Best rifle investment?
I’m a pistol person and know next to nothing about rifles except that my son shot .22 very well in Boy Scouts. He’s 16 now and dreams of being the next American Sniper or maybe Dustin from Top Shot who hit a golf ball at 100 yards first shot. He prefers more tactical rifles but I’d like to buy something under $1000, a gun that can grow with him and I don’t want him training on bullets that cost more than $1 each. Don’t want something cheap but don’t want to break the bank either. I’d like to be able to sell the gun and not lose money if this is just a fad. I’m getting conflicting advise from different gunstore employees:
Employee A) get an AR
Employee B) too late to get an AR bc prices have doubled
C) get a 223. Good ballistics, not too expensive and can get to 1000 yards as he gets better
D) get a Creedmore type of assembly gun
E) get a Remington 700
F) don’t get a Remington bc they went bankrupt and you can’t be assured of parts in the future
G) get a precision gun like a Ruger
H) buy a cheaper gun like a savage and spend top dollar for a $3000 scope bc the scope is more important than the gun
As you can see, I’m getting no consensus and I’m more confused than when I started. Help!
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Buying an AR, or any black rifle, means that you are speculating and not investing. You're counting on legislation of some sort to allow you the "cash in" for a quick profit. Investment quality firearms haven't changed in decades: Winchesters and Colts, along with Smith and Wessons. You can dabble in anything from Marlin Ballards to High Standards, or high end shotguns such as Boss or Purdey. The options are limitless. 3 -
If I had to choose to only have one rifle it would be a lever gun chambered for 30-30 be it a Winchester or Marlin
Just about anything designed by John Browning is a good investment0 -
Look at it this way: There is a Winchester collector for every Winchester ever produced. As I type this, somewhere a woman is being wheeled into the delivery room who will give birth to a child who will grow up and want a pre-64 Model 94, a Model 1897, or a Model 12. These are firearms blue chips. You an fill your garage with ARs, but unless there is a threat of legislation to ban them, there are relatively few gun owners who are actually interested in them. 3 -
There are a number of 1903s for sale on the auction side. Sporterized models for well under $1,000 at least at present.
No rifle is truly an investment, IMO, but the 1903 will last forever and will retain value.
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What Don said.
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M1 Garand, best grade you can afford. 0 -
Sniper to be? Learning to shoot a rifle accurately takes a lot of practice, burning a lot of ammunition under all sorts of conditions. It is hard to beat a .22LR as a learning tool while you learn sighting, trigger squeeze, wind doping, hold-over, etc. And a good .22LR bolt action won't break the bank either. In addition to the rifle, he will need a good quality scope. No need for a fancy rig with all kinds of gadgets at first. That can come later after he has mastered the basics.
Golf ball at 100 yards? I have a scoped Savage .22LR out of the box that will do that three times out of five if I do my part and fire the Federal Classic ammo the gun prefers. Probably more often if I practiced more.
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If he wants to learn to shoot, and you want him to learn to shoot, get him a single shot in any caliber suitable for his physical size. You can sink as much money into one as you'd like. In my opinion, buying a new shooter a semi-auto to learn on is a waste of ammo. May-as-well buy him strings of firecrackers and a stick to fling them with. Don't worry about the investment aspect. Guns have a way of sticking around. I'm 66 yrs old and I still have the first gun I bought when I was 14. If you want to "invest", find someone to coach/teach him shooting. 6 -
RUGER. Either a 10/22 or a 77/22 if you can find one. 
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As an investment. The investment is keeping the son off the streets and someone teaching him ballistics and how to shoot. His rifle.. he should not ever want to sell it. Get some good glass for this one and let him set it up to fit . When he gets older he will know what rifle he can work for and purchase.
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You are going to get some conflicting advice here as well as people have different preferences, experiences, and needs.
Current spikes in price of both firearms and ammunition will at some point resolve. Of course we do not know when or when the next spike may happen. To help control the long term cost of ammunition a rifle chamber in a main stay cartridge the ammunition manufactures will make even in times like now and make plenty of at other times will help.
Let's look at the needs to rifles will fill.
