Guns; which yield more fun per $

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Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Topic Author's Original Post - Dec 23, 2011 - 07:51pm PT

I started this in part because jstan's economic/political thread was being corrupted by us nuts because he made the mistake of using AK47 in the title.

Which guns yield the most fun per buck?
It is sort of a trick question. I often say guns are cheap but shooting is expensive because a good many firearms will run through many times their own cost in ammo cost. This might be because the gun really IS cheap (like my german snubnose .357 I just bought for $150 flat), or it could be because the ammo is ungodly expensive, or it could be both even.

But looking at it the other way factoring both, some likely bargain candidates come to mind;

one would HAVE to include .22LRs

A Rossi pump (I think it is a Winchester clone) ran me $129 bitd, and it has dropped dozens of yard pests, clanged thousands of targets, shoots dead on with fixed sights, and never hiccuped in decades.

Even more fun (but requiring far more venture capital) is my 10/22 clone.
I took an AMT receiver with a BBL, bedded it in a comp stock, dropped in a 12 oz trigger, mounted a 12X Leupold Vari X 2, and BINGO, a tack driver.
Jody can vouch for this one, it is a total blast.
At the Firebase is a metal silhouette at 200m and, shooting from a rest, I can repeatedly hit the target 4 times before the sound of the first round impacting gets back to me; ping, ping, ping, ping.

It is a blast.
Gonna do 5 soon.

.22 pistols?
Gotta choose the Buckmark. It beats the Ruger because of the magazine catch.

Scatter guns would have to make the list. Pretty much any of my double barrels or pumps, although the dual action M3Super90 is too pricey for the list (but TOOOOO cool).

That EAA snubby .357 is not only cheap, but amazingly accurate. I kept looking down at it in disbelief as I kept knocking cans out to 50'.

Other combat caliber handguns can be really fun to shoot but with skyrocketing ammo costs can't really be considered a bargain. I now do more bench resting as a frugality, but still train regularly with the .45acp.
In that vein my CZ556 with scope cost less than the AMT and drives tacks harder and farther for less than 4 bits a pop.

So what are my fellow tacoans nominating in the gunpowder market?

couchmaster

climber

pdx

Dec 23, 2011 - 07:54pm PT

I was out shooting .22's today to teach my business partners 2 daughters to shoot! Woot! Cheap -check. Fun - check, fun as hell, more fun than the heavy armament as they kick less and are relatively quiet. I have a Buckmark, agree with Ron, although I didn't have it out today. .22's are off the charts for the price - performance ration, however, there is something elemental about blasting a tossed clay out of the air too. You almost can't quantify that in terms of cost as it's priceless....

In fact, doing a First ascent with your kid and then blasting crap out of the air with all kinds of shotguns and then finishing it up in a free but long hot tub soak in a hollowed out old growth tree in the woods may be more fun than money can buy.

jogill

climber

Colorado

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:01pm PT

Classic Browning .22 semi auto rifle. What a sweetheart!

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:02pm PT

Go big or go homo...

MH2

climber

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:10pm PT

Which guns yield the most fun per buck?

I don't know. There's a difference between price and value. But in my own small world, the AK-47 for R (Rand) 15, South Africa 1994.

adatesman

climber

philadelphia, pa

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:10pm PT

+1 on the .22, with the caveat of holding off on the 10/22 until the kid's in their teens. Until then a bolt gun's more than enough fun, with this opinion coming from someone who was pretty much free to roam with his .22 from 9 years old onwards.

Disagree on dinging the Ruger Mark II based on the magazine catch. Yeah, it's not as intuitive as a thumb button but can be almost as quick with practice (especially if you're not into letting the mags drop out onto the ground). Buckmark's a nice gun too, but personally I find the increased rake of the grip of the Ruger to point more naturally...

EDIT- Never had one, but I imagine a .22 lever might be a hoot as well....

