New Rifle?

[Jrlobo]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I don't need super accuracy and I'm not in the business of making noise. I just need to trade up from a hand-me-down Stevens bolt action .22LR that has no sights (got it that way). Nailed one ground hog with it with one shot at 30 yards and chalk that up to luck. I like the 10-22 suggestion, but would need to add an adjustable stock (my son has longer arms than I have) and perhaps a scope (old eyes) later after I get the hang of it. Will start checking some local gun shops (less the one that is always overpriced in Frederick) and see if any other used recommendations are available. I am not averse to using the internet for new guns, but am leery of getting a used one sight unseen. I was hoping someone had some experience with either the Mossberg (always been impressed with their practicality and affordability) or the USSG (a real unknown for me), but I'm not hung up on them. I'll see what I can find. Thanks again for your time and advice.

[tombogan03884]

Go with the AR style telescoping stock, it allows quick adjustment between shooters.

[fightingquaker13]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I don't need super accuracy and I'm not in the business of making noise. I just need to trade up from a hand-me-down Stevens bolt action .22LR that has no sights (got it that way). Nailed one ground hog with it with one shot at 30 yards and chalk that up to luck. I like the 10-22 suggestion, but would need to add an adjustable stock (my son has longer arms than I have) and perhaps a scope (old eyes) later after I get the hang of it. Will start checking some local gun shops (less the one that is always overpriced in Frederick) and see if any other used recommendations are available. I am not averse to using the internet for new guns, but am leery of getting a used one sight unseen. I was hoping someone had some experience with either the Mossberg (always been impressed with their practicality and affordability) or the USSG (a real unknown for me), but I'm not hung up on them. I'll see what I can find. Thanks again for your time and advice.

Don't sweat ordering over the net. I've never gotten burned. You get pictures. Just check the reviews of the seller. I'd look at gunbroker.com. You just need to factor in the shipping and transfer fee. Also check out the major online dealers like Basspro, Cabelas, Gander Mountain, Brownells etc. This time of year, end of the hunting season and pre-Christmas there are always sales.
I wouldn't worry about the stock issue on a 10/22 either. I bought mine when I was ten. I'm a bit taller now. It shot fine for me then and it still shoots fine. Its like an M-1 carbine. You might, this time of year find a package deal on one with a cheap 4x scope. If its halfway decent (and most I've seen are) its enough to get you started. If you want better glass you can get it later. Get the gun first, then figure out what if anything, you want to do to it later. Unless of course you find a sweet deal on a used one with the bells and whistles you want. I wouldn't hold my breath on that though. The 10/22 is such a standard that it holds its resale value. Rastus' suggestion on the Remmy is where you might find a steal. Still, as a platform that just keeps working and you can do anything with, I like the 10/22.
Good luck.

[Solus]

Hell I traded two locally before I discovered gun trading over the net. I got royally screwed by my local dealer. I just blame it on lack of research and chalked it up as a life lesson. Still chaps me though. No one to blame but me, its the price of being an old fart. This dangolddangold internet dang old thing actually works (translated from the Boomhauer) .

Don't be so hard on yourself.  You aren't so old.   

[alfsauve]

I don't need super accuracy and I'm not in the business of making noise. I just need to trade up from a hand-me-down Stevens bolt action .

I didn't mean to come across "snooty" or anything.  But I'm not talking "super accurate".  Just enough so you know if that rodent is in your sights you won't miss.   Minimum accuracy to me is 1 MOA.  Super Accurate is when you're down around 0.5 MOA

You want super accurate, prepare to add another zero to the price.  A Walther or Anschutz Olympic grade or a Weihrauch Target grade will set you back at about a grand, but then you're talking about one hole at 50yds that's exactly .22" in diameter.

That's why the 10/22 Varmint model is such a great buy.  Easily under 1MOA with the right ammo.


Go for just a little more accuracy than you think you can afford.  You'll never regret it.

[Sponsor]

[MikeBjerum]

Hell I traded two locally before I discovered gun trading over the net. I got royally screwed by my local dealer. I just blame it on lack of research and chalked it up as a life lesson. Still chaps me though. No one to blame but me, its the price of being an old fart. This dangolddangold internet dang old thing actually works (translated from the Boomhauer) .

Probably not.  When you compare trading with a dealer to on line sales or trades you are comparing apples and oranges.  Your local dealer is buying wholesale and selling retail.  They need margins to survive.  When you go online you are acting as the retailer yourself.  You pocket the margins that you otherwise give to a local dealer for their operating expenses.

[kmitch200]

True, that brick & mortar shops and online sales are different.

Or, he ran into a gun shop owner who has the moral fortitude of a Scottdale shop owner who openly bragged about screwing a widow out of a 1911 for a couple hundred bucks that was worth a solid 4 figures.
I won't say the name but it rhymes with "Randall's". 

(Which reminded me to tell the wife that when I'm gone, if anybody offers to buy one of my guns for a couple of hundred, tell them to FO or shoot them...her choice.)

[MikeBjerum]

Brings up the old quote, not joke, that many of us fear:  I/we fear that after we die our widow will sell our guns for what we told her we paid for them.

[TAB]

Lol.    I have never lied about what I paid for any thing.