what would be a good learning rifle?

8/24/2004 | rune3345

[rune3345]

HI, I am wondering what a good learning rifle would be. something that wont cost me a arm, a lag(how ever you spell it) and a few toes for the rifle and bullets.

[Riley]

Full Auto Assault Rifle, 100 round mags, cop killer bullets.
Sparrows are good practice targets.

Only when they're flying through heavily-populated neighborhoods. LOL!

[No_Outcome_But_Victory]

M16. And I know someone who can teach you:

;)

[Blood of Tyrants]

Addendum: If you find you really like the .22 but want something more accurate, then look at a rifle in the .17 HMR caliber.

[Conservative4Ever]

thanks for the info...will check it out. :)

Red

[SirChas]

[D Rider]

If you want cheap, get a .22 Marlin or Ruger. Ammo doesn't cost much, either.

I prefer the Ruger 10-22

If you really want to improve your rifle shooting get a "break-barrel" type pellet gun, with a muzzle velocity of 1000fps. Since this type of pellet gun uses a spring piston to compress the air, it is very consistent. Any minor error in gun handling makes the shot fly way off. This is because, unlike a rifle the recoil happens just prior to the pellet leaving the barrel. It will really improve your off-hand shooting. Make sure you only use a pellet gun scope, these things blow apart even the most expensive rifle scope.(It's due to a reverse recoil when the piston slams forward to the end of the cylinder.) Also, don't spend the money for the extra suspension models, these minimize the "recoil/pelletleaving the barrel" issue, which defeats the intended purpose of helping to improve your shooting.

If your final intension is hunting get a ballistics software. Learn the path of your bullet/pellet. Example; I set up a .308 to shoot 3.5 inches high at 100 yards. A 165 grain bullet will rise to about 4 inches max. then drop to -4 inches at about 250 yards. The "kill area" of a deer, (heart and lungs) is about 8 inches tall. This gives my set-up a "point-blank" range of 250 yards. Just point on target, and squeeze.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Where are you from, pilgrim? Outside the US? I say this because even a fairly small and not so bright child can spell leg.

[Merciful_Friend]

I'm far from a gun expert, and I live in NYC where it's hard to go plinking around, but when I purchased my first (and only) rifle I found myself plumping for a Marlin .22 - specifically the lever-action 39A. It's a beautifully made piece, a classic bit of Americana and I think a very fine shooting rifle (at least way better than any other .22s the local range hands out). It's never jammed on me, and I believe other owners have had similar good experiences.

While I wouldn't go bear hunting with it, I think it would serve me well in any situation I might realistically find myself in. The magazine (tubular) holds 19 LR rounds, which is a nice convenience. Not exactly cheap, at about $400, but there you are. The ammo, as others have pointed out, is dirt cheap.

[4CJ]

Look, your gun!

[nightdriver]

I would recommend a good bolt-action .22. It teaches that every shot is important and worth taking time to aim, squeeze, etc.

An automatic can encourage just burning up a lot of ammo without taking time to develop the discipline of marksmanship.

[greylurker]

Ruger 10/22 Bump

[Chode]

for small game you could get a stainless steel Springfield M-6 Scout with a single shot .22 over a .410 under for about $200 and can shoot both all day for cheep

got one stashed in my jeep

[Blood of Tyrants]

Owl_Eagle was just kidding you. You really aren't from around here, are you?

[Durus]

I'm going to echo a couple posters comments and suggest the marlin .22 bolt action. It was my first rifle way back when and I learned a lot shooting it. It's clip fed, which is something any shooter is going to have to get used to eventually. The bold action lets you focus on that one singe round in the chamber rather then just squeezing away.

Plus the marlin bolt action is cheap and accurate, which aren't two things you normally associate with a semi-auto.

[Arthalion]

Personally, I HIGHLY recommend making sure that you're breaking them in on a BOLT ACTION rifle. I suggest .22's because they're light, easy to fire, and allow you to teach proper gun handling and accuracy without the student being afraid of firing kick or startled by a lot of noise.

I suggest bolt action out of personal experience. When my daughter was six I began teaching her how to handle and aim a rifle, and eventually took her out to the range to shoot off a box of live rounds. We had a semiauto 22 LR at the time, and I stood back while she squeezed off her first round. She enjoyed the feel and power after taking her first shot so much that she promptly squeezed off four more rounds in the time it took me to cross the four feet seperating us and yank her hand from the trigger.

To her credit, four of those five rounds found the target :-) Still, that rifle was retired in favor of a bolt action after that incident. Teaching kids that every shot counts is much easier when you have to deliberately load every round between shots.

[reagandemo]

You need to be more specific. What type of hunting will you be doing? If it's small game 22 fine, deer 243 or 30-06. Grizz 300 Winchester. Iraqi terrorists 50 cal MA-1. All of them good plinkers. ;-)

[Jaxter]

"Two types of FR threads that you can bank on hitting 100 posts are gun vanities and (oddly) anything dealing with fast food."

You left out beer.

[evets]

[Bogey78O]

Try the Yugoslavian SKS. The ammo costs about 10 cents a round and the rifle can be purchased in fair condition for 150$ from a dealer.

[ArrogantBustard]

M1903A3

Nice. I gotta get one, one of these days to complement my Garand and No.4 Enfields.