| 2008wagon |
Don't have any idea how many guys and gals on here are into guns, but I thought I'd go ahead and post a thread to see where it goes.
I'm looking at buying another gun. Currently all I have is a .22 Marlin model 60 that I bought new in 1995. I've done target shooting only with it and it has a Simmons scope on it.
I want a 2nd gun for more target shooting, I want a more powerful piece this time, and I might even want to pick off a few ground hogs or something with the next one.
I'm considering a 22-250 or possibly a .223, I prefer Remington or Marlin brands, I happen to think Marlins are quite good for the money.
Other than a 22-250 or a .223, what might be some other good rifle options that I can pick up for $500 or less to do what I want to do? |
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| porcupine73 |
Into firearms. There are a lot of larger cal centerfire options out there in various actions. Maybe make sure you can get the ammo you want at a reasonable price before purchase. There's a lot of good firearm forums out there such as the highroad etc that might be helpful.
They're not less than the price you mentioned, but I have a Beretta CX4 storm carbine in 9mm that I really really like. It is fun shooting and 9mm ammo solid points are not much more than top of the line .22 rimfire ammo.
Also have several 12ga pump shotguns benelli, remington, browning, etc, and I really enjoy shooting those, esp on the $20 or so per 100 rounds ammo at wally world. Not exactly 'target guns' but they are fun. They can be had for less than $500. |
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| Eric |
Might check out the savage target rifles in 22-250. I love mine and it shoots sub moa at 400 yards. I am a big remington fan, but the savage is good firearm. Not sure if you plan on hunting (big game) but if you think you might try it, now would be the time to look at the regs so you dont get in trouble fish and game.
Eric |
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| 2008wagon |
The thing about Savage is that I find they are a lot more money than everything else. We're talking hundreds of dollars of price discrepancy.
I gotta say some of the Marlins are really sweet. They have a .22 mag stainless steel model 982VS that I'm in love with. It's $300. It comes with a 4 and a 7 shot magazine. It would be a great target and small game gun. It doesn't have sights though. I never knew any guns came without sights on them. It doesn't matter, but still......is it something to do with the stainless barrel maybe? |
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| xcgates |
I'm seriously considering getting a Mosin Nagant to go with my .22, with the given that I would get into reloading.
I have a friend who reloads, and if I can get him out shooting this Friday, I'm going to pin down some further details about what I need in terms of dies, primers, and the like. |
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| Eric |
quote: Originally posted by 2008wagon
The thing about Savage is that I find they are a lot more money than everything else. We're talking hundreds of dollars of price discrepancy.
I gotta say some of the Marlins are really sweet. They have a .22 mag stainless steel model 982VS that I'm in love with. It's $300. It comes with a 4 and a 7 shot magazine. It would be a great target and small game gun. It doesn't have sights though. I never knew any guns came without sights on them. It doesn't matter, but still......is it something to do with the stainless barrel maybe? | |
I havent priced a Savage in a few years, but when I was looking they were the same price as the Remington. Many of the companies are selling their firearms w/o sights now. Its too bad because a lot of young shooters are missing the joys of long range shooting with open sights. |
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| tranks |
i have a marlin 981T .22 that has worked great so far. awhile back i was thinkin about getting something more powerful. i read good things about Remington 700, but decided not to buy anything. i would definitely check out the ammo selves first and see what rounds are more affordable/available.
clay shooting can be fun. doesn't cost much either. $20 for 100 rds and ~$7 for 90 clays. |
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| 2008wagon |
Eric, I think maybe you're right about the Savage prices. Upon going back and looking again I found that I was not really comparing apples to apples, and the Savages are priced competitively to other models. So that was my fault.
I hear very little about the .204 Ruger. Anyone know something about it? |
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| neutron |
Have you been shopping to see what's in stock? Don't know about you, but here in Cali it's been difficult to get any guns or ammo (except turkey, O/U, and SxS shotguns). Ammo has been difficult to find too, except birdshot. People here are still in "panic buy" mode I guess.
About the only thing I personally can readily find are Howa 1500 rifles in .223. Fortunately it is an excellent rifle for the money, far better bargain than Remington or Savage in the same price range imho.
I have a Savage .308 as my 1,000 yard rig but put most trigger time on a Howa 1500 "Stainless Varminter." I cannot believe the quality of the metalwork on this $750 rifle - far and away superior to Remington 700P and Savage 10FP, and those are $900~$1,100 rifles.
