[kaido]

To jump to the question, 22LR or a .223? I've basically got a .22 already but it's actually my girlfriends. I don't have a .223 at all but I've wanted on for a good while now and I've been seeing more and more of that caliber coming to the Walmart by me.

What they would both be used for is gopher shooting anywhere from 10-300 yards, the .223 would be used on nothing larger then a coyote at about 300 yards or less. I've already got a .243 for deer and the reloading equipment.

I think the reason a .223 seems so "awesome" to me is that it's a low recoil caliber so there's a good chance my girlfriend would actually use it. It also just has a cool factor to me since the military uses that caliber (more or less).

So that being said, what would you guys go with? I'm still looking for essentially a budget rifle around 3-400ish. Maybe a small bit more.

 

[shaker]

Buy the 22lr....


Why ???


One answer cheaper!!!

I bought a gsg 522 and I love it. Mags hold 22 rounds and I can shoot all day.

Sig 522 is another awesome 22lr


For 500 dollars you can own a awesome 22 assault rifle and a few thousand rounds.

For 2,000 you can own an okay ar15 and 1,000 rounds. " due to current supply and demand"

 

[sputnik1988]

I would stay away from 223, the craziness here lately is driving the price of ammo up and making it difficult to find, only a matter of time before the shortages reach your neck of the woods.

 

[kaido]

For 500 dollars you can own a awesome 22 assault rifle and a few thousand rounds.

For 2,000 you can own an okay ar15 and 1,000 rounds. " due to current supply and demand"

I would stay away from 223, the craziness here lately is driving the price of ammo up and making it difficult to find, only a matter of time before the shortages reach your neck of the woods.

Shaker I was actually thinking about getting the .22 simply because its cheaper. But as far as owning an "assault rifle" or AR variant, their a little pointless in my area. The gun laws only let Canadians use such guns at a range and not for varmint hunting.

Sputnik, that's my "fear." I don't want to walk into the gun store and find out their clean out of .223, even the 500round ammo cans. So I'm still not totally sure.

 

[sputnik1988]

Shaker I was actually thinking about getting the .22 simply because its cheaper. But as far as owning an "assault rifle" or AR variant, their a little pointless in my area. The gun laws only let Canadians use such guns at a range and not for varmint hunting.

Sputnik, that's my "fear." I don't want to walk into the gun store and find out their clean out of .223, even the 500round ammo cans. So I'm still not totally sure.

Have you looked into something like 17 HMR? They can usually be had in bolt action form for a few hundred dollars.

 

[kaido]

Have you looked into something like 17 HMR? They can usually be had in bolt action form for a few hundred dollars.

I've actually just traded one of my guns for a Savage 93R17 and I love it. But I'm looking for something that's either cheaper to shoot or let's me reach out a good ways while still being cheap.

 

[sputnik1988]

I'd probably go with 223 then, just buy up a couple thousand rounds of ammo while it's available and affordable.

There's always the 7.62x54R It's cheap... overkill, but cheap, plus IIRC you can buy SVT40s for a lot less up there.

 

[kaido]

I'd probably go with 223 then, just buy up a couple thousand rounds of ammo while it's available and affordable.

There's always the 7.62x54R It's cheap... overkill, but cheap, plus IIRC you can buy SVT40s for a lot less up there.

Pending on what the store has in stock, that's probably what I'll end up doing. They did a total over haul of their website a couple of moths ago and still haven't put up any of their prices yet. I'm kind of hoping that with it being Boxing Day I can get some kind of deal on a purchase.

I actually looked into an SVT when I first got my FAC, planned on going with a bunch of older style military firearms for a collection. I just couldn't find anywhere that sells them aside from online and out of my province. I also want something I can get accurate factory ammunition for until I buy some reloading dies for said caliber.

 

[Axxe55]

you're right the 223 is very gentle in regards to recoil. can be very accurate at the distances you stated.

might i suggest the Marlin XS7VH in 223? well within the budget you have listed. IIRC, you are in Canada, so your price might be a little higher, but MSRP here is $396. i gave about $370 for my XS7VH in 308. since you already are starting to reload, just add the 223 into the mix as well.

