.22lr vs .223/308 Help!

[mindwip]

Out of a 16 inch barrel which bullet is better at killing bears?? Joking!!

My real question is what rifle to buy next a .22lr or a .308. Duo to me getting/gotten some certifications i have been working on for some time Comptia A+, EMT Basic, NRA Pistol Instructor i want to reward my self and what better way then to get a new gun!

But i am stuck on which one to get, heres my parameters. A cap of around $500 dollars for the rifle. If i get a 22lr i am thinking i will get the Marlin model 60 22lr. Its perfect for CA because its the only legal "hi-cap" you can own being tube feed. But i would want to get the older model that holds 18rds and not the new one that holds 14 rounds. Cost seems to be $150-200 (used/new dont care). well with in my budget and with enough left over to buy a scope and scope mount. If i had to get the 14rd model i would get the Model 60SB with the walnut stock. Did they make a Model 60sb in the 18rd version?

The .223/308 rifle would be a Saiga 16inch version. Again its one of the only legal rifles for CA that does not have to be torn apart just to function with a detachable mag. I actually like the Saiga and they seem to be a good buy all the way around. The reason for the .223/308 is i am not sure which one to get. I already own a 30-06 rifle my Garand and a 30.cal rifle my M1 Carbine, and would like to keep the "30" standard i seem to have going. But when looking at prices for ammo the .308 cost so much, the .223 seems a better deal, the rifle is cheaper too and easyer to find.

Right now with moving out to a new place i will be short on money for awhile hence the worry about cost so much. While the guns price matters its the ammo that kills you, and with the .22lr you can shoot all day for the price of a movie! But an AK with 308 big boom sounds good too. Help!!

So what do you think? And no i cant buy both...well not right now i cant...

 

[ThomasT]

It sounds like you need to figure out weather you want to shoot all day for cheap or hear a big boom when the rifle goes off.

Marlin 60s are fun. And Accurate. With $500.00 bucks you could get the rifle, scope and a lot of ammo. You can find more places to shoot because you don't need as much room for a 22.

I think its a toss up on the 223 or the 308. The 223 is a little cheaper. The bad part about a semi auto is that they chunk your brass away. There is a renewed interest in handloading these days because of high ammo prices. The case is the most expensive part of the cartridge.

 

[go_bang]

Get the 22. Everyone needs at least one 22 rifle. They're cheap to shoot, fun to shoot, and always handy for dispatching varmints at close range.

 

[Squidward]

"If i get a 22lr i am thinking i will get the Marlin model 60 22lr. Its perfect for CA because its the only legal "hi-cap" you can own being tube feed. But i would want to get the older model that holds 18rds and not the new one that holds 14 rounds. Cost seems to be $150-200 (used/new dont care). well with in my budget and with enough left over to buy a scope and scope mount".

You answered your own question... have fun!

 

[bensdad]

Marlin Model 60!!!

Anyone who does not yet have a Marlin 60 should go out and get one right now. There is no finer plinking gun in the land. Never has been. Never will be. Every home in America should have one. Or two.

 

[goon]

I'd go with the .22.
After having owned a whole lot of guns, I'm swinging back toward rimfires and planning to get another one next week.
$500 should get you a pretty good rifle and about 6K of .22LR ammo. I'd go for that.
Actually, as I said, I am going for that.

BTW - during my childhood we had four .22's in the house, three rifles and a revolver.
The .22 rifles were hands down the most used guns we had. There was always one next to the kitchen door with a box of ammo on top of the refridgerator. It was the first choice for dispatching snakes and pests or for eliminating the rabbits that were hellbent on decimating my mom's garden (I was usually the shooter because I was a stealthy little SOB).
A close second was a 12 gauge - it sat on the other side of the kitchen door and there were a handful of shotshells next to the .22 ammo on the fridge. It was preferred for those times when you thought to yourself "That raccoon is out in the daylight, acting strange, and it just looks mean. I better shoot it with a BIG gun!"
And FYI, my 60 year old dad who's been hunting for nearly 50 of those years still keeps a .22 rifle and some ammo where he can get to them fast. When a man with that experience makes a decision, a young man with my meager experience needs to stop and ask himself"Why?"

