Juat one rifle for target shooting?

[BigTexasOne]

I am on a retired guys budget, you know, fixed income and all that crap, but I'd like to get a nice centerfire rifle to plink and shoot at 50 and 100 yards. When I shoot indoors, or on 25 yard ranges, I shoot pistol or .22 (Ruger 10/22 and Ruger 77/22wmr) but, I would like to get a pretty, full stock/mannlicher/international to take to the range in a more powerful caliber. My question is,

What caliber would you buy, and MOST IMPORTANT, why?

.223
.243
.308
.30-06
7mm
6.5 creedmore
204 ruger
275 Rigby
45-70
These are just examples, any caliber is open to discussion.

Also, I'll have to be saving brass and reloading in order to be able to shoot often enough to make this all worthwhile.

OK, Your turn, let me have it.......Help me make an educated decision

 

[Vaquero]

.223
Why?
Easy on the pocketbook.
Plentiful brass and bullets.
Easy on the shoulder.
Anything bigger at 100 + yds is overkill for paper punching.

Why not?
Because .243 Winchester is the ultimate.
Heh.

Seriously, .223 would be my choice.

 

[fishingsetx]

I was going to suggest a savage model 11, but I see you are after a mannlicher stock and, as far as I know, savage doesnt make one. I can't be of any help there.

For caliber, id go .308 or .223 at.

At the ranges mentioned, either one would be plenty accurate to have fun with. Both are readily available pretty much anywhere they sell ammo, you can get cheap ammo or expensive ammo in a ton of different configurations, brass is easy to find (I pick up a ton of both every range trip). Bullets are easy to come by for reloading in many different weights/designs. And there is tons of reloading data for them.

After those two, it would be a toss up between .243, 7mm, and 6.5 CM. With 30-06 being a close third due to increased recoil.

Not sure what brass you have saved, but that would weigh heavily on my decision as well.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[texasnurse]

.223 out of a milspec A3 AR


Sent with my IPhone with electronics and fuzzy logic...

 

[jrbfishn]

Unless you want to shoot past 150-200 yards, I would go with .223 also. Ammo is cheaper than anything else I know of center fire. If youwant, it will also do some hunting. If you trload it gets even cheaper and opens up mpore options for hunting as well.

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk

 

[Dawico]

223 has my vote too. For paper punching at shorter range it will be hard to beat, especially with budget concerns.

I love my Savage rifles but am more into the synthetics than the wood stocks. Either option will shoot though and are easy on the wallet.

 

[robertc1024]

At those ranges and for punching paper, .223 hands down. I agree with myself so vehemently, I confirmed what I was thinking and am going to buy a .223 bolt gun myself.

 

[Byrd666]

Pick up an inexpensive .223/5.56 AR platform for a basic plinker and save your pennies for that .308 or 6.5 that you really want. Ammo. is relatively inexpensive and fairly plentiful and can be gotten almost anywhere. And for fun, it's pretty hard to beat.

 

[AustinN4]

I agree with everyone recommending .223/5.56 for those distances - low recoil, plentiful and much less expensive to shoot. The other chamberings are overkill.

 

[AustinN4]

At those ranges and for punching paper, .223 hands down. I agree with myself so vehemently, I confirmed what I was thinking and am going to buy a .223 bolt gun myself.

I did exactly that. But I first wasted time and money on a precision .308 rig that I hardly ever shot. Sold it and picked up an inexpensive Mossberg MVP Patrol in 5.56 as I wanted common ammo and magazines with my AR. So far I have just been shooting it with its open sights and am amazed at its accuracy at 100 yds, especially with my old eyes.

 

[Bozz10mm]

Well, .223 is going to be the most economical, but I think .243 is more fun, both for shooting and reloading. If you are going to be reloading anyway, might as well go with a .243. There is a larger variety of bullet weights from 55 gr to 110 grain.

 

[Army 1911]

Why not be different and go with .223 Ackley improved or maybe 22-250.

 

[BigTexasOne]

Why is there a greater variety of bullets fire 243

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[BigTexasOne]

Stupid voice text, for, for!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[jrbfishn]

IIRC,
Like .30 cal, there are more caliber designations that will use the same diameter bullet. Depending on twist rate of the barrel you can do a multitude of things with it.

from an idgit coffeeholic

 

[ROGER4314]

.223 and .308 run neck & neck in my book. That Mossberg MVP is a great choice and the fact that it uses AR-15 magazines is a real plus! Now, call Copes Distributing, have a case of ammo shipped with free freight and you're good to go!

Flash

 

[BigTexasOne]

Never looked at Cope's website before, thanks for mentioning them

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[acorneau]

If you want a Mannlicher (full stock) rifle in .223 you might look for a CZ 527 FS...

http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-527-fs-223-rem/