What would be a good rifle ~500 dollars

[offthepaper]

If you're looking for a fun rifle to shoot and will stick with rimfire, get a Marlin 39A. Accurate and feels as solid as a 336.
If you want a bit more range and thump (!) consider a Finn M39 Mosin. About $275-$300 range. They drip with history and can be VERY accurate. I have 6 Finns and all of them are great shooters. One of them can easily compete with My K31's. And as with all Mosins, they're cheap to feed.

 

[Furncliff]

You may want to consider a CZ452 or 453. These can be bought new for under $500 in .22LR , .22 magnum or the .17HMR, if you want to try something different. The CZ 's are accurate out of the box, some will require some trigger work, but that's cheap, $20 and easy to do. They are a step above every rimfire in this price range in build quality. They make several stock variations, standard American style, a drop stock that's perfect for shooting iron sights, a full stock, thumb hole and synthetic.

The newest CZ is the 455 that features changeable barrels.

http://www.cz-usa.com/products/by-category/rifles/

Places to buy them...

http://www.whittakerguns.com/

they have a sale going now CZ452 American .22LR $369.

There is also

budsgunshop,com

and

czcustoms.com

If you don't have a Marlin 60, that's a good choice too. Inexpensive. Accurate out of the box, 15 round tube magazine, a hoot to shoot. I have two of them and really enjoy them. Expect a heavy gritty trigger out of the box, but they are pretty easy to fix.

 

[goon]

My vote would be a Finnism M-39. It's a Mosin, but an utterly smooth, deadly accurate, different breed of Mosin with a little shorter (but heavier) barrel. They are incredible shooters and have a huge amount of history behind them. Should be doable for $300. After that, get a .22LR - maybe a used 10/22. A Marlin Model 60 might also be a good choice, as would a used bolt action Marlin or Savage. I like my CZ-452 but I have to admit that in terms of fuction, most any good bolt action .22 will do 90% of what the CZ does for me (and 100% of what I need done) for less money. IIRC, a Savage MKII can is priced for $127 at Walmart right now. If I had a restricted budget and needed a .22, I think I'd be hard pressed to beat that even on a used gun.
I agree with WEG that the Chipmunk is really small for an adult shooter. Having said that, you might want to keep it. I doubt you'd get enough for it to make selling it worthwhile, it may have sentimental value to you, it's a handy little gun to take camping if you want to pot some meat, and you might have a son/daughter/nephew/niece to pass it down to some day.

 

[sarduy]

1. stevens 200 (same as savage 10) just different name. $300

2. Mosin M44 (carbine) smaller than a 91/30 around $100

3. ruger 10/22 $300

i dont know how good you are around guns but you can buy a stripped lower http://www.aimsurplus.com/product.a...+Arms+&+Ammo+LOW15+Stripped+AR+Lower+Receiver


and a AR-15 rifle kit
http://www.del-ton.com/Rifle_Kit_p/rkt102.htm

then all you have to do is put the lower together, and the final budged is less than 600.

 

[MIL-ARMS-LOVER]

Try looking at a surplus SWISS K-31. Most of the bores look unused, and the Swiss 7.5 mm Cartridge is VERY flat shooting, long ranging and hard hitting.
You can get one easily for UNDER $300 and a case of surplus ammo for the other $200.
they will EASILY group under 1" at 300m if your eyes will!

 

[HOOfan_1]

I see absolutely no reason to get a 10/22 myself

It is a good accurate .22. I've had one for 25 years now and it is as accurate as any .22 I have shot other than a CZ 452. More accurate than my Marlin 25.

 

[XxWINxX94]

I thought about a mosin since they seem to be cheap, but I recently saw one at the range and it just seems WAY too long kinda like lugging flagpole around lol.

Well they also had an M38 orM44 which is quite a bit shorter than a 91/30. Might run you a little more but you won't need as much for ammo. The advantage here is that you can shoot a cartridge thats a pretty good size for pretty cheap. Not to mention the historical value of a Mosin. Theres also the Finn idea for a Nagant, which is generally nicer than a Russian.

As a collector of vintage guns, I personally wouldn't buy anything "new," so I won't reccomend the latest Marlin or Walmart Gun.

 

[J-Bar]

Don't buy a damn thing until you see something that you KNOW YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE.


It's kinda like choosing a girlfriend...

 

[DeepSouth]

Just want to say that in some states I believe you can buy a pistol at 19 from and individual, but not a FFL dealer. You might want to look into it if you want a pistol and live in a state that allows you to do so.

BTW: If I was going to try to buy a new rifle with $500 or less I would buy this..

 

[dldbrandon]

We still don't know if you are considering optics as part of your total cost, or not. If you do then that will change things.