Please educate me on rifles, and help me select one.

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Ninja42

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I am considering to get myself a rifle, but my knowledge of what to look for in a rifle is close to nothing. I do however know some of the features that this rifle need to have, and I have a clear idea of what I will be using it for, so I was hoping that any of you would spend a moment of your time to tell me what rifles I should be looking for.

I will primarily use this rifle for competitative long range target shooting and for home defence, so the rifle will obivously need to be rather accurate at longer distances.

The caliber must be either 6,5x55mm Swedish or 7,62x51mm NATO, as these rounds plus .223 Remmington are the only rounds permitted in the competitions that I hope to join. However, the .223 Remmington is too mild for my taste.

The rifle needs to be bolt action, as my rediciouls government has banned all semi-auto rifles apart from the mini-14, which I am quite sure is not what Im looking for. Also the rifle may not be able hold any more or any less than five rounds. For competition and legal reasons.

And last, I am on a budget. I dont mind spending money on something that is worth it, but I wont be able to afford anything super expensive any time soon. I guess that im looking for something that I can make rangeworthy for about 1000 USD, but the limit is not definite.

So, what kind of rifle am I looking for? The guy at the local gunshop was pretty sure that a Ruger model 77 would be right for me, but as far as I know they dont come in the calibers that Im looking for. Am I wrong?

EDIT: Also, if anyone has any general wisdom about bolt action rifles, especially regarding what I should look out for if I buy a used weapon, it would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
-Ninja42
 
Since this is a first rifle, I'd say go with a Remington 700. Very reliable, most places carry them, very common action.
 
Go to czusa.com and look at what they have in .308 (don't know if they chamber for the 6.5 swede). You can't find a better quality, more accurate rifle for the price. And the price will be well under 1000US
 
Got curious and checked for myself. They do make 550s in 6.5x55 but for competition you might want to look at the 550 Varmint in .308, longer barrel and heavier rifle. I think you could get either one new with a good scope for under $1000
 
I believe I'd change the program: No argument with your intended goal, but I'd get a medium-quality .22 rimfire and work on basic skills, first. You can always get into your program later on. But all that learning-curve stuff is far less costly with a .22 rimfire than with any centerfire.

Art
 
Many requirements, some conflicting. I'd get a Remington 700 too. However foro Home Defense the mini-14 would be a better setup.
 
I know I wrote home defence, but I really meant homeland defence. I am a member of the voulentary homeland guard (equivalent to your national guard I think), and I have access to an AR based 5,56mm carbine as well as a 7,62mm LMG. Ive also trained quite a bit with the 5,56mm rifle, but knowing how to put holes in a target with a gun is not the same as knowing anything about what to look for when buying one. And if my home ever comes under attack, I would rather defend it with a sword or a .38 revolver than a rifle, as I live in an apartment building. Fireing a rifle here, no matter the circumstances, would be completely irresponsible.

I am also aware that the weapons that I have acces to now is probably far better combat weapons than any bolt action rifle, however none of them offer me the thing I like best about shooting; the challenge of hitting targets from really far away with carefully placed shots.
 
CZ-550 in .308 Mucho bang for the buck.

Aside: Long range competition and home defense: :confused: Well anything is better than nothing but a rifle suitable for long range competition will be a bit unwieldy in any home.
 
Don't be shy; where are you and what makes of rifles are available there?

Do your rulers allow handloading?

What brands of amunition are available? Very important if you may not handload.

What ranges will you shoot at? "Long range" means different things to different people. To me, it is 800 to 1000 yards. 200 to 600 yards is mid-range.

Will you shoot under competition rules? They may specify sights allowed and a maximum rifle weight.
 
Savage 12 F/TR Precision Target Rifle if your price of $1000 is for rifle only, if you are trying to put together a complete setup including scope for 1000 good luck.
 
The Ruger is a fine choice, as is the Rem. 700, but the Remington has a nicer factory trigger. The other rifles mentioned here are fine choices also. Sometimes it comes down to a bit of luck.

We have both a Ruger M77 MkII (cal 7 mm Remington Express) and a Remington 700 (cal .308 Win) in my family and I would trust either without hesitation. You can always get an adjustable trigger for either rifle that will be easy to install if you want a superior trigger. Interestingly, our Ruger has a standard-weight barrel, and the Remington has a heavy "varmint" barrel. So far, the Ruger has shot the best groups, but both are sub MOA as measured at 200 yards on several occasions. The Ruger (used) plus a nice Leupold scope and Leupold rings, all together, was about 1000 USD. Our Rem 700 setup was around 2000 USD, but has a more exotic scope.
 
Jim Watson said:
Don't be shy; where are you and what makes of rifles are available there?

Do your rulers allow handloading?

What brands of amunition are available? Very important if you may not handload.

What ranges will you shoot at? "Long range" means different things to different people. To me, it is 800 to 1000 yards. 200 to 600 yards is mid-range.

Will you shoot under competition rules? They may specify sights allowed and a maximum rifle weight.
Click to expand...

