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Need help picking an "assault rifle"
salzo
Member Posts: 6,396 ✭✭
My knowledge and use of firearms is pretty much limited to hunting guns, and a little bit about hand guns.
Figure now might be the last time for a long time when I can actually purchase a so called "assault" rifle. Would like to get something, but I no just about nothing when it comes to military type weapons. So what should I look for? What are some models that are appropriate? Want to keep it on the cheap side if possible (I have little money, Wall street gobbled it all up over night). I do not know if this is an issue, but I am left handed, and would prefer to have a left handed rifle(if such thing exists).
Thanks for any help.
Figure now might be the last time for a long time when I can actually purchase a so called "assault" rifle. Would like to get something, but I no just about nothing when it comes to military type weapons. So what should I look for? What are some models that are appropriate? Want to keep it on the cheap side if possible (I have little money, Wall street gobbled it all up over night). I do not know if this is an issue, but I am left handed, and would prefer to have a left handed rifle(if such thing exists).
Thanks for any help.
Comments
Am not an expert by any means...allow for that.
That being said..I have used the AR-15, AKs, the SKSs, M-14S,and the Garands, the .30 Carbines.
First define your purpose; Do you want a battle rifle, or carbine ?
The defining line is perhaps the caliber...the .223, 7.62X39, the .30 carbine rounds are short range rounds.
Special loadings will give pretty impressive ballistics to the .223...but need fast twists and single loadings with heavy-for-caliber bullets.
The .308/30-06 class are the preferred rounds for the battle rifle.
For my purposes, I find the FAL to be the premiere weapon of choice.
(I shoot left handed, by the way)
Parts kits can still be bought for a couple hundrd bucks..containing every part required to rebuild the weapon if neccessary. Locking shoulders are availible..or can be home built..to maintain the piece for a long time.
The parts guns can be bought for 600-1000 dollars..lot of money..but still you are not talking SKS here.
The SKS can be bought for 3 hundred bucks..but has a rather limited range. Too close a range for my liking....200 yards.
After handling the STG varient, with the built-in bipod, the rest just like 2x6 planks, ergonomically.
You can't go wrong with an FAL as HB recommends. I prefer the M-1A, but both are probably out of your range. I tip reliability to the FAL.
Cheap-I would go with the SKS. Reasonably accurate, ultra-reliable, parts are readily available and inexpensive. Range is a limiting factor as HB says. Ammo is getting expensive.
I'd go for something like this:
http://www.impactguns.com/store/604206072252.html
but that might be more than you're willing to spend, though I got my last 2 bushies for under $700 FTF.
You don't deserve one. [}:)]
Or a FAL as was suggested.
Reliability is not cheap though.
These rifles are like a small block chevy....all interchangable and easy to work on.
I would have never thought I could do it, but over the last 8 years have literally built over 20 of them for myself, family and friends.
Go to www.ar15.com and see how easy it is.
You can build a complete rifle for around what you want to spend.
......I played with the SKS/AK's....My opinion, stay away from them !
If you really want an exercise and are serious about it, buy an AR-15 lower receiver, parts kit, and stock and build one yourself. This way you will know the working components and be able to repair it on the battle field (where it will be most valuable).
These rifles are like a small block chevy....all interchangable and easy to work on.
I would have never thought I could do it, but over the last 8 years have literally built over 20 of them for myself, family and friends.
Go to www.ar15.com and see how easy it is.
You can build a complete rifle for around what you want to spend.
......I played with the SKS/AK's....My opinion, stay away from them !
I would love to do this but since I live in cook county there is a ban from owning assualt weapons.I have no Idea how to get a lower with out breaking the ban, the law says i have the right to bear arms but the ban says i cant. how do I pull this one off?
Looking for cheap? Thinking of going the AK route? Go to "J&G Sales" on the net, or get a copy of "Shotgun News" where J&G often advertises. J&G currently has Romanian AK's for $379.95. That's as cheap as Iv'e seen. A good friend of mine bought one and he's very happy with it. They have other variants of the AK for more, but I don't know what the advantages to these would be. The Romanian comes with an extra mag and a cleaning kit. I don't expect these to stick around long now that people are buying these type of guns like crazy. I might just opt for one, because I can already see the next assault rifle ban coming. Joe Biden is probably orgasming at the prospect as we speak.
Anyway, I think this buy is worth looking into
BTW: If there is somthing out there you want to buy gunwise, this would probably be the best time to do so while Bam is still preparing his pounce on the 2nd.
Just my 2 cents. Good luck.
