First Gun - Help Me Choose

[myshtern]

Alrighty, so I've been shooting enough rifles this summer to make me want to buy my own. I want something really basic and cheap so that I can just practice my marksmanship, I probably wont be firing it at animals or anything like that.

With that said, .22s are pretty lame so I'd like to go with a .17 probably. I'll probably upgrade to something powerful in a year or so but until then, I just want something cheap that wont give me any problems. I need a scope too, nothing great, just something to practice with.

My buddy linked me to this:
http://savagearms.com/93R17FXP.htm

I dont think I'll spend more than $260 with scope.

[Kwando]

just curious why not something in .22LR?

[Weston]

What's so lame about .22? I'd go with a .22 LR if I were you. The ammo is easier to come buy and dirt cheap. A good and very popular choice is the Ruger 10/22. Fun, cheap, and it'll last a long time if you take care of it. My dad has had his since the 70's and it's still in excellent condition.

.17 HMR is pretty much just a rimfire, kiddie version of .223 Remington. I guess if you want a little power and a cheap gun to shoot it from, then it could work, but the ammo is harder to come by and expensive. You'd be better off finding a cheap .223 rifle, IMO... about the same ammo cost, more available, and more powerful.

For quality brass FMJ ammo, .223 / 5.56 is 20-25 cents a round, .17 LMR is only a couple of cents cheaper (if not the same), and .22 LR is only about 4 or 5 cents a round. .22 LR may not have much power, but there's a good variety of it (you can get supersonic rounds about 1/3 the power of .223), you can find it everywhere, and it's super cheap.

[myshtern]

I defintely didnt think about ammunition costs.

Can you guys link me to some .22s?
I dont want a semi-auto because they seem to always have jamming and misfire problems.

[myshtern]

Question - Almost all rifles are built so they can have a scope attached, right?
Question - Are most scopes standard in how they are attached?

[Weston]

http://www.ruger.com/Firearms/FA-Fam...ding&famlst=39
http://www.ruger1022.com/
http://www.ruger-1022.com/

A quality semi-auto gun won't jamb up unless it's dirty, over-oiled, or has a crappy magazine. As for misfires / duds, that can easily be the ammo. I have had cheap ammo fail to fire a couple of times in my AR-15, and it's a center-fire with a firing pin that actually dimples the primer just from chambering a round. It was just bad primers in some cheap ammo that I bought. No problems with Winchester and various military ammo though. Rimfire seems to be a little more likely to have primer failures too.

[Weston]

Question - Almost all rifles are built so they can have a scope attached, right?
Question - Are most scopes standard in how they are attached?

You can add a scope to most rifles, and it's usually a simple ring mount. You can get mounts at Walmart that will fit many rifles, especially the kind you're looking at. The main exception would be certain tactical rifles like the AR-15, which tend to use a rail mount or something custom.

[myshtern]

The ruger rifles are too expensive.

Here is what I'm looking at:

Savage Arms - $169
Remington 597 - $175

[ryanman]

Either one of those is decent.

[Terry]

Just by an AK

[Kwando]

you can go to walmart and get a .22LR for $99... and a scope, and so me rings for $100 and have fun all day long with a box of ammo

[myshtern]

I thought walmart doesnt sell guns anymore.

[ryanman]

Shit, WalMart will always sell guns.

[Weston-work]

I thought walmart doesnt sell guns anymore.

They only stopped that at some stores, but I have yet to see it happen locally. Last I knew, Lafayette, Longmont, Loveland, Flatirons, Brighton, and Aurora Walmarts are still in that business.

[sts2poc1]

walmart at parker and chambers don't sell rifles and shotguns no more.

and if you don't want it to jam, use cci mini mags. i never have a problem with those in my ruger 22/45.