First is the rifle just for targets or will/might he hunt with it and if so what will he hunt? If the rifle could be used for hunting in the future that narrows the search somewhat. A good hunting rifle easily makes a decent range/target rifle but target rifles do not always make good hunting rifles.
What distances will he reasonable be shooting? A lot of center fire chambered rifles will shoot well out to 400 yards with good optics mounted. 1500+ yards sniper scopes aren't necessary for 400 yard rifles, but a decent quality scope is. If he practices and gets the most he can out of it then he can consider higher end equipment.
Cartridges that are common and generally reasonably priced are .223 Remington, 7mm-08, 22-250, .308 Winchester, 30-06 Springfield, .270 Winchester, 7mm Rem Mag, .300 Winchester Mag. I've seen 6.5 Creedmore prices reasonable. There are more. Of these I would look primarily at two, the .223 Remington and the 308 Winchester. If he thinks he will deer hunt with the rifle I would choose the 308 Winchester of the two as the .223, while capable, in my home state it isn't a legal deer cartridge and the 308 is simply better for the purpose.
IMO a good bolt action rifles with decent optics is the best platform for a beginning shooter to learn the basics of accurate distance shooting. Production rifle quality is fairly good now with most manufacturers. Ruger and Savage would be my first two choices for reasonable priced entry level rifles that provide good quality for a good price. There are other brands that will also and that is just my opinion. Scopes are another item of conflicting opinion. Other than the real low end stuff most scopes today will do the job. Burris and Leopold are the American mainstays but there are other brands such as Vortex. I personally have a few Bushnell Elite series scopes that serve me well and just bought a Burris. If I needed 2000 yards European optics I would save the money and get it, but I don't, as a hunter 400 yards is about as far as I am going to shoot something.
I would approach it this way. 1)Choose a cartridge, 2) choose the platform (bolt action, pump, semi-auto, lever action) 3)choose the rifle 4) choose the scope (if any, iron sights are fine in some rifles). Make sure the person mounting the scope knows what they are doing as good bases, rings, and mounting are very important for accuracy.
A difference would be if you choose a rifle platform first, like an AR for example, then you would have to choose a cartridge available for that platform.
I know this isn't an answer it's really just food for thought. Don't over think it he will enjoy and learn with what ever you get.
EDIT: My post was written with the assumption you are looking for a center fire rifle. If he does not have a .22 rifle then he needs one. Even if you get him a center fire rifle he needs the .22 for practice and fun plinking, I am in my late 50's have a safe full of rifles and still shoot .22 more than anything else. Good used .22 rifles are easy to find and will retain value. If he was close enough I would take him out and let him try several rifles to see what he likes.0 -
Very important question.SCOUT5 said:....is the rifle just for targets or will/might he hunt with it ....
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@...: 31545436024859/comments/
Rifles are like cameras; you can buy the absolute coolest and best camera body and still take crappy pictures. On the other hand, you can buy an 'okay' camera body and put some good lenses on it and take absolutely fantastic pictures. It's all about the glass.I also agree with the bolt action / single shot theme mentioned by others. If your son truly wants to get good at shooting he'll do it best one shot at a time (not rapid fire).
Brilliant analogy.
I still have my first rifle.
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If you buy him an Encore Rifle the calibers and cartridge choices are almost unlimited by simply swapping out the barrel. Anything from .22 (the best training round) to the calibers that are suitable for any animal on earth are available, Bullberry and Match Grade Machine make awesome barrels for the Encore.
I would suggest a bolt action .22 to start him off. The Savage rifles are great. It is important to put good optics on it, Vortex Leupold or other higher end glass will serve his training needs very well. Training takes lots of ammo, the .22 is the least costly but most effective accurate trainer there is.
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if you are looking for a rifle as an investment, you ALMOST have to look used, as the price of new has risen above normal. and a used rifle is like a used car, is owner getting rid of it because he is just tired of it, or tired of its problems?? If you have friends/coworkers who are gun owners and good close friends ask if they would take your son to the range if he buys the ammo to try a few different rifles out, as others have said a good solid 22lr is a good place to start, and to keep in practice later in life, maybe one with open sights and a scoped version either could be had in the $200-$300 range for starters and watch for good buy in larger caliber later. 0 -
In my opinion, the most "bang" for the "buck" is a Savage. If you get a model with the accu trigger, accu barrel and accu stock this will be a rifle more accurate than the person shooting the rifle.
