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School me on optics and inexpensive “high powered” rifles


redkow97

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All of my firearms have been purchased with cheap ammo and fun to shoot as the primary qualification, but as i expand my collection, i realize more and more often that 22lr, 9mm (even from a 16.5” barrel) and a shotgun slug are all 100 yard (at best) rounds. 

Especially when i have iron sights (just a from beed on the shotgun) on all of them.  Even if the rounds were effective beyond 100 yards, i struggle to acquire a target at that distance. 

So i’m Looking for general advice on affordable optics, and also beginning to accept that a high(er) powered rifle round is likely necessary to ward off zombies at 500 yards. 

Everyone says the mosin nagant is “$100,” but i’m Not finding them for anywhere near that price.  The ammo is priced right, but not exactly easy to find (at least i haven’t noticed it at my LGS)

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As much as it pains me to say this, give in and buy the ar-15.  I have one and as much as it's not my favorite rifle to take to the range, I know it is the best rifle I own for 80% of all bad situations.  It is by far the most accurate of the medium to high power rifles I own and the easiest to customize and mount optics on.  The price on old milsurp bolt action and semi-auto's has climbed to the point that there is no real value in them as a defense gun anymore unless you specifically want one for looks/history or you live in some anti-freedom state that has banned black rifles.

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.30-30 lever guns are very cool but you may want to check out the ballistics on that cartridge.  Those big heavy round nose or flat nose bullets are pretty bad past about 300yards.  The stopping power of those things for "zombie" sized targets really is limited at distance.  If you had wanted something that is 500 yard capable you are going to want something with a pointed spitzer style bullet.

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500 yards was just a number i pulled out of my ass because i watched a 3 gun competition where the furthest target was 500 yards. 

I really just want something that actually requires a scope, because it’s powerful enough to shoot (accurately) beyond how far i can see. 

It would not be a “plinking” gun at all (that’s what the 9mm carbine and my 10-22 are for), but i would like to enjoy shooting it periodically. It doesn’t need to be a “battle rifle” like an AR15.  I am fine with lower capacity and bolt, lever, or even single shot, if it’s cheap enough. 

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You could look for an older 'hunting' rifle before Remington embraced the black gun.  Quite a few bolt action rifles are still being made by Savage and available, but semi-auto is pretty slim.  If you do want something semi-auto something like a Remington 700 in .223 or .243 or 7mm-08 might fit the bill. 

 

 

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I built an MOA AR with optics for under $500.  I bought some parts used to say under $500.  It should do better than MOA. but I'll need proper targets to verify.

This is hard to beat for the $$  https://www.opticsplanet.com/reviews/reviews-tasco-6-24x42-targetvarmint.html 

 

 

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Edited by Tpoppa
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I misspoke about the Remington 700 (that is a bolt action rifle).  If you did want a semi-auto type old school hunting rifle you would be more looking for a Ruger mini-14 (.223), or a Remington 7400 or 750 (mulitiple calibers available but not .223 that I could find).

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On 10/22/2018 at 1:13 PM, max power said:

So your wife is scared of black guns?

I wouldn’t say “scared,” but she buys into the liberal “why would anyone NEED an AR15?” and “that’s not what the founders intended” points of view. 

Truthfully, she doesn’t like that i have ANY firearms ...which is why the key to the gun cabinet is always on my person, and not an insignificant consideration in my preference for wooden stocks. 

I move my rifles in padded range bags, but the 10-22 and Remington 341p are similar looking, except for barrel length.  My wife wouldn’t care to notice that one is a bolt action, and the other accepts magazines.  Likewise, she does not distinguish between blued pistols.

I can probably fill the cabinet with wooden stock rifles of varying calibers and not have her notice, but i restrain myself for the sake of marital harmony.  Mostly. 

 

Edited by redkow97
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We’re going to need bikini pics to confirm.

 

Also, now that I understand your unfortunate situation, I’d recommend Ruger’s mini 14 ranch all day.

 “It’s a ranch gun, honey. Now let’s snap some bikini pics for my friends on the internets” 

Everybodys happy.  

 

 

A50C5E4E-DCD4-43AE-81CF-09111B1D3367.jpeg

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Go with a bolt action in any reputable caliber. 

Don't waste your money on a cheap scope. Cheap scopes are known for losing their zero.  Place the scope so it can't move and look through it, move your eye in a circle around the circumference of the eyepiece, if the reticle moves around on a distant target reject it. A good scope should be waterproof and fogproof. Although hard to find these days, there's nothing wrong with a fixed power. You'll probably spend as much on the scope as you did the rifle.

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11 hours ago, Lawrence1 said:

Don't waste your money on a cheap scope. Cheap scopes are known for losing their zero.  

That may be true with a no name Chinese knockoff scope, but I've never experienced this with any reputable brands.   Tasco, Simmons,  Bushnell, ect make some very good scopes that are relatively inexpensive and get great reviews.

High end scopes do have advantages, but a lot of that is only noticeable in low light conditions or at max magnification.  That may make the difference if you're hunting at dawn...but, if you're shooting paper at 2-300 yards during the day, I seriously doubt your groups would be any different.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Tpoppa said:

That may be true with a no name Chinese knockoff scope, but I've never experienced this with any reputable brands.   Tasco, Simmons,  Bushnell, ect make some very good scopes that are relatively inexpensive and get great reviews.

High end scopes do have advantages, but a lot of that is only noticeable in low light conditions or at max magnification.  That may make the difference if you're hunting at dawn...but, if you're shooting paper at 2-300 yards during the day, I seriously doubt your groups would be any different.

 

 

Guess it depends on the definition of cheap... I consider vortex as cheap scopes, but they're known for being good quality... But like you pointed out, there's a lot of no name Chinese scopes that are air soft quality that people buy on Amazon for $30 and wonder why they won't hold zero on a real rifle...big diff in a $150 scope and a $30 one... But both are cheap, considering I've seen scopes listed for more than I paid for my bike, so it's all subjective.... Worry about quality and reviews before price... You can even Google reviews for scopes for this year and find countless reviews and test articles.... Without scrolling up, I think MT pointed you in the right direction earlier to good and cheap.... Let us know what you end up with 

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I put a weaver KASPA scope on my 20" DMR AR. Drives nails at 300 yards. Hard to find a longer range than that around here to shoot at. Got it for a song on a no reserve auction on Ebay, not sure what they retail for. Iirc it's a 4x15 power 50mm objective lense. 

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