Good "beginner" rifle

[Connemara]

I'd like to pick up a rifle this year. I won't be doing much (if any) hunting, this will be primarily for use at the shooting range. One of my gun-savvy friends recommended a Mosin Nagant. A bolt-action sounds good, but I don't know all that much about rifles. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better.

 

[Redwoood]

 

[Pantisocrat]

Aren't u in DC? If you need a rifle for home-defense chances r u won't survive a street fight.

 

[cmd06]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I'd like to pick up a rifle this year. I won't be doing much (if any) hunting, this will be primarily for use at the shooting range. One of my gun-savvy friends recommended a Mosin Nagant. A bolt-action sounds good, but I don't know all that much about rifles. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better.

Savage Edge in .30-06 for ~$300.

Marlin XS7 ~$330.

Remington 700 ADL ~$350.

 

[dah328]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I'd like to pick up a rifle this year. I won't be doing much (if any) hunting, this will be primarily for use at the shooting range. One of my gun-savvy friends recommended a Mosin Nagant. A bolt-action sounds good, but I don't know all that much about rifles. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better.

I would say that the Mosin Nagant is more of a novelty rifle. I don't think it's especially fun to shoot or hunt with.

If you're intending to shoot mostly at a range, I would seriously consider a .22 rifle such as the Ruger 10/22 especially since ammo has gone way up in price over the past couple years, so shooting larger calibers can get expensive. If you think might occasionally get a chance to go hunting, borrow a hunting rifle from someone in those cases. There's no sense in buying a hunting rifle if the majority of your shooting will be done at a range. And don't tell globetrotter you own a firearm.

 

[Kyoung05]

Originally Posted by Connemara

I'd like to pick up a rifle this year. I won't be doing much (if any) hunting, this will be primarily for use at the shooting range. One of my gun-savvy friends recommended a Mosin Nagant. A bolt-action sounds good, but I don't know all that much about rifles. Any recommendations? The cheaper the better.

First off, a mosin-nagant is a terrible choice (unless we're talking about the rare Finnish M39). It is inaccurate, has a terrible trigger, uses corrosive ammo, and packs a hell of a lot of recoil. If you're relatively new to shooting, this is definitely not the rifle you want to start off with. Granted, it is cheap, and ammo for it is cheap too - about the only redeeming qualities, really. After you've been shooting for a while, and if you decide to get into collecting WWII-era weapons, the mosin-nagant might be a nice pick up, but not now.

Having said that, assuming you actually want to learn how to shoot (rather than just blasting rounds down range), I'd highly suggest a rifle chambered in .22LR. It's a very small caliber round, no recoil, is very cheap, and very accurate. Granted, a .22LR won't really "impress" anyone, it doesn't make a loud "bang" when you fire it, and is about the "weakest" caliber round there is. However, if you actually want to learn to shoot, none of those things should matter. I'd suggest either the ubiquitous Ruger 10/22 (semi-auto), or a bolt-action CZ 452/453. I've owned both, and ended up keeping the CZ.

The Ruger will be cheaper up-front, but the trigger won't be as good, nor will it be as accurate. But, it is semi-auto, dead-reliable, reasonably accurate, and will last you a lifetime. The biggest upside to the Ruger is that it is highly modifiable - you can literally upgrade every single component in the rifle (assuming you are willing to spend $1,000+ upgrading a $200 rifle) making it competition-level accurate.

The CZ, on the other hand, is a bolt-action, meaning you have to work the bolt before every shot. The upside is that it is VERY accurate out of the box, has a great trigger, and amazing build quality for the price. There aren't really a whole lot of modifications for it, so it's something you're going to just shoot as-is. Even so, it will be more accurate than you are for a very long time (meaning, if you aren't shooting well, it's you, not the rifle).

Something else you may want to consider is whether you want to shoot with optics, i.e. a scope, or with iron-sights. If you decide to go with optics, either the Ruger or CZ would work (although you'll need to buy scope rings and mounts). On the other hand, if you decide to go with iron-sights, I'd suggest getting one of the CZ models that comes with iron-sights, which are some of the best iron-sights on a rifle (the Ruger can be had with iron-sights too, but compared to the CZ, they're terrible).

 

[jarude]

10/22 so you can learn how to shoot properly

this is the only answer

 

[uNiCoRnPriNcEsSx]

if you're learning how to shoot, listen to Kyoung05. get a CZ 452 lux or smth and git gud at using iron sights. if you feel the need to move up to larger calibers, do so after about 10,000 well-aimed shots of the .22lr.

 

[MrG]

+1 to the 10/22 suggestions (or some other decent-quality .22). It's not a cannon, but if you're just target shooting there's no reason go for something big. In fact, shooting larger rounds can get tiring. Plus, .22s are a lot of fun to shoot, and the ammunition is a lot cheaper than other calibers.

 

[Connemara]

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'll loo into a 22.

 

[TM79]

Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!

 

[Kai]

A .22 is a good choice for learning, but if you're looking for a gun that will shoot further, then get a Remington 700 bolt action, chambered for .308 Winchester.

It will be accurate right out of the box, reliable, and is a good quality rifle.

.308 ammunition is readily available, and you can get military surplus ammo very cheap.

This rifle is good to about 700 or 800 yards with practice and good optics.

 

[Kyoung05]

Originally Posted by Kai

A .22 is a good choice for learning, but if you're looking for a gun that will shoot further, then get a Remington 700 bolt action, chambered for .308 Winchester.

It will be accurate right out of the box, reliable, and is a good quality rifle.

.308 ammunition is readily available, and you can get military surplus ammo very cheap.

This rifle is good to about 700 or 800 yards with practice and good optics.

While the 700 is a great rifle, at about $.70/round, I don't think a .308 would be the best choice for a first rifle. Also, take into consideration that in order to really utilize the 700, he'd need to invest in some decent optics. All said, you're looking at $1,000+ for the rifle, scope and rings, and then $.70/round on top of that. Realistically, to get decently proficient at shooting, you're probably going to have to put about 5,000+ rounds down range, which means $3,500 in ammo (compared to .22LR bulk, which is about $15/500rds - so $150 in ammo total). On top of that, you have to take into consideration the HUGE difference in recoil between .22LR and .308 - I'm willing to bet a lot of new shooters would be completely turned off from shooting if they only had a .308 to shoot.

 

[suited]

Get a 10/22 if you want to plink at the range. The only downside here is that it might be a little boring to shoot. Bigger rifles are a blast to shoot, but I don't see the point in bringing a bolt action .308 with a scope to a 35 yard indoor range. If you have an outdoor shooting range or a friend with some land near you, then that changes things. The rifles you typically see at indoor ranges are things like .223, or other combat style rifles.

 

[Harold falcon]

Originally Posted by jarude

10/22 so you can learn how to shoot properly

this is the only answer

x one billion.

If you're new to firearms you WILL shoot your eye out, especially since you're asking a forum devoted to clothing about a rifle. Please take a safety course before you ever pull the trigger on anything.