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i am totally new to rifles, and was wondering if you guys have a good suggestion for a bolt action rifle thats cheap, reliable, and fun to shoot. or a semi-auto rifle. something not to expensive please

How cheap? Price range please.

drifteratheart wrote:i am totally new to rifles, and was wondering if you guys have a good suggestion for a bolt action rifle thats cheap, reliable, and fun to shoot. or a semi-auto rifle. something not to expensive please

something 300 or below? maybe a little more.

Saiga

drifteratheart wrote:something 300 or below? maybe a little more.

"Stupid" got you to define "cheap" (and your "cheap" is much higher than mine!)

Now, you have to define "fun to shoot". Here's a thread about bolt guns that are definitely cheap by any standard, and are fun to shoot by most standards:
http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... ee7e1eb09a

As for semi-autos, the Saiga recommendation might be a good one; I'm not sure of their price range, but they're definitely functional.

Personally, I find rimfires to be the ultimate in "fun to shoot", and you can have your pick in the $100-300 price range. Everything from a Brazilian-made Mossberg "Plinkster" at Wal Mart, to a decent 10/22.

Let us know what you pick. And post pics!

Kevin

Were all assuming that the question is about centerfire rifles as opposed to rimfire rifles.

I'll put in my bid for any member of the Savage line. They're relatively inexpensive, reliable and reasonably accurate.

Ruger Mini 14 is a good place to start. Then when your ready for an AR you'll have ammo on hand.

You have a wide-open question. So, we need to ask you a question. What purpose do you have for the rifle? Learning basic marksmanship? Small game hunting? Varmint hunting? Deer hunting? Big game like elk or moose? Dangerous game hunting, like grizzly bear or cape buffalo? Competition shooting? Military shooting?

sorry for the broad question, but i want something that i can take to the range for basic marksmanship. never shot a rifle before.

drifteratheart wrote:sorry for the broad question, but i want something that i can take to the range for basic marksmanship. never shot a rifle before.

Get a .22LR, .17HMR, or .17HM2 (Mach 2) The Ruger 77/22 or 77/17 both are well spoken of and provide all you could ask for for range (basic marksmanship) and informal plinking.

Starting out with a light recoil rimfire helps you instill marksmanship habits that will carry over into higher power rifles.

Cosmo 9 wrote:Ruger Mini 14 is a good place to start. Then when your ready for an AR you'll have ammo on hand.

I am the proud owner of a Mini 14 and I have to agree with Cosmo. They are very fun and very loud! A little more than $300. but well worth it in my opninion.

+1 on the rimfire. I would suggest a 22 as the ammo is much cheaper than 17.

Check out the ruger 10/22, you can't go wrong with one of those.

Try this site http://www.czusa.com they have a fine selection of bolt action
rifles at good prices.

For the ultimate in cheap, fun, reliable rifles, I'd look at the surplus 8mm Mausers or 7.62x54mmR Mosin-Nagants.

They can be found at pretty much every Big 5 or similar sporting goods stores.

Ammo is relatively easy to obtain (internet order).

Big-game hunting ammo is readily available.

The rifles are stupidly hard to break, short of running over them with a tank, and reliable to a fault.

A Mosin-Nagant model 91/30 was my first centerfire rifle, and is still one of the most fun (which reminds me - need to drag it out to the range again).

If you want to learn to shoot a rifle and it it just for fun, I recommend a Ruger 10/22. They are about $175, ammo is virtually free, they are accurate in factory configuration, and there is no recoil. If you get to where you can out shoot it in factory configuration, you can spend a little bit of $ and make it extremely accurate.