Need advice on a new rifle

[Slim Pickens]

Hi, All. My wife and I are pretty new to firearms ownership, and now that we have what we need for basic home defense, we would like to purchase a rifle (okay, that's a lie... I would like to purchase a rifle).

Can anyone here give me some recommendations on a semi auto rifle in the $700 to $1,000 range? I've already done my homework on the AR-15 and the AK-47, so any advice you guys can give me about quality of manufacturers (Vector, DPMS, Bushmaster, Arsenal) would be great. I've looked at the XCR- it's a little more than I would like to spend at this time. I'm pretty much open to any rifle though, not necessarily just an AR or AK.

We will be using it for range and target shooting, and as another addition to help round out our beginners collection.

Thanks!

[XD45]

really depends on what you want to do, and how fast you'll beable to get more money to buy another... you can buy 2 AK's for the price of an AR-15, or any .223 "auto-loading hunting weapon" really.. and ammo prices for the AK are a good bit less...

I would personally get my hands on a $300 AK, then once you fall inlove with the big bad black rifles, go get yourself an ar-15 in a few weeks.. thats what i did, doesnt really matter what order you get them in, you will get both sooner or later i'm sure..

as for brands i think my next ar-15 will be a Rock river arms, or a stag arms they both seem to be putting out great products.. but IMO theres nothing wrong with a bushmaster M4 or whatever other style you like

[RocketFoot]

I don't know much about AK's but if you decide on an AR, I'd suggest the M4 style which has the 16" barrel and collapsible stock. It would be more agile in close quarters but still a good shooter at the range. As far as brands...my favorites are Bushmaster, Rock River or Stag.

[Lycanthrope]

3 AK's.

or......

2 AR kit guns (long and short range variants....or his and hers!).

or......

A good semi-custom upper mated to a base lower AR.

or.....

a couple SU-16's.

or.....1 regular shelf AR (because you have the mostly irrational fear that anything else may give you problems).

Lycansomanychoicesthrope

[MTechnik]

Well, are you looking for Bolt-Action or semi-auto? Big caliber (.308/30-06) or intermediate (7.63x39 or .223rem, maybe even 22-250) rifle?

The FN SPR is a great 1MOA bolt rifle, from what I have read. A friend of mine has a tack driving savage in 22-250.

Then again, the AR's and AKs are a LOT of fun.

Me, I recently got myself a Marlin 39a. A nice little .22 lever action that I can feed all day and is good to 100 yards.

[Slim Pickens]

I'm mostly looking for intermediate- 7.62mm, but I'm not opposed to a .308. Thanks!

[bigjlen]

hey slim,
i know youre going to get a lot of "buy this and buy that" so i figured id start the assult! ha ha.
in the range youre looking at, you can pick up a very fine ar or high-end ak system.

>in the ar platform, id go with armalite, stag arms, or bushmaster - all can be had for your price.
i have a stag (in left handed) and its quality is exceptional.
the nice things about ars is that you can mod the crap out of them with all sorts of lights/lasers/sights but imo, i think you should keep it simple;
16" carbine with open sights.

>in the ak system, id get an arsenal arms milled ak (if you can find one around).
theyre in that upper price ceiling for you but they are amazing.
vector is also very nice and can be had for a bit less.
quality is great though they build from parts kits that may/may not have been used (to my understanding) where as arsenal is all brand new (if i remember correctly). l
ook into an underfolder stock if you want it to be a space-saver. some have said theyre not comfortable to shoot but mine is a blast (i have a yugoslavian underfolder).

another option since you are undecided and are looking to build a collection, is to just get both!
ha ha!
you can get a nice yugo underfolder for about $400-500 at a local dunhams store, then look around for a olympic arms plinkster for about $600.
quality on both is fine and it will intro you to both platforms!

link to the olympic arms plinker:
http://www.olyarms.com/?rootView=browse&view=dtl&ids=PP

link to the century arms yugoslavian underfolder ak:
http://www.centuryarms.biz/proddetai...216%2DX&cat=54

hopefully thats some opinon/ideas/info you help you out.
remember, im just some guy from the internet forum so what do i know.
ha ha!
the final decision comes from what fits your life/style/budget.
good luck!

[Slim Pickens]

You're reading my mind. I was thinking about an AK and then an AR down the road. There WILL be more than one, that's a given. This is a great disease.

Can you recommend a quality AK manufacture? I'm willing to spend a bit of money on a good one. Are the Polish or Romanian builds any comparison to a Russian build? Milled receiver vs. stamped?

[Slim Pickens]

Awesome, great info. I hate to sound ignorant, but like I said, we're new at this....What defines a plinker? I noticed that the Olympic plinker series AR was a good bit less expensive while I was on their website.

Thanks!

[dgg9]

Originally Posted by Slim Pickens

We will be using it for range and target shooting, and as another addition to help round out our beginners collection.

Since budget is a stated consideration, do yourself a favor and price out what a case or plinking range ammo costs for the various platforms. I predict you'll be surprised, and appalled. It's a factor.