Need help deciding on a rifle

7349 Views 31 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Egan, Feb 23, 2006

Egan

Discussion Starter · Feb 14, 2006

I have this itch for a rifle. I go to the range all of the time and shoot my pistols, but lately I've been wanting to have some fun on the rifle range.

I was really impressed by the PTR-91, but it is not legal in Kalifornia so I'm back to searching. The rifle will be used for target practice only, but I would like it to look good too. I really wanted to find somehting different (read: non-AR), but I am open to any ideas. I plan on mounting a scope and would prefer a weapon that is accurate and am willing to upgrage components to get there (trigger, barrel, etc.). The Bushmaster Varminter was one of the rifles I had my eye on for a while but I've seen so many AR's lately that i want to explore some different options. I'm not married to any particular round, although I would prefer something that isn't too expensive or hard to come by.

So what do you guys think? What's a good rifle for me?

To sum up:

1) Rifle needed for range shooting (not hunting)
2) Must look good as well as perform well
3) Prefer something different/unique and I'm partial to the assault weapon style
4) Ammo choice is open
5) Accuracy is important
6) Must be legal in Kalifornia :x

Thanks.

1 - 20 of 32 Posts

BhamRoadrunner

· #2 · Feb 14, 2006

First you need a good base to start from:

Remington 700 VSF -one of the few 700's I dont find to be a POS. Nice Heavy barrel which is good for Long Range shooting. Its also Chambered in .308, Very readily available for shooting. Surplus military ammo EVERYWHERE!
But that stock has GOT TO GO!

This is a Tactical stock, Pretty good and feels rather good and bypasses all of Kalipornia's laws on pistol grips and whatnot.

This is another sniper stock option, Dunno how well it flied with Kali's laws.

The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

All this stuff can be bought at MidwayUSA's website. Nothing requires an FFL transfer except for buying the gun itsself.
It's a good starter for a good LONG range shooting gun. With a good round, you will be able to get well past 500 yards with very good accuracy.

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fatcat

· #3 · Feb 14, 2006

I would start with a semi automatic... But since you live in Republic of Comifornia theres not much to choose from.... in that case.. I would say Dont buy a gun now, get a moveing truck and leave

THEN buy your PTR-91 (Great guns for a good price)

Egan

Discussion Starter · #4 · Feb 14, 2006

fatcat said:
I would start with a semi automatic... But since you live in Republic of Comifornia theres not much to choose from.... in that case.. I would say Dont buy a gun now, get a moveing truck and leave THEN buy your PTR-91 (Great guns for a good price)

Some days I wish that was an option. :laugh:

Ducman

· #5 · Feb 14, 2006

Are M1a CA legal?
A M1a scout would be a good choice

Ducman

· #6 · Feb 14, 2006

BhamRoadrunner said:
The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

Definately disagree with that. All the 700 I have owned or worked on have very nice trigger with alittle adjustment, all except one has a smooth 2lbs with no creep or overtravel. and the one exception is a 40x and that is 11/4lbs

fatcat

· #7 · Feb 14, 2006

What about the SOCOM 16"?

God.... that is beautifull.......

I would think with a 10 round mag it would be legal in this config. No banonet lug... No flash hider, no pistol grip, no teliscopeing or folding stock, Sounds about politically correct to me as calling Terrorists insurgents in Iraq....

This is an absolutely beautiful rifle... add the teliscopeing stock, its HIGH on my list of "To get" guns. They feel great! Im into rock solid guns, I dont like a gun that wiggles all around and feels clunkey like the AR-15 carbines with the norm forward handgurds, Thats why I got a free foat RAS 4 railed system. But this... I think its well worth its price, because if you have this, I think about equal to owning three of four AK's

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Adler

· #8 · Feb 14, 2006

Robinson Armamment makes a Cali legal M96 recon..it just hase a 10rd mag and no pistol grip.

fatcat

· #9 · Feb 14, 2006

oooooh.....God.... Thats more like it....

http://securityarms.com/sale/sage/sagestocks.htm[/img]

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jamz

· #10 · Feb 14, 2006

I'm pretty sure you're looking for an SKS rifle, I think those are still CA legal.