I skim bedded mine and accuracy is about 1 MOA; can easily hit bowling pins at 300 yards with common 55 grain FMJ. Before bedding it was not much worse, maybe 1.5 MOA.
BTW I'm using a Tasco Super Sniper scope ($400) on a 20 MOA mount. With match ammo I'm confident that this rig can do 600++ yards and stay 1 MOA.
One last thing, spotted a few 1917 Enfields at the pawn shops for around $250 to $400.... could be another option for you. .30-06 has had better availability here than NATO calibers. |
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| 2008wagon |
I've been checking into ammo prices as well as availability. Here in Ohio everything is pretty readily available except .223 stuff, so I'm not going to go that route.
Between Wal Mart and Dunham's Sporting goods I can pretty much whatever I need.
Saw a SWEET .17 caliber Savage rifle, bolt action, heavy duty barrel, 5 shot mag, all black with synthetic stock. On sale for $209!! I read all over the .17 stuff is pretty great for target and varmints. |
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| porcupine73 |
| Someone mentioned reloading, if you want to get into it make surey you have or can get all the components powders, bullets, etc. you need, else it's the same boat as not being able to find the ammo. |
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| 07OregonOutback |
| Just took my concealed weapons class last night.. After I get a .38 revolver, I will be looking at rifles for target shooting also. When I was in the gun store last night I saw plenty of .22 and a couple .223 rifles below or around 500. Even saw a used 30-06 for 199, which I was half tempted to buy. There was a new 7.62 ak47 for only 600 something. Then there were a few variants of the M4 .223 for like $1700.. maybe after I get a house.. haha. Just for target shooting, I agree just .17 or .22 would be ideal because there is no point in using expensive hard to find ammo on silhouette targets or whatever you're shooting at. Either will kill a groundhog or squirrel or whatever other cute fuzzy creatures you want to kill. :11: |
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| Eric |
no worries 08 wagon, wouldnt be the first time i was wrong.
A buddy of mine has a 204 and says it shoots nice, but I rarely see ammo for it in the stores, so Ive shyed away from them. Hope you find what your looking for. |
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| cougar |
Don't overlook the 22 Hornet. It is more powerful than a 22mag and a hole lot quieter. Not as powerful as a 223, but then again, quieter.
Devastating on prairie dogs, oops, ground squirrels and will take down a deer or antelope at close range. |
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| 2008wagon |
Darn, I guess I never updated you guys on what I bought. I picked up a Marlin 925M bolt action .22WMR. I put a Tasco 3-9 by 40 scope on it and it's pretty nice for an $80 scope for just target shooting. I really like it, except I don't think I'm crazy about a bolt action gun. Everything else I have is semi-auto and I like it better.
My father-in-law suggested a Hornet, but that's way more money that I was willing to pay-$239 vs. $700. Couldn't justify it now with no job. But it won't be too long and I'll be looking to step up again, and I'll consider a hornet maybe.
We're gonna go shoot some clays over the July 4 week, that's something I've never done. |
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| 2008wagon |
Does anyone here have any experience with Tristar guns? I'm looking at getting a 12 ga. semi-auto for nothing more than shooting clays a few times a year. I found this Tristar brand at Dunham's Sports and I have never seen what is seemingly such a nice gun for so low of a cost. The guns are from Turkey. I don't need a great gun by any means, but this gun is under $350 and has the synthetic stock. I read some good things about this gun, but I wanted to find someone with real, actual experience if I can.
Another gun I'm considering is a Weatherby SA-08 12 ga.
Give me opinions on any and all shotguns, but particularly the two I mentioned if anyone can.
Not interested in a pump gun, and I know someone will probably recommend an 870 Remington. Wonderful gun, just not what I want. |
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| neutron |
quote: Originally posted by 2008wagon
Does anyone hear have any experience with Tristar guns? ... The guns are from Turkey. | |
I own a Turkish-made shotgun, a Mossberg Silver Reserve O/U. I know it's not a Tristar, but if the Tristar is anything like the Mossberg I'd have to say avoid it.
Yes it does go bang, but the construction is very rough. Everything covered in tool marks, and I don't mean machine tool marks either; it looks like a lot of the parts were made by hand by clamping in a vise and shaped with extra-coarse double cut files.
