Help me decide on a Rifle?

[Guns-R-cool]

Hello Ladies and Gents,

I am new here and I am happy to be here. I have been lurking for a couple of weeks. This is an awesome site. I am in my 30's and familar with weapons of all kinds, but I never owned my own until now.

So basically I wanted to ask for some opinions before I get my first rifle. I already own a 9mm. (Cheap little thing). That I bought at a gun show last fall. Shot it once and put it in the closet because it's crap. What a shame.

Anyways, There is another gun show coming to town on labor day weekend and I want to get ready for it. First off cost is important. I think I will able to spend about $500 or so. Hahaha. I know, not much.

I have looked around and I think I want something that has some history to it. Like the M1 garand, and the 1903 springfield. Which one would you all recomend? Also what should I look out for at the gun show? I do not want to get ripped off. Thanks in advance.

 

[CTD99]

Welcome to THR (Like I have any business being on the welcome wagon. )

Us newbies got to stick togeather.

What are you shooting?

 

[Guns-R-cool]

Besides the 9mm handgun, My friend has a 30-30 rifle that we took out in the woods a few weeks ago. It was a lever action rifle kind of like the old western movie ones. It was loud. Made me want a rifle of my own.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Welcome aboard.

If old military rifles are your thing, then you're in luck. You can buy some outstanding military rifles for probably less than what you paid for your unfortunate 9mm.

(minor sidenote: what was this junk brand? Bryco? Jennings? At least in the future you can always come here to read reviews before buying.)

Just a few examples of outstanding affordable military rifles:

--Moisin Nagant 91/30, M44 carbine, and variants: bolt-action Russian-issue military rifles, used from 1891 to the Vietnam war. Can be found as low as $75 with a little looking (sometimes even lower), almost never over $250 unless it's a really rare variant.

--Mausers: come in many makes and nationalities. The ones that come in 8mm are very common, and again very affordable. Maybe $90 for Turkish and a little more for some of the Eastern European ones. 8mm ammo is still ridiculously affordable when bought in bulk.

--M1 Garand: available as low as $350 or through the non-profit Civilian Marksmanship Program, www.odcmp.com

Someone will be along shortly to post links to the dozens of online sellers who carry mil-surplus rifles. You can have them delivered to your local gun dealer, and pay him a $20 fee (called an "FFL fee") to do the paperwork for you, or you can get a Curio & Relics license from the ATF so that firearms over 50 years old can be mailed directly to your home.

Those are just a few suggestions for where to start looking. You can run a Search on this forum for any of the above, and get zillions of discussions covering all the details. But don't be afraid to post more questions if there's something you don't get. HINT: the more detailed the title of your post, the better answers you get. i.e.: "Need help fixing gun" = BAD "My 1895 Winchester won't feed reliably" = GOOD.

Welcome aboard,

-MV

 

[Guns-R-cool]

Thanks MatthewVanitas,

That was a most informative post. Lots of good info. Yeah, I have been to the cmp website checking out the inventory. Just weighing the pro's and con's of the differnces between the older rifles. There is a range up the road from me that has all kinds of old rifles to rent. I might have to shoot a couple before I decide what to buy. Guns are so cool.

The brand of 9mm I own is "high-point" firearms. Bought it for $120 bucks. And can't hit anything accurate at 25 ft. Just crap. I want to get rid of it, but I will keep it in the closet until I can replace it. Better than nothing if there is a SHTF scenario.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

A note on the Hi-Points: yes, they're an inexpensive brand of firearms, and pretty low-tech, but a lot of knowledgeable folks who own them say that they're not bad for the price (and lifetime warranty).

If the gun were unreliable, I'd say that's _really_ bad. But if you're just having trouble with accuracy, maybe the gun just isn't a good fit for you.

Might want to have a few friends try it out and see if one of them is a good fit for it. If some friend of yours shoots it well, he'll probably give you $120 for it, so long as it feeds reliably.

Unless there's something messed up inside the barrel, a Hi-Point should be quite accurate, mechanically speaking, since is is a blowback system with the barrel fixed in position.

Just a few ideas. Good luck in your search for surplus. Here's a link or two:

http://www.classicarms.us/

http://www.empirearms.com/

http://www.jgsales.com/

-MV

 

[hso]

I think I will able to spend about $500 or so.
I have looked around and I think I want something that has some history to it. Like the M1 garand, and the 1903 springfield.

Good luck at the gun show. I'm a milsurp fan and have been refining my collection for years. Be on the lookout for rust, broken stocks, pitted barrels. Look up the years of production and the manufacturer's names. Be certain that you're avoiding questionable heat treats and non-military makers with this information. Get a bore snake for 30.06 and a small flashlight so that you can snake the bore a couple of times and check for damage. $500 M1 Garands are getting scarce, but folks have been lucky enough to find them lately. Springfields and P17s are easier, but bores often are in worse shape. European bolt guns are more readily available at reasonable prices than any U.S. milsurp. Russians very much so. The Swiss guns are brilliant in spite of odd ammo. I even like AKs and for $500 you can get a nicer gun than the Romaks (although they do run). In any milsurps you look for much the same thing, clean shiney sharp bores and unbroken stocks.

 

[Guns-R-cool]

Thanks again. That "classicarms" link has some good stuff at good prices and it was so funny reading about his using his new computer's cd drive as a cup holder. Hahaha. That was a good laugh.

I can't wait until paidday and the gun show....

 

[longhorngunman]

For your first rifle, and to have one for the ages I don't think you can go wrong with an M1 Garand. Awesome design and function and so much history, how can you go wrong. Unless you get real lucky forget getting a good deal on the M1 at the funshow. The CMP will be your best bet. A good condition rifle with a crisp bore (service grade) for $550 will easily top a $1000 at most gunshows. This is the time to get one as they are starting to get low. While your waiting on that M1 to come in get a cheap .22 rifle and a couple bricks of ammo and develop your shooting skills. Lot's of practice with a .22 will help your skills develop even when shooting big bore rifles. BTW welcome, glad to have you here!

 

[MatthewVanitas]

If you have $500, I'd vote to buy a Rack Grade M1 Garand from CMP for $350. They're worn but serviceable, and you can always upgrade them and fine tune them down the road. A rebarrel to .308 (which is only a hair less powerful than the original 30-06, and far cheaper and more plentiful) may be in order after you've held onto it for a while.

Either that or a $100 Mauser or Nagant. Go ahead and fondle them at a gunshow, but you'll have to look pretty sharp to make sure you're getting a good deal.

longhorngunman is also dead-on: you can buy a brand-new Marlin 60 for $100 ($50 used in a pawnshop), or a new Ruger 10/22 for $150. Those are in .22LR, and a brick of _500_ rounds of .22 will set you back $7.

If you really want to learn how to shoot, make sure you have at least one .22 rifle, and shoot the heck out of it! All the basic skills you need to fire the big rifle can be practiced on the .22 for a penny a shot.

-MV

 

[Eightball]

If you've qualified for the CMP, get a Garand. Only reason I haven't yet is that my college campus is within 2 hours distance of Camp Perry, and I'm wanting a Handpicker . Otherwise, they're expensive.

SKS=fun gun. k98=Awesome fun gun, as does M1891/30 ($70 gun, cheap ammo). Since it'd be your first, if you forget some important maintenance points, and it rusts into nothing, you won't be out anything special--but they're built like tanks. Those would be my recommendations--just watch your barrels and actions (a search would turn up many results on what to look for, depending on what gun you're looking for).

Happy hunting at the funshow.