Need Help Choosing a Rifle

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Pharley

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Have been looking for a rifle to add to my collection, and have seen .223's range from $1,800 automatic to a $300 bolt style. I definitely want a semi-automatic, or possibly with a 3 round burst. Bushmaster seems to be the most advertised in my area, and have looked at a couple others, like the Mini-14 and a ranch model.

What are some suggestions for a quality semi-auto rifle other than Bushmaster, Arma-Lite, etc....looking for a less expensive model, but a quality and raliable and accurate model, preferrably with a 10+ magazine capacity.

Rifle also does not necessarliy have to be a .223, just magazine fed with a capacity of 10 or better.

Thanks for any help.
Rob
 
I wouldn't suggest a mini-14. I've heard from many people that they are not very accurate, unless you pour money into it to make it shoot semi-straight. Stay away of them.

Bushmaster makes quality products at affordable prices. An AR-15 clone from them will be sufficiant, but there's another .223 out there by Bushmaster that is, in most cases, more accurate and has a bettery velocity than the AR-15 they offer. Have you looked into the Bushmaster M17S? Cheaper than the AR-15, and a bit unique.
ibus2.jpg

The gun is only 30 or so inches long, but the barrel is 21 and a half of it! The bullpup design is nice for that reason. Compact and very well balanced. Here's a picture compared to an AR-15.
The link below shows you a size comparison of an AR-15 and an M17.
http://angcobraw.tripod.com/m17ar15.jpg

Here's a link to see some specifics of the M17.
http://world.guns.ru/assault/as19-e.htm

Now, if bullpups arn't what you're into, then you can go ahead and get an AR-15. But why is your choices limited to just the .223? You know, you can find some FN-FAL clones for cheaper, and they have 5, 10, 20, and 30 round clips. The .308 round is stronger and is nearly as cheap as the .223. They go from 400 dollars for some Century models, to 800-900 dollars for the DSA models. I suggest saving your money for a DSA, they're the best on the market. Can't be beat. They come in carbine types, paratrooper types, full fledged rifle types, and can have any number of paintjobs done. I'm planning on buying a DSA FAL this april.

Link for FAL specs.
http://world.guns.ru/assault/as24f-e.htm

A hot chick holding a very hot gun. NOTE: Took the picture out and provided a link, they pictures are a bit too large to be placed.
http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=722
Various DSA FALs.
FAL.DSA.NRA05A.jpg
 
Have been looking for a rifle to add to my collection, and have seen .223's range from $1,800 automatic to a $300 bolt style. I definitely want a semi-automatic, or possibly with a 3 round burst. Bushmaster seems to be the most advertised in my area, and have looked at a couple others, like the Mini-14 and a ranch model.
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Well, when I was looking into a semi-auto .223, I noticed the same thing. I opted for the Mini-14, although sometimes I kinda wish I'd got the Mini-14 Ranch instead, or maybe one of each so I could outfit them with better sights and/or scope easier. BTW, I bought mine back in Y2K, so that was before they made this last round of improvements on sights and a couple of other things. (Don't be surprised if this thread goes 50-50 between advise and bashing/defending the Mini-14 as it happens quite often.) Good dependable Mini-14 mags can be had too in 10, 20, and 30 round capacities, but most brands is a crap shoot with emphasis on crap. I'm thinking Butler Creek is making plastic Mini-14 mags now, but I haven't bought one and tried it yet.

I would recommend you also do look into a good bolt action rifle.

When you get into the 3rd burst or full auto, you're getting into another class of weapons and not only does the price of the weapon increase drastically, so does the ammo bill. This is just me, but I don't see myself rolling da-switch over that often to justify spending the extra money over what a regular semi-auto costs. That's a question you have to ask yourself.

What are some suggestions for a quality semi-auto rifle other than Bushmaster, Arma-Lite, etc....looking for a less expensive model, but a quality and raliable and accurate model, preferrably with a 10+ magazine capacity.
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USGI M1 Garand, but that's .30-06 with 8rd en bloc clip. I like mine.

Springfield Armory Inc. M1A, caliber .308Winchester. Takes 20rd M-14 mags.

Ruger Mini-14 in either version. Comes with factory 5rd mag, but takes 10rd, 20rd, and 30rd aftermarket mags some of which, as I said earlier, are better than others.

Rifle also does not necessarliy have to be a .223, just magazine fed with a capacity of 10 or better.
Click to expand...
 
