What gun fits this criteria

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DontBurnMyFlag

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Well, my favorite gun show is coming up in a month. Since I am a college student with limited funds, my gun purchasing is reduced to gun shows to spread out how frequently I spend money. Good plan if I say so myself.

So anyway, I was looking into putting a good Dragunov style military scope on my SKS, but thought to myself, thats like putting a sound-system on a Ford Pinto. So fitting the college kid limited fund situation, what would be a good military semi-auto that accepts good scopes for 100-300 yard shooting? I am looking to spend less than 500 dollars. I know this is tough, it has been for me, so I will give the options I was looking at.

Hakim 8mm - Durable, plentiful ammo, I just dont know about the scope idea

Dragunov clone - expensive, plentiful ammo

m1 garand - Something under 500 bucks is rare, but oh how i want one!

Well, thats all I got so far. I know the question of "what gun next?" is brought up so many times...so you all should be good at it by now! :neener:

Thanks for any info in advance.
 
M1 Garand by a long shot. Every self respecting gunny should have one. Besides they are clearly the most fun of the batch. The PING is the thing.:D
 
A CMP Garand, to be specific

A piddling $500 for Service Grade; $400 for Rack Grade (plus $21 shipping). If you don't belong to a qualified club, find one! ;)
 
I would never steer anyone away from a Garand.

However, there is nothing wrong with scoping a SKS. If you go that route make sure you use a receiver mounted scope base. You can also get a base that mounts where the rear sight is but that is more of a "scout" set up.

See here
SKS Scout base

and here
Quick detach base

If you have a strict budget you can't go wrong with a SKS. But if you can pull enough money for a Garand,by all means, get one.
 
Join a gun club and buy from CMP. I suggest a Garand, 1903 or P-17. Save your money on a scope, spend it on ammo and practice your marksmanship.
 
I like my CMP Garands, but I don't see an easy way of putting a scope on them, if that's the goal. I just shoot the standard iron sights, they're pretty good.

Scopiing an SKS, the receiver mounts are best. I'd try to put an AK-style slide mount on it. It needs a strong scope, maybe a airgun scope. The bolt carrier seems to slam back against the receiver, causing more jolt than most guns. Hell on reticles.

Regards.
 
The M 1, period.

It got me the first three day pass in Basic Training when we were setting our battle sights for qualification. The DI said that who ever shoots the first "Ballentine" would get a three day pass. A Ballentine is three circles that touch. It was used by a beer company as the company logo. It sort of looks like a pretzel. My first three shots did it.

I will never bad mouth that old gun. I wish I could find it and buy it. That first three days away from Basic was like being in heaven,

John
 
I finally was able to get a Garand. It is beyond awesome! I paid $625 for mine. I bought a Chinese SKS the same day for $109. I bench shoot both rifles and the SKS shoots as accurately as the Garand. However, the Garand is a piece of history. Save up and buy the Garand, your grandkids will be able to tell stories about it!
 
loumarch said:
I finally was able to get a Garand. It is beyond awesome! I paid $625 for mine. I bought a Chinese SKS the same day for $109. I bench shoot both rifles and the SKS shoots as accurately as the Garand. However, the Garand is a piece of history. Save up and buy the Garand, your grandkids will be able to tell stories about it!
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Hmm. I think you've either got a really accurate SKS or a so-so Garand. I have one of each (this SKS is Russian), and the Garand clearly outshoots it day in and day out. I tried loading for the SKS, but it didn't help, so I stick with the Russian stuff. It doesn't shoot poorly, just nothing to write home about.

If you want to go out and pull the trigger a lot (spray rounds, make noise), the SKS will be cheaper to shoot and recoils a bit less (though the weight of the Garand makes it a very smooth shooting rifle). If you are really want a Garand at some point anyway, get the Garand. You'll not regret it, and if you ever lose interest, it'll probably sell immediately and likely for more than you paid. Unless you're planning on shooting little targets at those ranges (100 to 300 yards), take the advice about getting more ammo and practicing. The first centerfire rifle I shot was a borrowed club Garand at a DCM (now CMP) match. The matches are designed to be shot at 200, 300 and 600 yards (standing and rapid sitting @ 200, rapid prone @ 300, and slow prone @ 600). Actually scored reasonably well for a newbie that match -- 353/500 (2 strings standing, 1 for others). See if you can find a CMP-affiliated club nearby, and see if they have club guns to borrow. (My old club in CA has Garands that can be used with club CMP M2 Ball -- $20 for ammo for a club gun, and you don't have to clean the gun, and you keep the brass. :) $12 match entry for everyone on top of that.) If you learn to use the military peep sights, it's really not that hard to shoot pretty well at those distances. I actually shoot better offhand with irons than a scope -- see less wobble and don't tend to overcorrect.
 
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