I live in Denmark, northern Europe. I guess that most bolt action rifles are avaliable here if I am willing to travel to a gunshop that carries them, but the owner of my local gunshop is also this countrys largest importer of Ruger rifles, so his inventory is mostly limited to those.

And jup, the rulers allow handloading :D Other than that, there is a wide range of ammo avaliable in all sizes, shapes, loads and qualities, so I dont think that it will be a problem to find neither cheap practice ammo or good ammo for precision shooting. I dont know remember exactly what brands of ammo the gun store carry though, as I normally use surplus ammo, but Federal and Magtech are definitely amongst the more popular brands that I remember seeing at the range.

Longe range competition shooting is at 600 meters, or about 650 yards. And yeah, I will be shooting under competition rules, but I must admit that I cannot remember the exact limits on the rifles dimentions and weight. The rules I do remember is that the rifle needs to have a magazine capacity of exactly 5 rounds, and the caliber needs to be either .223 remmington, 6,5mm swedish, or 7,62x51mm NATO (It shis the same round as the .308 win?). I will check up on those rules before I buy.

Thanks for your replies btw :)
 
I cannot pick a rifle for you, I do not know the rules and procedures and even if I did, am probably not expereinced in that event. Ask and look at those already doing it there.

I think I would choose the 6.5x55. I have seen good accuracy from surplus ammunition and in handloaded match ammunition for a modern rifle stronger than a Norwegian Krag or Swedish Mauser, 6.5 has some advantage over .308.

The .308 Winchester is supposed to be the commercial equivalent of 7.62x51 NATO, but there are some differences due to military requirements for automatic fire with low quality ammunition in hot dirty weapons. Nearly all bolt action target rifles will be to .308 specifications. There are people who will tell you not to interchange them.

I have not seen 7.62 military ammunition suitable for serious target shooting (except for what is provided to snipers) so that does not matter much. You would need handloaded or factory match ammunition to do well.
 
Step one is to attend a competition and ask the competitors what they use. Different games call for different equipment, so what we use in the States might be inappropriate for you in Denmark. There may be rules that limit weight, sights, overall length, and so on, that we don't know about. Another issue might be rapid fire -- if you have a rapid fire event, you need a clip slot on your rifle so you can reload quickly and save your time for shooting.

Step two is to get some of the competitors to let you shoot their rifles -- or at least handle them.

Step three is to enlist a few competitors to advise you -- they know their game better than we do.

Personally, if I wanted a long-range bolt gun, and was on a budget, I'd go with a Savage in the appropriate configuration.
 
Art Eatmen's suggestion makes a lot of sense, if you take a moment to think about it.

Speaking PERSONALLY, I liked the Winchester Model 70, a bolt action rifle, which in a couple of calibers (30-06 and .308 Win) I used for many years. Alas Winchester has gone the way of al flesh, their plant being closed.

As to center fire rifles, take a close look at Savage. This is not a knock directed at CZ or Remington, I had a Remington 40X Rangemaster in .308 caliber for quite a while. It was very accurate, though these days, if still available, much higher priced.

Savage has made good rifles for many years, they still do, and their prices appear to be lower than others. They are worth a look.
 
Well, a long ranged, high powered rifle and home defense do not necessarily mix in my opinion......however, it sounds like from your requirements that you will be pretty happy with a Remington 700 in .308 Winchester. A very good rifle overall and a common caliber. In .308 you can buy pretty much any kind of load you might ever desire to use, and you can get cheaper target ammunition for range work.
 
You want a target .308 bolt action for home defense? Sounds like you need two guns. (nothing wrong with that :)) But yes a Remington 700 would be great for target shooting, and for home defense a Mini-14 would be excellent or even a 30-30 lever action, PC and fast shooting and lots of punch.
 
Well, home defence is perhaps not the term I was looking for. I am aware that shooting a rifle inside my apartment will endanger a lot of poeple unintentionally, and that the rifle itself might not be the best choice of weapon against an attacker that close.

The idea was that my range rifle would double as an SHTF gun for medium to long ranges, while my CZ SP-01 or the .357 revolver that want for christmas would be the weapon of choice for close range defence. And yes, the mini-14 does seem like a good weapon for the job, but as I will be limited to 5 round magazines I think that I would be better prepared if I optimized my weapons accuracy instead. Unless of course I could accuraize the mini for a reasonable price.
 
Well, you will get a lot of people saying that Mini-s are inaccurate and the older ones can be, the new ones are made with all new tooling and can routinely group 2 MOA with no problem they don't fit this stereotype. Plus a muzzle-brake ($25) or accu-strut ($70) will tighten this down even more to 1.5 MOA or even 1 MOA with good ammo.

Why would you be limited to 5 round magazines? A state thing?
 
Ninja42,
My CZ 550 is 6.5x55, 5 rd. mag., fully adjustable trigger and has the set trigger, too. Considerably less than $1k US. Extremely accurate and ammo should be very easy for you to come by in your neighborhood from Norma or others. This cartridge is very responsive to handloading and easy to load, too. Great quality components available. Especially match quality projectiles.

Hope this is helpful.

Poper
 
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