[megatronrules]

I know this is a very broad question, but what rifle should i get? The way things are going in the world i feel i need a good rifle. I have no clue where to start. I know i dont care much for the AR-15 or the .223,no offense to anyone here. There are a lot of AK's out there at good prices. There are a lot of SKS's too. Then there are Enfields etc...
What would you guys get? I dont have a lot of money to spend. So even if I liked AR's they would be out of my price range. Im leaning toward an AK, realiable, cheap mags,ammo, parts etc...
I had an SKS but i sold it, i needed the money :( It was a nice gun and always worked. It had 10 rounds of course, but if you cant fix the problem with 10 rounds of 7.62 you are in big trouble;) IMHO. Then there are the Enfields. They are in 303 and 308 and seem really nice for the money. See my problem here?:mad:

I have a couple of good 12gauge pump shotguns, i figure with slugs i can take care of anything close to medium range with those. Lots of loads for a 12gauge out there.

Anyway what should i do? Cause I just dont know!
Thanks for assisting me here again.:D

[sasnofear]

if its just a fun gun go 4 AK if ur trying to do slightly serious target and fun gun work, then enfield

[Art Eatman]

sasnofear touched on one aspect: What do you think will be your primary use? Secondary?

If I'm on a limited budget, and have a primary interest in some sort of defense situation beyond shotgun range, I'd tend toward something like the Enfield or other older military bolt action. Quite a few are inexpensive and accurate, and use inexpensively-bought ammo. The Enfield also is quite good as a hunting rifle.

For skill development at low cost, an adjunct would be a bolt-action .22 rimfire rifle.

A person who really works on skill development with a cock-on-closing rifle can deliver aimed fire as rapidly as can someone with a semi-auto. (A British team with Enfields demonstrated this to some Garand-users, back before WW II.)

Art

[cratz2]

Well, I'm a big fan of Enfields so I can't recommend against them. But they cock on closing the bolt. Allows for great speed, but that trips a lot of people up - I'm still trying to get used to that. ;)

A reliable SKS and a case of 7.62x39 ammo can be had for a reasonable amount of money. Couln't recommend against that either.

Mosin Nagants, esp the carbines, seem to be everywhere these days. One of those, stripped and cleaned up a bit, and a bunch of ammo and you're good to deal with many possible social situations. May not be pretty, in fact, may be downright ugly, but still effective.

Keislers in southern Indiana had unissued M44s with accessories and 440 rounds of corrosive ammo for $88 last time I was down there. You can't beat that and at that price, everyone should have one. Or five!

http://www.kieslersonline.com/product/XLimages/XRUSSM44_XL.jpg

[Sir Galahad]

Try a Mosin Nagant. You'll like it. Ammo is cheap coming from AIM Surplus. The caveat is that you MUST clean VERY well after shooting. The ammo is corrosive. That goes for any military surplus rifle, too. Take a gander at the different Mausers that are around, too. AKs are ALWAYS my favorite and choice for semis.

[Deadman]

" One of those, stripped and cleaned up a bit, and a bunch of ammo and you're good to deal with many possible social situations. "

Hell the noise from a M-44 alone might be enough to scare 'em off. :p


I know I always seem to get more attention than normal when I've fired my M-44 at the range. :cool:

[Kahr carrier]

Get the AK cheap fun ,reliable if SHTF. :)

[cheygriz]

I love Enfields. I really do! Especially the No. 4 MK1*.

But if I had to make an either/or decision on a defensive weapon, it would be the AK clone, no question!

Theres got to be a reason that over 50 million of them were made, and over half of the world armed their soldiers with them.

Most of the so-called third world still uses some kind of AK as a primary military issue riflle.

They're as close as humanly possible to absolutely reliable, they're rugged as a tank, easy to maintain, easy to shoot well, and even if you never need it for serious social shooting, they're still lots of fun.

[goon]

I take it that you just mostly want to use it to shoot holes in pop cans. So the question is, how far away?
If you are talking 50-75yds, then the AK is cool.
The VEPR that I had would put 10 shots into a little over an inch at 100yds, but the SAR-1 would barely keep them on the paper.
I guess that there is a great variance.
But for your price, if you want to hit anything, I would go with an old C&R.
Mosin-Nagant, Mauser, Enfield, etc., they all rock.
Just beware that the 308 Enfields can be iffy on reliability.
I have a No7 jungle carbine. Basically an Ishy that was converted by Navy Arms to a jungle carbine. I had to replace the extractor spring on it, and I'm still not sure that it will be 100%.
It does seem better though.

[Handy]

Why not stay on the fence? Get a pump or lever gun.