1st Post, next step after 22lr.

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AlwaysLostInTheWoods

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Good day all,

My first few guns were 22lr, one in bolt action and one semi. It was recommended to me to get use to shooting and get used to the weapons itself, furthermore, 22lr is plenty cheap. I feel confident now to "upgrade' in a sense. What would be a good starter bolt action? I was thinking of 308 or 223, but I am honestly open to any ideas. Are there any good deals for under $1000?

Cheers guys!
 
personally i would go with .308, i got a tikka t3x which is a little bit over 1000$ but my second pic was a weatherby vanguard and it's under 1000$, or if ya want cheap fun cant go wrong with an sks in 76.2x39
 
At this point I would base it on what you want to do.

Gonna hunt? Get a hunting rifle in a suitable caliber for the game you want. That could be anything from a 223rem to a 30-06; probably don't want to go bigger than 30-06, even 30-06 has a bit too much recoil for many.

Only gonna shoot at the range, where ranges can be over 100m? 223 is a good option, cheaper to shoot (lower ammo costs vs 308 etc), not much recoil, lots of options for rifles in the caliber.

Only gonna shoot at a range where ranges don't go over 100m? Something like a pistol caliber carbine might be more up your alley due to the lower cost of pistol ammo and the fact that you don't need a full size rifle cartridge to make hits at 100 or less.

Do you want to get into some specific shooting discipline? Find out what guys are using in that discipline and buy one of those. For example, if you want to get into PRS, look at what guys are shooting in PRS. Lots of 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges being used, 6.5 Creedmoor would be a good choice for someone just getting into things due to the wide availability of rifles, ammo, and components.



And then add an SKS and a 12ga shotgun. Because everyone needs and SKS and a 12ga shotgun.
 
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AlwaysLostInTheWoods said:
Good day all,

My first few guns were 22lr, one in bolt action and one semi. It was recommended to me to get use to shooting and get used to the weapons itself, furthermore, 22lr is plenty cheap. I feel confident now to "upgrade' in a sense. What would be a good starter bolt action? I was thinking of 308 or 223, but I am honestly open to any ideas. Are there any good deals for under $1000?

Cheers guys!
Click to expand...

Really comes down to home much shooting you want to do? If you plan on doing a lot of plinking, then an SKS is decent choice because you can get surplus ammo at about 40 cents a round and then buy the good stuff to use for hunting
 
AlwaysLostInTheWoods said:
Good day all,

My first few guns were 22lr, one in bolt action and one semi. It was recommended to me to get use to shooting and get used to the weapons itself, furthermore, 22lr is plenty cheap. I feel confident now to "upgrade' in a sense. What would be a good starter bolt action? I was thinking of 308 or 223, but I am honestly open to any ideas. Are there any good deals for under $1000?

Cheers guys!
Click to expand...

Back in the day - my experience was, after a .22 rimfire, then some sort of mil-surp rifle was cheapest and really common - maybe not so much any more. In my case, that was a 303 British Lee Enfield No. 4. When I was out on my own, was several .22 semi-autos bought - I had started at home with my Dad's Cooey 60 bolt action. The first, I am sure, was a Remington Nylon 66 - I ended up with a Ruger 10-22, which I still have - bought that one new, circa 1976 or so. Then a new Winchester Model 70 XTR in 308 Win (I was looking for a 270 Win or 30-06, but the small town store did not have any, and that XTR looked pretty fancy to me!) Then some pump action shotguns - first was a used 20 gauge LakeField Mossberg, then a new Browning BPS in 12 gauge. Our son has (and still uses, I think) that 308 Win and the BPS. Over time, I got a used Winchester Model 70 in 338 Win Mag - figured that I had most all covered for Saskatchewan hunting with those four guns - .22, 308 Win, 12 gauge and 338 Win Mag - I probably did. Then times changed, kids left, I had got a little more handy with hand loading - I ended up with a 7x57, then over-under 28 gauge, 9.3x62, 9.3x57, 243 Win, 22-250 Rem, etc. Discovered the damn things seem like they breed in the dark storage places - many more than that here now - some I have never yet fired.

I would suggest that your experience is going to have a lot to do with the scope that gets installed - again, back in the day I went through various Weaver, Bushnell Banner and Bushnell - however I tended to drift over to the older M8 Leupolds - most of my hunting rifles have that - 2 1/2. 3. 4. 6 power - I did try using a Leupold 2-7 variable for a while, but migrated back to the fixed powers. Learned to shoot a scope with both eyes open - now learning how to use aperture sights, about 60 years too late to discover how to use them!!!

My latest acquisition - actually just last month - was a previously owned CZ 527M in 7.62x39. I have installed a previously owned Burris fixed 4 power scope on it.
 
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This is definitely good advice, I will be honest I should've probably thought about my needs before posting, but it completely threw over my head. I am definitely thinking of hunting first, than slowly dipping my toes into long range. I saw a few milsurp on ####### that I might shoot an offer with, all below $400 so it might be worth it to go low budget and get my hand dirty with something first.