My dad didn't get to be that old by being stupid.

 

[cpttango30]

Oh man get yourself a Mossberg M44US for about $300 to $400. Old yes but they shoot like a laser beam. They are 22lr. so they are cheap and the most fun you can have with cloths on.

 

[mainebear]

Oh go get the 22. Great enjoyment, little cost. You will find that you will enjoy it so much you'll need another, and another, and another, and so on.......

 

[General Geoff]

Seeing that you already have a few centerfire rifles, I'd also recommend getting the .22.

 

[Dave3220]

Get the .22 LR!

Using your $500 cap as rule of thumb, I got a used 10-22 and a Clark barrel as well as a Powers scope base that extends fwd. of the reciever and fastens to the barrel as well as the receiver. (6 screws total---SOLID).
Swapped a laminated stock from a Ruger "Target" 10-22 that shot groups "minute of banties-egg" @ 50 yds. (What a disapointment

The new set-up is the most fun I have had with rifles in over 50 years of shooting!
It will put 10 shots well within a postage stamp @50 yds. (Hi-Speed Win. Power-Point h.p.'s at that...)
From a rest I can break clay pigeons @ 200 yds 1-2-3-, and then go back and shoot the broken chips.
I don't have to reload ammo or pick up brass, cost is as low as it's going to get.

I used to shoot groundsquirrels w/ .22 K-Hornets, but they are for sale now, and I have found what for ME is THE .22LR rimfire rifle. (I've had M-52's, Anshutzes, CZ-452's, Norinco J-24's, Maritini & Haenel target rifles,e tc...Some solid, accurate rimfires over the years....)

Areas you can shoot or hunt are diminishing, even out here in the sticks where the nearest town (Republic) is only pop. 1,000.
The city complaints move in and build McMansions, raise the taxes, bi--- about everything, (call the sheriff's office to complain about shooting OFTEN), ...and then move out in a few years when the distance to the mall and the winters gets to them.
If I shoot std. vel. like CCI's nifty new 40 gr. Sub-Sonic h.p.'s(especially!), or even hi-speeds, there is so little noise that I am still welcome many places that would be closed to center-fires.
Even an old man wiht mild cataract in his shooting eye can get hits on digger squirrels @ 150 yds. (by LRF), and one shot kills regularly @ 125 to 135 yds. with an accurate .22LR. (This far, we don't seem to do any better with .22WMR. Go figure)

About a year ago I bought 8 cases of cheap CCI Blazer )for the old price", for myself and one or two others, and I just got two cases of the CCI Sub-Sonic "for serious".
While I really like .22WMR, it IS pricey, even if you buy by the case on clsoe out like when PMC went under for awhile, but I am still shooting some I bought 3 cases of 35 years ago for aroudn $2 a box or less, so they last.
WMR DOES make more noise as well, and with it, you need a good pellet rifle or .22LR anyways so as to be able to afford practice.

If the teo-whatever comes around, (as it eventually must...), you won't want to be doing your subsistance hunting or pest shooting with something that can be heard literally MILES away.
A .22 w/ std. vel. ammo, or mebbe even a good suppressor would be a much better choice for ME, anyways, than AK/AR etc. in much of what I am still able to hunt or places I am able to shoot on.
And with the best large cap. magazines like Tactical Innovations or Volquartsen, it becomes a viable defence rifle/caliber.
(Think what caliber/rifle you could have used if you were dealing w/ Katrina. You could shoot predators/scavengers and not be spotted. And a pucture anywhere's in a predeator that is wading thru, let's face it, sewage and nature and natural selection will take it's course within 2 or 3 days, even from an inconsequential wound...)

Also, .22LR is probably the last rifle caliber ammo we will be "allowed" to buy, or caliber rifle we shall be allowed to possess & transport, once the control-freak fascists really tighten things up. (Defeatist thoughts? Mebbe, but surely pragmatic ones...)

Remember that the primary advantage of lower noise levels is that NO one calls the uniformed authority figures to complain about shots that they do NOT hear.

Dave3220

 

[glockman19]

I'm looin gfor a .22LR too. I have a Ruger 10/22 and will pick up a Ruger Mark III Hunter today. I would like a Marlin too.

