This will be my first long gun. Not for any specific purpose just expanding my collection. I own to many pistols and a shotgun(Winchester W/ red dot).
Time for a rifle. I do not hunt but it must be able to. I' live in the city so I'd like a short barrel. Lets call it a all purpose defense gun. I've always wanted a Springfield socom 16, but need advice on accuracy issues with the 16" barrel? I relally like the Idea of a semi auto and was also looking at a Ruger mini 14 but think the .223 might be to small of a round. What do you guys think? M.
Short barrel .308 is like kissing a hooker.
If you can't 'Reach' with it, there is no use having a .30 cal. rifle.
If you want short barrel, stay with the AR-15/Ruger Mini-14/Ruger Mini-30 or SKS/AK clones.
AR will be the most accurate, followed by the Rugers.
They will bring down any thin skinned game in north America,
And the AR is VERY easy to convert to .22 LR for small game hunting and cheap practice.
Sort barrel means low velocity in a .30 cal rifle,
But if you want accuracy and cheap ammo, consider a Ruger Mini-30.
It's chambered in 7.62x39mm Russian so all that cheap import ammo will cycle through it just fine,
And you don't have to worry about the barrel separating from the receiver like you do with the AK clones.
Resale is good, accuracy is pretty good, and the Mini-30 is a VERY strong rifle action, so you don't have to worry about the thing blowing up or coming apart like the 'Import' AK clones do on a regular basis...
Nothing like the pinned barrel sheering it's self away from a stamped steel receiver in the Import AK Clones!
If you insist on a .30 cal. lead slinger, the SKS/AK clones are cheap and so is the ammo.
They aren't very accurate, failure prone, and made of cheap materials.
So if you want to hunt large, thin skinned game, keep within 200 yards or less.
I would NOT try to hunt dangerous game with an SKS/AK clone, they don't have enough knock down power and are failure prone, and I don't want to bet my life on the workmanship of some Chinese inmate labor working with inferior materials!
An actual SKS combat surplus rifle can still be had fairly cheaply, and they are a much better choice for this class of rifle.
There are no more surplus actual combat AK's on the market, and haven't been in quite a while.
Everything on the market is the cheap clones, and I don't trust them for a second.
I don't even like to be next to them at the gun ranges when someone else shows up with them!
I suggest you get one of the older military surplus bolt guns to learn on.
They can be had for $100-$200 and are fairly accurate, and will let you knock it around pretty good while you are learning about longer range ballistics, gun cleaning, ect. with a rifle.
It's a VERY cheap way to enter rifle shooting, and they are as reliable as an anvil.
Since they are nothing special, you really get to knock them around and not have to worry about resale value or loosing money if something really bad happens to them.
Everybody makes stocks & add ons for them pretty cheaply if you want to try your hand at customization or accurizing one before you step off into the world of $1,000 rifles.
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There is no 'Defense Gun' like a 12 Ga. pump gun!
There is no bad guy in the world that doesn't know the sound of the slide racking a round into a 12 Ga.
And he'll jump out a third story window with crap in his pants to keep from facing that boomer!
