sniper rifle

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

gunnerman78

Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
24
Location
west virginia
this is really a 2 part question, I want to build a sniper rifle.
1. i want to build a sniper rifle on a bolt action rifle
and
2. i also want to build a sniper rifle on a semi-automatic rifle

the caliber does not matter as long as the ballistics are good and the ammo does not cost too much since i will want to take them to the range early and often and dont want to have to leave them at home because i can not afford to buy ammo for them.

thanks for any help you can give me
 
a boltie, on an old remmy 600 action would be nice, also the 700 is fine. Another great pick is a cz action. for a semi, do a nice put together of various AR stuff, it will cost a bunch proly, but you will likey.
 
Well, it looks like you are on a buget so I'll list cheap options. You can buy an old mil-surp rifle for less than 200 bucks such as one of the ones listed below and add a scope mount and scope.

Yugo M48: $120-$140 for rifle, ~$0.08 per round (milsurp)
Lee Enfield No.4Mk.1: $150-$220 for rifle, $40 for scope mount, and about $0.75 per round.
Mosin nagant 91/30: $60-$110 for rifle, $0.08 per round.

I would recommend the mauser or mosin nagant for cheap ammo purposes, however, good ammo is a must for good accuraccy. The effective range of these rifles is around 600 or 700 yards, but you'll need a good gun, ammo, and a steady hand to hit a man-sized target at those ranges.

All of those rifles can be scoped, but the mosin and the mauser are gonna need drilling and tapping (I think). There are numerous "no gunsmith" scope mounts for the enfield and it has an incredible action. The ammo is its weak point as it's kinda expensive. Hunting rounds go for about 15 bucks for 20 rounds, but you can save money by reloading.

As for semi-auto, things are gonna get more expensive for a full sized round.

Saiga .223: $250 range is about 500 yards
Saiga .308: $400 range is 600 or 700 yards

Now, if you're really wanting a sniper-ish rifle that you can build easily and cheaply then I'd recommend an SKS, but it isn't going to be much good beyond 300 yards.

Yugo SKS: $150-$200 and ammo is about 4.50 per 20 rounds. Scope mounts are plentiful but reciever cover ones don't seem to work very well. So you'll need to drill and tap or mount a long eye relief scope on the gas block or gas tube.
 
Savage 10FP for the bolt action
$600.00 OTD sans optics

Romanian PSL for the semi auto.
$720.00 OTD with optics (4x commie style)


I own a 10FP and it's a heck of a shooter. But .308 Winchester match ammo just isn't cheap. I'd seriously recommend getting set up for handloading because it reduced my group size 30% and my shooting budget 65%!
Just be carefull that you don't take the "savings" to the extreme that you now shoot more than you can afford to reload! This has happened to many shooters.

My neighbor/friend/rangebuddy owns a PSL it shoots very well and it's especially cheap to feed considering the $2.50/20 price of 7.62X54R
The PSL will hold 1.5-2MOA.

If you're really serious about "Sniping" you might consider reading Zak Smith's posts on practical long range shooting. His insights are enlightening plus he's a nice guy.
 
Savage 10FP for the bolt action
$600.00 OTD sans optics
Click to expand...
i would also reccomend the above, but around my parts they are cheaper than that at wal-mart, they have to prder it for you but that ain't a big deal.
 
I'd recommend they both be .308. Because as you said, you don't want to buy expensive ammunition(as in the case of having two seperate calibers).

Customizing a mil-surp bolt action is going to be a bit costly. Especially if you want to mount a scope onto the receiver. It's going to be considerably cheaper to buy a commercial bolt action and customize it.

As for an affordable semi .308, the Saiga seems to be the most affordable. If you've got the cash an AR10 is a great choice and so are the FAL-types and the M1A or M14's.
 
Are you a very experienced/skilled shooter?

If not, I'd vote to go for the fun/affordable gun first, and get tons of practice in on it.

Here's what I'd recommend, owned by THR member Kymasabe: a Saiganov (Dragunov-concept rifle built on a Saiga)

Saiga.jpg

It'll run you around $375-400 to build this critter, and you can probably sell it for that much or more if you move out of it. $310 or so for the rifle, $39 for a PSOP 1" mount, and then whatever pricerange you feel like on a 4X scope.

Accurate, semi-auto, inexpensive, cheap ammo, and very cool. Here's a thread with all the details partway down. I'd use a simple PSOP mount with the rings built-in to save money ($39 total), but Kymasabe prefers the mount/rail/rings system for max flexibility (but more expense).


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=239665&highlight=dragunov+saiga

Get one gun first, get comfy with it, and then decide what to do. Trust me, I learned the hard way buying a bunch of random guns before I had any idea what my real priorities were.

-MV
 
gunnerman78,

Do you mean, to actually build a couple rifles from the ground up, that would be actually suited to a sniping role, or are you just talking about slapping some tak-ta-cool looking scopes on a couple of cheap rifles? What's the difference? Thousands of $$$.

