Best "starter" black rifle for a newb.

skatemike77

skatemike77

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Sup fellas? Been looking non stop into which rifle I want to start off my collection with. Yes I am a newb to this hobby/sport and I am looking for a gun to get me going. Right now I have no interest in hunting. I am primarily interesting at range shooting and being an accurate and proficient shooter. Always being prepared for a "worst case" scenario is always nice as well.

I absolutly fell in love with the FAMAE sg542 but alas it is quite expensive and not really a starter gun. Was also thinking about a norinco or springfield m14..what do you guys think? The m14 would be nice because I could grab a few of those AIA mags that hold 10 rounds legally and the Norinco version of this gun is pretty cheap.
 
sorry brahs but I am looking for a non-res. Should have posted that. Eventually when I become a member of a gun club and get around all that extra red tape I will buy a res gun as well.
 
What is your budget? I wouldn't classify any gun based on them being for starters. Any gun you can start with you can sure as heck finish with.

If your budget is in the 800$ range get a M14. Just be warned .308 is more expensive then .556, so in the end you will spend more on ammo.

If your budget is a g-note, get a VZ58 in 7.62 or 556
Or a Norinco T97.

If it is 1500 to 2000$ Look for a Benelli MR1.

If a little over 2000$ then a used Tavor or XCR.

For a new shooter and to be cost effective, I would recommend a VZ58 and a crate of ammo. New that is around 1500$ A used VZ58 and a crate could of course be gotten for cheaper. This will give you a viable platform to Barbie up, learn the fundementals of shooting on, and make Liberals cry at the same time to boot.
 
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Ebola said:
What is your budget? I wouldn't classify any gun based on them being for starters. Any gun you can start with you can sure as heck finish with.

If your budget is in the 800$ range get a M14. Just be warned .308 is more expensive then .556, so in the end you will spend more on ammo.

If your budget is a g-note, get a VZ58 in 7.62 or 556
Or a Norinco T97.

If it is 1500 to 2000$ Look for a Benelli MR1.

If a little over 2000$ then a used Tavor or XCR.

For a new shooter and to be cost effective, I would recommend a VZ58 and a crate of ammo. New that is around 1500$ A used VZ58 and a crate could of course be gotten for cheaper. This will give you a viable platform to Barbie up, learn the fundementals of shooting on, and make Liberals cry at the same time to boot.
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Making Liberals cry will give me constant erections. Good thinking. I love shooting the .308 so I am not too concerned about spending more on ammo in the long haul. As for rifle budget I suppose I need to decide on that soon. Somewhere between 1k-1.5k sounds good to me.
 
"Also I suggest you get the 10 round LAR mags if you hunt coyotes. Just make sure you deburr all leading edges on the mags."

what the hell does deburr the edges on the mags mean??
 
This is my non restricted rifle for hunting small Vancouver Island blacktails.

It makes liberals and dippers pee their pants.

DSCN2462_zpsge8wg1vn.jpg
 
You like range work and a fair bit of accuracy.
All your firearms can be potential SHTF tools should rule of law become a problem.

This opens up the restricted category for you.
This is important as restricted firearms tend to be range only.
More importantly, restricted firearms actually tend to be cheaper in price than non restricted!

Next decision is caliber.
7.62 NATO or .308 is pretty darned expensive. Quality ammo is even more expensive.
I'ld recommend 5.56 or .223 as it were.
Way cheaper than .308 and by the nature of the round and ballistics fairly accurate.

Now for the most basic choices.
.308, get a Norinco M305 which is an M14 copy that is non restricted.
You can modify it to taste, but it can get expensive depending on your taste as it were.
Price, let's say five or six hundred but then you will pay far more for ammo in the end.
The ammo you have been warned about.

For 5.56 restricted, the best bang for buck is the Norinco M4 or M16 clones.
$600 brand new, get permisison of the moderators to join the EE (eqipment exchange) and shop for deals on the site here.
Parts to modify are plentiful and cheap, ammo costs less.
I have to admit I am rather fond of the longer barrel DA556 from Canada Ammo myself.
Most guys like the 14.5 inch CQ forom either Canada Ammo or Marstar or so many other dealers.
Only hiccup is the restricted status makes it range only.
If you ugo this option, then you can spend the five hundred bucks you saved on a crate of a thousand rounds of ammo, or maybe buy a pistol instead.

