MistWolf
So far, your experiences with the Mosin have you leaning towards, if I interpret what you're saying correctly, a caliber with less recoil and rifle with a better rate of fire. Very good. As far as less expensive goes, do you mean in general, or compared to surplus 7.62x54? From what I understand, surplus 7.62x54 is pretty cheap.
What else have you learned from shooting your Mosin? Those lessons should help you narrow your choices down a bit.
Nothing wrong with getting the Winchester 94, but think carefully about the calibers it comes in. The 30-30 has recoil similar to the 7.62x54 and ammunition will cost more. the 44 Mag and 45 Colt still have a good amount of recoil even in a lever action and again, ammo is more expensive. The upside is both calibers are easy to reload. However, the Model 94 may not mesh with cheap ammo and less recoil.
Before we go any further, what do you really want to get and why? Be honest with yourself when answering this question. Again, what you choose is up to you and you alone bear the responsibility for it.
I suggest getting something and shooting it. If you don't like it, sell or swap it off and try something else. That's what my father did his whole life. I got to try a wide variety of firearms as a result
Recoil is not a huge issue with it, but I would enjoy having something with less kick. I also don't like the blast I get from it, it's a good bit louder than other rifles I have shot. Lately I've also been kinda pissed with the accuracy that I'm getting from it, it is shooting in about a six inch circle at one hundred yards. I've been playing around with rapid fire practice and the bolt takes some encouragement to come out of battery, (I already cleaned any possible cosmoline out) so follow up shots suck.
My Mosin has done well for fifty dollars, and I've harvested a few pigs with it, but it just feels like overkill. I've shot Marlin and Winchester 30-30's and enjoy their feel, but I haven't taken game with either. The 94 feels much more natural in my hands than the 336. Still though, I don't know the first thing about how good they are as far as overall dependability.
Oh, and 7.62x54r is by no means expensive here, but comparable cartridges like .308 are kinda pricey for my taste. I would really love to start reloading, but I have little knowledge about it, I'm considering purchasing a reloading set with some of my left over money if I have enough.
To answer your question honestly about what I want to get right now, I'm really having an ache for an AR15. I've shot a few hundred rounds down the range, and I just love how easy it is to hit targets with it. I apologize if this angers anyone or if they think it is unethical, but I've used an AR to thin out groups of hogs at some fair distances, and at times I was able to hit and kill up to three hogs in a single run. I've heard all the different arguments about it, and my problems with it is that I hear people talk about it being problem riddled, and also I am wary of things that have an almost pop culture status.
So to kinda clarify what I want, I want a rifle that won't let me down in a hunt, that won't require constant parts replacement or gunsmith trips (I have no trouble with simple maintenance and cleaning) and in the absolute worst case, allow me to deal with multiple armed threats at a time, no matter what they might be.
I don't want a "sniper" rifle, I don't want a full power "battle" rifle, and I don't want to have to keep batteries to keep my rifle working. I just want a moderate caliber rifle that will put a bullet where I want, when I want, and as many times as I need it to, and will give back as much as I put into it.
Right now the three rifles that I am thinking about most, is a standard package AR, a Winchester 94, and a Remington 7615. Buying and trading has screwed me over more times than it has worked for me, so I want to avoid that as much as possible. Whatever I decide to get, I will probably be sticking with it for a while.
