Good, old, affordable rifle suggestions

A Remington 700 in 30.06 is hard to beat and a price tag at around $550 ain't bad. That is my go to gun, I have hunted bear, moose, elk, deer, hog, coyote, mountain lion, and even shot a snake with it. It has never failed to be the one rifle for everything workhorse that I bought it to be. Add a $400 leopold scope and it is a tackdriver too.

If you can find one with reasonable prices on their guns, pawn shops are pretty good places to pick up used deer rifles and used 22s.

I have a Savage .308 from the mid to late 50's I think, and a Savage 30-30 dated 1912, octagon barrel damascene frame. Nice guns, but not ones I'd want to do a lot of target shooting with, that .308 gets painful to shoot after a few rounds, especially compared to my BLR .308.

That being said, one can find a Savage in calibers from 30-30, 300 Savage, to .308, and a few others. Most I've been seeing at local shops are around $500, I'd bet you could find one pretty easily, and what a nice way to connect with your dad.

A Mosin, Mauser, Enfield, or a Springfield are certainly fun to shoot and seem fairly easy to locate these days, they shoot very easily with sites, and most can take a scope with pretty easy mods. If you have a Cabelas in the area, they usually have a few Mosins and Enfields around that you can at least check out. They very likely will have a Springfield and a Mauser around as well, though often I see those in the heritage showcase. Generally if you go on a not so busy day its a good opportunity to check out some guns with very little pressure to buy, and you don't feel too bad about walking away from them compared to a small shop.

Good luck!

I'd say just for banging, then find a MN with a barrel that doesn't look like a sewer pipe. 7.62X54 ammo is comparatively cheap. It'll shoot a "minute of man" pretty much all day long. It won't shoot one hole groups at 100 yds, but it'll be close enough for government work. There is a lot of corrosive primed stuff out there yet, that is something to be aware of.

If you want to get more serious, then I'd go with a Swiss straight pull. Factory ammo is available for .50 a pop ( plus freight ) from SamcoGlobal. Swiss factory ammo is non corrosive and like was mentioned above, pretty much equal to match ammo. That 7.5 Swiss will shoot right beside a .308 as far as performance goes.

Every now and then you'll find a decent priced Brazilian Mod 98 Mauser in 7x57 for a couple of bills. That's a good load and there is still some milsurp ammo to be had.

'06 ammo is pretty much through the roof price wise these days.

I love my 6.5X55 Swede. Norma ammo for those things is outrageous nowadays.

Pawn shops and classified ads are the place to look around after all the seasons have closed and it's time to pay taxes.

I was really leaning toward looking for a MN until I started looking at the K31. I would definitely consider paying a little more that beauty but my only concern is the price/availability of the ammo.

One rifle that hasn't been mentioned, but worth considering if you like the milsurps is the Enfield Ishapore 2A1. Its looks like and operates like a No1 MkIII, but is chambered in 7.62x51 (.308) so ammo is easier to deal with. You will read all kinds of stuff about not shooting .308 in them - it's been shown time and again that they are fine with it. They are not rechambered/bored out .303. India used a different alloy, barrel, etc. They can be had for 250 and up usually. Do your own research and decide fro yourself, but I have never had a problem with 308 in mine. Great shooter and able to get in the 9 Ring at Known Distance Range at 600yds with iron sights and sand bag front rest. Do check headspace before buying. Really neat rifles. All that said, I still like my K31 a wee bit more, but I reload, so ammo is not an issue.

Thanks guys. I definitely think I'm going milsurp just gotta decide on what. Now I may end up reloading after speaking with my dad. He showed some interest in it so if we can get some kind of setup that may be a game changer. He would like to reload .35 Rem since it's hard for us to find anymore but as we understand even that's difficult to do. It's still something we're considering anyway though.

Well, for milsurp, I say go for an Eddystone 1917 in .30-'06. Inexpensive, damn near bomb proof, ammo can be found anywhere and they shoot great. For a couple hundred bucks you can get a sporterized one, but make sure that if it has a scope that 1) the rings haven't been welded/braised to the receiver and 2) the receiver hasn't been drilled into swiss cheese.

Some places to start for the milsurps you expressed interest in:
http://www.enfieldresource.com/home
http://www.swissrifles.com/sr/index.html
http://theswissriflesdotcommessageboard.yuku.com/

PA doesn't currently allow any semi automatic rifles for hunting. You might consider that if there is any chance you may wish to hunt.

I would recommend the Remington Model 7600 based on what you wrote. Seems like something you would like.

Well guys I appreciate all the input. My dad gave me my grandfather's .308 out of the blue so I now have that. It means a lot to me. Thanks to you guys I have a short list of rifles that I am interested in next. What with Christmas coming up maybe Santa will be good to me.

ColtRevolver said:

Before someone says it.....Mosin Nagant. They are cheap. Ammo is cheap enough and readily available.

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+1 I have seen one of these, an M39, that was a tack driver (almost literally) at 100 yards. I saw a friend of mine put 5 inside a half dollar circle with one.

Aqua Velva man said:

A Remington 700 in 30.06 is hard to beat and a price tag at around $550 ain't bad. That is my go to gun, I have hunted bear, moose, elk, deer, hog, coyote, mountain lion, and even shot a snake with it. It has never failed to be the one rifle for everything workhorse that I bought it to be. Add a $400 leopold scope and it is a tackdriver too.

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Had one of these and a Savage 110. Sold the Remington, love the Savage.

If you just want to target shoot and play at the range I'd suggest getting a .22 lr. The 2 of my go to is a marlin model 60 and a ruger 10-22. I favor the marlin but both are my varmint, small game, and play guns. Just depends on the easiest to grab when the time arises.

Most of my deer hunting with a gun is done with a marlin 336. I own a 30-06, 270, 7mm mag, 380, and others but most of my hunting is done in areas of heavy underbrush most other hunters avoid. Most often my shots are done in bow range so bigger isn't needed and a 30-30 works just fine.