangeability of ammo in my 357 revolvers, which I like to tote along with my lever gun while afield.

N.
 
I'm going to suggest 2 guns, that should still come in under or darn close to your budget.

Get a Savage bolt rifle in one of their combo packages(http://www.savagearms.com/11fxp3.htm) . MSRP is about $500, you can find them cheaper at the gunshop. It has the accutrigger, which is awesome, and is an all around great gun for the price. Very good value.
This would be your deer gun, and mid to long range target rifle. Out there in NM, you might have a chance to really reach out there on a deer, or maybe do some varmint hunting. A .243 would probably serve you well on those purposes. If you think its unlikely you'll want to do the varmint hunting you might go with .308 or .270 so you get a little more oomph down range.

Then, for a fun plinking gun, that can be used for the closer in stuff I'd recommend an SKS. Ammo is cheap, the guns are cheap (milsurps were going for $85 at the last gunshow here, you have to clean the cosmoline off yourself though :grumpy: :D ). This would be a great gun for deer sized stuff under 100 yards (you might have to do something on the magazine well though to meet hunting regs on capacity), and is an overall fun plinker. Semi auto, light recoil, and cheap. Hard to beat it.

If you don't have a .22 I would get that over the SKS. Marlin makes a heck of a bolt action for $150 or less. You can get 500 rounds of ammo for $8-$10, and out to 100 yards its a great for target shooting or plinking around.
 
Get yourself a Marlin model 336 in either 30-30 or .375 Winchester.
 
How about a Ruger mini-14. Lots of cheap modification options. Ammo is cheap. Hi-cap magazines can be found.
 
if you have alittle time get a m1 garand from CMP, they cost 500 for a service grade. those easily sell for 1000 on the gunshow market. im on my 9th garand right now and ive still got 2 more H&Rs to build.

ammos realitively cheap, i payed 130 per 768 round case last week end.

this is a woodless dane that i payed under 300 for at cmp, great shooting rifle. ive got 9 garands and this is by far my favorite. i was offered 350 and a .45 1911 clone at the last gunshow, needless to say i turned it down. the bottom one was one of two SG winchesters i was lucky enough to get.

these guns have souls, there a different bread from any thing else you could ever think of buying.
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if your looking for something more tactical, build a ar15/m16 clone. i built mine from a bushmaster dissipator carbine. i decided i did not like the short black rifle so throuh a series of modds and addons i ended up with a colt m16 barrel, bushmaster match trigger, 3 prong flash hidder, vietnam furnature, and a m16a1 c7 upper. its extramly cheap to shoot but knock down power is questionable for my taste. id take a 30-06 over a .223 any day.
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if you must go communist block the sks is a much nicer rifle than the ak47, sure the ak looks meaner but its just not that accurite and not as well made because of the stamped sheetmetal reciever. the sks's are all milled except for a few rare examples, if you want a milled ak expect to pay big bucks. if you want a larget capacity you can even get factory sks's that accept ak mags. the only down side to the sks is its plauged with rather shitty aftermarket parts. also, if you buy one used make sure you check the barrel. most pawn shop suprises ive seen lately are badly pitted, yugos dont even have chrome bores.
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k31s on the otherhand are a rather unusual rifle, its a stright pull meaning that you dont have to expose your head when fireing from behind cover like you would with a bolt action. there extreamly accurite and well made. they have been banned from some competitions because there a unfair advantage and they have been compaired to a swiss watch in craftmanship. its said, if reproduced today it would cost over 2000 to make a reproduction built as well as the origional. and the best part is that a GREAT example can be had from 100 to 150 depending on the condition of the stock. usually the metal will be like new but the stock can be rough because of rifle drills where they kick the rifle with hob nail boots. btw, check under the butt plate, you might find your soldiers name, address, rank, and other info. alot of people have forumed lasting friendships and ive herd of atleast one marrage because of those tags.
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mosin nagants are a crude, roughly built, but wonderfull rifle. most shoot rather high but a replacement from sight post will fix that. theres well over 100 variations and can usually be had for around 100 each, some rarer versions can run 700-800. you may remember them from the movie enemy at the gates. right now ive got 4 or 5 of these in different forums. my oldest gun has a 1893 reciever that was built in to a 1928 finnish nagant with a SIG barrel after the finnish army picked it off some battlefield who knows where.
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enfields are also interesting guns, there cheap and fun to shoot. some have slight head space issues so like all millsurp guns have them checked. heres a couple oddballs ive got, a us property marked project and a 41 isphore .410 shotgun enfield.
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i use this site below as a dump for some of my pictures so i can keep tack of them. if you see any rifles you would like to know more about just let me know and ill try to help you out all i can.
http://www.akfiles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7496
 
