What's the attraction to cheap rifles

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CraigC said:
Yet you still won't answer the question.[/QUOTE
Ok check it Dog
Whatever brand I would mention someone will cry foul and call me conjectural so I try very hard not to.
(No one has to tell me I bought a pos, I knew it the day I bought it)
I really think it's just a guy thing when you look at a firearm and you know gezz this thing is questionable but if I change the stock, the trigger, do some machining and polishing get a another scope etc. I can get a minute of deer or whatever we tend to rationalize or justify because it's cheap/ inexpensive.
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I bought a Mossberg Maverick .270 rifle several years ago when they discontinued them for $170 because I didn't have a .270 and wanted one. With rifle, scope, rings and sling I have about $300 in it. It is a good shooter and I have taken deer with it. I bought it because I just felt like it.

I have a friend that bought a couple of Savage Axis rifles because he was new to shooting and didn't want to invest a lot of money.

Lots of reasons for inexpensive rifles that people may not ever put thousands of rounds through.
 
My BIL has a 710 in 7mm RM that he won in a raffle. He has a lot of high priced rifles. He really complained about the 710 and still does but for the last few years every time I have gone hunting with him it seems he takes that 710. I'm not talking about just whitetail. We have been on trips where he has used it to take axis and Sambar deer. As long as it goes bang I guess.

LoonWulf said:
the previously mentions 710/770 have been the only guns Ive used I REALLY wanted to bend around a tree......and 95% of the time they STILL did what is needed of a hunting rifle, and often turn in really good accuracy.

If they cost 100 bucks they would have probably been a great option for folks on a very limited budget or to keep in the back of the safe for when someone you dont trust with a good gun comes by to borrow stuff.
Since you can get a noticely better Axis, or American for about the same moolahz they arnt worth the headache.
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Captcurt said:
I loaned a Hawken to a friend. It came back with a bunch of scratches where he carried it wearing a ring. One of my closest friends used one of my rifles. It was cold and rainy. He leaned it in the corner when he got home. Of course moisture condensed on the metal in his warm house. He checked it 2 days later and it had light rust on it. I did give my SIL a rifle and shotgun, but no loaning ever again.
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Ive loaned out all of my rifles, and regularly loan out the cheap ones.
The user is given explicit instructions.
When your done shoot the bore full of wd-40 (cause everyone has it, it soaks up standing water, and does an ok job at keepings rust at bay for a day or two), wipe it down, and WHEN you fall get the damn thing between you and the sharp rocks.
Ive been meaning to get a loaner specific rifle so i can set the trigger heavier, and give it a good dose of duracoat, and then people wont feel bad when the beat it up and its a little more element resistant....might just get a stainless gun.

But equally There are somethings i dont loan out.... mostly stuff i cant fix if it gets broken.


EIB0879 said:
My BIL has a 710 in 7mm RM that he won in a raffle. He has a lot of high priced rifles. He really complained about the 710 and still does but for the last few years every time I have gone hunting with him it seems he takes that 710. I'm not talking about just whitetail. We have been on trips where he has used it to take axis and Sambar deer. As long as it goes bang I guess.
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Sometimes going bang and some experience with something is all it takes.
 
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I have 3 handguns currently that each cost more than all 4 centerfire rifles I own combined, including optics. The handguns are all in the $1000 range, so nothing really special.
I love nice rifles and I've had a few (dozens? Hundred or so?)

Can't hunt anything besides varmints with a rifle where I live. Except deer, with a straight walled cartridge. Where I shoot, about 140 yards is the limit. So I still own a few cheap rifles and no nice ones because it doesn't bother me having a $250 rifle in the safe that sees about 10 rounds/year.

ETA...having nice rifles in the safe and no way to use them for their intended purpose is like having a dog that never gets off the chain. They deserve better.
 
South Prairie Jim said:
Maybe the builders of these cheap rifles know that people will take their hard earned and buy any POS that can put a couple rounds in a pie plate at 50 yards if its cheap enough, making them millions in the process
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If I had to bet $100 on a new random economy hunting rifle vs an old random wood stocked and blued classic for unmodified accuracy I would not put my money on wood.

Rifles are more accurate than they’ve ever been
 
If firearms are tools, then any firearm that does the job is going to be acceptable, like a wrench or a hammer. My firearms are my hobby, I can rationalize spending chunks of dollars on my beloved hobby, buying nice stuff that is artful and by default, does the job that it was designed to do. I do not judge or label other shooter’s price points, I am very happy managing my hobby with my means. I see shooters using firearms that I would never give a second look but, what do their firearms have to do with me or my hobby - absolutely nothing. Buy what you want, spend what you want, shoot what you want - you will always get praise and a smile from me about your firearm choices simply because, I really don’t give much thought to what other’s shoot.
 