Or, a KelTec SU16 is pretty cool also, and won't break the bank at $400 or so. I'm assuming you wouldn't want a bolt gun if you are going for the AW look.

I was gonna say a CETME, but I think those are illegal out there.

Move back to America!

Egan

Discussion Starter · #11 · Feb 15, 2006

jamz said:
I'm pretty sure you're looking for an SKS rifle, I think those are still CA legal.

Or, a KelTec SU16 is pretty cool also, and won't break the bank at $400 or so. I'm assuming you wouldn't want a bolt gun if you are going for the AW look.

I was gonna say a CETME, but I think those are illegal out there.

Move back to America!

How is the quality on those Kel-Tec's? I was never very impressed by their pistols, although it has been a few years since I played with one.

Egan

Discussion Starter · #12 · Feb 15, 2006

fatcat said:
What about the SOCOM 16"?

God.... that is beautifull.......

I would think with a 10 round mag it would be legal in this config. No banonet lug... No flash hider, no pistol grip, no teliscopeing or folding stock, Sounds about politically correct to me as calling Terrorists insurgents in Iraq....

This is an absolutely beautiful rifle... add the teliscopeing stock, its HIGH on my list of "To get" guns. They feel great! Im into rock solid guns, I dont like a gun that wiggles all around and feels clunkey like the AR-15 carbines with the norm forward handgurds, Thats why I got a free foat RAS 4 railed system. But this... I think its well worth its price, because if you have this, I think about equal to owning three of four AK's

Nice.

I think that is as close to an M21 as I can get without spending $3,500.

Any specs on that thing? I see the picture on Springfield's site, but no page for that build-out.

BhamRoadrunner

· #13 · Feb 15, 2006

Ducman said:
BhamRoadrunner said:

The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

Click to expand...

Definately disagree with that. All the 700 I have owned or worked on have very nice trigger with alittle adjustment, all except one has a smooth 2lbs with no creep or overtravel. and the one exception is a 40x and that is 11/4lbs

Yea maybe adjusted they are nice, but from the factory i can tell you that the ADL and its sucessor (sp?) the SPS feel like crap. Even trying to just lightly squeeze it, its like it just snaps in a not so smooth manner. But if it can be adjusted out, then by all means save the 120 or so bucks for the drop in trigger replacement.

Absolutely nothing is cooler than shooting quarters off a saw-horse at 500 yards.

Drizzit65

· #14 · Feb 16, 2006

SKS's are nice...but everyones got them... i think you just cant have a yugo because of the granade launcher...but 10round fixed mag....and ammo is cheap...wolf ammo is alright...and at $2.50 for 20rounds is pritty good. Stripper clips make for fast reload. Alot of new stocks for them too... the AR-15 stock its pritty nice.

Mndfusion

· #15 · Feb 16, 2006

No Kalifonian should be without an SKS. But I think you are looking for something with more accuracy, the rules on semi-auto are uberretrded where u live so I dont have any decent advice.

So I think you need a bolt action rifle in .300 win mag, .308 or .223 and a sidearm, chambered in 9mm or .45acp.

Jeremy

· #16 · Feb 16, 2006

BhamRoadrunner said:
First you need a good base to start from:

Remington 700 VSF -one of the few 700's I dont find to be a POS. Nice Heavy barrel which is good for Long Range shooting. Its also Chambered in .308, Very readily available for shooting. Surplus military ammo EVERYWHERE!
But that stock has GOT TO GO!

This is a Tactical stock, Pretty good and feels rather good and bypasses all of Kalipornia's laws on pistol grips and whatnot.

This is another sniper stock option, Dunno how well it flied with Kali's laws.

The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

All this stuff can be bought at MidwayUSA's website. Nothing requires an FFL transfer except for buying the gun itsself.
It's a good starter for a good LONG range shooting gun. With a good round, you will be able to get well past 500 yards with very good accuracy.

