Rifle for dummies

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Squidward

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I'm interested in buying a rifle for SD and range practice. I do not have alot of knowledge or tools, so I'm looking for a rifle that is reliable, has few parts and easy to work on if something breaks. I intend to leave it in stock condition. I'm open minded as to caliber, but I am thinking .223 or 7.62X39.

Money is always a factor, but If something fits the bill I'm willing to spend some cash. Any advise that you can offer is greatly appreciated.
 
Get your self an AR

I think an AR 15 or some variant there of. I have a bushmaster CAR-15. Great fun to shoot, reliable, accurate enough for me. Plus there are tons of parts and mags to be had. They are fairly easy to maintain too. Most AR's will handle a wide range of bullet weights and types. Plus for versitility, you can always switch the upper (a .22 LR converson). If you look you can find them fairly inexpensive, especialy used, and ammo is not that much.
Hope that helps a little.
Fred
 
Oi Freddy, he's in CA, so that changes things.

Two main affordable options for you:

SKS: 7.62x39mm, dead-reliable and easy to work on if you so choose. Most actual stores in CA charge silly prices for them, so you're best off buying one online and having it shipped to a CA FFL dealer. Go to www.gunsamerica.com and use their "FFL Finder" to find the best price for FFL in your area.

Bear in mind that the most common cheap SKS these days (Yugo 59/66) have grenade launchers, so aren't CA legal. You want to find a Yugo 59, or any of the Romanian/Albanian/Russian/Chinese-Norinco SKS out there. Russians are a bit pricey, but you should be able to find a CA-legal SKS for under $200 on GunBroker, AuctionArms, GunsAmerica, etc. Tack on $15 for shipping and $25 for FFL transfer, but you don't have to pay sales tax on it.

Kel-Tec SU-16CA: Run a THR Search on this model, lots of reviews written up. I've seen them as low as $475 or so in SoCal last year. CA-legal, but accepts AR-15 magazines, .223 caliber. Vaguely a combination of AR and AK concepts put into a CA-legal package. I'd skip the A and B models and go right to the CA model.

That's about the size of it until you get up to around $1000 or so, unless you want to count the M1 Carbine, or semi-auto hunting rifles. Good luck in your search,

-MV
 
There is a number of modified M59/66 rifles as well. The grenade launchers were removed and replaced with CA legal muzzle devices.
 
Ya' know, if he doesn't have any experience with rifles, I might point him in the direction of a lever action .30-30, either a Marlin 336 or Winchester 94. The Marlin is especially easy to field strip and clean, and about as simple as a centerfire rifle is going to be, in both construction and manual of arms.
 
Not to bust your brass, Sistema, but I'm always leery of steering newbies towards the 30-30.

I know there's a faction on THR that's big into that, but I don't quite grasp it. Here's my primary objection: 30-30 is what, like 50c-75c a shot? 7.62x39mm is 15c a shot, and the two are ballistically much of a muchness.

I'm just not inclined to rec that a newbie get something where ammo cost is 4x or 5x what military-type ammo runs. Maybe part of this is that I come from a totally non-hunting background. Military-type rifles seem totally normal to me, I can dig mil-surps, but I don't quite grasp the desire to buy certain civilian arms. I'd feel far more comfortable hunting with a FAL than fighting with a Win94.

The one that really blows my mind is the THR faction that keeps trying to get folks to buy Rem 7600, BAR, or other hunting semi-autos in 30-06 as a Main Battle Rifle. But that's a rant for another thread.

mp510 brings up a good point: J&G Sales, SOG, and others have CA-legal Yugo rifles that are converted from the 59/66. SKS votes seem to be leading the pack thus far.

-MV
 
M1 Garand!

Inexpensive, simple, reliable. The Garand has the best sights and triggers you'll find on any stock military rifle.

The Garand is the perfect range rifle. It's also one of the best civil disturbance rifles out there. The Garand is a bit longer and heavier than the ideal home defense gun, though. (But so is the SKS...)

The SKS is downright crude next to a Garand. Never handled a Kel-Tec SU-16, but I own one of their pistols and like it well enough.

