Cheap to shoot cheap shooter?

[FL-NC]

Was wondering yesterday- what is/would be the cheapest center fire rifle/ammo combo to fire at the lowest cost to feed? Also, what is the cheapest round to buy in our current times? I'm thinking the answer to both questions is the Mosin. What do ya'll think?

 

[Picher]

Cheapest isn't always the most enjoyable. Handloading makes a big difference in ammo cost and commercially-available loaded ammo at reasonable cost, along with easy-loading handloads favors the .223 Rem, due to cost/accuracy/fun to shoot...for me. Yes, I handload several rifle, handgun, and shotgun ammos, but seemingly less each year. Grabbing a box of .223 factory ammo and going out varmint hunting or "target" shooting gives me the accuracy satisfaction, low recoil, and ease of use to fire even more rounds at targets or cans. (I never shoot at glass bottles anymore, but growing up, used to do so in the back yard with a Daisy Pump BB gun, at empty beverage bottles on top of the trash barrel cover, then dumping the remains inside. A Daisy pump BB gun would keep most shots inside of a quarter at 10 yards or so, and I'd shoot about 10 large Winchester red cardboard tubes a week. (See attached photo of me and my sister's husband, behind the house and on top of "The Pit" in Waterville, Maine.

I was about 11yrs old (6th Grade) and on my 3rd BB gun when the picture below was taken. (The "Pit" (About 300 yards long and 25-80 yards wide), where I shot was above the old clay pit where most of the clay was mined to make bricks for the area's numerous factories, etc.. Long-closed from mining, it made a relatively safe place to fly kites and shoot BB guns behind our house.

 

[jdsingleshot]

Looks like the area south of the bridge and the Bates mill? I worked in Waterville at the Morning Sentinel for most of 20 years. Ray Vigue lived in that area and was an outstanding pistol shot.

 

[PapaG]

Daisy 25. I got mine about 1954 or so. Killed hundreds of sparrows and starlings with it. Love/hate force feed. Flawless but only 50 shots.

 

[jak67429]

first thought was ar in 223. but if you include pistol caliber carbines a high point ot keltek pcc in 9mm would be the cheapest.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Building on Picher's handloading observation, the reason I acquired a couple of non-autoloading rifles in .300 AAC/Blackout was the very broad range of handloading possibilities:

In a pinch, you can make brass from once-fired military 5.56
You can use either small pistol or rifle primers (with proper care!)
You can use jacketed .312" pistol or rifle bullets (I bought a .309" Lee bullet sizer for this)
You can use plated bullets
You can use cast bullets
You can use a wide range of pistol, rifle and shotgun propellants

There are other rifle and cartridge combinations that permit most of these possibilities, but not necessarily all. For example, large rifle and pistol primers are not dimensionally swappable. The .308" bore offers about the widest bullet availability, and the .300 AAC was intended to work with both heavy and light bullets. It is fairly thrifty with regard to lead and propellent use per round.

My point isn't so much that .300 AAC is the absolute cheapest way to shoot at all times and every circumstance. However, it may be the cartridge you can most readily handload in times of scarcity, when components for some other cartridges are unavailable. And there are/were some fairly inexpensive bolt action and single shot rifles available for it. I went both ways, with an AAC-branded H&R and a tricked out CZ 527:

 

[earlthegoat2]

I would think a $150 Rossi single shot 223 would be pretty thrifty.

I’m not sure how enjoyable it would be.

 

[Bazoo]

I’ve seen beater savage 110s go for $250 or so. Both in 30-06. That’s probably be close to the cheapest if you reload because you can use any bullets in 30 you can scrounge as well as cast.

 

[Armored farmer]

I still see cheap 7.62x39 ammo.

 

[Mars5l]

Even steel 7.62x54r is approaching $1 a round now at some places for new commercial grade ammo. Brass at some stores is over $1 or more. Cheapest I've gotten lately has been $13 a box for Red Army Standrard. I'm sure it's just going to go up with the Russian importa drying up and I know a lot of 7.62x54r Brass that's being made over in the EU is going directly to the conflict in Ukraine. Though most 5.56 around me is about $16-20 a box anyway. I'd like to get some more match grade rifles in .22lr and .22magnum right now myself.

 

[whughett]

first thought was ar in 223. but if you include pistol caliber carbines a high point ot keltek pcc in 9mm would be the cheapest.

The Ruger 9mm carbine would be a good choice. OP didn’t specify what the rifles use is, Plinking and target practice it would be hard to beat both rifle and ammo in 9mm.

 

[Hugger-4641]

You did say centerfire, the cheapest factory ammo I've seen on store shelves lately is 9mm - $18/ 50rds, followed by 7.62x39 at $12/ box of 20.
Cheapest .223/5.56 I've seen is $15 / 20rd.

