With all the gun threads this week, I might as well jump in now.
I am seriously considering buying a rifle sometime soon after seeing some advertised for pretty cheap. I have never owned a firearm before, although I have experience using them, and don’t necessarily need a “starter.” Anyone have any recommendations?
Specs:
[ol]
[li]California legal.[/li][li]I’d like cheap + quality, so used is probably the way to go here.[/li][li]Something bigger than a 22, as I stand to inherit a glut of them someday. Preferrably a non-obscure caliber, so that the ammo is affordable.[/li][li]Semi-auto, bolt-action, doesn’t matter as I’m considering both. It should preferably be able to load 5-10 bullets, which is I believe the legal maximum in CA.[/li][/ol]
I’ve seen some Mosin-Nagants, M1 Garands, and M1 Carbines for under $100. Can I still get quality for that price, or would they have last been used as a doorstop or a club?
HOLY CRAP! You’ve seen M1 Garands for under $100? BUY THEM ALL!
Seriously tho, I’m not going to be able to stick to “legal in California” since I don’t know the laws.
I’m sure someone with a username very similar to my recommendation will be here shortly, but check out the Enfield if you get a chance. Saw some in Shotgun News for under $150.
SKS might be a good choice, if they’re legal. I’ve always wanted a Mosin-Nagant.
If you do see M1’s for under a hun, I would venture a guess that there is something seriously wrong with them, even $400 would give me pause.
Think about ammo availability when making a choice. I don’t believe that you can mail-order ammo in California, or maybe it’s just that many companies won’t ship to Cali, I dunno. If you end up with an odd caliber you may be frustrated.
M1 Carbines are fun to shoot, and I know a guy that carried one somewhere in SE Asia 40 or so years ago that swears by them, but I don’t know a good price (a quick check suggests $300 is more realistic)
Thanks. I might’ve been exagerrating by memory, although I believe I saw one of the M1s for under $300. The Nagant I saw was definitely around $85-90.
I expect Mr. Enfield to show up, and yes, I would consider one of those rifles, although I haven’t noticed too many advertised locally. I wouldn’t know where to start with gunbroker.com or other sites, if that is even legal here.
The Sportsman’s Guide doesn’t have any blanket ammo restrictions to CA, although they don’t ship to many counties or cities, and mine is not listed.
As a side note, has anyone had an experience buying from Big 5? I’d imagine the employees aren’t exactly the same caliber (Bad pun! Sorry!) as gun store employees, but they have some nice deals occasionally.
It’s an old Russian Designed semi-auto rifle that predates the AK-47 design. It fires 7.62x39 cartridges (basically medium power .30 caliber). You’ll find the recoil and noise quite manageable.
They’re imported from a few different countries – Yugoslavia, China, and Romania come to mind. Most can be had for between $100 and $200, and the quality is usually excellent for the price range.
It’s a very versatile and hardy weapon and you can customize it to your heart’s content. A polymer stock will take off some of the weight, aftermarket sights or a scope compliments it nicely, and a trigger job from a gunsmith will drastically improve the trigger pull. You can hunt deer or blow up soda cans at 100+ yards. Not exactly a sniper rifle, but accurate enough for 99% of the situations most of us will ever encounter.
I agree with the above poster about the M1 – the carbine and Garand are both terrific rifles, and if you can get either for under $100, do it ASAP!
All great recommendations so far, but can I ask what you want the rifle for? Are you planning on just doing some target shooting, or is hunting going to be part of it?
SKS is a good idea, although I am hesitant precisely because I am not sure of the legality. An internet search give conflicting info, although it seems like it is ok as long as you use a smaller capacity magazine and no folding stock.
For these Russian-origin rifles, are there large quality differences between country of manufacture?
If you just want to do some target practice, I would highly suggest getting a bolt-action military surplus rifle for the following reasons:
All bolt-action military surplus rifles are built well.
Most bolt-action military surplus rifles are pretty cheap.
Since it’s a military rifle, it will be chambered for a military caliber. This means there’s a good chance you’ll be able to buy military surplus ammo for it, which is usually pretty cheap.
