You can still get a M1 Garand pretty cheap now from CMP, think the Springfield Armory sell for around $550.00.

I got one a few years ago and its a sweet shooter and 30.06 ammo is still decent priced from there too. I don't know if you can get them delivered to california though. just another option for you.

Thats a great deal for a Benelli semi auto

Some great suggestion here. Let me throw in my 2cents. For value I don't think you can beat a lever action and the 30-30 is a great cheap round and Marlins in that configuration are cheap. If you want something a little more versatile get a lever action in 357. A great companion to a revolver and they shoot 38s. Marlins would be my choice, they're a closed top reciever making scope mounting easier if you want, but they are a touch more expensive. Rossi makes a 16" barrel carbine that holds 8+1 sweetness in a small package, plus they don't get a second look. People say Levers hold less then most semis with magazines, but the nice thing is like shotguns you can "top-off" levers while you shoot.

do you have a .22? i'd want a good .22 rifle with tons of ammo that's easy to find, afford, and carry. i'd combine that with a magnum caliber revolver.

I love these discussions. What a great problem to have... Here are some questions to consider. How you answer those can greatly improve specificity of the information given.

1) What's your price range? (cost of gun and cost of ammo)

2) What are you planning on using this for and what percentage of time? (what are you hunting, where are you hunting it? how do you hunt, how often?)

3) What other guns do you have that play a similar role?

4) Do you reload?

5) Is there any feature that you have to have or are definately against?

I'm definitely picking up a .22lr rifle, just wanted to get a battle rifle before they pass more ridiculous laws (hopefully not). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" />

I'm definitely picking up a .22lr rifle, just wanted to get a battle rifle before they pass more ridiculous laws (hopefully not). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crossfingers.gif" alt="" />

i say save, sell some steel, or borrow and go all the way for the M1A. you shouldn't settle.

i say save, sell some steel, or borrow and go all the way for the M1A. you shouldn't settle.

12 gauge pump shotgun (Remington 870) Pack a punch for SHTF, can use slugs and buck shot.

Good points. It makes sense to have the ability to carry just one type of ammo in SHTF situations by matching rifle to handgun. Your example of the .357 is a good one.

As a side note, did you fellow Californians sign that petition to repeal AB962? If you missed it in my past post, here's a link:

http://nramemberscouncils.com/petition/

I highly recommend that you guys sign that and pass it along to friends to sign!

I wish the M1 Carbine were still cheap. Shoulda bought one years ago. It does it for me, small, light, accurate enough at a decent distance and enough power for man or small beast. Can't see it for how much they run now though.

Okay, I'm going to be the detractor on the M1A and the Mini-14 (and variants). I know I'm new around the 'yard, but I've a quite a bit of experience with both of these guns.

The M1A is a copy (sort of...) of the military's M-14. The problem is that the M1A has a cast receiver rather than a forged receiver. When you shoot a forged gun you hear 'ping', when you shoot a cast gun you hear 'thud'. After several thousand rounds, my M1A started experiencing FTFs (failure to fires). Examination revealed that the headspace had changed, BECAUSE THE RECEIVER WAS STRETCHING! Yikes! I had the barrel turned back .030 and sold that gun ASAP. That firearm design was never intended for use with anything other than a forged receiver.

Now most people will never put that many rounds through their guns, and never have any real problems with them. But if you're serious about a quality gun in that pattern, you need a forged receiver. There are only two options. 1) Buy a forged Norinco. They are not properly heat-treated from the factory and will also experience stretching. BUT, you can send the gun to Smith Enterprises, have it properly heat treated, and you'll have a good semi-auto M-14 for under $1000. 2) If you're really serious, then you need to get LRB Arms gun. They're forging brand new receivers right here in the good old USA, and they're TOP quality. Their M25 receiver even has an integral rail forged right in! Pricey at ~$3000, but what's your life worth? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> I love mine, and believe it's one of the finest battle rifles that I own.

The mini-14 is another disaster, mostly suffering from poor workmanship and dismal barrels than anything else. I've put my borescope down several and they all look like the rifling was cut with a dull chisel. Absolutley the worst I've ever seen. Because it's a proprietary gun, you can't really get a quality aftermarket barrel (Hart, Douglas, etc), either. Even if the rifling was any good, the barrel is so thin that it makes any kind of accuracy impossible. Mine was a 4 MOA gun at BEST. What else? It was hell on brass, most of it being un-salvageable after going through that gun. Mounts and accessories are really tough to come by. Aftermarket mfgrs have largely ignored the mini in favor of the AR. I've got a lot of Rugers, and generally like 'em, but every mini I've handled was a real lemmon. I happily sold mine to an acquaintance that doesn't shoot much.

For a powerful battle rifle with a price that can't be beat, I'd go with a CMP Garand. Plentiful 'clips' and plentiful ammo will exist even after the SHTF. Parts are easy to come by. They were all well made by American machine shops. Any gunsmith worth a sh!t will be able to work on them in the unlikely it breaks. I love mine, and haven't ever gotten a bad one from CMP. The only bad thing is that it takes MONTHS to get your order, so be patient.

Jon

And now that some more Greek is on the way,,it's a good time to buy..

I'll have to check out the CMP. I was looking at a Springfield Socom II M1A at the store, just beautiful but $2200.

After reading more about shotguns, I'm highly considering one now.



Sorry, could you explain?

was ready to order my saiga 7.62x39 today, even called my FFL, but I found out in order for it to accept standard AK mags you have to drill a hole in the gun near the chamber and install something called a bullet guide. not sure how reliable that makes the rifle.

there is another method that involves no modification to the rifle, but you need to weld a feed ramp onto the mag and file off (grind off for me) a section of the mag catch.

need to do some research on if either of these will last in the long run.

how do we feel about the nagant ?

the yugoslavian mauser?


not competitively, individually.