I searched and didn't see any *official* sort of thread. Sorry if this belongs somewhere else.

Okay, I've got it in my brain that I was a cheap plinking rifle. As best I can tell, a .22lr is head and shoulders above everything else in terms of price for ammo, but I'm also looking at getting an old 7.62x54r mosin nagant-style rifle. That way, I'd get way more power, range, and accuracy for the same or less money. I'm not sure exactly what a good price is for one in good shape, but a quick google search turns up prices around $100-150. That sound about right?

The real question is with ammo. It looks like I can get tins of 440 rds for $80-100, but it's the old military surplus stuff. Aside from being corrosive, what's the difference between this and the shit that's $.20-1 per round?

Lastly, how viable is it to hand reload 7.62x54r rounds? The round seems pretty cheap as is, so it may be a bad idea. What sort of equipment would I need to do so and how much would it cost me? Will these rounds differ greatly in quality from the factory/military surplus stuff?

I may yet end up just getting a .22, but some old hunk of shit that hasn't been cleaned since some guy beat a nazi to dead with it in '43 has a much more manly appeal. Feel free to offer advice or experiences with other potentially economical plinking rifles.

2/18/2010 4:24:05 PM

get a .22/410 combo from walmart and you can get a box of 500 thunderbolt 40 grain for like $20

2/18/2010 4:30:17 PM

its not named so, but this is kind of the 'official' gun thread...probably get your questions answered better/faster here

message_topic.aspx?topic=503107

2/18/2010 4:36:04 PM

if only there was a 72 page thread about guns already...

2/18/2010 4:38:18 PM

LOCK

SUSPEND

DELETE

I've reposted in Fumbler's thread.

2/18/2010 4:52:32 PM

best advice is to not get a gun

2/18/2010 10:04:52 PM

^ yeah, you don't need "a" gun...everyone should have several.

2/19/2010 1:40:03 AM

2/19/2010 8:26:43 AM

a mosin doesn't need to be in good shape, it's indestructable. and there like 20 MILLION of em in circulation so don't pay more than like $50. I had one; if u can see ur target, u can hit it. Ammo is like $1 a round tho, that's the downside. You can buy reloaded ammo from Ricky Yellow Shades at the gun range but accuracy suffers because of unreliable grain count. U don't need practice if u using a mosin, muzzle velocity is so high u not even needing to lead the target.

2/23/2010 5:39:11 PM

I bought a Mosin-Nagant made in 1939 and I love it. I got mine ordering online (sent to a local dealer) for just under a hundred bucks. It's in good shape as far as all the parts being their and working, but you can tell it's an old gun by its appearance -- which I like. It's a nice reminder that "Hey, this gun probably shot at Nazis." The fact that they usually ship with the original bayonet, oil can, and disassembly tool is a nice touch.

The ammo is certainly a good deal more expensive than .22, so you won't be plinking with it real often. In exchange, you get a very accurate, very powerful round. My friends and I accidentally shot down a tree with one (it was behind a target), and this was no slouch of a tree. Put another way, we did some firing at an old heating oil container, metal probably an eigth-inch thick. Buddy shot it with a .45 1911, and it just dented the thing. Shot it with the Mosin and the round punched clean through both times.

The surplus ammo also does have the corrosion problem, which you can eliminate by cleaning the thing often enough. Sadly I don't know much about other types or reloading your own.

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Incidentally, several friends of mine got Mosins around the same time. par0d0xe has several, I think. We all fucking love them.

[Edited on February 23, 2010 at 7:00 PM. Reason : ]

2/23/2010 6:59:34 PM