So I found out I'm probably going to be going deer hunting later this year (sometime in October) so I've been shopping around for a higher caliber rifle since currently the only rifle I own is a .22. What are some good semi-budget options that are good for deer hunting? Lets say approximately <= $500 with out a scope or <= $800 with a scope.
IMO you can't got wrong with 30-06, but some people in more wide open areas prefer the 270 or a 7mm mag or 300 mag for the slightly flatter trajectory.
e: Besides the aforementioned Savage, Ruger's American Rifles, and Mossberg's Patriot rifles are supposed to be very good for the price.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Yeah close to hunting season Bass Pro, Dicks, Academy, etc are going to be giving away 270s with a scope for under $600. Hell probably under $500.
So I found out I'm probably going to be going deer hunting later this year (sometime in October) so I've been shopping around for a higher caliber rifle since currently the only rifle I own is a .22. What are some good semi-budget options that are good for deer hunting? Lets say approximately <= $500 with out a scope or <= $800 with a scope.
Check the rules for your state, as your state might have weird restrictions. Massachusetts, for example, restricts deer hunting to shotguns while Ohio restricts deer hunting to straight walled cartridges, which removes popular rounds like the 30-30, 308 & 30-06.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
Yeah I guess that's another question. Where are you hunting? Cause "deer" could range anywhere from 100 to 300lbs depending on the state and breed.
are YOU on the beer list?
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
edited January 2017
Fired off some more .22s tonight. I really am digging the Ruger SR22.
It's accurate and weighty. I managed 10 out of 10 at 10m (bout the length of the apartments I'm looking at) for headshots and a respectable 9 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 at 25m.
Welp, time to start saving.
All of the .22s I've taken up have been pretty great except for that Baretta. Seriously what the hell is wrong with that thing?
I decided to put the money I was thinking of spending on a blackpowder revolver into some ammo and a new upper for my AR. I'm thinking of also getting a free float keymod tube for my current upper.
Yeah I guess that's another question. Where are you hunting? Cause "deer" could range anywhere from 100 to 300lbs depending on the state and breed.
Texas though I don't know the exact location or breed that we'll be hunting. Probably white tail.
Where in Texas can make a bit of a difference too. Out west the range is greater and you can take shots at 6-700 yards if you have the ability. Closer to the coast you won't have to worry about that.
My wife's sudden change of heart about having guns in the house coincided nicely with a brand new HK45 popping up on Gunbroker for $350 cheaper than any retail I've seen them. So I bought an HK45.
I've always liked HK firearms and clones. My PTR91 is probably my favorite rifle to shoot.
NSDFRand on
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
I honestly don't know what I want next. I either want a 20 gauge smoothbore fowler (AKA a Trade Gun) or maybe a percussion Howdah Hunter double barrel shotgun.
I'd still eventually like to get a three band civil war Enfield or even a Brown Bess, but we're getting into $1500 range there for a good one.
A rifle is next for me, probably .308, just a matter of watching for something I want to drop to a price I want. She actually wants to go look at handguns now, something more her size than a full frame .45.
She knows how to shoot, her dad taught her, she just got soured on everything by how careless he was, leaving things unlocked and unsecured, the "this is my safety" (holds up finger) mentality. He had two handguns stolen from their house when she was in high school and never reported it because "It's not like the cops will ever find them." So it's been a gradual process bringing her back around.
I love small/compact/pocket pistols. If I had to recommend something cheap in a small size in a cartridge she's likely to not only be able to handle but enjoy shooting I would have to recommend some kind of Makarov in .380ACP or 9x18MAK.
I have an FEG PA-63 in 9x18. AFAIK they also produced a .380 version. It's small, I've had no issues with shooting it, and it should be pretty cheap. Of course that depends on the market as a whole, as it was my first purchase for myself at $150 a few years ago. The only issue is finding extra magazines.
I also have a Russian IJ-70 Makarov in .380 which is fun to shoot. AFAIK .380 and 9x18 single stack mags are interchangeable. But it does have a European style magazine release, which is a lever on the bottom of the grip. It's fun to shoot as well.
I'm looking at the Walther "Creed" which is ~$350. I haven't shot one yet but I own a first gen PPQ and I love it.
Of course there are compact models of Glock, the SCCY models, and other compacts.
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amateurhourOne day I'll be professionalhourThe woods somewhere in TennesseeRegistered Userregular
See I'm the opposite. I can't stand small frame handguns.
I need something in a full size holster carry to have any real accuracy. I just don't trust my aim with sub compacts. I'm always off center.