I suppose it would have been cheaper to go buy a chicken from the store today, as opposed to my son, grandson and I driving around in my 4x4 pickup then using our expensive hunting dog to get up one pheasant that we both shot at with over $2000 worth of shotguns not counting steel shot boots etc. There wasn't much meat left. But you can't put a price on that experience. Was it better than when I had a beat up 1962 Chevy PU and old Mossberg pump, I don't know, It's all pretty wonderful to me.
 
Easy, my cheap deer rifle is a Ruger American 30-06, they got **** on when they first came out. With your average run of mill hunting ammo it shoots around 1.5 inches.
I make close to 100k, almost no debt, I CAN afford better. But if I drop it, scratch it, forgot to clean it, whatever am not crying over it. Try that with your high gloss WInchester.
 
I am contemplating selling a Tikka T3 Lite in .308. It is a good rifle, bolt runs like butter, and is sub MOA when both I and the ammo do their part.

Why?

Because I bought a .30-06 Ruger American that has a slightly rougher, more flexible stock. But still freefloats when using a rest. The bolt must be run with more authority but is still reliable.

The groups are similar with good ammo between the two. The Ruger was $329 on sale. The Tikka was $699 on sale.

A fancier rifle with a smoother bolt is nice...but I am thinking that I have more "pride of ownership" in a rifle that performs the same task at half the price. I think I will sell the Tikka, get a RA in .308, and a nice laminate stock.
 
I have no problems with people buying "cheap" rifles. With modern designs and manufacturing techniques, most are very accurate and functional. Not everyone can afford $1000+. I don't understand when someone buys a budget rifle, then starts a post about what replacement stock ($300-$800) they should buy because they don't like the factory stock. Then dropping in a Timney trigger ($120-150). With the money they put into basic upgrades, they could have gotten a nice rifle that already met their requirements and at a price that is cheaper than upgrading.
 
One of the cheapest rifles I have is a very homely Remington Rolling Block that I traded a Savage 22 even up for.I had $175 invested in the 22 and one of my shooting buddies fell in love with it but he was in college and didn't have much money laying around,so I asked what he had to trade,and he described this old Roller.He told me his Granddad used it to shoot groundhogs.It's chambered in the 219 Zipper.The finish is about as ugly as any old cold bluing job that I have ever seen,as mottled and uneven as it could be.The good part is I knew his Granddad,and he was notorious for building some truly great rifles in the 50's and 60's,so I kinda wondered why he even had such a club.The barrel is 1.060 in diameter from one end to the other,and it turns out to be a Hart.There were scope bases on it,so I stuck a good quality glass on it and invested in a set of loading dies,and researched how to best make some brass for it.I finally got some loaded,and shot it.It's insanely accurate,to the tune of 5 shots in the .4's and .5's at 100 yards.To make it even uglier,I grafted an old trap stock for a Remington 1100 on it just to try and get something like a cheekweld.I slip it out to the local range once in a while and if there are enough rednecks who don't know me there,I put it on some old pant leg sandbags and put on an old paintball mask and tell them to maybe stay back a little,the last time I tried it,it sort of blew up.Then,as they cringe at the first shot or two,I proceed to outshoot anything they have ever seen,and everybody gets a good laugh when it's over and the truth comes out.That is a cheap rifle that is priceless!
 
JeffG said:
I have come to the point of, rather than trying to "WOW" other people at the range or woods with my rifle choice; I want the rifle to wow me. Ease of operation and carry, great trigger, good looks for the job at hand. Price within reason, I'm good.
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This is exactly why my M18 will be with me for a long time, but I can't really class it as a cheap or inexpensive. Pretty nice piece of equipment though. It shoots right along with my Bergara.
 
I'd really like to know how many people make these threads that question the value of a cheap rifle are guys in their 50s, 60s, 70s who have their nest egg, have their 401k, have their pension all set up and into six figures and suddenly can't understand why people buy something they deem cheap?

I already know most of the people on gun forums are north of 40 thanks to polls done on said forums. I don't think some 20 year old with a weekly take home of $350 is thinking about what he's going to hand down on his deathbed, during the spring and summer he's got his mind on chasing tail and it's not a whitetail, if you know what I mean, so when the opportunity for a hunting trip comes up with a friend and his dad/uncle/grandfather etc. comes up and he's short on cash and doesn't want to load up a credit card, he'll take that Savage Axis with the scope already mounted.

Maybe someone on a fixed income who retired to the country after a life of city slicking is going down his bucket list and after decades of thinking about bringing home a deer on the roof of his Kia sedan is finally gonna happen. Why blow a grand on this when a $200 CVA will work?

Personally, I have such little interest in Fudd rifles if they're not some classic or interesting design. I'm not gonna pay the same amount on a CZ bolt action when I could get an SKS instead. My H&R Handi Rifle in .308 is gonna do what I need out in the field, thus I don't feel the need to pay to upgrade to a Thompson Center, not when with that money I could buy a Chassepot or a Snider-Enfield instead.
 
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