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Good beginner rifle for range and home defense

AR, or Tavor if you can afford it. I loved my Tavor, but an SBR won out due to familiarity and weight savings.

Over penetration has the potential to be an issue no matter what you use.

As far as DI goes, there is nothing wrong with it, and most prefer DI ARs to piston ARs.

Mike
 
1akmd-029796_3.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-...M/J4Im2CD7Yag/w740-h438-no/1akmd-029796_3.jpg

Fits anywhere.
 
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Not a rifle but my choice for a home defense weapon when living in a sh!tty apartment with little money was a Mossburg 500, $279 at Walmart. That was a while ago but they are still cheap and reliable.
 
crazymjb said:
AR, or Tavor if you can afford it. I loved my Tavor, but an SBR won out due to familiarity and weight savings.

Over penetration has the potential to be an issue no matter what you use.

As far as DI goes, there is nothing wrong with it, and most prefer DI ARs to piston ARs.

Mike
Click to expand...

No way. Di sucks. 100 rounds and its filthy. Piston all the way. 13 years military cleaning and scrubbing rifles. Piston is much much cleaner
 
gamma19 said:
Does anyone have any recommendations for a good beginner rifle in the 400-800 dollar range? I'm new to the world of long guns and am looking to buy a solid rifle for casual range time and home defense. I've been looking at the S&W M&P15 Sport and the Ruger Mini-14. I'm going to try to stay with .223 but am open to .308 and .30 calibers as well.
Click to expand...
I purchased one of the newer Mini 14s with all-stainless construction and black Zytel stock. It has a heavier barrel than the earlier models and is quite accurate, The stainless construction also makes it very durable. This rifle will never fail you, Also, it is legal on a MA FID, if you have younger shooters in your family who are too young for the LTC.
 
I think an M&P AR or a WASR for your first rifle would be the route Id go, I bought my AR as my first rifle and decided I liked the AK style rifle better and ended up buying a few AK Rifles and hardly bother with My AR anymore, that being said either one of those would be great. For home defense any gun will do, when your door is being breached by an intruder at 3am it wont much matter what rounds you start firing multiple shots at with!
 
goodlife30 said:
No way. Di sucks. 100 rounds and its filthy. Piston all the way. 13 years military cleaning and scrubbing rifles. Piston is much much cleaner
Click to expand...
You don't have to make your personally owned rifle white-glove inspection ready after every range session. I ran all my DI rifles through a mini torture test-2k rounds of Russian steel case ammo with no cleaning and few drops of oil every 300-400 rounds. Not a single failure. Cleaning them afterward wasn't that bad either, hosed everything with a brake cleaner, lubricated with engine oil, put back together. No scrubbing involved. It's a machine, not a piece of jewelry.
 
TOM1960 said:
I purchased one of the newer Mini 14s with all-stainless construction and black Zytel stock. It has a heavier barrel than the earlier models and is quite accurate, The stainless construction also makes it very durable. This rifle will never fail you, Also, it is legal on a MA FID, if you have younger shooters in your family who are too young for the LTC.
Click to expand...

Every Mini14 I have ever shot is garbage, not to say there aren't exceptions. It is also not FID legal because it is a large capacity rifle which is largely irrelevant anyway because you accompany a minor to shoot whatever guns you do have regardless of what license they do or do not have.

For the price an AR is a 100X better gun.

Mike
 
crazymjb said:
Every Mini14 I have ever shot is garbage, not to say there aren't exceptions. It is also not FID legal because it is a large capacity rifle which is largely irrelevant anyway because you accompany a minor to shoot whatever guns you do have regardless of what license they do or do not have.

For the price an AR is a 100X better gun.

Mike
Click to expand...

You sure about the fid thing.
 
It's always good to have a backup in case you miss. TLSFX-M13_port_side-320x320.jpg
If the overpressure doesn't kill the bg the collapsing structure will.
 