EDIT x2- To be honest though, my firearms never leave the safe anymore as I've gotten hooked on airguns. Lower powered ones that can be shot indoors (much more convenient than going to the range) can be had inexpensively and are almost free to feed (penny a shot?). Higher power ones (think: single shot takedown of elk and bison) are spendy, but an option if you're so inclined.

this just in

climber

north fork

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:19pm PT

All of them. CA sucks.

NigelSSI

Trad climber

B.C.

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:21pm PT

po ta to

ELM !

climber

Near Boston

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:26pm PT

Yeah .22's are super ammounts of fun. But as far as cost etc goes in the upper calibers a Mosin-Nagant rifle is hard to beat. At about $100 a rifle you shoot a 7.62x54r round, that's basically a 30-06. The surplus rounds are at about the same cost as 9mm and they Kick! Super cheap fun.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2011 - 08:27pm PT

Only one of my lever guns is a rimfire, and a mag at that, but for iron sight fun it rocks to 250+m.
Hardly ever take it out though.

Two friends each have one of those Henry single shots for their kids. They love them.
My Henry is a .45Colt, so it ain't cheap, but the action is like butter and the octagonal barrel sucks up all the bite even on +P+.

EDIT
yeah, didn't the Mosin Nagant serve for like 64 years?
Might be second in service life of a smokeless small arm to the 1911.

this just in

climber

north fork

Dec 23, 2011 - 08:55pm PT

Ron, I have a Rossi m92 357 mag/ 38 special. So fun to shoot, 30 cents a round.

Mighty Hiker

climber

Vancouver, B.C.

Dec 23, 2011 - 09:02pm PT

You'll get really good bang for your bucks by making a donation to the Brady Centre to Prevent Gun Violence.
http://www.bradycenter.org/about/bio/sarah

It doesn't really seem an appropriate thread for the time of year. What are you going to fantasize about, shooting Santa's reindeer?

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2011 - 09:04pm PT

OMG!

BAN ANDERS!!!

Mount his head and call him a "no point".

bvb

Social climber

flagstaff arizona

Dec 23, 2011 - 09:08pm PT

I really liked my guns back when I could do lots of one-arm pull-ups.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2011 - 09:39pm PT

Well, adatesman makes a good point about the Mark II Ruger being a natural point shooter (and I have 3, though one is a never shot 50th anniversary commemorative).
The BBL even has contoured fancy ass target grips.

But I like the Buckmark more, not just the mag catch, but a crisper trigger, AND I have the carbine to go with it (equipped with a Millet red dot). It is a great stepping stone for introducing people to serious combat rifle technique.

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber

Pomfert VT

Dec 23, 2011 - 10:27pm PT

The most bang for my buck is my .50 cal Hawken. bought it used on the cheap, rebuilt the stock myself so I can shoot it better lefty. the cost per shot is pretty high w the ammount of powder and lead it uses but I can go to the range with 10 shots and have fun for half an hour. 10 shots out of the .45acp would be about 5 seconds.

adatesman

climber

philadelphia, pa

Dec 23, 2011 - 10:27pm PT

Would probably agree with you on that, Ron. Out of the box the Buckmark might be a tad nicer, I was turned off by the stovepiping I was getting on the one I demo'd alongside a MkII (which had no problems with the same ammo) and whatever that funky barrel-under-the-spring-shroud S&W had out at the time (early 90's). A bit of reading suggested the Buckmarks might be finicky and then I ran across a nice MkII with upgraded trigger, which sealed the deal.

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Topic Author's Reply - Dec 23, 2011 - 10:40pm PT

My AMT chokes on the 36gr so much I pretty much only shoot premium Federal 40gr. Picked up 50K rds before the bump. I'll be styling for decades.

In the Buckmark I can't remember a failure to feed.

Its nice having a gun that will always reliably cycle anything you feed it (like say a Gallil), but it is still a good idea to be selective when it comes to ammo.

I recently picked up some Agula Eley Prime Match Pistol 40gr ammo for comparison at a whopping 8 cents/ rd.

Anybody have experience with it?