should i buy a m305? or something else, give me your knowledge!

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bdiddlez

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hey guys,

I'm wanting a semi auto, in a caliber that is north american and can be used for hunting deer as a minimum. something as close to an AR kinda rifle (price is a big factor) so far all I can find for 1,000 or under is the m305

are these hard to get minute of deer vitals at 200 yrd?

I reload, but wondering if there is still cheap surplus kickin around (plinking rounds)

will the upgrades i will need to the m305 nickle and dime me to the point I should just buy a robinson xcr?

my gun smithing skills are shmeh....as in i can take things apart and put them back together no prob, but never tried much else except the odd trigger job.

let me know i look forward to your answers
 
Do yourself a favour and buy a bolt gun for deer.
An m305 for a hobby.... That you may or may not hunt with.
Some might be surprised at that response from me but I'm just tryin to keep it real for the new guy ;) (to the m305)
 
the m305 is awesome. It's not a precision rifle. It's a battle rifle. Make sure that's what you want. I'd take a deer at 200 yards, but I wouldn't trust mine any more than that.
Upgrades can cost a bit, but not really. Depends how crazy you want to get. I put in a $100 for a nice USGI stock, $40 for an upgraded oprod guide and spring, and $100 for a used casm (national match sights about the same). Scopes are pricey depending on glass, but you can find a decent used 3-9x40 for $100. Personally I'm not into the top end stocks - although I did look at the archangel. Be patient. These upgrades show up on the EE eventually. Also, don't shy away from one done up already - as long as the price is right. Throw in $60 for a sponsors clinic as well - there's lots of low hanging fruit to tweak and nothing helps more that a pro showing the way. The base m305 should around $500 shipped depending on condition.
Close to $0.50 cent a round surplus is kicking around. You can reload for that or less depending on the bullet.
I take mine deer hunting. Mind you I sit in a stand or blind. If there's a lot of carry I would go with the lever.
 
bdiddlez said:
hey guys,

I'm wanting a semi auto, in a caliber that is north american and can be used for hunting deer as a minimum. something as close to an AR kinda rifle (price is a big factor) so far all I can find for 1,000 or under is the m305

are these hard to get minute of deer vitals at 200 yrd?

I reload, but wondering if there is still cheap surplus kickin around (plinking rounds)

will the upgrades i will need to the m305 nickle and dime me to the point I should just buy a robinson xcr?

my gun smithing skills are shmeh....as in i can take things apart and put them back together no prob, but never tried much else except the odd trigger job.

let me know i look forward to your answers
Click to expand...

Seeing as you reload, you could by a sportered surplus with a great barrel/ decent scope like a mauser/Husqvarna / lee enfield - and buy a m305. Nice auto loaders, like the BAR - or the modern hunter are extremely pricey. A lightened sks, with a no nonsense synthetic stock, removed bayonet and a low power scope on one of those magwedge rails would be cheap, inexpensive to shoot - at anytime - and be extremely robust. Hell, cut off some of the barrel, and it may remove a good amount of barrel whip too. High Calibre Services has some nice examples like that.

The 7.62x39 is more than adequate for deer anyways. And shooting surplus is great fun.
 
45ACPKING said:
Do yourself a favour and buy a bolt gun for deer.
An m305 for a hobby.... That you may or may not hunt with.
Some might be surprised at that response from me but I'm just tryin to keep it real for the new guy ;) (to the m305)
Click to expand...

This is what I would look into. Even within the $1000 price range you can get a fun to shoot M305, and a decent deer gun, either used or lower end, either will get you a deer.

If you could find a Browning BAR in .308 it would do both, but then you've only got 1 rifle, and we all know that 2 rifles are better than 1 rifle.
 
45ACPKING said:
Do yourself a favour and buy a bolt gun for deer.
An m305 for a hobby.... That you may or may not hunt with.
Some might be surprised at that response from me but I'm just tryin to keep it real for the new guy ;) (to the m305)
Click to expand...

I agree with this. One of the benefits of using a bolt gun hunting is safety. The moment you drop that 11 pointer and have buck fever you don't have to worry about putting your rifle in a safe condition. It already is. Loading is deliberate and predictable. They are generally more reliable and accurate. And before anyone poo-poo's my response my father in law has guided most of his adult life and still gets excited when he takes a shot at a trophy. He's killed more game with an old BLR in 308 than most ever will.
 
