help

[rjsshooter]

hi recently went shooting with a friend. and greatly enjoyed the experience looking to buy my first rifle but have nooooo idea where to start anyone have have any ideas where to start ? dont really know anyone who shoots so i have noone to ask for help should i start low calibur like .22 or something like a .300

 

[Red hunter]

Is money going to be a factor? The .22 is fun and inexpensive to shoot but it is like riding a mini bike. After a month you will want a Harley. I think if you start with a .308 you can have the best of both. A wide variety of inexpensive factory ammo and with decent optics that are fairly inexpensive you with be able to shoot reasonably long distances. It is a good caliber to hunt with for most of the big game or varmits in north America and shoot targets as well. I would bet a weeks pay that every member on this sight has at least one .22 in the closet. I take mine to the range everytime I go. It is a blast to shoot while the barrels cool on the bigger calibers. Plus most people freak when you start ringing metal at 300 yards with it.

 

[Fred Ea]

hi recently went shooting with a friend. and greatly enjoyed the experience looking to buy my first rifle but have nooooo idea where to start anyone have have any ideas where to start ? dont really know anyone who shoots so i have noone to ask for help should i start low calibur like .22 or something like a .300

I agree with Red Hunter, get a 308 Winchester, it is a efficient, effective rifle, low recoil and normally very accurate and you can get ammo pretty much anywhere and also military ball rounds relatively inexpensive. You can use it pretty much for anything from targets to deer.
Get you a 22 rimfire and have fun all day for very little cost. Buy a brick(500 rounds) of ammo cheap and shoot for a while. You could use it for a lot of stuff too, target and small game, very fun to play with. Want something real fun, get a 22 pistol, I have a ruger single six and my son and I have a blast with it plinking and "stump shooting"with it.lightbulb
FE

 

[D.ID]

Welcome, your getting good advise so far.......that said, if your planning on Big game hunting or beyond 500 yards the 308 hands down to learn on but if your not sure where your going with this yet you might consider a 223 because it has even less recoil and can be allot cheaper to shoot.

 

[nateisw]

What kind of shooting will you be doing? A .22 is the cheapest and great fun and all you'll need if you're shooting less than 100 yards and only shooting targets and small game. A .223 centerfire will allow you to shoot out to around 500 yds and can also take some larger game at closer range with well placed shots. A .308 will take any game in north America as well as shooting out to 800 yds on the range (yes, I know all of these calibers will shoot much farther than what I just said, but keep in mind these are ranges a beginner can reasonably expect to shoot out to).
So do you plan to hunt with this gun or only target shoot? Do you have access to a 500 yard or a 1000 yard range?
There are lots of other calibers, but these are cheap, easily obtainable calibers that time has shown can be extremely accurate.
No matter what caliber or type of gun you get, you'll probably want more later on.
One final piece of advice, buy a decent scope and good rings/mounts for your scope. If you skimp on the scope, you'll only get frustrated and spend more money later on to upgrade.
Good luck with whatever you choose!