Other .223 semi-auto rifles in the price range from $200 to $2000:

AR 180
Kel Tec SU16
Saiga .223 and other .223 AKs
H&K SL6 and SL8

Do a search on this site for these rifles - lots of opinions abound. I wouldn't spend too much time thinking about the 3-round burst unless you got deep pockets.
 
fal would be good

but i have heard from some people that the barrel gets hot pretty fast so if i got one i would get it with a heavy barrel. the m-14 is a good clasic rifle, it is very reliable, has decent accuracy, and if you want you could buy one with selective fire. for a really good semi auto m-14 i would get the springfield loaded standard.
 
Art is right, Full auto, or 3-shot-burst for that matter is Class III and will require you to jump up into the 5 figure prices. If your the only sherrif of a lonley little town then maybe you could work something out for cheaper.
 
My wife just built her first AR-15 and it was fairly easy. If you went with standard black, a Stag Arms lower with a "Model 1 Sales" kit, the gun can run as little as $550, depending on the kit configuration and the price of the stripped lower. If I ever decide on another AR-15, I'll build my next one, too.
 
Olympic olyarms.com makes decent ARs for a lower price.

Just go ahead and get an AR if you want a .223, you'll get one eventually anyway, why mess around? :p
 
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I wouldn't suggest a mini-14. I've heard from many people that they are not very accurate, unless you pour money into it to make it shoot semi-straight. Stay away of them.
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See what I mean? I've had a real good time with my Mini-14 and so have many others I've heard from, yet somebody says "I heard they're bad, so they must be bad." Somebody's liable to say I do the same thing about the AR-15, but I'll tell you straight up, history and direct gas impingement aside, I don't like the look, feel, or ergonomics of the AR, but then, I like the Garand type actions and wood stocks, so there you go. And I haven't noticed the problems with my Mini-14 I've heard from all the detractors.

Some people sound like this one guy my Daddy used to work with... if somebody nuked some microwave cheese the guy was like "is it real cheese or artificial cheese?". If somebody came in with MacDonalds he was like "you couldn't pay me to eat that". Next night (3rd shift) the guy sits down and eats two Big Macs. What's this have to do with guns? Some people just like to talk down about stuff just to talk it down. The gun shop "experts" I was dealing with tried for six months to sell me an AR-15. They tried to use the alleged difference in accuracy to get me to spend more money. I never would buy one because I didn't like 'em. They finally shut up about the AR-15 when I bought a Mini-14.

In my opinion, I still recommend either the Mini-14 if it must be .223, or the M-14/M1A which is a lot more rifle.
 
The problem with the mini is the big fat ramp front site I think, that just doesn't lend to accurate shootinging at range. With a scope this makes no dif.


I recomend an AK action .223. You can get them cheap and they can be tuned up into moa shooters. Besides, everyone knows AK's are badass.:evil: and the most reliable action ever.
 
mndfusion said:
The problem with the mini is the big fat ramp front site I think, that just doesn't lend to accurate shootinging at range. With a scope this makes no dif.


I recomend an AK action .223. You can get them cheap and they can be tuned up into moa shooters. Besides, everyone knows AK's are badass.:evil: and the most reliable action ever.
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I think you're right about that ramp front sight. As thick as it is, it's probably worth about 3-4 MOA of windage. If a replacement could be had in that height, but thinner, I think it'd be worth a lot. I tried one of those Eagle flash hiders with the H&K style front sight- it was a finer sight picture, but it's not the right height and I don't like that circle around it as well as the original Mini-14 ramp front. Of course, I like the Garand's front sight a lot better and wish I could get one like that on it.

The AK action... now those are the ones Kalashnikov himself said you could throw a handfull of sand in there and it'll still run. I'm not familiar with tuning on the AK though, so I can't comment there.
 
I have a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle with a 3-9X scope. Plenty of fun to shoot. Never had a failure to feed with a variety of 30rd mags. The rifling twist rate is fairly fast and the lighter bullets in the 50-55gr range never shot very accurately. Handloads with 70gr were much more accurate. The M1A is much more rifle, but .223 surplus ammo is really cheap!
 
mountainclmbr said:
I have a Mini-14 Ranch Rifle with a 3-9X scope. Plenty of fun to shoot. Never had a failure to feed with a variety of 30rd mags. The rifling twist rate is fairly fast and the lighter bullets in the 50-55gr range never shot very accurately. Handloads with 70gr were much more accurate.
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My Mini is a 1:9 twist and does a lot better with 68gr BTHP's handloaded to run 2400fps as per Hornady's 5th Edition manual than it will with M193 ball.
 
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