what to buy for a first rifle

malkerie

malkerie

Member
Rating - 100%
17   0   0
what would be a good starter rifle? I was looking at a remington 700 in 223 cal, would that be ok? I probably only shoot up to 400-500 yards. I only have a tiny budget for a long range rifle, around 1000$ with the scope.... :( I'd like to have more but thats what I have.
The rifle will only serve to punch paper at the range. No hunting for this one.
Thanks

Malkerie
 
Last edited:
That's as good a place to start as any on that budget. It only leaves you about $250-$300 for optics, but there is useable entry level glass around in that range. Watch the EE. There can be some pretty good deals if you're there vat the right time.

The only either suggestion I could give would be to start with a savage action. I personally have very limited experience with them, but a lot of guys ere like them. They also have almost as many after market options as a remmy, but generally start a few bucks less.

Good luck.
 
Start with a rimfire then, savage mkii or cz 22lr, with an ok optic from bushnell or burris. Quality centerfire scopes are usually 1k and up. I got lucky and got my zeiss for 800, they retail at 1100ish. you might be able to score a sightron or something like that for 600-800 bucks. Doesn't leave much room for a decent rifle.

If you had to go centerfire and upped your budget a bit, rem 700 in my eyes are overrated for what they offer out of the box. I would recommend a savage or a cz in 223 as an alternative. The cz has a mauser action, which initially is a bit rough and gritty, but widely regarded as the toughest action(I never owned one so I can't tell you how accurate that statement is), but very few people offer aftermarket stocks for them in case you wanted to play around with that. The savage, I can vouch for, solid rifle, mine has a hs precision stock on it. it's a model 10. Smooth action, and quite accurate, I can't officially prove it but in my opinion savage beats anyone else for accuracy per dollar on the bolt action game.
 
remmington sps tac, with 10x fixed bushnell. the stock does leave alot to be desired in a good long range set up, but its as good a starting point as any, then when youve got a bit more case (250ish) you could grab an HS precission take off stock from the EE..

then again if you were to go used, that 1000ISH would get you something a bite better from the EE
 
I would also suggest looking at a used Savage over the Remington. I've owned a few SPS rifles and won't knock the rifle but after owning a few Savages I was more impressed. I typically change the factory parts out but on a budget I would recommend the Accutrigger over the the XMark Pro, and even the Tupperware Accustock over the overly flexible Hogue stock offered by Remington. The bushnell elite 10x would be a great optic to at least get you in the game and both options can easily be had for under your budget in the EE. The Remington of course offers a huge aftermarket but there goes the budget. I'm sure for a starter rifle you will happy with either. Good luck.
 
I think the first thing you should say is what do you want to do with it..... are you hunting? Target shooting... or?
 
I would say ( baby steps) 22. Good to start with help decide if you are a plinker or target/grouping shooter. I have seen a few people started with a target rifle( range/grouping) and found out they just like to shoot at larger targets( cans , gongs, etc) . Just a suggestion. Don't forget ammo cost!
 
ONLY 400-500 yards? If you have used peoples rifles and that is what you shoot, then dam, good for you, I wish I was that good at the start! lol. If you haven't shot a lot, that is actually a pretty long shot, I see a lot of people talk about 600 to 700 yard shots like its nothing, they are either really good or full of #### in my opinion. If I were you, I would look into Savage or CZ for .223 rifles, I have called Remington and they have suggested that 5.56 NOT be shot out of the 700. Where as the CZ 's and Savages are built to take those rounds as well. Just my two cents as surplus 5.56 is REALLY cheap compared to .223. Mossberg makes the MVP,$700 for a nice bench rest style stock, comes with a scope and bipod, chambered for 5.56 and takes AR mags, so you can use the AR pistol mag (10 shot), get another few bucks and buy a 1600 round crate of 5.56 for $400 (You mentioned being on a budget). As far as the 700 in .223 goes, I have no say, I have never shot it, but my suggestion would be to go with a savage and spend the money you saved on a nice optic set up, if you want accuracy at 400 yards , you are going to want decent glass.
 
