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[Kilroy the Grand]

They are pretty cheap, I'd suggest a SKS. They are... slightly more expensive, but you can pretend to be a starving north korean guard! Also it's semi-automatic, just don't sporterize it... just don't D:

[Sirus]

Hmm, I wouldn't mind one of those Mosin-Nagants. I love the WWII era rifles, they look so stylish and the good ones were built tough.

That said, I've always had a soft spot for the M1 Garand. It would probably be relegated to "display piece" though.

[Aqizzar]

Hmm, I wouldn't mind one of those Mosin-Nagants. I love the WWII era rifles, they look so stylish and the good ones were built tough.

That's the funniest part.  Mosin-Nagants are famous for their abundance in the Soviet Union, but they weren't exactly "WWII era".  It's technically a weapon of the Greco-Turkish era.  It was certainly one of the finest rifles of its day, and it's hard to say there's a better way to build a bolt-action rifle with a magazine.

[RedKing]

MSH: I don't have access to the statistics, but illegal mods definitely trump outright illegal arms. The other big area for enforcement (in fact, probably the primary one) is straw purchasing...legal purchasers buying legal firearms, but doing so to sell/give to illegal purchasers (convicted felons/non-citizens). When you have a little old lady from Pasadena buying two AR-15s a month and paying in cash, something's probably not what it seems. Or a store that just seems to conveniently "lose" 10% of their inventory each year.


Favorite thing I ever shot was a Mauser Parabellum 9mm. Smooth as silk, almost no recoil at all. Slimline barrel, and the one I was using was silvered. A true gentleman's weapon.

Most awesome thing I ever shot was a LeMat (modern replica, not an original).


EDIT: Okay, runner-up most awesome was a friend's smoothbore flintlock musket. (He was a Revolutionary War re-enactor). Made his own powder charges and showed me how to rip open the charge with your teeth, load the charge, load the wadding, load the pan, take aim (that part is really more for form than anything), then pull the trigger and go "HOLY SHIT" as you proceed to set off an earth-shattering kaboom. Even with nothing but powder and wadding in the barrel, you can shred foliage for about 10 yards in front of you if you shoot it into the woods.

[Sirus]

Hmm, I wouldn't mind one of those Mosin-Nagants. I love the WWII era rifles, they look so stylish and the good ones were built tough.

That's the funniest part.  Mosin-Nagants are famous for their abundance in the Soviet Union, but they weren't exactly "WWII era".  It's technically a weapon of the Greco-Turkish era.  It was certainly one of the finest rifles of its day, and it's hard to say there's a better way to build a bolt-action rifle with a magazine.

Fair enough. I'm not a gun historian or anything like that. If it weren't for Call of Duty, I probably wouldn't know half as many vintage gun names as I do now

(I know, I'm a terrible person, but guns aren't very common in my neck of the woods. Nearest indoor range is the police department in another city)

[stabbymcstabstab]

I do want to get into competitive shooting.  Any advice on how to get involved, and how much it costs to start?

If you want to shoot competitive look at the CMP their a organization that starting to run most of the matches that are more fun The NRA runs the more competitive(VERY COMPETITIVE) Mathce but to Shoot You will need a: Shooting jacket a good one goes around $100, A sling, A Match Grade Pellet or Bolt Action .22 Rifle, Match ammo, A shooting glove and a team and a lot of cash matches run about $25 entrance fee.

[Astramancer]

Sadly, my wife is also one of those "utterly terrified of guns" sorts, otherwise I'd have, at the very least, a .22 rifle and a .22 pistol (dirt cheap ammo), although, we will probably be getting her grandfather's 30.06 (guessing at the caliber, it's a hunting rifle from the time when the 30.06 was the most popular round) sometime in the near future, as it was supposed to go to her now deceased father but inter-family politics prevented that (his wife is the shrewiest shrew you'll ever meet).

[Gunner-Chan]

I used to have a lot more, but I've since given most of my firearms to other family members or stuck them in permanent storage as they're collectors pieces. The only one I'd fire now is a FN-FAL with a C-Mag that a friend gave me as a present some time ago when she learned I liked to hunt and had a TON of money to burn. The Fal was already mine though, picked it up cheap since it needed a bit of work.

It's nice but I question the practicality of a gun with a nearly 11 pound magazine for most people.

[The Fool]

I do want to get into competitive shooting.  Any advice on how to get involved, and how much it costs to start?

You'll run though a few thousand rounds around competition time as well. So that will cost a fair bit if you don't do your own reloading. Other than that there is fees depending on the competition, and helpful accessories if you're just starting out.

My family owns a few Russian SKS as well as an 22LR AR-15. It's fun to shoot them, but I can't hit targets with a 22 consistently past 150 yards without telescopic sights. I'm fairly good, but not outrageously good.

[mainiac]

Shotguns are great.  You pick one up and you're instantly a marksman.

We have a family tradition come thanksgiving where the old fogies bring all the shells they can carry and we shoot clay pigeons until there's no ammo left.  Fun times.

[Sir Finkus]

Seconding the Mosin suggestion.  The ammo is dirt cheap too.  It's pretty much the most fun you can have for $200 (the rifle and a tin of ammo).  I have a 91/59, which is a carbine version.  It makes an absurd boom, massive pressure wave, and 4 foot fireball when I shoot it.  I actually shot it in a milsurp competition our range has and the people next to me told me they had to wait for me to fire before taking their shots because of the noise.

My favorite rifle at the moment is my #4 Lee Enfield.  It's a US Property marked Savage.  It's a joy to shoot, but the ammo is a dollar a shot.  As far as bolt action rifles go, the Enfield is my favorite, with the Swiss K31 a close second.

[RedKing]

My wife earned her fear. She was robbed at gunpoint when she was about 16 or 17. The trauma of that never quite wore off.
Plus, her family are city folk. She didn't grow up with guns.

Me, I was shooting .22 rifles when I was in elementary school (mostly used to hunt packs of feral dogs on friends' families' dairy farms). The only "thrill" of it was that it was a sign you were getting a bit older, because we didn't let *small* children handle guns. Other than that, there wasn't any kind of gun fetish culture like people *think* rednecks have (okay, some of them DO have that). it was just a tool, and an obvious preferred choice to using a baseball bat against potentially rabid animals with big teeth who can run faster than you can. Also easier to use from horseback.

[Jacob/Lee]

Anti-right to carry laws are stupid. Very stupid. The people who advocate these things (around here in Illinois it's Chicago, because Chicago is full of crime lords who don't want their pawns shot by normal people packing weapons) say that it lowers the danger of people dying from guns, which is actually incorrect. They say it does that because less criminals will have weapons, except for the fact that criminals don't play by the rules in the first place. By removing a citizen's right to carry a handgun you actually put him/her in more danger than if they were allowed to.

[RedKing]

I thought we were discussing specs and gun geekery here, not gun politics. 

Cause we've had that argument. It doesn't go anywhere. And it's not like gun control in the US is exactly pervasive and oppressive.

[Ehndras]

I thought we were discussing specs and gun geekery here, not gun politics. 

Cause we've had that argument. It doesn't go anywhere. And it's not like gun control in the US is exactly pervasive and oppressive.

Come live in New Jersey. >_> Guns are heavily controlled 'round here. I'm sadly from the city portion, so I've never fired a gun, though my mother's ex was a lawyer/accountant, former soldier, and a gun collector. M1-Garand, grenades, all sorts of guns and every damn kind of combat knife. Good stuff. He was supposed to give me this awesome combat knife when I turned 18, but they broke up after 9 years together, right before I turned 18. FFFFUUUUUUU-