If you want your wife hooked on shooting, I highly recommend getting a 22 LR semi auto pistol of some sort, like the Ruger SR22, Ruger Mark IV, or S&W M&P22. All three of those disassemble in 2 seconds without tools, have multiple grip options, and are a blast to shoot. 22 LR semi autos have low enough recoil, easy enough loading, that newbies will burn through a 100 round box in no time flat and want to burn through 100 more.
I've always liked HK firearms and clones. My PTR91 is probably my favorite rifle to shoot.
PTR91's are rad as heck.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I've never really gotten acquainted with HK, but I do know that special forces in the Army were pushing for the 416 to get adopted branch-wide because it's supposedly superior in every way to the M16/M4.
I've never really gotten acquainted with HK, but I do know that special forces in the Army were pushing for the 416 to get adopted branch-wide because it's supposedly superior in every way to the M16/M4.
. . .except for cost and availability of parts and cost.
I've never really gotten acquainted with HK, but I do know that special forces in the Army were pushing for the 416 to get adopted branch-wide because it's supposedly superior in every way to the M16/M4.
. . .except for cost and availability of parts and cost.
All of which would be rectified with a big fat government contract.
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[Paragon]I'm a real doctor, for pretend!North DakotaRegistered Userregular
Scorpion arrived today, very pleased with the feel and fit/finish on this gun. Doing the FFL transfer was a cluster though, small town so my two choices are the single pawn shop or the gun store that wants 50 bucks to do one. Pawn shop it is then. Lady behind the counter was newish, the store was super busy and her manager kept leaving her to do everything by herself. Poor lady was just swamped. Took almost two hours to get my turn and get my paperwork filled out. Good stuff.
Anyway the gun! Here have some shitty cell phone pics!
The CZ packaging was top notch, just really well done. It also came with a 9mm bore snake, which is nice. Because while I have one already it's short, this one is longer for rifles. So that's a plus. Also came with two 20 round mags, but I had ordered 6 30 rounders that got here today as well. Also came with a really nice metal sight adjustment key.
Few things of note. The ambi safety has to be replaced, as many others have complained the safety digs into my trigger finger something fierce. Already replaced the grip with a yetiwurks switchback I ordered, feels much nicer. The charging handle has got to go, I will need to replace it with a much bigger one cause it's tiny. I have short stubby fingers but I still have ham hands, so it's way too small for me to work with very well. I'm just very pleased with the overall quality of this gun and I can't wait to get out and shoot it.
Scorpion arrived today, very pleased with the feel and fit/finish on this gun. Doing the FFL transfer was a cluster though, small town so my two choices are the single pawn shop or the gun store that wants 50 bucks to do one. Pawn shop it is then. Lady behind the counter was newish, the store was super busy and her manager kept leaving her to do everything by herself. Poor lady was just swamped. Took almost two hours to get my turn and get my paperwork filled out. Good stuff.
Anyway the gun! Here have some shitty cell phone pics!
The CZ packaging was top notch, just really well done. It also came with a 9mm bore snake, which is nice. Because while I have one already it's short, this one is longer for rifles. So that's a plus. Also came with two 20 round mags, but I had ordered 6 30 rounders that got here today as well. Also came with a really nice metal sight adjustment key.
Few things of note. The ambi safety has to be replaced, as many others have complained the safety digs into my trigger finger something fierce. Already replaced the grip with a yetiwurks switchback I ordered, feels much nicer. The charging handle has got to go, I will need to replace it with a much bigger one cause it's tiny. I have short stubby fingers but I still have ham hands, so it's way too small for me to work with very well. I'm just very pleased with the overall quality of this gun and I can't wait to get out and shoot it.
Love the look of the CZ Scorpion and everybody I've spoken to said they were a ton of fun to shoot. I will probably get one eventually.
So, could anyone point me at a resource explaining ammunition types? I've been looking at the prices of different calibers and sweet christmas there are a lot of variables. Grain, brass or steel, different jackets, etc and I don't get a lick of it. I'm mainly looking at 9mm trying to get a handle on how much ammo is going cost but not knowing what kind I should be looking at it's been kind of pointless.
Grain is the weight of the actual bullet, there are 437.5 grains in an ounce. Jacket, you'll likely see three varieties. Unjacketed which is just a plain lead slug, not very popular any more because lead fouls the barrel. Full, meaning the entire bullet is wrapped, almost always in copper. And various types of hollowpoints, where the copper jacket extends from the base nearly to the tip, but is open exposing the lead, allowing it to mushroom when it hits something. Steel cased ammo is usually cheaper because the cases are rougher on the gun, and the primers are usually corrosive meaning the gun requires more cleaning. You can find brass case, full metal jacket 9mm rounds from Eastern European manufacturers usually around 20 cents per round. Federal, Remington, Winchester et al will run you 30+ cents per round, depending.
