Thinking of buying a rifle

[Highpower]

(12-14-2015, 01:13 PM)Roadracer_Al Wrote: I also agree about the quality vs skill issue, however, there's definitely a floor level of quality which hampers the ability to have fun. I.E. jams, an inability to repeat.

I agree 100%. Very well stated Al.  

Quote:I was under the impression that 22 was the most popular round ever?!  What happened?  You're right -- the price for a box of 500 went up 10x from what I remember (as opposed to roughly 2.5x over the same time period for standard inflation).  Regardless, it's still ten cents per round compared to fifty cents for .223.  I'm using Cabella's to check pricing, I'm sure some sleuthing on the internet would yield lower prices.

What happened? It got even MORE popular! Due to the political climate (which will NOT be discussed here...) firearms sales in this country have increased exponentially. So have ammunition sales. The manufactures can't keep up with the demand and suddenly we are in drought and all the shelves are empty. I haven't seen a single box of .22 for sale in the local sporting goods stores around here for 4 years. And again, it depends on what you are shopping for. Top shelf, match grade .22LR ammunition costs me over $1.00 per round. And that the normal price - not the super inflated "hoarder" price.

.223/5.56 is a very popular round. It looks even better if you re-load your own ammunition.  I think it costs me around 14 cents a round to load my own. At least it used to.... I haven't had to buy any components for a long time now. .308/7.62 is also a popular choice for reloading. There will always be a source of empty brass casings for either to be found thanks to our "Uncle Sam".  

1234567890 is right about the Winchester 52 being the "grail" for a lot of shooters. It's an old school favorite but you will PAY heavily for the privilege to own one. They don't come cheap if/when you can find one. You can't go wrong with a Savage either, but the guys over at Rimfire Central have been praising CZ rifles for a few years now too. Never had the pleasure myself but I can vouch for their pistols.

My "grail" is one of my Remington 40-X rifles (circa 1963) in .22LR that took me a l-o-n-g time to get my hands on one (much less 2 of them).  It's in the same class as the Winchester 52. EXPENSIVE.  

[dallen]

you will have to excuse the crappy photo, guess phone cameras and LED lights don't mix.

anyway I've been working on this little project for about the last 8 months, their a lot more fun to build then they are to buy.

   

[Roadracer_Al]

Willie, now you're just making me sad. My rifle was a Remington 40-X.

Regarding shooting in general, and reloading in specific... just what I need: a new excuse to buy tools.

[Highpower]

I fully understand Al. There are a few firearms that I have sold, that I'm still kicking myself over - and that was decades ago. I miss a few of the motorcycles and cars I used to have too. Hindsight..... <sigh>

There are a lot of common interests among the members here and on similar forums. Finding excuses to buy (or make) new tools is just one of them.

[pjf134]

Bob Wright it is good to see you are doing good. My pick for a rifle would be a Savage 110-223, it's easy to find cases and reload and very good shooter at up to 300 yds. I did put a new scope on mine it's a 6x24 sniper scope and looking for a place to shoot it longer. The club I teach at now only has a 100 yd. range outside. If anyone is into pistol the 40 cal. is a good one to get, not the Glock, because those are out of spec. and the cases bulge unless you have a bulge buster on your reloading bench. The cops use 40's and when they qualify 2 times a year they just throw them out. The last time they did a qualification I got about 500 cases to reload. I got the S&W M&P 40 that I won and just trying some different loads for now. When I have range duty at the club the ar's always have trouble of some sort every time I am there. This last Saturday a bolt broke on a cops ar15 and had to tear it down to get the live case out so he can leave and try to get another one since it is the one that goes in his cop car. The steel ammo seams to jam in some ar's and not others. Building or buying a ar15 is almost the same price for a standard one. The Anderson ones do not need oiled and are hard to wear out and cost more for that. The S&W ar's are a good one and cost more too. Shaw Barrel is making their own now with the outside twist barrel for about $600. I did see it before it hit their store and it did look nice. I do like some other firarms too but this is just a few for now. Just to catch up on here in Nov. I did get certified as a Instructor for NRA in reloading because some other guys wanted to get there certs so I arranged it and took it too. I am also certified in some other areas too.
Paul