I am lookin at Marlin model 981T bolt action tube fed .22. It shoots .22 Short, long, & LR. It can be bought for $150 -$200. I also like the model 39A. It is closer to $500.

 

[rangerruck]

If you do not yet have a 22, you really don't know what you are missing, plus since the mod 60 is "hi cap' so to speak, you can do a little cqb training with it, especially if you get an old 795 or 7000 version, with the mags for it.
the hicap types were made up through 1988, and the most desirable were made 85 to 88, becuase in 85' , they introduced the last shot hold open, and the bolt release lever. I am not sure they made an ss version in hicap, I suppose it is possible they were made prior to 89', but I am not sure, I would not hold my breath. Now then, the 70 papoose was def made in ss, and it was made to work with after market mags, and it has the shorter bbl, and if you can find one marked HC on the outside of the carry bag, that means it came with a 15 or is it 25 round mag!!!!! the absolute best. Plus even if you cant find a HC model, you can get the 15 round marlin mags from E gun parts, and you can also find the 25 round mags floating around as aftermarket made. There is a place out of Arizona called Hard To Find, Mags and Clips, that carries them.
But if you have to have a tube fed, then mod 60 it is!!!! you will proly have to go to a gunshop to find the ones with the longer tubes, they should be on models with 22 inch bbls, and the tube goes almost all the way to the end of the bbl, i mean within a 1/2 inch or closer, of it.

 

[ttinlv]

Definitely a .22

As has been stated, ammo is cheap cheap cheap cheap.
Did I mention that the ammo is really inexpensive

I, myself, have a Ruger 10/22. I did have to get a trigger job done on it right away. After firing my AR's, I'd pick up the 10/22, try to pull the trigger, but thought the safety was one. It was that hard to pull. Although I have a JP Enterprises trigger in on of the AR's, the other AR just has basic "gun-show" trigger parts. The stock 10/22 still had a very hard pull compared to those two. After the 'job'....rapid fire pulls....unload a 25rd magazine in a blink now.

10/22 parts are about 60-70% $$ that of the AR's. But as with anything, you can go obnoxiously extravegant.

 

[ttinlv]

how could you miss out on something like this, that doesn't cost a lot.

 

[mindwip]

Well it looks like a Model .22 will be the winner, now i just got to get all my certs in. Something to look forward to, and push me!


Been away for the last couple days and wanted to thank every one for there answers. Mags are great and all but my option is a 10rd mag vs 14 or 18 rd tube feed. The tube feed i only have to buy one, and mags i have to spend lots of money on for each one. So its a easy choice for me with no "hi-cap" mags allowed tube feed makes more sense. I also happen to like tube feed guns, i grew up shooting a 22 rifle that my dad taught me on (infact it might of been a marlin 60 or one of its offshoots, and he had it sense he was a kid) so i know tube feeds and like them. Though its been 7 years sense i shot one. And i love the shape of guns with no mags sticking down, hence the M1 love.


ttinlv what your talking about is imposable in CA it has way to many evil features

rangerruck I cant have mags for the gun, not worth it, not to mention i would be stuck at 10 rounds no if ands or butts. Hence why tube feed is the way to go for "me".

glockman19 the 39A does look good, I have shoot its cousin the Henry .22 model, but the 39A is at the end of my buget and i cant see my self getting a Lever over Semi in a 22. Not with the cost difference 500 vs 150. Also i think i will be doing a lot of shooting on the ground and it seems a lot easer to operate a semi on the ground.
Also good idea, a used Ruger Mark III might be in my budget too, 200-250 for the pistol and 150-200 for the rifle would cover all my 22 needs!

Dave3220, I live in the middle of a city/suburbia, so hunting is out for me from my back yard. By the time i drive out to were i can shoot on "free" land then i dont have to worry about noise. Hi cap mags for me are out and the other stuff i wont comment on as some of it is illegal, if not just in CA but at the Federal level. Not being mean just not going to say anything either.

Thanks for every ones help i knew i would be pushed in the right direction! And no Saiga recommendations wow!


ps cpttango30 i looked up the M44US and it looks like its mag feed, so its not for me. But thanks for the help!