In reply to Dr. Hess:
I know its stupid but I would love Savage model 99 in .250 or .300 Savage.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
I know its stupid but I would love Savage model 99 in .250 or .300 Savage.
I want one of these:
http://www.uberti.com/1873-rifle-and-carbine
in .357mag. Just LOVE the '73. The '94 was OK, but the '73 is so much better looking.
I would pass on surplus unless you're also in it for the nostalgia or had an interest in militaria. They're all great rifles, and they shoot wonderful cartridges (I love shooting surplus) but their drawback, with the possible exception of the 7x57 Mauser (.275 Rigby), none of them really have a large commercial source of ammo.
The .30-06 brass can become Mauser food, but only if you have all the reloading equipment to do so. I also have my reserves about putting rounds stamped ".30-06" in my Mauser.
The commercial surplus food that IS available tends to be kind of expensive (over $2 a bullet easy) and is rather inept when compared to the rifles capability. Military surplus food is much cheaper, but not always readily available. As mentioned it also isn't good for hunting (darn Geneva convention...).
The Garand shoots .30-06 (technically m2 ball) but is cursed with that en-bloc system and you may be forced to find a special clip to go hunting with it if there are magazine limitations in your area. Also, if you're shooting current commercial .30-06 in it, it's recommended to have an adjustable gas plug (take my word for it, that begins to be kind of a pain after a while).
How do you feel about cowboy actions? There are lots of options for lever-guns chambered in .357, .45lc, .44mag that satisfy the "hunting" requirement and would also feed pistol counterparts 
That might be a way to go if you were looking to get into shooting sports for cheap.
For me, I'd recommend sticking with .30-06 or .308 (equals really). Maybe a Ruger M77, Winchester 70, or a Remington 700 if I were looking near $500.
For slightly more money ($800-ish) I might go with a Ruger Gunsite Scout in .308 and find a 5-round magazine for hunting.
Money no object I'd lean FAL or M1A
Disclaimer: I sold my Ruger M77 and kept my Mauser K98 and Garand so I'm pretty much a hypocrite by any standard.
Bobzilla wrote: I want one of these: http://www.uberti.com/1873-rifle-and-carbine in .357mag. Just LOVE the '73. The '94 was OK, but the '73 is so much better looking.
My '73 is a Rossi carbine in 45 colt. Pretty darn good rifle right there, kicks a little bit more than a .22, but not much. It's at least accurate out to 200yds as evidenced by a steel plate hit cold bore at the last large shoot I hosted.
What are you going to use it for? What kind of distance do you want to shoot? What's your budget?
The bottom rifle is a Winchester in .308. On the top is a Savage Arms 111 in .338 Lapua. The bottom is effective out to about 800 yards, the top is effective out to about 1600 yards. How far away is your target?
Will wrote: What are you going to use it for? What kind of distance do you want to shoot? What's your budget?
Those are great questions and shows the flaw in my plans. I don't really have any set plans. I am more interested in target shooting than hunting. I have no interest in deer hunting, especially with all the crazies on state land. But I would not object to helping some of the landowners around here get rid of their wild hog problems.
No set budget, but probably under $500.
In that price range, I think:
The Camry choice would be a Ruger M77 (or similar) chambered in .308.
The Civic/CRX would be a lever gun in .30-30.
The Datsun Z-car would be a Mauser M or K98 in 8mm Mauser
The Mazda RX-7 would be the Enfield SMLE chambered in .303 Brit
(Dare I say?) the Miata would be a lever gun in a good pistol cal (.357, .44mag, .45lc)
The Camaro/Mustang would be a lever gun in .45-70 or a Savage 99 in .308
or you could buy 6 Mosin Nagants 
For target shooting you might want to lean towards the bolt-guns, as their actions are better suited to shooting from a rest/prone.
Feral hogs are nothing to mess around with (too light a caliber). I had a suspicion but googled just to be sure. These guys seem to think that a good medium weight high velocity gun is going to be best.
I stand by my recommendation of the .308, crack open a Cabellas catalog and see what strikes your fancy in the rifles department.