An M305 is no more a battle rifle than a Cooey .22. It's a poor man's copy of a battle rifle. Very sad thing that one thinks one needs to consider rebuilding a rifle to make it minute of deer accurate though. I'd buy the thing and see how well it shoots with 165 grain hunting ammo. You can always sell it.
There is no such thing as cheap surplus any more. Those days are long gone.
 
sunray said:
An M305 is no more a battle rifle than a Cooey .22. It's a poor man's copy of a battle rifle. Very sad thing that one thinks one needs to consider rebuilding a rifle to make it minute of deer accurate though. I'd buy the thing and see how well it shoots with 165 grain hunting ammo. You can always sell it.
There is no such thing as cheap surplus any more. Those days are long gone.
Click to expand...

Holy crap... Sunray.... Damn near a perfectly good post hehehehe
:rockOn:

I'm a huge fan of these rifles (M14 type) but really can't argue with ya there
 
Mine turned out to be a total pos i wouldbt recommend buying one theyre nit even good as parts guns. My t97 has been good though but built to different standards
 
Do what I did and wait for a buddy and fellow nutter to get xferred to the US and swoop in like a vulture to pick off his op-rodded, indexed, head-spaced, and scoped M305 for under $400... Because that's what friends are for :)
 
I took a deer last season with my M305 at about 150m. I got the rifle for under $600 and a scout rail and scope was another $200ish dollars. But it's a heavy gun for sure, something I came to appreicate during the drag out of the woods. An M305 is a fun gun, cheap, and if you're already set up to reload .308 then why not? That being said if you wait for a decent deal you could get both a M305 and a cheaper bolt gun like an Axis and see which you prefer.
 
bdiddlez said:
hey guys,

I'm wanting a semi auto, in a caliber that is north american and can be used for hunting deer as a minimum. something as close to an AR kinda rifle (price is a big factor) so far all I can find for 1,000 or under is the m305

are these hard to get minute of deer vitals at 200 yrd?

I reload, but wondering if there is still cheap surplus kickin around (plinking rounds)

will the upgrades i will need to the m305 nickle and dime me to the point I should just buy a robinson xcr?

my gun smithing skills are shmeh....as in i can take things apart and put them back together no prob, but never tried much else except the odd trigger job.

let me know i look forward to your answers
Click to expand...
The US military requirements for standards of accuracy is 8inches at 100 meters for the M305. It is a battle rifle and nothing more. There are things U can do to make them shoot 1.5 inches at 100. These mods can be expensive and U need to know the weapon.
As an example: I have a newer ChiCom M305 and to make it shoot better, I bought a Sadlak gas piston, Sadlak op rod,and an op rod spring. I also took the action out of the OEM stock and spent over 900 bucks Cdn on a Sage EBR system along with an expensive scope mount. At the range the rifle routinely doubled and tippled, and failed to ####. Had to send it out for repairs to a knowledgeable M305 smithe. The rifle now routinely with the right carefully prepared reloads shoots 1 to 1.5 inch groups with a maddening couple of flyers out to 4 to 6 inches. The system weighs in at about 16 lbs with scope and 5 round mag. Not fun to pack in the bush. The M305 is also incredibly sensitive to cases, bullets, primer, and powder loads which drastically affects accuracy . If U want to hunt with this rifle U better be a re-loader.
If it were me I would avoid the M305 as a hunting platform. This is not to say that U can not hunt with it, it is just somewhat impractical. There are shooters on this site that do hunt with the M305 and they do it with success. Now having said that nearly any out of the box bolt action 308 will shoot bung hole groups with the right ammunition. Tight groups and have fun.

Cheers: Eaglesnester
 
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If you like a challenge and can handle frustration, get a 305.
If not....walk away now.
As has already been mentioned, you can end up sinking a fortune into these things with stocks and fancy doo dads, and still end up with a rifle that on a REALLY good day will shoot 1.5 at 100. (with top end factory ammo or reloads )
Mine is capable of hitting large Timmy cups full of dirt at 200 (very satisfying little explosion :) ) all day long with reloads.
Chasing groups is frustrating.........far too many variables at play.
Last week was hitting around 1.300 at 100 with a new load. Went out yesterday with a bunch of the same load................waste of time and effort I cant bring myself to measure the groups or I'll end up selling the bloody thing. The only difference between the two days I could see was a Goose on the pond and there was a tiny wee cloud about twenty miles away. The gun was for sale on the way home, but as usual I calmed down before I got home and were gonna work thru this together.
Definitely not a cheap plinking gun, I roll my own and still blow about 80 to 100 bucks a trip.
Its way heavy, moody and has expensive taste but I love er, just like the wife.
Next plan...work up the cheapest bulk load I can find and settle for a steady sub 2 moa...........and get a bolt gun for groups.

Cheers
Derek
 
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