Well I'll throw my two cents in here.

I think there are a lot of things that come in to play when buying a new firearm. You need to think of things like ammo cost. If it's really expensive to buy the ammo then most likely you won't shoot it much unless you reload or you have a large spending account. Also, some calibers are not real pleasant to shoot very many rounds through. Believe me that a 45-70 is not a caliber that you want to take out "target shooting". Sure you might suffer through shooting 20 rounds but your gonna know it the next day. I shoot a lot and I don't like to sit down and shoot 30 rounds out of my 30-06 or my 270. They are just more of a hunting rifle to me. Now I do enjoy shooting A .223 and the ammo is probably the cheapest center fire rifle ammo on the market. They are great rifles for target shooting, predator/varmint hunting, and while I would consider them on the light side, they are legal for deer hunting in some states.

If you want to do a lot of target shooting and all around plinking then I would look at either a 22 rimfire. This caliber is great for target shooting, great for small game and the ammo is really cheap.

If you need more of a heavy caliber for large game and a little target shooting, then a .270 or .308 would be perfect for anything smaller then the big brown bears. The .308 will have a large variety of bullet weights and be a little cheaper to shoot. It is a popular cartridge for target shooters too.


As for as rifles that don't cost a small fortune but still have good quality and resale value goes, here are my personal favorites.

I really like the CZ line of rifles. The CZ rifle is the model 452 and 453 (with the 453 having the upgraded single set trigger). These rifles have a huge following and are very well respected. They are amazingly accurate. CZ also makes a center fire rifle which is the model 527 for the small bore center-fires and the model 550 for the large bore. The models 453, 527 and 550 all come standard with the famous CZ set trigger. They are awesome rifles!

Tikka also makes a very nice rifle that is really aforable. The action on this rifle is like glass and the triggers are very sweet. You can adjust the factory trigger down to 2 pounds in like 5 minutes. The Tikka is a model T3 and they make it any several varieties of wood,blue or synthetic and stainless steel. These rifles are also very popular.

You can never go wrong with the Remington 700. While I don't think the quality to be what it was like 30 years ago, they still make a nice rifle that can be easily improved with a little tweaking.

I would visit some of the firearm websites and do a little reading before you make a purchase. You want to be informed and what you buy so that you don't regret it later. Below are some websites I would check out for good info.

www.rimfirecentral.com

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/index.php

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/index.php


http://whittakerguns.com/

 

This is the only pic I can find of the CZ's and Tikka. The top one is a Tikka and the bottom two are CZ's.

 

Thanks guys! I really want to investigate target shooting before I consider hunting. If I do go hunting I will need a gun to do the job. That's why I was looking at the 30-06

 

What kind of hunting will you be doing?

 

CRF, My recommendation will be a .308. Plenty of power to hunt anything in North America, you can shoot 110 gr for ground hogs up to a 175SMK that will get you out to 1k yards if you want to with the right optics mount and setup.

Go over to snipercountry.com and read up. You may be able to find a slightly used Remington 700 PSS or 5R that would make a great start. We could find you a really basic used scope just to get started so you can spend most of your budget on the rifle that will be something you can upgrade later.

My .308 is a Rem 700 5R. I sold the factory stock, bedded it in a McMillan A5 stock and used Brownell's Alumahyde II to coat it black. You could start off with the basic rifle and eventually add and upgrade parts. The other thing to consider is resale value. A PSS or 5R will hold value much better than other rifles should you ever want/need to sell it.

Here is an old pic of my 5R:

Click for big pic
...damn hunt101. I will transfer over to my gallery later.
Also once you buy a firearm from a private FFL like Bruce, you will never go back to ****s!

 

Nobody has said anything about my favorite rifle in the world. A NEF single shot 30-06. I have one in 223, 30-06, 500 S&W. They are all excellent rifles, very accurate and very cheap. On sale you will often be able to find one for about 220.00. Give them a try I promise you will not be sorry.

 

If I do hunt, it will be deer. I just emailed my police department and I am allowed to store the rifle in its case unloaded at the police station. They will secure it for me until I pick it up to take it off campus. That will make my life a lot easier

JMB, I'll look into the .308 I will definitely have to get in touch with you when I get home in May. Thanks!

 

Here are some of my target rifles.

20" AR-15 with heavy bull barrel 5.56



16" RRA AR-15 my coyote slayer .223



My 24" AR-15 reach waaaay out there and touch them rifle .223




Ruger 10-22 that I built from the action up. It's a great plinking rifle.

 

My Tikka 22-250 will reach way out there and has plenty of power to kill a deer.




The top one is my Rem 700 ADL deluxe in 270
and the bottom one is my Rem 700 BDL 30-06


CZ 452 22 mag - probably the most accurate 22mag I have ever fired.


CZ 452 17HM2 - very nice little critter getter and cheap to shoot - oh and very accurate.

 

My CZ 527 this rifle has the sweetest trigger I have ever used. It is a set trigger that breaks at around 6 ounces.





My Henry lever action. It is really accurate for a lever action and a all around fun gun to shoot. It is now scoped and my sons favorite rifle.



My favorite rifle to grab when I just want to shoot or go after a small critter. It is a CZ 452 17HMR. this cartidge will shoot dime sized groups at 100 yards all day long. It will blow a crow to pieces at 175 yards and all yuou'll get is a red mist and feathers. lol I did a trigger job on this one and lightened the pull wieght to 2 punds with no creep at all.

 

Here is a pic that will give you an idea on the size of some of the rifles I have listed.

From left to right :

22 long rifle, 17HM2, 17HMR, 22mag, .223, 22-250, 30-06. I am out of the 243 and 270 or I would have thrown those in there too.

 

It looks like VA has a restriction of: Rifles used for deer or bear must be .23 caliber or larger. But also some counties in VA will not allow any deer hunting with rifles. So I would check the laws on what county you will be hunting before you buy a rifle.

A 243 or a 25-06 would make for a nice deer rifle but still light enough to enjoy shooting it. They would also make for a dandy varmint rifle. Both of these cartridges will cost a little more than a .223 or .308 though.

here is the VA DNR link.
http://www.dgif.state.va.us/hunting/regulations/


Can you tell I'm a gun nut? Shooting/firearms is my favorite hobby by far.

 

Simple man====You probably know this but for some that may not The 30-06 case is also the parent case of 22-250, 243, 270, 308, and one of my favorite but seldom used the 35 Whelan. The 06 is the father of lots more calibers than listed here.

 

On one of my other posts I said that FN owns Winchester and Browning. It is the Herstal Group that owns FN Herstal, Browning ans Winchester Rifles and Shotguns. They are made in its FN Manufacturing (FNM) plant in Columbia, South Carolina.

 

If I hunt, it will be in Michigan. I will just be target shooting in Virginia but I will definitely keep that in mind!