If you want to go through all that, by a used 700 bdl with a shitty stock and save a few hundred dollars on the gun and spend it on a top quality stock, mcmillan bros, hs precision or high ntech specialties a trigger job and optics. If you get a long action you can switch between 300 win mag and 308 just by switching the barrel.

BhamRoadrunner

· #17 · Feb 16, 2006

Jeremy said:
BhamRoadrunner said:

First you need a good base to start from:

Remington 700 VSF -one of the few 700's I dont find to be a POS. Nice Heavy barrel which is good for Long Range shooting. Its also Chambered in .308, Very readily available for shooting. Surplus military ammo EVERYWHERE!
But that stock has GOT TO GO!

This is a Tactical stock, Pretty good and feels rather good and bypasses all of Kalipornia's laws on pistol grips and whatnot.

This is another sniper stock option, Dunno how well it flied with Kali's laws.

The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

All this stuff can be bought at MidwayUSA's website. Nothing requires an FFL transfer except for buying the gun itsself.
It's a good starter for a good LONG range shooting gun. With a good round, you will be able to get well past 500 yards with very good accuracy.

Click to expand...

If you want to go through all that, by a used 700 bdl with a shitty stock and save a few hundred dollars on the gun and spend it on a top quality stock, mcmillan bros, hs precision or high ntech specialties a trigger job and optics. If you get a long action you can switch between 300 win mag and 308 just by switching the barrel.

You mean 30-06? .308 is a Short action caliber.

Egan

Discussion Starter · #18 · Feb 16, 2006

So, back to my original question...

I really like the SOCOM II. It's a bit pricey, and a tad on the heavy side, but since I won't be carrying it around in a field all day, I think I can live with it.

The other thing I looked at is that new Sig 556. Maybe if it doesn't hit the Kalifornia DOJ list before it is available I'll get on.

I'm going to start looking at what SKS variants are available here too.

Another question, it looks like a lot of AR style rifles are on the banned list here, how did some of you Kalifornia guys get yours? :?

Here's part of the Kalifornia ban list (mostly AR's & AK's): http://caag.state.ca.us/firearms/forms/pdf/Cfl2006.pdf (scroll to page 21-23)

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Jeremy

· #19 · Feb 17, 2006

BhamRoadrunner said:
Jeremy said:

BhamRoadrunner said:

First you need a good base to start from:

Remington 700 VSF -one of the few 700's I dont find to be a POS. Nice Heavy barrel which is good for Long Range shooting. Its also Chambered in .308, Very readily available for shooting. Surplus military ammo EVERYWHERE!
But that stock has GOT TO GO!

This is a Tactical stock, Pretty good and feels rather good and bypasses all of Kalipornia's laws on pistol grips and whatnot.

This is another sniper stock option, Dunno how well it flied with Kali's laws.

The trigger is another downfall that i have with the 700's. This is easily changeable just by installing a new drop in trigger

All this stuff can be bought at MidwayUSA's website. Nothing requires an FFL transfer except for buying the gun itsself.
It's a good starter for a good LONG range shooting gun. With a good round, you will be able to get well past 500 yards with very good accuracy.

Click to expand...

If you want to go through all that, by a used 700 bdl with a shitty stock and save a few hundred dollars on the gun and spend it on a top quality stock, mcmillan bros, hs precision or high ntech specialties a trigger job and optics. If you get a long action you can switch between 300 win mag and 308 just by switching the barrel.

Click to expand...

You mean 30-06? .308 is a Short action caliber.

No 300, win mag you can chamber a short cartridge in a long action the army does it. It works in similar cartridge like 308 and 300 win mag just switch the barrel.

Back to the topic, the socom is a good gun and expensive. You could loo for a used 1 There expensive but a lot easier to get ahold of, at least on the east coast.

Ducman

· #20 · Feb 17, 2006

Look into the socom 16 instead of the II,
I have the 16 it is a great gun, The II is going to be very nose heavy

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