I just bought a DPMS Panther A4 Carbine (AR-15) at Scheels yesterday for $850 ($937 out the door). As I was standing in line waiting for the cashier, three other AR-15s were being sold. My first choice was a Rock River, but everybody is sold out. My second choice was a S&W M&P 15, but again everybody is sold out.
I am very happy with my DPMS, it is an excellent quality AR-15 with all the features I wanted, but it was my THIRD choice.
But I do recommend going with the AR platform. I think for the price it offers incredible accuracy and tremendous potential for accessorizing.
-WoundedWolf
Hey buddy, let me give you my take on you question:
You say you are into hunting arms. That being said, the arguments for range and high accuacy apply less to you, specifically if you're shooting bolt action guns with high power rounds (7mm, .30-06, .270, to mention just a few, or any belted magnum rifle round). These give you range, power and accuracy. If you happen to be shooting .308, there are a few "assault" guns that shoot it, but they start at or above your $750 max. You might find an older sporterized FAL (with thumbhole stock) or maybe a used CETME gun in .308. There is an abundance of .308 military surplus ammo out there, relatively cheap. These are your best bet in all around performance if you only plan on carrying one gun. I hunt deer with my FAL.
AR-15's(civilian designation for M-16) are good, accurate(in .223), range out to 300-400 meters although the small/light bullet loses it's punch out that far. Mine has the 20in heavy barrel although you can have it in a lightweight 16in barrel. There are many, many options availiable with ARs. Do some reasearch. They can be unreliable if not carefully maintained as they are engineered to tight tolerances. It takes a bit to get used to the operation, I learned in the Army. Get several 30rd mags. You might be able to find a used one in your price range. Alot of cheap .223 ammo availiable.
AKs are blasters, reasonably accurate out to 100-150yds, the distance 95% of combat takes place in. The BIG+ on AKs is reliability as they are "looser" fitting guns. There are numerous stories of this, like the one of a tank driving over one, pull it out of the mud and it would still fire. Mine is a sporterized Hungarian with a thumbhole stock, bought in the 90's under the ban. Once again buy 30rd mags(maybe a 75rd drum) , alot of accesories availiable, alot of military "surplus" ammo in 7.62x39 (a lower powered 30cal) and 5.45x39 ( a 22cal similar to .223). The only thing I don't like is the lack of a last round bolt hold back mechanism. With my other guns I fire the last rd and a catch holds the bolt back, I can feel it and I know I'm out. With my AK I don't until "click".
SKSs are good guns with similar atributes and ammo, to the AK, in a more trditional rifle form. In fact, the SKS technically doesn't qualify as an assault rifle, even under the gun grabbers' definition, as long as it's not fitted with a removable box magazine(they suck anyway). You load you ammo on 10rd stripper clips and push them thru the open bolt (held back after last round) into a fixed magazine, much like you would load your bolt guns. A great upgrade is replace the typical 10rd fixed mag with a chinese 20rd fixed box. I liked the one I had, but traded it in on my FAL(DOH!!). If I was organizing a civilian defense group (must avoid the "M" word, lest big bro O be lis'nen), I'd issue SKS because of their simplicity. 200rds of 7.62x39, in 10rd stripper clips in a bandolier, is alot easier to carry than a bunch of mags. This might be your best option.
Do your research, shop around and choose wisely,
Yours, gundad308
I was at a gun show recently and a new company(can't remeber the name) was selling their brand new AR clones for 7-8 hundred bucks, not bad. The real bargains were in the 50gal trash cans they had. I looked in and saw the butt end of several dozen used ARs in a variety of makes and models for 5 bills. DPMS, Bushmasters, Olympics, even a few Colts. Some were rough, some not so much. I was cash tight at the time, but DAMN I wish I'd had a few grand to blow.
If portability is a concern, there are a variety of folding or collapsing stock availiable for many of the guns mentioned above.
As Nagant1934 mentioned before, buy a copy of SHOT GUN NEWS. They've got about any option there is. Enjoy!
It takes a person to ASSAULT, objects are just tools.
YOU choose how to use that tool!
I'm surprised no one mentioned THERE IS NO SUCH THING as an ASSAULT WEAPON.
It takes a person to ASSAULT, objects are just tools.
YOU choose how to use that tool!
Shows how much you know newb, guns with clips that hold over ten rounds pick themselves up and go on rampages all the time!
Melkor, you take your shotgun, I'll stay 75 yards away with any of my "junk" pieces any day.
AR-15 kits are out there right now for under $600. You have to get the lower via an FFL but the rest is unregulated chunks of metal and plastic. Look around for an Evil Black Rifle Store. You might have to wait a few weeks for delivery.