 

[jdsingleshot]

Well, since I reload, my .25-20 Win. is pretty cheap. I cast bullets from wheel weights and load with 3.5 grains of shotgun powder or jacketed bullets with 13 grains of Reloader No. 7. Pretty thrifty. I have plenty of brass and even more .32-20 that I can reform. I like it. A real joy to shoot.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Maybe the cost of time and dollar input per round would be more prudent of a course.

Everybody values their time differently but I am one who can put a pretty close dollar amount on mine. Reloading does not apply financially in my world.

 

[FL-NC]

Thanks for the replies. To be more specific, I'm thinking more typical rifle round vs something like 9mm in a carbine. Any 9mm I get is going through a pistol. I have reloading capability for 308, but assume reloading is not part of the equation. In X 39 I already own a SKS (only gun I own in that caliber), and I'm thinking that may be the best answer anyway, at the moment at least. I also own a Mosin that I have never fired. I assume it fires.

 

[someguy2800]

High point 9mm

Non pistol caliber is going to be either a 223 or 7.62x39.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

NOTHING is cheap to shoot anymore.

7.62x39mm is going for around $0.35 per for steeled case, but look for this to rise sharply as no more will be imported.

Someone above mentioned a 9mm rifle. This isn’t a bad option if you want centerfire and are just looking to plink.

 

[d2wing]

Not Mosin for sure. Bolt action in .223 or 308. Maybe 7.62x39 but wouldn't care. Times have changed.
I recently bought a couple air rifles.

 

[Mosin77]

I think .308, 7.62x39, .223/5.56, and 7.62x54r all come in the cheapest, whether in their steel cases or brass cased iterations. Here and there one may be cheaper than the other or locally more expensive but you won’t find one dramatically more affordable or more prohibitive.

I have a 7.62x39 bolt gun and even in the depths of the ammo panic I was always able to get range fodder for it.

All 4 (with possible exception of .308) can usually be found under $1/round brass case, which is my pain threshold.

 

[Varminterror]

Even if a Mosin and x54R were the cheapest combination of rifle and corresponding ammo, I wouldn’t be interested in owning or using it for any shooting application I pursue, and wouldn’t really want to pick up the new application of plinking with a Mosin just because it’s cheap…

Same with casting rifle bullets for reduced velocity loads… just no interest from me.

 

[Mosin77]

Even if a Mosin and x54R were the cheapest combination of rifle and corresponding ammo, I wouldn’t be interested in owning or using it for any shooting application I pursue, and wouldn’t really want to pick up the new application of plinking with a Mosin just because it’s cheap…

Same with casting rifle bullets for reduced velocity loads… just no interest from me.

To each his own. To me a Mosin is the quintessential milsurp. A bit rough around the edges compared to a modern commercial gun, but a lot of fun to shoot, chambered for a full power round that is very comparable to .308/.30-06, and affordable enough (both to buy and to shoot) that you don’t cry much, unlike some other guns. They can be very accurate, sometimes without effort, sometimes with a little accurizing, and while they won’t win any beauty contests, they aren’t horrid to look at and have some character to them, more than your typical commercial gun.

Please note I’m not proselytizing, I really don’t care if anyone likes a Mosin or not. I just like to present the “pro-Mosin” argument because it’s easy to dismiss them as commie junk. But especially in these times, and especially if the OP already has one, they have some charms worth considering for the next range trip.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

SKS might not be the perfect answer, but is never the wrong answer.

 

[Dave DeLaurant]

Everybody values their time differently but I am one who can put a pretty close dollar amount on mine. Reloading does not apply financially in my world.

Understood. Also there's a initial investment in tools to consider.

With the passage of time, interests and work/leisure balances can change. Until they do for you, my advice is to navigate around historic military firearms. I've found them highly addictive and keep making new acquisitions that can only be fed via handloading. I just ordered a Husqvarna M1097 in 9x20 Browning Long this afternoon, in fact .



These days I have to stay busy while keeping an eye on my wife's condition; unless DIY beckons, it's often either handloading or reading for me.

 

[Hugger-4641]

Thanks for the replies. To be more specific, I'm thinking more typical rifle round vs something like 9mm in a carbine. Any 9mm I get is going through a pistol. I have reloading capability for 308, but assume reloading is not part of the equation. In X 39 I already own a SKS (only gun I own in that caliber), and I'm thinking that may be the best answer anyway, at the moment at least. I also own a Mosin that I have never fired. I assume it fires.

My SKS is probably the least accurate rifle I own. I don't know why, but when I just want to have some fun and blast something, it's most likely the one I'll grab.

 

[LoonWulf]

my 20ga with its 9mm insert would be 180 otd and 9mm still cheaper than most stuff.

functionally, the .223 in an axis is about as cheap as I think one could get......neither of which I have any interest in. After that, handloading and a Ruger American/Mauser M18/howa 1500 in your desired flavor would be where id be at, since I havent gotten to try all the other sub-500 dollar rifles.

handloading is a great equalizer of larger cartridges. We just did some shooting yesterday with the 6.5CMs, and If buying factory ammo my dad and friends would have burned up more cash there than I have invested in my "long range" rifle.