Don
 
For some of us, obviously, that sounds like a non-precision, or at least a not-as-precise setup as we ourselves might want.
Click to expand...

Furious Styles,

You're making an assumption; I'm not, and that is why I asked a question that would narrow down exactly what it is that he is looking for.

Don
 
Get an M1A, then scope it. As far as the stock, a GI synthetic from Fred's, camo'd to your desired pattern. It'll last your lifetime.

m21sight-s.gif
 
Define budget and what you actually want to accomplish.

Shooting clay birds at 100 or 200 yards is a lot different than hitting basket balls at 1000.

If actually serious about the latter, I warn against sporterizing a milsurp style rifle. Once you scope it appropriately and fix the resulting ergonomic problems, you will have probably spent more than it would have cost to buy an off the shelf 10FP or 700 PSS.
 
How far are you wanting to shoot? If it's 300m and under, I'd get both in .223. I've got a Savage 10fp with bipod and a 6x18-50 scope that's got $500 in it. I can put 5 rounds into the size of a quarter @ 100m with it. i also just got done building an AR in .223 with a 24" SS fluted barrel and A2 stock. It has $1100 into it with a 6x24-44mm scope on it.

I've only shot these 2 rifles up to 100m in the yard and they will both eat holes out of the center of a target. I haven't shot any further distances with them yet but I'm confident they'd do just fine a little farther out.

If you want to shoot farther I'd look into a .308 in Savage/Rem for a bolt action and an AR10/FAL for semi. I can't chime in on .308 performance because I don't own one. I'm picking up a FAL this Sunday and hope it is everything I expect/heard it should be.

good luck.
 
Guess it depends if you want to shoot the same ammo out of the two guns.

I have an M14SA, K31 (haven't tried it yet), SR1911 (rechambered in 308), Saiga 22" 308, HK G3.. take your pick.

The SR1911 with the right ammo is a one hole at 100 yds gun. Open sights just as good if you can see that far. From all reports the K31 is just as good, although the GP11 may be drying up. There is always reloading, and for a sniper, one shot one kill, right?

The Saiga is a little behind the other two, at least with surplus ammo. Best so far is around 1.5-2". Mine is a converted to PSL look alike.

The G3 is about the best with open sights, it is drop dead out to 100, all in the 8-10 ring. At 50 yds, it will cut the center out of a 1" bull.

The M14SA, which has a matching Winchester barrel and bolt, shoots about as good as the G3, with more recoil, so you tend to get looser groups as the day goes on. Haven't found the right combo of scope for it yet.
 
Ok, ok, what i want is an already built rifle without optics or mount and i want to put optics and mount on it my self. As for cost of rifle it should be no more that $1,200 to $1,500 with out optics.

The optics can be American, Russian, ect.

The cost of the K-31 ammo is no problem what i was refering to was the high cost of the like of the 300 win mag, ect.

I would like it to be in a caliber that a country used as their military caliber or is still being used. But i would like to stay away from the small calibers such as 5.56 and 5.45, the Swdish 6.5 is ok i like that round

Hope this clears a few things up
 
I have a good guide for rifle selection here:

http://demigod.org/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-equipment/

In that price range, you can get a Savage 10FP, Remington PSS, or even a Winchester SPR, and still have money left over to replace the stock if you don't like the one it came with. Figure spending the same amount in optics to solve the problem well.

If you want a common "military" caliber and want match-grade ammo available "everywhere", the .308 Winchester is the obvious and correct choice IMO.

-z
 
M1 Garand for semi. There are various ways to trick out an M1 to turn it into a national match rifle. Add the scope. 30.06 military ball (HXP) is accurate and can be had for 28¢ per round, shipping included in that price.

For the bolt, 1903 Springfield. Same ammo, accurate rifle.

No matter what you decide, it won't be cheap, especially since you are adding optics. Once you select the platform, you need an accurate barrel. You can save money by doing the work yourself, or you can pay about $1500 for each the above, all tricked out, without the scope.

So I'm thinking $1500 per rifle plus scope. Does that sound like it is within your budget?
 
Ok, ok, what i want is an already built rifle without optics or mount and i want to put optics and mount on it my self. As for cost of rifle it should be no more that $1,200 to $1,500 with out optics.
Click to expand...

gunnerman78,

That makes it a whole lot easier. You have several good choices in a bolt action: Savage and Remington on the low end, and FN SPR on the high end. Really only one choice regarding an autoloader: one of the target models of an AR-10.

Don
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Best sniper caliber? Best sniper rifle?
2
Replies
33
Views
11K
koja48
K
K
  • Locked
Why do sniper rifles...?
Replies
20
Views
2K
Mark_from_Iowa
M
I
  • Locked
Sniper Rifle sugestions
2 3
Replies
52
Views
3K
USSR
U
dgarvin1
  • Locked
No such thing as sniper rifles?
Replies
7
Views
2K
taliv
T
T
  • Locked
A general accuracy question
Replies
1
Views
542
JohnKSa
JohnKSa
Back
Top