I am forced to retract that statement.
I can't even find a stripped lower for less than $200+. Wait until the mania dies down a bit.
l1a1 fal..buy a parts kit from the auction side and assemble it yourself.they are cheap enough...drop it in the sand at a beach or desert and it will still work....i carried one in the army until the "wise men [:(][V]" decided to change to the austeyr .223..a piece of plastic, go for a fal..you wont regret it.
Can't argue with that, dan, they're great guns. I own a sporterized L1a1 built off a surplus Aussie or Brit kit, from a service rifle, w/black pebbled plastic furniture. Recently bought a matching butt and pistol grip. I'm getting enough US made internals so I can "legally" put them on. Did Austrailian L1A1s come in the stocks I described or just in the wood? I'm trying to find the origin of my gun, Aus or Brit(upper reciever is civilian,Canadian).
I originally wanted an M1A(civilian designation for M14) but couldn't afford one. I wanted a gun in .308 and "settled" for the L1A1 sporter and am the better for it. They are more dependable.
How did you like the austeyr? I am attracted to the bullpup concept, and own a Bushmaster bullpup. I'll see an AUG(as we call them) at the gun shows and can't resist handling one, although the $2,000+ price tag precludes any purchase. They feel so compact and mobile with the short lenght and balance. The little 2x(?)gunsite seems it would be easy to use. I also like the idea of being able to switch out a heavy target barrel to a short lightweight barrel if I want. How well did it function in the "real world"?
the aussteyrs are no good in jungle/tropical conditions..they jam big time...always cleaning the damn things!!..and i was on the range the day one was continually fired...one magazine after another...imagine the final battle scene in "platoon"...in conditions like that where your just firing and firing without thinking the damn things will melt!!..when the government wer told about it they refused to scrap them...and the top brass made it a court martial offence to fire them too much [V][V][xx(][xx(]...no thanks...i didnt resign on the dotted line...and that was one of the reasons.
the civilian version might be ok..but as a military rifle i would`nt have one as a gift!
The M-16 was the only rifle I had when I was in the USArmy, and you've probably heard or read the litany of problems they had with them. I have an older brother-in-law who did 2 tours in VietNam as a Marine. They used to issue a couple M14s per squad, after the M16 was issued to most, in a machine gun type mission. He said those M14s saved their butts several times. Eventually Department of Defense had the chambers chrome lined and other things and they're still around 40yrs later.
I was in about 5yrs after 'Nam(late '70s) and the only jam I had was in training. We'd been firing blanks for days in the field and that gun was so fouled. Of course I never saw any real action, so who knows for sure. I've heard they originally were engineered to such tight tolerances that any foreign object would screw it up.
I own a civilian AR15(M16), AK47 type gun and the L1A1. My AK fits so loose you can shake it and hear the parts moving inside. I guess that's why they don't jam, there's extra room inside. The only drawbacks on the L1A1 is it seems sooooo damn heavy compared to the other 2 guns. I drag it around the woods on deer hunts. By late afternnon it seems to weigh a ton! Also, 100rds of .308(7.62x51) is noticeably heavier than 100rnds of .223 or 7.62x39. All three have +/-s. They all seem pretty reliable, but I won't know for sure until the dooo hits the fan. At least I have options. Hopefully your gov't will wake up and give guys the same soon. G'day
The price went way up this last election!
IF you have about $1,000 and can wait about 10 months you may want to place a order for an AR-10.............(308cal ar-15)
That would be my choice as a weapon that if I had just one gun to buy.
Good luck trying to find one this late in the game.
For $750 I personally would get an sks or AK47. My sks seems well built and pretty accurate. The drawback to an sks is getting a removable magazine setup that actually works. I put the 10 round fixed magazine back in mine and will see how it works. The AK47 is not the most accurate thing in the world, but if I was buying one arm this would probably be it. They both fire the 7.62x39 round which has an acceptable level of power. One could get an AR15, but that 5.56 round doesn't impress me much. One can get an AR15 in 7.62x39 but I would not do that myself. Just more expense and less reliability than an AK. Just my 2 cents.
You can get a SKS-M for 750.00 Factory made to use AK mags no setup required
I have experience with the FAL, AK, AR, M1A, and SKS. In .308 I like my FAL - although the M1A is great . . . and my AK is my true SHTF battle rifle. Just my opinion - shoot them all and make a decision.
...But your left handed so buy a STAG arms AR15 in lefty configuration.
Personally I most likely would choose my M1 carbine in most situations but I'm no lefty...in handiness or politics [:D]