You will probably burn through a lot less ammo with a bolt-action rifle vs. a semi-automatic, which means the former will be cheaper to shoot.
You’ll likely be shooting a rifle with historical significance.
All else being equal, a bolt-action rifle is more accurate than a semi-auto.
All else being equal, a bolt-action rifle is more reliable than a semi-auto.
Yes, but I am not current on what those are. Also there are production changes from time to time. At the time I bought my SKS (must be 12 yr ago anyway) the Norinco (chinese) factory had just switched from a mostly machined trigger assembly to a stamped steel one. The older version was said to be superior, so I had to do some hunting to find one. Consult a cheap firearms oriented discussion board for the current dope. (note that there are a lot of firearm snobs who will heap scorn on anyone who shoots “that china crap”)
If you are of average or taller height, the stock will probably be undersized for you, so budget for a replacement stock (many options, and none expensive) Even if not too small, the chinese stocks tended to look like hell, and break easilly…in fact you could often get good deals on new guns with stocks that didn’t survive the importation trip.
Crafter Man nailed it as usual, but I want to ask another question. What kind of target shooting? Just plinking at some milk jugs full of water, or 1000 yard military shoots?
After all, guns are tools, and like with anything else, there are right ones and wrong ones for the job.
[li]Something bigger than a 22, as I stand to inherit a glut of them someday. Preferrably a non-obscure caliber, so that the ammo is affordable.[/li][/QUOTE]
Skip the Moisin-Nagant. They kick like a mule. I have put maybe 15 rounds through mine. Too painful…gimme the Garand any day. There are lots of surplus military rifles on the market. Find a Turner’s Sporting Goods near you and go shopping. Most of the stuff they put out on the floor is garbage, but you can occasionally find something worthwhile. Or start frequenting gun shows.
O.K., here’s my advice: get a K31. It’s a Swiss bolt-action military rifle. I’ve shot them on numerous occasions. I love 'em.
Reasons for getting one:
They’re very cheap ($110 to $200).
Field reports indicate they’re very accurate.
It has a straight pull. (This is very rare for a bolt-action.)
The trigger is awesome.
The machining of the bolt and receiver is incredible; it’s built like a Swiss watch. I read somewhere that it would cost over $2000 to have a machine shop make one today.
Surplus ammunition is available. The round is comparable to a .30-06. Even though it is surplus ammo, it is match-grade (or very close to it).
Internal magazine.
Stripper clips are available.
The rifle is beautiful, IMO.
There’s only one disadvantage to the K31: the ammo is a little pricy. But then again, it is close to match-grade. Furthermore, it’s a bolt-action rifle, so you probably won’t shoot a lot of ammo during a session, anyway. So in reality it’s a non-issue.
Oh, I forgot to mention another disadvantage of the K31: they really weren’t designed to accommodate a scope. But who needs a scope? Just use the iron sights. (If you ever did want to scope it, at least one company makes a special scope mount for it.)
The first article says most of the K31 stocks are in poor condition. Don’t worry about this. Yea, they have small scratches & dents. But they’re still 100% functional.
Thanks, that’s very good advice. I will now consider the K31, which is something I had only vaguely heard of before today. I’d have to research ammo prices though. Looks like it might go down to 35c/rd in bulk?
WRT to the Mosin-Nagant, are the M1938 and 1944 carbines similar in quality to the full length models? I’d imagine they sacrifice some accuracy for size, but are they otherwise ok?
What are those my only choices? At a range most likely, probably no more than 100 yards.
Keep in mind that the K31 is primarily intended for surplus rifle aficionados. It is truly a “rifleman’s rifle.” Not to sound pompous, but do you fancy yourself being a rifleman someday? In other words, do you foresee rifle shooting as being a serious hobby of yours? If not - and all you want to do is plink - I would not get the K31… I would get a .22 LR bolt action rifle. A .22 is impressively accurate over short distances, and is *incredibly * cheap to shoot.
At a range most likely, probably no more than 100 yards.