Figure out what you REALLY want. Then figure out what you REALLY need to do what you want.
IMO, "all-round" means capable of fighting, which means semi auto. "all-round" also says "full power" to me. The best that satisfy both criteria, from highest cost to lowest are the M1A, FAL, PSL, PTR-91, M1 Garand. Of those the FAL, PSL and PTR-91 are the easiest to scope, if that's a necessity, and FAL magazines are still cheap.
MY all-round rifle is a FAL. 5 round magazines are available should you need those to hunt with (for legal reasons).
If you are willing to go down in power, you come to your ARs, AKs, and SKSs.
ARs and AKs are easiest to scope. ARs can go from horribly expensive for, say, an LWRC piston gun in 6.8 SPC, to cheap for an A2 DPMS in .223.
AKs are no where near as inaccurate as people accuse them of being, nor ar ARs as unreliable as they're cursed as (you won't be lowcrawling through mud and sand with it, shooting 500 rounds without cleaning).
Now, if you minimize the fighting aspect you open yoursel;f up to all manner of bolt and lever rifles.
For bolts, look into a .308 or .30'06 Savage. They are very accurate and low cost. Spend the remainder of the $1000 on a Leupold scope.
For levers, the ubiquitous Marlin 336 in .30-30 is a great choice. You can easily scope them, or replace the semi buckhorn sights with aperture sights, fiber optic sights, etc.
Another option is to get an AK and a CZ-527 (?). Then you have a gun that's good for defense and fun to blast with, and a bolt action that uses the same 7.62x39 cartridge, which is cheap and you can get good hunting ammo for it. It's good to go to hunt anything you'd hunt with a .30-30, and the ammo is cheaper. You should be able to gete an AK and the CZ for under $1000, even paying full gunshop prices.
IMO, "all-round" means capable of fighting, which means semi auto. "all-round" also says "full power" to me. The best that satisfy both criteria, from highest cost to lowest are the M1A, FAL, PSL, PTR-91, M1 Garand. Of those the FAL, PSL and PTR-91 are the easiest to scope, if that's a necessity, and FAL magazines are still cheap.
MY all-round rifle is a FAL. 5 round magazines are available should you need those to hunt with (for legal reasons).
If you are willing to go down in power, you come to your ARs, AKs, and SKSs.
ARs and AKs are easiest to scope. ARs can go from horribly expensive for, say, an LWRC piston gun in 6.8 SPC, to cheap for an A2 DPMS in .223.
AKs are no where near as inaccurate as people accuse them of being, nor ar ARs as unreliable as they're cursed as (you won't be lowcrawling through mud and sand with it, shooting 500 rounds without cleaning).
Now, if you minimize the fighting aspect you open yoursel;f up to all manner of bolt and lever rifles.
For bolts, look into a .308 or .30'06 Savage. They are very accurate and low cost. Spend the remainder of the $1000 on a Leupold scope.
For levers, the ubiquitous Marlin 336 in .30-30 is a great choice. You can easily scope them, or replace the semi buckhorn sights with aperture sights, fiber optic sights, etc.
Another option is to get an AK and a CZ-527 (?). Then you have a gun that's good for defense and fun to blast with, and a bolt action that uses the same 7.62x39 cartridge, which is cheap and you can get good hunting ammo for it. It's good to go to hunt anything you'd hunt with a .30-30, and the ammo is cheaper. You should be able to gete an AK and the CZ for under $1000, even paying full gunshop prices.