Funny you say about SKS and 12ga shotgun, my Christmas gift from my old man was a Chinese sks and a Mossberg 88 from Cabelas black friday, he called it the Canadian special, I think I understand why now.....
 
Yup, definitely looking at milsurp, SMLE mk3, mosin nagant, etc. So many options too choose from. There is a old gentleman from my neighborhood that offered to teach me the restoration of a milsurp rifle, and offered to sell me a good condition SMLE mk3 for 300$, I think I might take up his offer, just need to learn reloading .303 British as he told me it is getting expensive nowadays. Thanks for the input!!
 
AlwaysLostInTheWoods said:
This is definitely good advice, I will be honest I should've probably thought about my needs before posting, but it completely threw over my head. I am definitely thinking of hunting first, than slowly dipping my toes into long range. I saw a few milsurp on ####### that I might shoot an offer with, all below $400 so it might be worth it to go low budget and get my hand dirty with something first.

Funny you say about SKS and 12ga shotgun, my Christmas gift from my old man was a Chinese sks and a Mossberg 88 from Cabelas black friday, he called it the Canadian special, I think I understand why now.....
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lol Your dad is not wrong.

One thing to consider with milsurps is feeding them. With the exception of the SKS (and to a lesser extent the Mosin) most of them require expensive ammo. Mounting a scope is another thing to consider if you want to go that direction, scoping a modern bolt action is typically super easy, meanwhile milsurps are a crap shoot - some are easy, so are not. Definitely something to look into before pulling the trigger on one.

Milsurp isn't the only way to go for a cheap gun, Savage Axis w/a scope is $470+tax at Cabelas right now. Not a ###y rifle, but they use common ammo and tend to shoot very well. For under $1000 there are LOTS of options that are nicer than the Axis.

If you're more of a wood stock fan these guys have a lot of older used rifles in a variety of calibers, certainly worth a look: https://intersurplus.com/
 
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Suther said:
lol Your dad is not wrong.

One thing to consider with milsurps is feeding them. With the exception of the SKS (and to a lesser extent the Mosin) most of them require expensive ammo. Mounting a scope is another thing to consider if you want to go that direction, scoping a modern bolt action is typically super easy, meanwhile milsurps are a crap shoot - some are easy, so are not. Definitely something to look into before pulling the trigger on one.

Milsurp isn't the only way to go for a cheap gun, Savage Axis w/a scope is $470+tax at Cabelas right now. Not a ###y rifle, but they use common ammo and tend to shoot very well. For under $1000 there are LOTS of options that are nicer than the Axis.

If you're more of a wood stock fan these guys have a lot of older used rifles in a variety of calibers, certainly worth a look: https://intersurplus.com/
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Sorry to bother again, I spent the entire day window shopping for milsurp, if possible, could you give me some example of nice bolt guns under $1000 better than the axis? Ive seen a lot of axis on #######, cabelas, etc. but if I could get my hands on something nice I would not be against it!

Cheers and TIA!
 
To follow up about scope mounting on elder mil-surps - most were stocked to use iron sights - scopes almost always higher - so, might consider to include a cheek riser in any plans - some people don't, and do not care - some people notice they can not do cheek weld and have to do "side of jaw" weld, or "chin weld" - up to the shooter what they get used to, I think. Usually have to learn and equip self for 6-48 and 8-40 scope mount holes / threads, or find someone who can do that - three or four holes in a perfectly straight line.

Also, some bolt action mil-surps had bolts or safeties that will not clearance a normal mounted scope - some like P14 and M1917 seem fine for that - many Mausers (93, 96, 98) are not. So might have to consider bolt handle alteration, and variation to safety function, in order to mount a scope.
 
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There are many older used hunting rifles around for less then a grand with or without scopes.... We are heading into a buyers marked for used items so prices will likely improve even more.

Typically after Hubting season/Christmas people might be looking to move some guns and with the cost of everything rising some people need to sell to help pay off debt.

Suther gave good advice on uses and calibers, sounds to me like your on your way to having a collection, if you make a wish list and then keep an eye on the E.E. and places like Intersurplus you should find plenty of options randomly.
 
Taking note of that, really appreciated the advice! I think I am going for the Sportized SMLE Mk3 that my neighbor offered me, and also will teach me how to reload .303 which will definitely be a neat experience. And prob that will be it until after Christmas like Can-down is saying, gives me time to save up as well ;);)
 
A wishlist sounds like a good idea, will be working on a spreadsheet over my Christmas leave, I heard about the fact that many people overpay on their credit card and cannot paid it back, so they sell some items for cheap on used marketplace, never thought it was the same with guns, it wouldn't be a bad idea to save up until next year instead of rushing to buy without researching first. Cheers for the heads-up !
 
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