A "what rifle" thread.

Yeah, I bought some at 8 cents a pop delivered. Goes boom just fine. Actually, the Turkish stuff is very impressive. Steel outer shell, lead core and some of it has a boat tail. Dunno what the BC is on it, but I bet it zips way out there. It is a really nice looking bullet and I bet it would cost 35 cents plus to make today. Just the bullet, not the cartridge. Some is Spitzer, still steel shell. And the shell looks to be some type of stainless or high nickle or something. Shiny like stainless/chrome but a magnet sticks to it. 30's head stamps.

KyAllroad wrote: In reply to WOW Really Paul?: It's energy. Isn't the formula something like E = M x V2? A big slug loafing along at 1,000 fps (you can actually watch it travelling downrange) has less energy than the lighter bullet that got punched up to 2,500 fps. So the muzzle energy of each has to be absorbed by the shooter (the effect of which is mitigated by the weight of the gun and how it's held).

I think it was the wording that struck me as wrong, the projectile weight only matters because of the required amount of propellant to hit the required level of velocity. The recoil we feel typically doesn't correlate with the projectile's own weight.

Thanks Hess, I'll have to try that. It's still a bit spendy versus reloadable brass PrivPartisan which I've been buying at around 0.80/rd from Cabela's no less.... I am able to hand load new components for between 45-55 cents per round.

If you're going to reload, then, yeah, the non-reloadable stuff isn't really the way to go. But otherwise, non-corrosive, non-reloadable. AKA "Pop 'em and Drop 'em." Gives a certain freedom not chasing brass. I've got some of that PrivPartisan for my 7x57. Came with the rifle.

I did teh maths on loading up with new components for 44 Mag, 50 AE and 357 (my DE barrels). For most of them, it was cheaper or the same price to buy new ammo at Walmart than to buy brass, bullets, primers and powder and put it together myself, and that didn't count any HazMat charges either. Of course, the second and subsequent time around were considerably cheaper.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

Yea, you have to shop around & be prepared to buy in bulk to get good deals on most brass, as far as powder goes, I usually stock up at gun shows or take the short drive up to a localish shop that usually has almost every type of pistol & rifle powder there is.

I've been casting my own bullets for .45 however, kind of really cheap considering I bought all the wheel weights from the local garage when they closed......I've only got about 300lbs of the damn things.

I've been casting 45 since I was 13. Ummm, that's like 9 years ago. Yeah, that's it. And I'm not the same age as Margie.

Back in the Olden Days, I could reload 45 cheaper than buying 22. Might still be able to, with 22 at a dime a pop if you can find it.

The latest thing is powder coating your cast boolits. I'm experimenting with that. I've got some 7mm ready to load.

As others have said, .308 is a great round.

Since nobody has said it, a Yugo or Russian SKS isn't a terrible gun, and 7.62x39 should be good for feral hogs if the range isn't too great. You can probably find one for under $500 without too much trouble. It will never be a tack driver, but they're fun for plinking.

A good friend of mine was a sniper in Vietnam and I had this discussion with him and he recommend I get a Mini 14. Great all around weapon.

dean1484 wrote: A good friend of mine was a sniper in Vietnam and I had this discussion with him and he recommend I get a Mini 14. Great all around weapon.

hhhmmmmmm...you just touched on something I had completely forgotten about...a Mini 30. I can't investigate here at work.

Mini-14s and Mini-30s are $1k new and $750 used these days.

Based on my years of watching the A-Team, either they were all terrible shots, or the Mini-14 is a terrible firearm.

Did they ever fix the reliability problems with the Mini-14? Back in the day (80's) they were having a lot of problems with jamming. If the A-Team TV show hadn't been using them, I strongly suspect the gun would have been discontinued. Also, high cap mags used to be very difficult to find. I bet Mini-30 high cap mags are even worse. At one large, you are also approaching M1A territory. Cool looking rifles, though.

In reply to Dr. Hess:

I think they solved the reliability problems with them but I don't see what a Mini-14 or Mini-30 offers that justifies one over an AR or an AK... The mags aren't cheap. That SKS suggestion above is a good one. The Norincos had forged receivers and mine was very accurate.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: Based on my years of watching the A-Team, either they were all terrible shots, or the Mini-14 is a terrible firearm.

Those were the AC-556 variant.

Personally, the day for buying Soviet block stuff is long past unless you absolutely must. Damn things used to be a good option due to affordability, but in today's day & age, there are so many better options for similar money.

If I had to pic one rifle to do everything it would be a toss up between a CMP Garand or an M1A.

Field grade Garands are $630 at CMP right now. I'm tempted to get one, but I don't shoot the guns I have now enough.

Brett_Murphy wrote: If I had to pic one rifle to do *everything* it would be a toss up between a CMP Garand or an M1A. Field grade Garands are $630 at CMP right now. I'm tempted to get one, but I don't shoot the guns I have now enough.

I've looked into this but you have to jump through some hoops. You have to belong to a gun club that is affiliated with the CMP. Otherwise I would already have one. I've chasing this rabbit for a while. The supply is also dwindling down.

There is a huge supply of M1 Garands and M1 carbines in Korea and Taiwan just waiting to come back to papa Sam, but that is going to require a change in management.

bigdaddylee82 wrote: Based on my years of watching the A-Team, either they were all terrible shots, or the Mini-14 is a terrible firearm.

Ooooohhhhhh Lawd I LOLed.

Dr. Hess wrote: Did they ever fix the reliability problems with the Mini-14? Back in the day (80's) they were having a lot of problems with jamming. If the A-Team TV show hadn't been using them, I strongly suspect the gun would have been discontinued. Also, high cap mags used to be very difficult to find. I bet Mini-30 high cap mags are even worse. At one large, you are also approaching M1A territory. Cool looking rifles, though.

Yea, I'm not spending $1k for a Mini-XX if the real deal is cheaper. I didn't realize they had gotten that expensive.

Brett_Murphy wrote: If I had to pic one rifle to do *everything* it would be a toss up between a CMP Garand or an M1A. Field grade Garands are $630 at CMP right now. I'm tempted to get one, but I don't shoot the guns I have now enough.

Toss the FAL into that consideration, if you can live with having an evil black rifle with that oh so lethal pistol grip....

spitfirebill wrote: I've looked into this but you have to jump through some hoops. You have to belong to a gun club that is affiliated with the CMP.

The NRA works.

You could also join: http://thegca.org/

WOW Really Paul? wrote: Toss the FAL into that consideration, if you can live with having an evil black rifle with that oh so lethal pistol grip....

FALs have pistol grips. Unless you're in New York. Or California.

Did you mean a BAR? Because those things are serious money.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

? FAL, particularly a DSArms metric one.

A real BAR is kinda hard to get ahold of, bring about $70k and be prepared for tons of hoops and other E36 M3 the BATFE wants to screw you over with.

In reply to Brett_Murphy:

Just signed up. Thanks for the tip. We'll see how this plays out.

I got my CMP M1 20 years ago. Personally handed to me by a uniformed member of Bill Clinton's government. (USPS).

Another nice round I like is the 7.62x54R...maybe even more than .308. Had this rifle in that caliber:

WOW Really Paul? wrote: FAL, particularly a DSArms metric one.

I am thinking FN FAL, what are you saying? The ones I see on DSA still have a pistol grip.