Decent “Battle” Rifle

[leroy]

For what it's worth:

Ya can buy a " large caliber " ( 308 ) bolt gun in the 700 to 1200 dollar range that will easily shoot into 1 moa.  The Marines fought WW2 with bolt guns, not garands. The 308 size guns are good as far as ya can see if you do your part n know the gun.  My pick in this range would be a Tikka 243 light sporter.  These guns are accurate, light, n dependable.

RE:  The AR-15... There has been more BS written about " quality " ars than any other rifle produced.   Most of the BS comes from the purveyors of these " quality ars ", and is nothing more than hype and pandering to the " pride in ownership " and " gotta have the best " crowd.  A " budget ar " will shoot into about 1.5 to 2 moa... That's 3 to 4 inches at 100 yards.  Your head is about 9  or so inches wide. 

You can homebuild a " quality " ar for between 600 and 800 bucks.  The big hitters are the barrel, the trigger, n a good bolt.   I like a lighter rifle now that I'm a septuagenarian. 

My ARs are in the 5.5 ta 6.5 pound range n they shoot very well... Ya can buy a match quality barrel for 250 on up.  I use the Faxon ultralites myself, but there are plenty of good barrel makers out there today.

I've been shooting rifles about 55 or so years now.  I've never had one that could not be tweaked to shoot better than me. 

If ya want ta learn about shooting rifles, burn lotsa powder thru em.  Don't be drawn to the idea that a better rifle means being a better shooter.  Being a better shooter begins with shooting.

here's hopin this helps a bit .  

leroy...

 

Edited yesterday at 02:31 AM by leroy

[1gewehr]

12 hours ago, leroy said:

For what it's worth:

Ya can buy a " large caliber " ( 308 ) bolt gun in the 700 to 1200 dollar range that will easily shoot into 1 moa.  The Marines fought WW2 with bolt guns, not garands. The 308 size guns are good as far as ya can see if you do your part n know the gun.  My pick in this range would be a Tikka 243 light sporter.  These guns are accurate, light, n dependable.

here's hopin this helps a bit .  

leroy...

Marine Infantry were issued M1 Garand from mid-1943-onwards.  But the M1903 Springfield served them well during heavy fighting earlier.

If you are going to stick with a bolt-action rifle, I'd go with a No4 Lee-Enfield.  I have one that will reliably do 2" groups with new PPU ammo.  If you can shoot that well, you're doing great!  And the Lee-Enfield is still a decent price as far as guns go these days.

As far as other out-of-the box ideas: an M1 Garand is still a good option.  Ammo is readily available, clips are still reasonable ($1-2 each), and you can get one directly to your door at a decent price from CMP.