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The Range
Rifle & Shotgun Discussion
Best budget hunting rifle
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<blockquote data-quote="z06man" data-source="post: 1483457" data-attributes="member: 6182"><p>While the Mosin, Swede and K31 are all good enough for what you're looking for, they're not the best for a low budget. </p><p></p><p>The Mosins are super cheap and so is ammo, so if you plan to practice quite a bit, it may pay off in the long run, but you will have to drill and tap the receiver for a scope mount and buy or bend the bolt for scope clearance which will cost you the time of a gunsmith unless you do machine work. By the time you're done, you've put at least as much into it as the Stevens and I can almost guarantee the Stevens will outshoot it. There are gems that will shoot with the best though if you get lucky. Most of the ammo is corrosive, so maintenance is higher than a modern firearm/cartridge too and you can't find it just anywhere though it is far from rare.</p><p></p><p>The Swede will run you $300-400 and you'll have to drill, tap and bend the bolt on it too. On the plus side most are very accurate and you can find ammo at Walmart, Academy, Bass Pro and most places that have a fair ammo stock.</p><p></p><p>K31's are usually in the $250-300 range but require a special scope base which run quite a bit more than most base sets. The mount is offset to the right which makes shooting it for a right hander a little awkward but doable. These are also very accurate and have usually fantastic triggers, but unless you want to order ammo online, not a lot of local places stock it, you won't have a lot of options and it is usually more than others for the same quality.</p><p></p><p>If you are ok with shooting with iron sights, any of these are fine rifles, but since you want to add a scope, I don't think they are you're best choices. I love those rifles and have all of them, BTW.</p><p></p><p>A friend of mine bought a K31 recently for a steal and is using it for a deer/hog rifle, but I can already see in the long run it is going to cost him more than a good modern bolt gun and it has already cost me several extra hours at the reloading bench to keep his ammo costs reasonable.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="z06man, post: 1483457, member: 6182"] While the Mosin, Swede and K31 are all good enough for what you're looking for, they're not the best for a low budget. The Mosins are super cheap and so is ammo, so if you plan to practice quite a bit, it may pay off in the long run, but you will have to drill and tap the receiver for a scope mount and buy or bend the bolt for scope clearance which will cost you the time of a gunsmith unless you do machine work. By the time you're done, you've put at least as much into it as the Stevens and I can almost guarantee the Stevens will outshoot it. There are gems that will shoot with the best though if you get lucky. Most of the ammo is corrosive, so maintenance is higher than a modern firearm/cartridge too and you can't find it just anywhere though it is far from rare. The Swede will run you $300-400 and you'll have to drill, tap and bend the bolt on it too. On the plus side most are very accurate and you can find ammo at Walmart, Academy, Bass Pro and most places that have a fair ammo stock. K31's are usually in the $250-300 range but require a special scope base which run quite a bit more than most base sets. The mount is offset to the right which makes shooting it for a right hander a little awkward but doable. These are also very accurate and have usually fantastic triggers, but unless you want to order ammo online, not a lot of local places stock it, you won't have a lot of options and it is usually more than others for the same quality. If you are ok with shooting with iron sights, any of these are fine rifles, but since you want to add a scope, I don't think they are you're best choices. I love those rifles and have all of them, BTW. A friend of mine bought a K31 recently for a steal and is using it for a deer/hog rifle, but I can already see in the long run it is going to cost him more than a good modern bolt gun and it has already cost me several extra hours at the reloading bench to keep his ammo costs reasonable. [/QUOTE]
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