Depends on where you are hunting the deer. In New Mexico you'll get a lot longer shots on those little guys then in a more forested area. You'll want at least .243 because in most states that is the smallest caliber allowed for big game. Anything in .308 is going to be a good all around rifle for taking any north american game, sans polar bear and some brown bear. Savage has some highly accurate models for around 500. Ruger is probably one of the bets values too because they include a nice set of rings with each rifle!
 
beefangusbeef said:
Depends on where you are hunting the deer. In New Mexico you'll get a lot longer shots on those little guys then in a more forested area. You'll want at least .243 because in most states that is the smallest caliber allowed for big game. Anything in .308 is going to be a good all around rifle for taking any north american game, sans polar bear and some brown bear. Savage has some highly accurate models for around 500. Ruger is probably one of the bets values too because they include a nice set of rings with each rifle!
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Yep
I was about to say the same thing. Check your state regulations before you get a .223 or anything like that. They're not legal for big game in too many places. Thats why I recommended you get 2 guns. One like an SKS where ammo is cheap and it makes a fun plinker. And one for hunting and more serious target shooting.
 
The SKS would be top of the list IMO. They are VERY rugged, allot more accurate than most people give them credit for, extremely reliable so long as you stick with the internal mag (no after market hi-cap mags) and plenty powerful for deer & other mid-size game.

7.62x39mm ammo, while very cheap, is getting somewhat hard to find right now. I doubt that will be the case for too long though... Ballistics are similar to the venerable 30-30. However, even an "all thumbs" knucklehead like me can take the SKS apart & put her back together in about 5min so I give it the nod over the level action guns.

Yugo SKS's have flooded the market for the last few years - they have excellent milled recievers & good European quality construction. However, some filks have had issues with the gas shut off valve leaking - bottom line is, you can pick one up for less than $200 & nothing that can possibly go wrong with them is that hard to fix :thumbup: :thumbup:

...Course they are not as fine a rifle as Kabar's M1 Garand though :cool:
 
I really like KaBar's M1, but I thought a person had to jump through a lot of hoops to get one from CMP.
Could KaBar outline the process and the difficulty of fulfilling it and actually getting a genuine M1?

Otherwise, I'd go with a .30-30 lever action.
I note that Winchester closed its doors, and all the Model 94's disappeared from the gun dealer's shelves around here.
If I could get a pre-64 Model 94 with 90% blueing, and for under $400, I would consider myself blessed and well-armed.

Most people consider the Marlin mechanically superior to the modern (post 1964) Winchesters, but I would still prefer a .30-30 Winchester.
 
I really like KaBar's M1, but I thought a person had to jump through a lot of hoops to get one from CMP.
Could KaBar outline the process and the difficulty of fulfilling it and actually getting a genuine M1?
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theres a few hoops, but not many. i cant remember how long it took me to make the requirements but someone could do it in under a week if they went for it gun ho. this site will give you all the info you need. its more complicated sounding than it really is, the hardest part is trying to find a notery, luckly enough i found one that works at my dealership.

http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/eligibility_requirements.htm

heres a list of the rifles avaliable.
http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/index.htm

most people get turned off because of the rings you have to jump through, it dosent bother me though because im allowed 8 garands a year, unlimited recievers and other rifles. there costs are WELL under gunshow prices, and you know where the gun came from, the us army.

gunshow garands can be iffy because for a long time the only garands you could get were cut recievers that were then rewelded. some shoot good, some dont, none are collectable or should be shot. if you end up with a gunshow reweld you might as well make a wall hanger out of it or buy a new reciever from cmp and make it in to a shooter.

another thing you have to watch out for is the condition of the barrel, i payed 800 for my first garand and its muzzle would swallow a 30-06 round up to the case. with cmp, that rifle would have been striped down to a bare reciever and sold like that. cmp grades there barrels and the overall condition of the gun so you know what your going to get and if you do get something wrong with a broken op rod spring they will replace it free of charge. if you go with a lesser grade ask for a good shooter, it might not be as nice looking finish wise but the barrel and action will probably be just as good as a higher grade rifle.

ive got a bunch of winchester lever actions, mostly 94s of various calabers from any thing fron 22 mag to 444 mag. ive also got some others including a 64 (think 94 with pistol grip) and a model 55 (break down 94 made in the 30s) there great guns but there just not a garand, nothing compairs to a garand.

a garand is the kind of rifle that the pizza dilivery man can see you caressing it in your under ware in the middle of the night and not think your a weirdo, atleast i dont think he thinks im a weirdo.

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I've got the Bravo modeland it's great...Fold in half for easy storage, takes AR mags and is around $600 new:thumbup:
 
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