Grain is the weight of the actual bullet, there are 437.5 grains in an ounce. Jacket, you'll likely see three varieties. Unjacketed which is just a plain lead slug, not very popular any more because lead fouls the barrel. Full, meaning the entire bullet is wrapped, almost always in copper. And various types of hollowpoints, where the copper jacket extends from the base nearly to the tip, but is open exposing the lead, allowing it to mushroom when it hits something. Steel cased ammo is usually cheaper because the cases are rougher on the gun, and the primers are usually corrosive meaning the gun requires more cleaning. You can find brass case, full metal jacket 9mm rounds from Eastern European manufacturers usually around 20 cents per round. Federal, Remington, Winchester et al will run you 30+ cents per round, depending.
Okay, thanks, that helps. Is there a big difference when it comes to grain size? Like, I'm seeing a lot of 115 grain and 124 grain FMJ being sold as range ammo, is something like that just personal preference or is their an actual noticeable difference? And as long as one sticks to the bigger brands like the ones you mentioned quality shouldn't really be a worry, right?
Usually, the lower the grain size, the higher the velocity, and the higher the recoil. For just shooting at a range it won't matter really, besides personal preference on how the gun handles.
Usually, the lower the grain size, the higher the velocity, and the higher the recoil. For just shooting at a range it won't matter really, besides personal preference on how the gun handles.
The one thing I would add to this is if Gandhi is planning on having a carry gun, research the ammo types and pay especially close attention to the muzzle energy. Before I decided on my SD rounds, I spent about a week or more looking up various ballistic tests for a variety of rounds in numerous scenarios (through in-home barriers, different material barriers, standard denim layers from FBI-accepted tests, etc...). Personally, I use 124gr Federal Premium HST...but that was mostly due to local availability (otherwise, I would have likely gone with Winchester PDX1 rounds).
But yeah, for wadcutter ammo, it doesn't really matter all that much (I'll pick up almost anything that's on sale at Cabela's, especially since they tend to have brass cased 115gr big-brand ammo for ~$20/100). Definitely check with your range, though...some of them have rules against using anything other than brass cased ammo.
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| Origin/R*SC: Ein7919 | Battle.net: Erlkonig#1448 | XBL: Lexicanum | Steam: Der Erlkönig (the umlaut is important) |
Ballistics tests are important for carry ammo. Especially important is the gun they are firing out of. I carry a 3" XDSC 9mm, so when I was doing research, I had to make sure that the tester was using a gun with a similar barrel length, as there is a huge velocity difference from 3" to 4", enough of one that a bullet that expands with 100% consistency out of a 4" barrel may only expand 50% of the time out, or maybe even not at all out of a 3" barrel.
I carry Critical Defense 115gr in that because it has reliable expansion out of such a short barrel.
So we get stiff once in a while. So we have a little fun. What’s wrong with that? This is a free country, isn’t it? I can take my panda any place I want to. And if I wanna buy it a drink, that’s my business.
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TurksonNear the mountains of ColoradoRegistered Userregular
I bought a Glock 19 yesterday. I'm not sure what else to say.
I bought a Glock 19 yesterday. I'm not sure what else to say.
I've been torn between one of those, a Sig P320, and a S&W M&P9. It'll probably come down to which one feels best in my hand when I go to my handgun class in a couple weeks.
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FairchildRabbit used short words that were easy to understand, like "Hello Pooh, how about Lunch ?"Registered Userregular
I expect that I will be joining the P320 bandwagon soon, too. 9mm, which converts to .357 SIG with a kit.
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IMO you can't got wrong with 30-06, but some people in more wide open areas prefer the 270 or a 7mm mag or 300 mag for the slightly flatter trajectory.
e: Besides the aforementioned Savage, Ruger's American Rifles, and Mossberg's Patriot rifles are supposed to be very good for the price.
It's accurate and weighty. I managed 10 out of 10 at 10m (bout the length of the apartments I'm looking at) for headshots and a respectable 9 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 at 25m.
Welp, time to start saving.
All of the .22s I've taken up have been pretty great except for that Baretta. Seriously what the hell is wrong with that thing?
Texas though I don't know the exact location or breed that we'll be hunting. Probably white tail.