I you want 5.56 and non restricted, then I recommend the T97.
You pay for the non restricted status in Canada.
If you like shooting iron sights, then it will be $1,000.
If you want something to put an optical scope on, then it will be $1,250 or so.
The benefit of this being,as non restricted, should you want to take it out to a farm or bush, it is ok being non restricted.

There are a lot of great rifles out there, but like the SG542 or the SG540, prices can put you off from the start.

Best advice, get something that is not crazy expensive, join a club, meet folks and learn from them and their firearms too before figuring out what you really want to invest a lot of money into buying.
This sight can be an awesomehelp so long as you realize a lot of folks have a lot of strong opinions about various brands.
Don't worry about the quality of Norinco, they go bang and they're cheap.
 
Ar15 magazine.
Pinned to 5 rounds.

Big magazine, few rounds.

If the rifle is compatible for AR15 magazines, like the DA556, CQ, T97, SU16 or the Benelli above, then you also have the option of getting magazines that hold 10 or 14 rounds.
Long story, but yes it is legal, worry about the rifle choice first.
 
For starter "black rifles" as in your first but not last, I'd recommend the Norc CQA. best deal around for an AR-style rifle. My buddy's had one for the past year and has put thousands of rounds through. At around $500 its an awesome deal. You can spend more but I'm not sure you'll get any more reliable. You might get more accuracy/precision but within 100 yards for general plinking, CQB work it does the job. Lots of options at double and triple its price but you wont' get double or triple the fun. It will teach you the basics of handling an AR, loading and eventually upgrading one. If you wanted more accuracy/precision later you can always upgrade the barrel/trigger and add whatever optics you wanted on the norc as a base - or sell it for close to what you paid for it and use the money to buy the one you end up wanting.
 
skatemike77 said:
Making Liberals cry will give me constant erections. Good thinking. I love shooting the .308 so I am not too concerned about spending more on ammo in the long haul. As for rifle budget I suppose I need to decide on that soon. Somewhere between 1k-1.5k sounds good to me.
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Unless you have lots of cash or you reload, the cost of ammo should be a real consideration. Shooting semi-auto it is easy to go through 200 rounds in a range trip - at $ 0.80 or higher for surplus 308, that's $160 per shooting session for the most inexpensive ammo you can buy (and you may get crappy accuracy). 223 will be half the cost of 308. You are going to pay way more for ammo than the initial cost of the rifle, especially in the long haul.

While I really like the M305/M1A platform, you will want to tweak it very quickly - not a task for many beginners. While Ebola has a great list of non-restricteds, why don't you think the FAMAE is the right gun for you?


skatemike77 said:
"Also I suggest you get the 10 round LAR mags if you hunt coyotes. Just make sure you deburr all leading edges on the mags." what the hell does deburr the edges on the mags mean??
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Deburr means take a file to the leading edge of the mag to smooth out the rough/jagged spots on the metal (i.e. the burrs).
 
I suggest going back to your original post and doing an "advanced edit" to change the title and post to include:
-status of interest (restricted vs non-restricted)
-budget
-caliber preference

And if you already know what features you kinda like/dislike (bullpup, stanag mags, accuracy level), add that to in order to get more discussion going.

Personally, .308 semi's are very expensive to shoot and will just cut down the amount you can shoot due to costs. It will also be heavier, and likely poor for use in things like 3 gun or CQB competitions. I strongly reccomend you get a .223/5.56 platform before moving on to .308/7.62x51.
 
Pr589 said:
Unless you have lots of cash or you reload, the cost of ammo should be a real consideration. Shooting semi-auto it is easy to go through 200 rounds in a range trip - at $ 0.80 or higher for surplus 308, that's $160 per shooting session for the most inexpensive ammo you can buy (and you may get crappy accuracy). 223 will be half the cost of 308. You are going to pay way more for ammo than the initial cost of the rifle, especially in the long haul.

While I really like the M305/M1A platform, you will want to tweak it very quickly - not a task for many beginners. While Ebola has a great list of non-restricteds, why don't you think the FAMAE is the right gun for you?


Deburr means take a file to the leading edge of the mag to smooth out the rough/jagged spots on the metal (i.e. the burrs).
Click to expand...

Good points. Well now that you really highlighted how expensive the .308 can be the FAMAE would be a poor choice because the sg542 runs 308 does it not?
 
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