What to chamber this Savage in?? The 308 is a choice that almost never would be a wrong choice but it isn't very high on the "cool" factor. Who knows if the current craze for the 6.5s will last but at the moment the 6.5s have the "cool" factor going for it. For a good all around caliber looking over the many 7 mm's would be educational.
Personally I am not able to tell a lot of difference between a good 5 to 7 hundred dollar scope and one of those very expensive scopes, but that's me. Maybe your son would be able to see enough difference to justify the price difference.
Investment?? If I buy carefully and after a while decide I want to another direction I have yet to lose money on any gun. My profit might be under a hundred dollar bill but as I said I didn't lose money. If your goal is a serious profit all I can say is lots of luck!6 -
Their is only one real rifle the M1A LOL 0 -
You are getting some good advice here.
I would agree on a Bolt action .22 for starters. One that I own that would be excellent is an older Marlin 81DL. (They can still be found on the auction side, without getting ridiculous in price.) It is a tube fed bolt action .22. (they are also available in a magazine model.) Can handle shorts, longs and Long Rifles, (.22's) mine is exceedingly accurate, and has very good quality peep sights on it. I have a fair # of Firearms. This is one of my Son's favorites to shoot. He is extremely accurate with it.
If he is indeed interested in becoming a "Sniper," slow accurate firing is a requisite skill, not blasting away. (wasting expensive ammunition.) Once he becomes proficient with manual (open) sights, add a quality scope and go from there.
These older rifles are appreciating in value, by the way, without being ridiculously expensive to buy. The quality, IMHO is better than what is found in todays rifles.
Good luck in your search.
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sniper?..........here you go
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/8802521680 -
I can tell you what NOT to buy. 0 -
MIKE WISKEY: 31545436024859/comments/31545439314587
sniper?..........here you go
https://www.gunbroker.com/item/880252168
This is an excellent setup and a fantastic pice so far. You can do a lot with that gun, hunt, target practice. You will never go wrong with a Winchester.
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I sent you a message to your inbox.Best.0 -
I have my 12 Winchester model 12 that my dad bought me when I was 6 and the first 22 I bought when 10. I still use the both the 22 is a single shot that still takes a few squirrels and coons every year. 0 -
This is really helpful information. @select -fire - the .22 listing sold and @MIKE WISKEY, I added to the watch list. However, I'm thinking it may be best to start with the .22. I don't know yet about hunting. His grandfather hunts but has gotten older so hasn't hunted in a while. I live in the suburbs so limited to a local gun range (75 feet), but there is a gun club 30 mins from here where he can shoot rifles in the open on a longer range. All, please keep the info coming as it helps my research. I guess if you can guide me to best .22 and best scope for the value, that would be great. He's 6' 1" so he doesn't need a beginner gun. 0 -
Depending on where you live, finding a 1000 meter range can be a ...... challenge.
22 LR runs out of real accuracy at about 75 yards. Now you can ask 10 of us, and get 20 different answers- but my vote would be for a bolt action Savage. I love my older Mossbergs, Marlins and Remingtons- but Savage is making very good rifles for the money. You CAN do better than .22 LR, though. Get a Savage 93 in .17HMR.. Ammo is about 20 cents per cartridge. It is SCREAMINGLY accurate. The very light bullet WILL get pushed around by wind, and you WILL have to learn to read wind. Definitely within your price range, not for big game hunting, but mine will shoot 3/4 inch groups at 100 meters if I do my part.
Regular wood, synthetic, thumbhole laminate, blued or stainless. Add some good glass, and you still won't break the bank.
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I blame PSA and their pre-ban deals.........damn PSA........want some ARs Mark?mark christian said:You an fill your garage with ARs, but unless there is a threat of legislation to ban them, there are relatively few gun owners who are actually interested in them.0 -
One thing I'd suggest that will (hopefully) make the young man appreciate this more is to not buy it outright for him.
Help him with it, yes, but make him put some effort into it.0 -
Well it seems like the advice is all over the place no different than you experienced before. So, an investment that he can grow with, in reality who knows. 3
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