Intro to buying your first rifle. (new gun owners)

[John Gianni 22]

So...you wanna buy a rifle? Well, as I have stated before with handguns; your rifle should be a worthy investment. 

 

You're probably thinking a few things; "How much does a semiautomatic or bolt action rifle cost?"..."what is a good hunting caliber?"...."which is more accurate;semiautomatic or bolt action?" 

 

How much does a semiautomatic rifle cost? Well, truthfully, it can cost around $1.000, but there are some firearm manufacturers that go way beyond this price range, such as Wilson Combat. Wilson Combat AR15 models can cost up to and exceeding $6.000-without furniture!(furniture is accessories such as scopes, silencers, laser sights, flashlights...etc), but then again, you are getting a superior quality rifle. Now this is probably way out of most peoples price range, but there are many other brands to choose from that offer excellent quality at a more reasonable price; such as Colt, Winchester, S&W, SIG SAUER, and Primary Weapons Systems and many more. Honestly, my personal recommendation would be to go out to the range, rent a rifle, and see what you like(yes, this is my favorite part, but it also lets you know what you like, and what you don't like.)

 

Once you get familiar with your semiautomatic rifle, you can add accessories, or furniture as I like to call it. A recommendation for something you might want to put on your rifle is a Free-Floating barrel, this is very difficult to explain, so I would seriously Google it. What a free-floating barrel does is make your barrel accurate by essentially making it "float", this seriously is one of the coolest modifications you can do to your semiautomatic rifle, with a serious benefit. There are hundreds of modifications you can do to your rifle, from the upper or lower to the charging handle; so...all of that is up to your personal liking; your rifle, like your handgun if you have read that, should be a reflection of your personality, don't be afraid to get a little fancy with it, as long as it is helpful to you!

 

Bolt action rifles can cost as low as $200; such as a Savage Arms 22LR, which is literally a piece of junk in my opinion...to around $6.000 as well for a very high end bolt action rifle, but the average one will cost about $750. Many of the same brands that make semiautomatic rifles make Bolt action rifles, so see the above about that.

 

What is a good hunting caliber? It depends on what you are hunting; if it is deer a 243WINCHESTER will do the job pretty good, now if you are hunting moose, elk or a larger game animal look for something that's a little bit bigger, such as a 30-06 or a 300Winchester, it just depends. 223 is a good varmint round, it works for deer pretty well too. Even a 22LR, one of the smallest rifle rounds out there is good for some hunting; but this hunting is called plinking, which mainly is very small game such as squirrels, rabbits, and groundhogs and other animals of that type. 

 

Which is more accurate; Semiautomatic or bolt action? Truthfully, it is probably bolt action, but in some cases you can out-shoot a bolt action with a semiautomatic. Accuracy depends on the shooter, no gun will make you accurate, you have to practice! Now, in my experience both are very accurate(yeah I'm bragging a little, I'm only good at 3 things, honestly! and shooting is one of them.), but I would recommend shooting both as practice, not only is this fun, you also learn a lot more that you would by just reading. Just remember to follow the ten commandments of gun safety!

 

Well, that is a quick introduction to semiautomatic and bolt action rifles! Let me know if you have any questions and feel free to add onto the topic as long as it is useful to the topic at hand!