Remember, a firearm is subject to Newtons law and the heavier the bullet being thrown the harder it will "kick". A heavier gun absorbs that recoil better than a light gun at the expense of being less fun to carry around in the woods.
If you're just hunting paper, and the occasional feral pig, I'd probably get a .223, that rounds available in more than just "evil black rifles" you know. Or heck get a rimfire, believe it or not .22s are actually available, almost regularly again.
Heck, .17 HMR never went away, and there's stacks of it on the shelves at every sporting goods store around here. A Savage 93 in .17 HMR is a sweet paper hole puncher/pig slayer. I might want something larger for the 300+ lb trophy boar, but for stocking the freezer with bacon, you know the pigs you'd actually want to eat, a .17 HMR is sufficient.
.22 WMR (Magnum) would be another rimfire option, but ammo prices for the past few years kind of ruin it, .223/5.56 is cheaper than the "cheap" .22 WMR, and another reason to pick the .223.
Savage Axis or Ruger American in .223 would be my picks for an affordable rifle.
Savage 93 or CZ 455 for the .17 HMR.
For milsurp rifles you can't really go wrong as long as the gun is in decent functional condition. With the exception of one thing, ammo price/availability. My first rifle was an Enfield in .303 British. It was accurate as all hell but ammo was hard to find and expensive.
For currently available rifles most major companies make great rifles. I'm partial to the Remington 700. The Ruger Precision Bolt Rifle has had some great reviews, especially for the price point. A lot of newer rifles don't come with iron sights so you will need optics. Cheap optics are useless and cause nothing but headaches.
Here is my Remington 700. It started out as a 700P in .308 I bought used with a Leopold. Now it has over $3k in parts and smithing work and is a .260. You can certainly spend as much as you want on a rifle chasing more accuracy and distance.
In reply to KyAllroad:
I believe your law refers more to the amount & type of propellant used versus the grain weight of the bullet. As stated, my 45 colt shoots nice & soft with 275gr bullets....the 30-06 kicks pretty good with merely 110gr bullets. Difference is the powder type and amount of it.
In reply to WOW Really Paul?:
It's energy. Isn't the formula something like E = M x V2? A big slug loafing along at 1,000 fps (you can actually watch it travelling downrange) has less energy than the lighter bullet that got punched up to 2,500 fps.
So the muzzle energy of each has to be absorbed by the shooter (the effect of which is mitigated by the weight of the gun and how it's held).
The ultimate result of that effect is illustrated here for comic effect.
OK, here's my last project, if'n we're showin':
New barrel which I installed, I made the cheek piece (left over Esprit seat leather), cheap scope. There's no recoil pad, just hard plastic. It will punch you pretty good. I made a "shoulder saver" from more leather covering a folded up wash cloth, plus one of those giant paperclip clamp thingies to hold it up to your shirt at the shoulder. That helped a whole lot. Not black and blue after a range session anymore.
spitfirebill wrote:Will wrote: What are you going to use it for? What kind of distance do you want to shoot? What's your budget?Those are great questions and shows the flaw in my plans. I don't really have any set plans. I am more interested in target shooting than hunting. I have no interest in deer hunting, especially with all the crazies on state land. But I would not object to helping some of the landowners around here get rid of their wild hog problems. No set budget, but probably under $500.
Personally, I'd go .308/7.62 NATO for hogs. Lots of milsurp ammo around, which makes plinking relatively cheap. Good availability of target/hunting rounds in basically any gun store/sporting good store in the country.
I've heard good things about the Savage Hog Hunter (Model 11 with a few extras), but never fired one myself. I also admit the Mossberg MVP in 7.62 intrigues me, but I've heard mixed reviews and I'm not sure there's really a point to it.
Does your budget include an optic? The general rule of thumb is be prepared to spend as much on your glass as your rifle.