Don't agonize over which gun to buy. You'll own a handful of different guns before long. The problem won't be deciding which one to buy, it'll be deciding which ones to take to the range this time. :D
 
Thanks for all of the tips. Yep, living in CA makes it a little trickier, but not impossible.
So, I like the SKS, with prices 200.00 plus/minus and up. Which is the better model? and What can you tell me about the Chinese paratrooper?
 
The only Paratrooper I know of was made by Norinco and it is illegal in CA. Once you pick up an SKS take a look at surplusrifle.com, they have a lot of good articles on there.
 
The Paratroopers with the detachable mags are definitely illegal in CA.

The ones with fixed 10-round mags (which are simply a shortened version of the SKS), I believe those are legal. Check around on that, I'm no expert.

-MV
 
IIRC the fixed magazine SKS's are still legal in Kalifonia, but I may be wrong(I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV). I have seceral SKS's and they are stone cold reliable, if left stock, and fun to shoot. Think about it as a auto loading 30-30 as far as ballistics are concerned, but do not succumb to the dreaded "Bubba Bug". No matter how much money You spend You will not make a AK out of a SKS, and still have a shootable weapon.
 
Unless you are trying to keep this very inexpensive, I'll second the M1 Garand. You can still get relatively inexpensive surplus ammo and it's a gun that will become an heirloom and also go up in value.

www.odcmp.com

With a Garand, you can also easily get into competitive shooting.

If you are trying to get into rifle shooting inexpensively, there's nothing wrong with an SKS.
 
I would go for a good Marlin 336 in 30-30. A newb is NOT going to spend days at the range, so cost is not that important. The manual of arms for the Marlin is simple, and easily learned. Recoil is not severe, nor is muzzle blast. The 30-30 is quite effective as a defensive round.
I know Squid mentioned 7.62 and .223, but wanted to mention this as a choice also.
 
Squid
If you live in KA I would skip the SKS and go straight to the M1 Garand, (absolutely what Headlessthompsongunner and Readyontheright said)

Its pretty much the ultimate cali rifle, It has only an 8 round but it did a great job spanking the germans and the japanese.
The M1 has the best iron sights that you can get. It is durable and strong and fairly simple, parts are readily available. .30-06 is powerful and accurate at long range.

You can get one for about $400 from the Civillian marksmanship program. If I lived there I would have no other rifle. From a legal standpoint its even better than the M1A. Which can only use the neutered 10 round mags.The price isnt worth 2 exstra rounds.


Get an M1 you wont be sorry.
Brother in Arms
 
sks's are fun and reliable and all but theyre not that accurate. a good beginner gun i suppose, but it wont be long before the gun is the reason you cant hit something. an m-1 garand will surely be a hard gun to beat. try here http://www.odcmp.com/Services/Rifles/m1garand.htm i have a service grade and it is a realy fun and productive gun to shoot.

a bolt gun will never do you wrong accuracy wise, but new shooters that get bolt guns as there first guns usually think they should start at the bench-rest. this wrong. if you get a bolt action, be sure to practice all three positions, triger squeze and sight picture. once these become second nature, you can tackle other things. if you have any other questions don't hessitate to ask:)
 
The one that really blows my mind is the THR faction that keeps trying to get folks to buy Rem 7600, BAR, or other hunting semi-autos in 30-06 as a Main Battle Rifle. But that's a rant for another thread.
Click to expand...

I'm in that "faction" so I guess I'll bite. I had a main battle rifle once, when I was in the Army. The guy said nothing about doing any battle. I think people suggest that, myself included, because we assume that not everyone is preparing for the Red Dawn.

I hunt quite often, but battle very little. Which is the more appropriate arm? I went through that stage too, and I guess I came through it, so I can see where you are coming from. I am curious to know how many new hunters take to the woods with sks' based on advice they got here.
 
I went to the CMP site and it looks fairly easy to get a Garand. I obviously need to read up on them, but if they were good enough for the military.... And I like the look of the weapon.

Now, can you direct me to which maker is the better? And one last question- will the recoil on the Garand rattle my fillings??
 
Don't know what your budget is; but if I were looking for a California rifle

1) Springfield M1A
2) M1 Garand
3) Keltec SU16 (only if I already had legal AR mags - otherwise #4)
4) SKS
5) Marlin 1895G
 
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