Ideas on a 2nd rifle, something more powerful than .223

S

Spacelord

Inactive
Hey all. So I recently got my first rifle ever, the M&P Sport AR15. Love it, it's very fun to shoot and I plan on customizing it once I learn more about the upgrades that are available.

However, I also want to start considering options for my next purchase. I spend a LOT of time researching so I probably won't actually buy anything for a while. I love the classic look of the Mosin Nagant and M1 Garand, and the fact that they are chambered for a more powerful round. Also heard good things about their accuracy/durability. I would mostly be using for target shooting, and keeping home defense/world chaos situation in mind isn't a bad idea.

Anyway, is there something out there similar to these? I have seen a used 'Mosin Nagant' at Cabelas but I was unsure of the manufacturer? I have noticed in the firearm world that 2 guns can be sold/marketed under the same name but actually be quite different. So... what would be some good rifles to start looking into along these lines? Price range maybe anything up to $1000 for now.

Edit: For instance, I just found this: http://www.cabelas.com/bolt-action-mosin-nagant-model-91-30-rifle-bayonet-2.shtml.

$150? How can that be a good rifle? I've seen hunting rifles that cost 20x that or more o_O

Edit2: After reading the reviews I guess it's legit. When I heard the Mosin was cheap I guess they meant really cheap. What would cause the price to be so low on that?
 
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i noticed cdnn had some nice deals on military/police style bolt action rifles, like remington police sniper rifles, etc in 308.
 
No, they are not manufactured anymore. You can go to 7.62x54R dot net, or to Surplus Rifle dot com and do some of that research.
 
I'm not sure when they stopped being manufactured, but something like tens of millions were produced over the course of their production period. Yes they're from decades ago, they're military surplus but they're still very usable rifles. Obviously some are in worse shape than others but many of them were arsenal refinished after WWII and packed in cosmoline. Most of the ones i've seen have been in pretty good shape especially when compared to other military surplus guns i've seen. They're also chambered for a powerful, yet cheap/plentiful caliber.
 
The Mosin is not a bad choice, cheap, reliable, and can easily hit the side of a barn, provided you are shooting at it from the inside...

Consider a used levergun in .30-30, you will always be able to find ammo, even in the most remote spots, you can use it for everything, and it is a classic American firearm. Almost like an unwritten law that says all true Americans should have at least one in the closet...kinda like an 870 Remington or it's equivalent.
 
Get a nice Tula Mosin from 1920 or so, and enjoy. Wartime production guns are rougher, pre-war tend to be nicer - date is on the barrel hood just forward of the breech, preceded by the letter "r", which stands for the Russian work for year.
 
an American made option

.308 Win. is a "medium" cartridge that is very accurate, with abundant commercial loadings. You can find decent used Savage 99 rifles for under $400. if you look around the internet a bit.

I have a Savage 99 lever action in .308. The Savage 99 is long out of production but is a classic rifle. Mine is a 99 "C", meaning it has a magazine, which I prefer to the earlier fixed rotary magazine.

The Savage 99 has about THE strongest action for a lever gun and can be made to be very accurate with proper stock bedding and free-floating the barrel using a fore end through bolt setup.

I would advise that any modern bolt action gun you get be a 3 lug bolt for much faster operation. Browning and Sako both make rifles with 3 lug bots and both are excellent quality.
 
the reason mosin nagants are $100 is because there were literally millions of them and a lot of the ones you see for sale were actually used in WWII and refurbed and packed away for 60 years afterward. the actions on them are not the best. you might be better going with a $300 enfield number 4. 7.62x54R is cheaper than 303 brit but buying a gun because of cheap surplus ammo can backfire, just ask all the guys who bought guns chambered in 7.62x25 when it was 7 cents a round. 303 brit or 30.06 are your two best choices when it comes to surplus battle rifles since there is a lot of current production ammo. as such I would recommend enfield P14, number1 or number4 and springfield 1903, 1917 and m1 garand. 8mm, and 7.62x54R have a little current production ammo but not enough to service 2 million shooters should surplus ammo dry up overnight.
 
How about a 6.8 SPC or 7.62x39 upper for your AR? There are other calibers of course. If not I'd go with a bolt action .308. Plenty of them around.
 
but not enough to service 2 million shooters should surplus ammo dry up overnight.
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I suspect that if this were to happen there's be an awful lot of manufacturers that would jump on board churning out ammo for the 7.62x54R since there's so many Mosins out there. If you buy a Mosin buy a few spam cans of ammo to go with it. I'm just getting started stocking up on it now but it seems to be everywhere.

Stu
 
Mosin Nagants aren't bad guns. You just have to be careful to find one that's in good condition. I've seen gun stores and gun show dealers hawking some pretty bad ones. For the most part though they're a good gun and a damned good buy for a beginning shooter.

Triggers and actions aren't the cleanest but they're accurate enough. I could poke holes in a 4" steel gong at 100 yards all day long with the iron sights on the Mosin Nagant M91/30 that I used to own. I gave it to my dad though and I've missed it since. Now a buddy of mine has owned a Mosin Nagant M91/30 and he's taken deer every year since he bought it. Ranges are anywhere from 40 to 400 yds (I personally saw the one that was shot at 400yds because I was lining up the shot myself when he took it). Its his favorite long range hunting rifle - and he has other long range rifles to choose from: Ruger 7mm mag, TC Encore 30-06 and a Savage .308

Anyway for $100 to $150 I think its a great value and a great gun for the money. Just remember you're not going to get a glassy smooth trigger or a crisp trigger break. They're creepy, gritty and definitely a bit rough around the edges but they get the job done.
 
I recommend a bolt action in a ubiquitous caliber like .308 or 30-06.
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I think this is very good advice. There are very few things you can't do with a Rem 700 or Ruger 77 in one of these classic calibers. There are hundreds of different loads available and handloading is a breeze too.
 
The above advice on a 308 bolt is good.... but if you want to be a little different, both 7mm-08 and 260 Rem are excellent rounds.

The 7mm-08 (308 necked down to a .284) would be a slightly better hunting cartridge, while 260 Rem (308 necked down to .264) is a slightly better long range target round. But both are quite excellent for long distance target shooting and white tail / mule deer/ antelope/ hogs/ etc....

I always thought that Remington should have named the 260 as "6.5mm-08 Remington", since that is what it is...

and of course, a 308 bolt is an excellent choice also.
 
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