It doesn't matter what you buy next, cuz pretty soon you'll have everything mentioned in this thread. Its an addiction
 
BradR65 said:
A pistol-caliber carbine which shared magazines with your pistol would be an AWESOME combination . . . .

Also -- don't rule out a lever-action rifle in .357 paired up with something like a ruger GP-100 w/ four inch barrel.
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I happen to be of the opinion that an M1 Carbine would make a decent HD gun if you must go with a rifle...
 
warwickben said:
You sure about the fid thing.
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Yes

MGL ch.140 S.121 said:
“Large capacity feeding device”, (i) a fixed or detachable magazine, box, drum, feed strip or similar device capable of accepting, or that can be readily converted to accept, more than ten rounds of ammunition or more than five shotgun shells; or (ii) a large capacity ammunition feeding device as defined in the federal Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, 18 U.S.C. section 921(a)(31) as appearing in such section on September 13, 1994. The term “large capacity feeding device” shall not include an attached tubular device designed to accept, and capable of operating only with,.22 caliber ammunition.
Click to expand...

MGL ch.140 S.121 said:
“Large capacity weapon”, any firearm, rifle or shotgun: (i) that is semiautomatic with a fixed large capacity feeding device; (ii) that is semiautomatic and capable of accepting, or readily modifiable to accept, any detachable large capacity feeding device; (iii) that employs a rotating cylinder capable of accepting more than ten rounds of ammunition in a rifle or firearm and more than five shotgun shells in the case of a shotgun or firearm; or (iv) that is an assault weapon. The term “large capacity weapon” shall be a secondary designation and shall apply to a weapon in addition to its primary designation as a firearm, rifle or shotgun
Click to expand...

MGL Ch.140 S.129B (6) said:
A firearm identification card shall not entitle a holder thereof to possess: (i) a large capacity firearm or large capacity feeding device therefor, except under a Class A license issued to a shooting club as provided under section 131 or under the direct supervision of a holder of a Class A license issued to an individual under section 131 at an incorporated shooting club or licensed shooting range; or (ii) a non-large capacity firearm or large capacity rifle or shotgun or large capacity feeding device therefor, except under a Class A license issued to a shooting club as provided under section 131 or under the direct supervision of a holder of a Class A or Class B license issued to an individual under section 131 at an incorporated shooting club or licensed shooting range. A firearm identification card shall not entitle a holder thereof to possess any rifle or shotgun that is, or in such manner that is, otherwise prohibited by law. A firearm identification card shall be valid for the purpose of purchasing and possessing chemical mace, pepper spray or other similarly propelled liquid, gas or powder designed to temporarily incapacitate. Except as otherwise provided herein, a firearm identification card shall not be valid for the use, possession, ownership, transfer, purchase, sale, lease, rental or transportation of a rifle or shotgun if such rifle or shotgun is a large capacity weapon as defined in section 121
Click to expand...

Mike
 
Alex9661 said:
You don't have to make your personally owned rifle white-glove inspection ready after every range session. I ran all my DI rifles through a mini torture test-2k rounds of Russian steel case ammo with no cleaning and few drops of oil every 300-400 rounds. Not a single failure. Cleaning them afterward wasn't that bad either, hosed everything with a brake cleaner, lubricated with engine oil, put back together. No scrubbing involved. It's a machine, not a piece of jewelry.
Click to expand...

Shoot a piston and a di and compare. It's night and day in regards to fouling. When I first got it i launched 500 rounds through it. It was spotless. I could not believe it-convert
 
I dont care if they are cleaner if they use more, heavier, less available, more expensive, and less-proven parts. A DI gun will run 1000+ rounds without cleaning.

Mike

Sent from my cell phone with a tiny keyboard and large thumbs...
 
My advice to the OP is sign up for an NES membership, then sign up for the Monadnock pumpkin shoot, bring 223, 7.62x39, 308, and ask to try out as many different rifles as you can.
Then make your decision.
 

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