I'd go with a bolt action .308 rifle, one of the most available rounds you can find nearly anywhere and its a nice round that doesn't punish guns like some of the newer, hotter sporting rounds - chamber and barrel will last a LOOONG time for shooting accuracy and precision. Partial to Savage because of their Accutrigger system, simply an awesome trigger system from the factory - very clean, precise break with near zero travel (depress the safety blade then just apply pressure to the trigger, no real noticeable trigger movement) and the ability to get the trigger release weight very low. Trigger is everything to me...it can ruin an otherwise excellent gun!
Just got my .308 10FP back from having the barrel threaded and fitted with a Precision Armament M11 muzzle brake, action bedded into a Manner's T4 stock, and one piece rail mount checked and retorqed. Heavy setup, but will shoot 1/2 MOA or less all day long with PRVI 168 grain bargin price match BTHP ammo, tightens up better with Federal or Hornady 168 grain match BTHP of course. The muzzle brake will be a very nice addition, having shot my brother's nearly identical setup 10FP with a muzzle brake there is a HUGE difference in recoil and coming back onto target for the following shot. Muzzle brakes FTW...
Once you have a .308 bolt gun then you can get a semiauto .308 later, many choices to be had for those...
I will say though that .22lr semi-auto rifles are probably the most fun things to shoot on a budget...love my SIG 522.
Vracer111 wrote: I will say though that .22lr semi-auto rifles are probably the most fun things to shoot on a budget...love my SIG 522.
Seconded, especially now that .22 is back in stock. I giggle every time I take my 10/22 to the range
I have a few .22 rifles and one pistol. One rifle I haven't even shot. The .22 is by far the best bang for the buck. Problem around here is finding somewhere to shoot. Growing up, we had access to a plantation and it was no problem. Now, nobody will let you shoot on their land because of the liability.
calteg wrote:Vracer111 wrote: I will say though that .22lr semi-auto rifles are probably the most fun things to shoot on a budget...love my SIG 522.Seconded, especially now that .22 is back in stock. I giggle every time I take my 10/22 to the range
I bought a Ruger 10/22 on sale for about $120 on a whim. Left it on the bed, still in it's box and got busted by Mrs. Hungary when she got homw.
"What's that?"
"Oh, that? ..... oh, I bought that for you!"
Then came the Taurus .22 mag revolver, the Sig Mosquito, the Remington 870...
In reply to Hungary Bill:
You must have bought that 10/22 a while back for that price.
I was once tasked by my MIL with buying a .22 rifle for my FIL for Christmas. I ended up buying him a Remington Speedmaster over a Ruger 10/22. I'm not sure he ever shot it, but I once found it in the storage room outside with rust on it. After he passed away, it disappeared. I was made to take his old Marlin 12 bolt action shotgun, even though I did not want it. I really wanted the Speedmaster.
Hey, I have the 512 sportmaster (brethren to the speedmaster). Great rifle! I need to finish my work on it. I'm a home-blue job away from having it tip-top again (it was pretty bad when I got it). and yeah, the 10/22 was bought about 7 years ago. Has it been that long!?!
I actually think my mom's speedmaster might be still be stuffed in my grandparents closet just north of here. Me thinks I better go look (maaaaan... I shot many a brick of ammo through that growing up in Eastern WA. If you're looking for lead near Banks Lake, I can point you in the right direction).
In a stretch to stay on topic: all of the above are great, adult sized, practice rifles but I would not plan on hog hunting with any of them
We were raised to believe wild boars (feral hogs) could not be killed my mortal man with anything less that a 44 magnum. Watching the reality show where the two chicks chased down hogs destroyed that for me. Just like when I found out my father was NOT part Cherokee. It never dawned on me his parents (my grandparents) weren't Indian.
8mm Mauser (8x57) non-corrosive steel case, $0.60/pop. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/20-rds-mauser-8x57mm-js-170-grain-fmj-ammo?p=f615b&i=283126
That's fairly reasonable. FMJ, so may not be deer punchers in your state, but certainly good range fodder.
In reply to Dr. Hess:
About fifteen years ago I bought a wooden case corrosive of Turkish 8mm Mauser for my employee price of $.05 round... One of these days I need to see about shooting it.
You'll need to log in to post.
