What are some cheap decent rifles
I am a 27 yr old IT developer, I spent a large portion of my life in the country with my dad and I was fortunate enough to be exposed to a lot of different rifles, shotguns and handguns in my life. Once I got out of my teens I haven't spent a lot of time around guns and it wasn't until recently I sparked an interest in shooting again. I've been collecting coins for years and I thought to myself why not collect some guns instead? They are collectible, can be great conversation pieces above you mantle and are a lot of fun to take to the range to de-stress with (no coin can give you this satisfaction)! As of right now I only own a few .22 LR's, a 20 guage Browning shotgun and a .40 S&W Beretta PX4 Storm. I want to expand my arsenal / collection with some cost effective guns. I go to the local gun shops regularly and I see lots of foreign military rifles in piles for $100 to $200. Are these worth buying? What I am looking for are cheap, relatively accurate, relatively durable, safe and most of all FUN guns to own/shoot. The history behind these guns intrigues me but only if the gun still provides value to me by being usable...
Can anyone recommend some guns that fit the profile I could buy to add to my collection and increase the fun factor of going to the range?
Can anyone recommend some guns that fit the profile I could buy to add to my collection and increase the fun factor of going to the range?
0
-
Welcome to the forum! You have come to the right place. Collecting and shooting firearms is a reall pleasure. Exatly what do you want to collect? I suspect you don't really know right now. Keep looking and go with strikes your fancy. Good luck. 0 -
The best buy in surplus rifles are the Mosin Nagant 91/30 rifles. These can be had in the $90-110.00 range. Ammo will run .20-30 cent per rd for surplus. Most all other surplus rifles will run at least $200.00 plus as they have not been imported for years. The Russian Nagant revolvers are the cheapest in hand guns. Usually in the $125-150 range. The main problem with these is the ammo cost. Hope this helps 0 -
Chaotech.....welcome to the GB Forum and thanks for your question. Now is actually a great time to be a buyer as it is a down market and favors buyers. My suggestion would be to do some research before you buy and identify those guns that interest you the most. Perhaps start visiting gunshops and start talking to the locals...it has been my experience that most gunguys are honest and, if asked, will give you the true skinny. Two factors I have always followed is buying the best conditioned gun and spending a bit more for quality. Military guns are really fun and most are very durable. Some, however, are junk so your research is very important. For example, Russian Mosin's are cheap now, but the Finnish Mosin's tend to be better quality and many were rebored with Sako barrels. You might, for example, want to look at Swedish Mausers which tend to be the best of the imported rifles and shoot the great 6.5x55 round. Lots of folks are going deep in their gunsafes to sell now as $ is hard so keep your eyes open. Do the research, buy quality even if you have to stretch your pocketbook...it will pay dividends in the end. Good luck in your search[^] 0 -
All good advice. Keep your eyes open and check around in local shops. There are good buys sometimes in antique stores where the owner has a license to sell. Folks sometimes strapped for cash put their guns on consignment and will let them go cheap...
Happy hunting.0 -
Welcome to the forums!!! Like others mentioned the mosin/nagant is a great rifle that can be bought for under $125. The ammo is cheap and fun to shoot. Also look into getting yourself an SKS. They can be bought on the auction side for around $200 and IMO are alot more fun to shoot than the Mosin. They shoot the 7.62x39mm round which is extremely inexpensive and there are plenty of accessories out there if you want to dress it up a bit. If its hunting rifles that interest you I can recommend the Marlin XL7, tons of features in a rifle for under $300. There are also others in that price range made by Savage and T/C that have good review but I have no first hand experience so cant really say. I would steer clear of the Remington 710 or 770.
Welcome to the sport!!!0 -
There are but two real names in gun collecting. They are Winchester, and Colt. Direct your purchases toward the turn of LAST century Winchester's and Colt's, and I will gaurantee you, that no stock market, or coin will match it.
Best0 -
I appreciate everyones input, I will certainly consider all of this when making future purchases which will be soon! Likely this week (har har!)... I did not know that the SKS's could be obtained so cheap, I have unloaded a few clips in one before and I will admit they are FUN! Any recommendations on what region of SKS to buy? Hungarian, Chinese, Russian... I see many different countries when I search SKS... Who makes the better SKS? Less jamming and more finger pumping action is always good 
0 -
Personally,I think the yugoslavian,russian,and romanian SKS models are very well built,accurate,dependable and cheap to shoot[the majority of their parts are machined,not stamped ,barrels are threaded as opposed to pinned,parts are heat treated as opposed to not ,quality control actually was practiced ,etc] and those are also some of the reasons I'd stay away from the chinese/norincos SKS's. Ray quite a few of the yugoslavian SKS's are brand new unfired and cheap 0 -
I second Mosin-Nagant as *the* unbeatable bargain in military surplus rifles. Not a particularly smooth operating or ergonomic gun, but at around $100 they're certainly functional, and put out a round ballistically equivalent or superior to a .308 Winchester at roughly $100 per military surplus "spam" tin of 440 rounds.
Edit, here is my "sporterized" Russian M44 carbine with added 2x forward mount pistol scope, foam cheekpiece, and rubber extension recoil pad (VERY helpful, IMO):
As a second choice for serious military gun, Yugoslavian (Serbian) 24/47 military surplus Mauser rifles are still available in the $200-$250 price range in excellent or even in some cases unissued condition, and there is still a good bit of relatively inexpensive 8mm Mauser ammo around to shoot from these.
To answer the question about SKS rifles, functionally they aren't all that different. They're all basically based on the original Russian design, with some of them having slight variations. Any of them in good condition should be highly rugged and reliable. In terms of common ones, the Russian ones are probably the most desirable from a collector standpoint.
The most common ones you'll probably find for use as a "shooter" are the Yugoslavian surplus 59/66 guns. Those are fine. These are built from all milled steel parts and real wood, have flip up night sights, folding bayonets, and a grenade launcher. . .not too shabby for about $300 in excellent condition. Well-used ones may be a little less. . .unissued ones (and you can still find these if you look) a bit more. If you have a C&R FFL license, these are C&R eligible guns.
Yugo SKS with bayonet unfolded, and grenade sight engaged:
Even though they are semi-auto military type guns with bayonets, because they lack detachable magazines and vertical pistol grips, they're just considered "ordinary" semi-auto rifles and are legal in all 50 states.0 -
I have a Romanian SKS made 1959. It was the first gun I ever bought off Gunbroker in 2000. I paid $175 and its in a Draganov style synthetic stock. Its kinda bulky and I always meant to restock it, but never did. I've shot thousands of rounds over the last 10+ yrs and have never done more than run a coupe patches through the barrel once every 3-4yrs. Functions flawlessly every time i take her out. I dont have any experience with guns made in other countries, but i dont like anything made in China 0 -
beantownshootah - Nice looking gun for a cheapie, I like it!
I've always wanted a nice Remington R700 field dressed and decked out like a sniper rifle but know I cannot afford one, maybe i'll settle for this bargain gun and fix it up as best I can...
Do they make synthetic or more cosmetically appealing stocks?0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
11 comments