One main thing I dislike about the Mossberg is that the trigger is so heavy my finger hurts after an hour of trapshooting. You have to apply so much pressure to break the trigger that when it finally "snaps," your finger slams it really hard when it stops. |
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| 2008wagon |
To be honest about everything I have read about many different shotguns, Mossberg seems to be the most problematic brand of gun there is. These things seem to break regularly and I've seen it in every gun forum I have been in.
The Tristar looks to be well crafted, there aren't the toolmarks that I hate so bad, there's nothing plastic or cheap about the action, and it's got a 5 year warranty. For $299 I think I'll try it. If it's a piece of sh** then I'll just chalk it up to experience.
Here is a link....check it out.
http://www.tristarsportingarms.com/product_viper.html |
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| 07OregonOutback |
| Anyone have any experience with the Glock model 23 .40 cal pistol? Thinking about getting that for my sidearm.. But haven't had a chance to shoot one. I went on policelink.com and they had nothing but good things to say about it. Only a few complained that the recoil was a bit much but that the gun came right back down to shooting position. |
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| Se2002 |
Build it just how you like (unless the parts are on backorder-like in my case the RRA half rail is on Backorder).
This is my first AR build, but I'd like to build one more.
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| neutron |
quote: Originally posted by 07OregonOutback
Anyone have any experience with the Glock model 23 .40 cal pistol? Thinking about getting that for my sidearm.. But haven't had a chance to shoot one. I went on policelink.com and they had nothing but good things to say about it. Only a few complained that the recoil was a bit much but that the gun came right back down to shooting position. | |
I have one. Can't really go wrong with a Glock. It is a good weapon; reliable, inexpensive and easy to maintain. You may also consider the Springfield XD .40, I have one of these also and prefer it – loaded chamber indicator, protruding firing pin (striker) tells you if it's cocked, grip safety and choice of 3", 4" or 5" barrel, stainless or black slide and standard or night sights. Price is about the same.
As far as the recoil, if you select a bunch of handguns of the same weight and features (e.g. barrel porting) then the recoil is really dictated by the cartridge. Recoil of a 9mm, .40 or .45 is really only a few ft. lbs. of force; it's the loud bang going off in your face that what causes flinching, and therefore missing of targets.
Of those three cartridges mentioned, the 40 and 45 can give the most kinetic energy to the bullet. Some of the hot 9mm ammo can keep up, but that falls into the specialty ammo category and can get expensive. |
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| 07OregonOutback |
| Yeah 9mm was considered, but I quickly crossed it off my list. If I'm out camping and come across a pissed off cougar or bear and don't have my shotgun or rifle handy.. I want something that will at least scare it off and if need be disable it instead of just piss it off haha :13: Cool I will check out the Springfield and do a comparison.. thanks for the reference! |
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| xcgates |
Hiker: "So, what is the best handgun to carry in case I run into a bear?"
Ranger: "Ehh, caliber don't really matter, just file the front sight off of whatever pistol you get."
Hiker: "File the sight off? Huh?"
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Ranger: "That way it won't hurt so much after you've pissed it off, and it shoves the pistol where the sun don't shine!"
:D |
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| 07OregonOutback |
| Hahaha nice. Well we don't have any grizzlys around here.. only black bears. So hopefully just the gunshot will scare it off because they seem quite skittish. |
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| neutron |
quote: Originally posted by 07OregonOutback
Hahaha nice. Well we don't have any grizzlys around here.. only black bears. So hopefully just the gunshot will scare it off because they seem quite skittish. | |
Personally I think your only encounters will be with wildlife of the two-legged variety. Load it with 180 grain +P JHP ammo and have a bright flashlight handy (forget Maglite, get a Surefire). |
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| xcgates |
I can honestly say that I've never had a close encounter with terrifying wildlife, but I'd be willing to bet that your best bet would be to just go the other way, and not do something to startle the animal.
Unless you find yourself between mama and the kiddies, then I have no idea. But I wouldn't want to shoot an animal unless it was my last resort. Just because I figure it would just get ticked off at me and then 'take care of me.' :8:
That said, I'm all for CCW, and think they are a great tool. But if you ever pull one out, you better be willing to finish what you have started. Which makes it a very personal choice. Just talk to any military member who has killed, or any cop who has killed. Its not something to be taken lightly. |
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