Last edited:
Srsly, if this is your first rifle, rather than your first centerfire rifle, get yourself a good .22lr. You want to shoot at 400-to-500 yards, .22lr will get you there, to start.
Go to YouTube and type in gantry mount 500 and watch a guy smacking an 8.5 inch gong at 500 yards with a .22lr

Really. Everyone needs a good .22 rifle. Or several good .22 rifles (and handguns).
 
factionrr said:
Just a FYI. Surplus and Accuracy don't belong in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

And I dont think ".223" , "500 yards" "Long range" and "tiny budget". Belong in the same sentence either, but hey, scroll up and there it is. I notice a lot of posts in forums that usually do not help the OP, so I was just giving some info he may want to here. Also, just an FYI, nowhere in my post did the words accuracy and surplus find themselves in the same sentence.
 
Ok what I meant to say is that I want to get to shoot at 400-500 yards range. I already own some center fire rifle, but its only hunting rifle. I'd say I'm a decent shot at 100 but farther than that I have no clue.

Malkerie
 
Stevens 200 $350, Boyds stock $99, then add scope to it and go shooting. As funds become available start upgrading. The stevens uses a savage model 10 action so anything for the model 10 will fit the stevens

malkerie said:
Ok what I meant to say is that I want to get to shoot at 400-500 yards range. I already own some center fire rifle, but its only hunting rifle. I'd say I'm a decent shot at 100 but farther than that I have no clue.

Malkerie
Click to expand...

Use these for longer shots. They will work just fine. There is nothing in the "rule book" that says you can only shoot long range with a special gun. I shoot casually with my hunting guns at 350+
 
factionrr said:
Just a FYI. Surplus and Accuracy don't belong in the same sentence.
Click to expand...

lol x2

I picked up a wetherby vanguard s2 in 300 win mag. cost me around 650 after tax, left me about 400 for a nice optic... sighted in at 100, first 5 shots at 300 banged the gong... now setting up a 500-1000 range on a buddies farm... I think that the rifle is extreamly well priced has great features like palm swells, cheek riser, adjustable trigger, picatinny rails to mount optics.
 
Canadiankeeper said:
lol x2

I picked up a wetherby vanguard s2 in 300 win mag. cost me around 650 after tax, left me about 400 for a nice optic... sighted in at 100, first 5 shots at 300 banged the gong... now setting up a 500-1000 range on a buddies farm... I think that the rifle is extreamly well priced has great features like palm swells, cheek riser, adjustable trigger, picatinny rails to mount optics.
Click to expand...

And yeah, lol x3 on accuracy being in the same sentence as surplus, when you guys find it, let me know.

He said he wants a .223 (Sometimes you just have to whack people with the obvious branch from the tree of common sense to get them to listen to reason)
 
Have a look on the EE... There's a lot of nice 223 to start with.... Around 1000$ with correct scope on them.... I have some remmy and some savage and they are both good rifle to start with. So don't stick to a brand...go with the best platform for the price you Will find.... Check for a good stock too, not only for the action...pretty much any factory savage or remington Will be a 1MOA rifle.

Honestly, I think You should start with a .22lr to learn and go with a 308 after, but that's only my opinion..... 308 is a really nice caliber for reloaders..... I don't think there's anything wrong with a 223 either.

I started with a 700 5r milspec in 308...with a vortex crossfire scope...it was a 1MOA rifle
After I went into reloading....it was a .50MOA to .75MOA rifle and I gained a lot of consistency
Upgraded the setup with a Sightron SIII scope and EGW rings after a while...I was able to group .50MOA more often and did some group in the .25MOA.....
Then a Jewell trigger...gave me more consistency.......keeping it pretty much always under .50MOA...

So What did I learned? The best thing to improve accuraccy is reloading...after you must see where You are aiming clearly.....after that You gained consistency.....it's no more a "best group" but an average.... First thing you have to do if want maximum accuracy is to start reloading....

And after all that you start to go custom ;). Because a tuned Ford will always have some weakness of a Ford.... P.S. You can change the word ford by any brand you want;)

Some good platform you can find on the EE with a decent scope for around 1000$:
Savage Benchrest
Savage FTR
Remington 700p
Remington 700 5r
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom