Budget rifle suggestions

[shelt]

I am looking for suggestions for a good budget rifle/scope. I would like to reasonably pick off gongs at 500 yards, cheap ammo is a huge plus.

So what are your favorites?

Edited info posted below

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[onearmedswordsman]

What's your budget? What size gongs?
What do you have now? What have you shot with?

 

[the4thshake]

Cheap ammo will be your weak link. Do to availability of "cheap" ammo, .223 and .308 are probably your top choices in caliber.

We are gonna have to know what you consider cheap and what exactly you expect out of this set up.

 

[magnum]

Not stating what your budget is, leaves us guessing what to suggest. Bi-mart is selling savage,remington,weatherby rifle packages with scopes installed, for I believe under 500.00. Caliber of choice would be .308 or 30-06. 30-06 has a wider variety of loads to choose from but costs a little more than .308, which is also a fine round for hunting and target shooting.

 

[onearmedswordsman]

Cheap ammo will be your weak link. Do to availability of "cheap" ammo, .223 and .308 are probably your top choices in caliber.

We are gonna have to know what you consider cheap and what exactly you expect out of this set up.

Agree. 223 (definitely) and 308 (maybe) are your best chances at affordable ammo.

To put it bluntly, a 5" gong @ 500yd you want to hit consistently will require a different setup than a 8-10" gong you expect to nail 1 out of 4 when you do your job.

 

[45_70Sharps]

Not knowing the specifics of budget or likes and dislikes in a gun I'm just going to throw some thoughts out there.
First off I am a firm believer that most brands of standard grade hunting rifles with a little trigger work will out shoot most shooters.
500 yards at say deer killing is something that can be done with most good quality hunting rifles with nothing more than trigger work and the right ammo. If you reload the right ammo is easier to get to, if not you might have to try a few off the shelf options to see what works best.
The kicker when you start to reach out past 200 to 300 yards is the scope cost. You can't shoot better than you can see and when you start to reach out at all the optical quality starts to play a much bigger role. This is the part that most skimp on and then think the problem is the rifle or the ammo.
Off the top of my head I would say that new you could be looking at a Ruger for a less expensive option that could get the job done.
Another good choice would be a Savage Predator. I know they sell packages with these that come with a scope mounted and bore sighted. I've never shot one of these but I've wanted one since they came out.

If you are willing to go the used route, keep an eye open for a sendero in whatever caliber that you like. The new ones will set you back better than $1000, but I think there is one on here in 270 for $800 right now. I have a 270 sendero and it's a shooting machine. Accurate and not picky about ammo.
Post a budget and any ideas on what you like and we can help narrow down the choices better.

 

[Arkarayne]

Personally and biasly, I like the M91/30. a good pick-of-the-litter on a sale day at Big 5 will have you payin' 100 bucks.
7.62x54R is still mostly easy to find. Surplus is "cheap" but "high-maintenance" if you want to keep your rifle hitting those long ranges. (which is where the pick-of-the-litter comes in) not all of em can do it, but a few of the diamond-in-the-roughs will. Wolf and Barnaul will be your low-maintenance mid-range rounds. And, the reloadables, Wolf Gold, Winchester, will run you a buck a bullet.
It's the Red's answer to the 30-06. people been using em for 3 separate centuries, and still use em to hunt, long after their end of production in the 40s.

If you're looking for modern and new, well, 223 or 308 may be your answer.

 

[warnerwh]

If you want a highly accurate and inexpensive rifle check out the Marlin XL7 in 30-06 or 308. Do a Google and you will find these are more accurate than rifles costing double or triple. Mine shoots .75" groups. This size is easily consistent. I've fired groups of 5/16" and 3/8" a number of times. Go to the marlinowners.com forum and to the XL7 subforum for many pics of targets with the loads used. I paid 300.00 at Northwest Armory. Then I paid another 120.00 for a 3x9 Nikon Prostaff off of Ebay.
Cheap ammo is out there for these calibers but you can save a lot of money by a small investment in reloading gear. Even an inexpensive Lee Challenger press will work fine. Factory ammo that is cheap may or may not be that accurate in the rifle you buy. If you reload you don't have to buy a number of various factory ammo types.

 

[shelt]

Thank you so much for all the replies. I know I left it as a pretty open question, I wanted to elaborate more but I was heading to bed and should have held off on posting.

I have only really used shotguns and .22 rifles and pistols on a regular basis and have never had the opportunity to shoot at a longer range. If I were to think about it again though, I probably don't need to shoot at a full 500 yards. I just wanted to get something with a longer reach than my .22, maybe go for an effective range of 200/300 yards.

So let's go with this:
Scope suggestions are good too but let's just start with the rifle for the time being.
200-300 yard effective range
$400 or less
reasonably priced/available ammunition
I am open to suggestion on different actions/options.

I was looking last night just trying to get a general idea by looking at ammo prices here http://gun-deals.com/ammo but I didn't even know what calibers to look at in the first place.

 

[PBinWA]

Savage/Stevens in .308 and then buy the best scope you can afford.

 

[Throckmorton]

Savage seems to be setting the pace these days,my buddy just bought a targe .22 with Accutrigger,and it is sweet !
Do you facebook? Savage has a fb page,and they are just introducing a stock, basic rifle in several calibers,that couples with a GOOD scope would do the job for you.
Their suggested retail is 329.00 so streetprice is prolly gonna be a bit less.usually is.

Here's a link to that thread.

http://www.facebook.com/SavageArms?ref=nf

 

[goneshooting]

2 words Mosin Nagant

there is one on this board for less than $200 scoped

ammo is A LOT cheaper than .308 and .223 under $200 per thousand rounds

check out ammo prices

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=555116

 

[cbzdel]

Got a Remington 700 30.06 with a Remington branded scope for around $350 at Walmart. I replaced the scope as it was not the best, I put on a $100 Nikon which on x9 power is crystal clear

Not sure what your planning on using it for but IMO I got an excellent combo at a good price, I also stuck on a browning sling, DedNutz scope mount, butler creek flip scope caps, and a butt stock shell holder.

So for about $500 a got an a hunting rifle and a capable distance rifle, never took it past 200 yards though.

It would of been about $40 cheaper if I got the gun originally without the scope but I got excited when I seen a combo

 

[shelt]

Not sure what your planning on using it for but IMO I got an excellent combo at a good price, I also stuck on a browning sling, DedNutz scope mount, butler creek flip scope caps, and a butt stock shell holder.

This will be strictly for range fun or picking sage rats if I get lucky enough to get called out to a ranch to clear em. I don't hunt anymore.

 

[cbzdel]

This will be strictly for range fun or picking sage rats if I get lucky enough to get called out to a ranch to clear em. I don't hunt anymore.

gotcha, there are definitely cheaper options than my route.. guess the only question is do you care what caliber..

(you may have answered and I just missed it)

 

[shelt]

per a previous suggestion the Mosin 7.62x54r is looking rather attractive at 18-25 cents per round here http://gun-deals.com/ammo

 

[cbzdel]

per a previous suggestion the Mosin 7.62x54r is looking rather attractive at 18-25 cents per round here http://gun-deals.com/ammo

Good choice! I used to have an M44 and I loved it, ammo was cheap if you got old surplus stuff. At a gun shop it was quite pricey if I remember correctly, I have not had the gun for about 8+ years now though. It was my first center fire rifle, I paid like $80 from Big5 Sports, I was pretty accurate with iron sights out to about 100 yards.

I decided to do a full makeover on mine, aftermarket stock, removed the bayonet lug and then also got a bent bolt handle so it would not interfere with the scope. All was looking perfect. Then I went to install the scope. The mount I got needed to be drilled and tapped into the receiver. Well I put in in a vice and got in all lined up on the drill press and drilled and tapped the holes, went to install the scope mount and it didnt fit, come to find out the base of my drill press was not flat, it had came loose from the vibrations and was a few degrees off, thus totally ruining my rifle and all my work, I gave up and just sold all the parts

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Personally and biasly, I like the M91/30. a good pick-of-the-litter on a sale day at Big 5 will have you payin' 100 bucks.
7.62x54R is still mostly easy to find. Surplus is "cheap" but "high-maintenance" if you want to keep your rifle hitting those long ranges. (which is where the pick-of-the-litter comes in) not all of em can do it, but a few of the diamond-in-the-roughs will. Wolf and Barnaul will be your low-maintenance mid-range rounds. And, the reloadables, Wolf Gold, Winchester, will run you a buck a bullet.
It's the Red's answer to the 30-06. people been using em for 3 separate centuries, and still use em to hunt, long after their end of production in the 40s.

If you're looking for modern and new, well, 223 or 308 may be your answer.

^^^
This.. I made a recent post explaining the basics of hand selecting a Nagant.. and all of mine that I have scout scoped have been in the 2 MOA region.. that's well within "minute of gong" at 500 yards

 

[shelt]

^^^
This.. I made a recent post explaining the basics of hand selecting a Nagant.. and all of mine that I have scout scoped have been in the 2 MOA region.. that's well within "minute of gong" at 500 yards

found it! great info!

I collect them and hand select them at Big 5 stores and they hold my selections until the next sale-time. You need to personally hand select for the following features to get the good 'uns. I do not recommend buying them sight unseen

Bore condition. There is no reason not to take a minute with your cleaning kit and a bore light, as there were 17 million Nagants made and they have not dried up yet. All of my collection except for one M38 and one Finn heavy barrel have pristine, shiny bores. I see guys with pitted out and counter bored barrels when they could have owned cherries

Counter bore. Counter bores can shoot OK but there's no reason to accept this at this time as there are plenty of cherry bores out there. While you are at it, bring one factory round (let the clerk keep the bolt so everything is warm and fuzzy) and insert it bullet first into the muzzle.. it the round comes anywhere near dropping down to the case mouth, forget that gun, it has muzzle erosion from a high round count

Look for matching numbers on the floorplate/barrel/triggerguard, etc. While a arsenal refinished gun can be good in all regards with non matching numbers, why accept this when you don't have to? I only have two with struck thru force matched parts, because they were otherwise cherry hex receivers that I wanted, mint bores

The wood is the last thing I care about since it can be refinished, but no reason to take one with a torn up stock, either, unless it's otherwise a collector model or you plan to sporterize it, anyway

The best condition Nagants are generally the post WW2 M44s. Mine are all virtually new except for a few tiny scratches in the stock finish

The Nagants that I have scout scoped are doing 2 MOA with silvertip ammo. That's pretty nice for a $130-$140 rifle package

Be sure to understand how to clean after shooting corrosive ammo! You can ruin a nice bore that way..

 

[Blitzkrieg]

BTW that's East European silvertip ammo, the steel core stuff with a painted silver tip, not Winchester Silvertip. The surplus stuff is, as noted in this thread, still pretty cheap. This will not last forever, so stock up now!