My uncle hunts with a .243 and I took several of my first animals with a single shot .243
Where in Texas can make a bit of a difference too. Out west the range is greater and you can take shots at 6-700 yards if you have the ability. Closer to the coast you won't have to worry about that.
And a 590A1.
Will post pictures once they arrive.
I'd still eventually like to get a three band civil war Enfield or even a Brown Bess, but we're getting into $1500 range there for a good one.
She knows how to shoot, her dad taught her, she just got soured on everything by how careless he was, leaving things unlocked and unsecured, the "this is my safety" (holds up finger) mentality. He had two handguns stolen from their house when she was in high school and never reported it because "It's not like the cops will ever find them." So it's been a gradual process bringing her back around.
I have an FEG PA-63 in 9x18. AFAIK they also produced a .380 version. It's small, I've had no issues with shooting it, and it should be pretty cheap. Of course that depends on the market as a whole, as it was my first purchase for myself at $150 a few years ago. The only issue is finding extra magazines.
I also have a Russian IJ-70 Makarov in .380 which is fun to shoot. AFAIK .380 and 9x18 single stack mags are interchangeable. But it does have a European style magazine release, which is a lever on the bottom of the grip. It's fun to shoot as well.
I'm looking at the Walther "Creed" which is ~$350. I haven't shot one yet but I own a first gen PPQ and I love it.
Of course there are compact models of Glock, the SCCY models, and other compacts.
I need something in a full size holster carry to have any real accuracy. I just don't trust my aim with sub compacts. I'm always off center.
PTR91's are rad as heck.
. . .except for cost and availability of parts and cost.
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3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
All of which would be rectified with a big fat government contract.
Anyway the gun! Here have some shitty cell phone pics!
The CZ packaging was top notch, just really well done. It also came with a 9mm bore snake, which is nice. Because while I have one already it's short, this one is longer for rifles. So that's a plus. Also came with two 20 round mags, but I had ordered 6 30 rounders that got here today as well. Also came with a really nice metal sight adjustment key.
Few things of note. The ambi safety has to be replaced, as many others have complained the safety digs into my trigger finger something fierce. Already replaced the grip with a yetiwurks switchback I ordered, feels much nicer. The charging handle has got to go, I will need to replace it with a much bigger one cause it's tiny. I have short stubby fingers but I still have ham hands, so it's way too small for me to work with very well. I'm just very pleased with the overall quality of this gun and I can't wait to get out and shoot it.
It shows up tomorrow. Have to take a half day off to be at home for it since I don't want it sitting on my porch all afternoon.
Jesus man that's like 10K 22lr rounds
Love the look of the CZ Scorpion and everybody I've spoken to said they were a ton of fun to shoot. I will probably get one eventually.
Okay, thanks, that helps. Is there a big difference when it comes to grain size? Like, I'm seeing a lot of 115 grain and 124 grain FMJ being sold as range ammo, is something like that just personal preference or is their an actual noticeable difference? And as long as one sticks to the bigger brands like the ones you mentioned quality shouldn't really be a worry, right?
The one thing I would add to this is if Gandhi is planning on having a carry gun, research the ammo types and pay especially close attention to the muzzle energy. Before I decided on my SD rounds, I spent about a week or more looking up various ballistic tests for a variety of rounds in numerous scenarios (through in-home barriers, different material barriers, standard denim layers from FBI-accepted tests, etc...). Personally, I use 124gr Federal Premium HST...but that was mostly due to local availability (otherwise, I would have likely gone with Winchester PDX1 rounds).
But yeah, for wadcutter ammo, it doesn't really matter all that much (I'll pick up almost anything that's on sale at Cabela's, especially since they tend to have brass cased 115gr big-brand ammo for ~$20/100). Definitely check with your range, though...some of them have rules against using anything other than brass cased ammo.
Ballistics tests are important for carry ammo. Especially important is the gun they are firing out of. I carry a 3" XDSC 9mm, so when I was doing research, I had to make sure that the tester was using a gun with a similar barrel length, as there is a huge velocity difference from 3" to 4", enough of one that a bullet that expands with 100% consistency out of a 4" barrel may only expand 50% of the time out, or maybe even not at all out of a 3" barrel.
I carry Critical Defense 115gr in that because it has reliable expansion out of such a short barrel.
I've been torn between one of those, a Sig P320, and a S&W M&P9. It'll probably come down to which one feels best in my hand when I go to my handgun class in a couple weeks.
Even the people who don't find the grip angle comfortable on a Glock will agree it's still a solidly built handgun.
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