 

[sputnik1988]

I would love to have an SVT, but they are about $1000 in the states.

 

[HockaLouis]

Well, I woulda leaned towards a .22 Mag for the foreseeable future. .223 -- timing is not ideal.

Hey, can you Purolator us a Stephen Harper? We'll UPS you one Hussein Obama! To Vancouver!?

 

[TNFrank]

Ditto on the 22 Mag. If you can stand the ammo prices(about $10/50 from what I've read) but it will offer more range and punch then the standard 22lr.
If you don't mind handloading and if you could live with a bolt action then something in the great old 22 Hornet would be a nice way to go. You can probably load it for less then the cost of 22 Mag ammo and you'd have slightly better ballistics too. If you really want to up the ante then give the 22-250 a look. Plenty of power even for deer size game out to 200-250 yards with the right bullet and for coyotes, forget about it, you'd own em' out to 500 yards easily.

 

[kaido]

you're right the 223 is very gentle in regards to recoil. can be very accurate at the distances you stated.

might i suggest the Marlin XS7VH in 223? well within the budget you have listed. IIRC, you are in Canada, so your price might be a little higher, but MSRP here is $396. i gave about $370 for my XS7VH in 308. since you already are starting to reload, just add the 223 into the mix as well.

I was actually looking at Marlins X line of rifles. I just haven't REALLY looked into them at all. But I think I'll do that since I've got an entire day to kill before Boxing Day.

I would love to have an SVT, but they are about $1000 in the states.

That's insane, I think the highest I seem one up here (Canada) was $640.00 and the cheapest was $325.00. I won't even lie, I'm insanely surprised at the difference. Usually the guns up here are around $100.00 more.

Well, I woulda leaned towards a .22 Mag for the foreseeable future. .223 -- timing is not ideal.

Hey, can you Purolator us a Stephen Harper? We'll UPS you one Hussein Obama! To Vancouver!?

Oh I know, I've never had awesome timing with anything. Haha
But all though Obama is one of my "brothas from a notha motha", you guys can keep his sorry rear down there......unless his antics drive up our prices do to all this panic buying.

Ditto on the 22 Mag. If you can stand the ammo prices(about $10/50 from what I've read).
If you don't mind handloading and if you could live with a bolt action then something in the great old 22 Hornet would be a nice way to go. You can probably load it for less then the cost of 22 Mag ammo and you'd have slightly better ballistics too. If you really want to up the ante then give the 22-250 a look. Plenty of power even for deer size game out to 200-250 yards with the right bullet and for coyotes, forget about it, you'd own em' out to 500 yards easily.

That's actually one of the reasons I'm looking for a .223 or something similar now for ammo cost. The price of .17 and .22mag are fairly close up here depending on what brands you buy. This being the case, I figured I'd pay a little extra and get out of the rimfire area of things.

As far as the .22hornet and .22-250, I've heard those are pretty hard on barrel life, or is that just with high velocity hand loads?

EDIT: on a side note, anything smaller then a .243 is legally to small to hunt deer sized game or larger up here. Think the book of regulations states the caliber has to be .23 or larger.

 

[TNFrank]

The 22 Hornet isn't hard on the barrel at all, you might be thinking about the 220 Swift, it's just a bit better then the 22-250 but ammo is also a bit harder to find.
If you want a really versatile caliber that you can use for both varmints and deer size game then give the .243 Win a look. It's not hard on the barrel and has pretty mild recoil.

 

[John_Deer]

I am looking for a 22 mag my self. If I can't find a used one soon, I will buy a new one. Lot's of people sell guns after deer season. There is always someone that burns up their resources hunting. Then they need to sell something to get things back on track. You have people that feel let down by their deer rifle and decide to buy a new super rifle.

 

[TNFrank]

You can handload a box of 50 22 Hornets for less then what a box of 22 mags would cost and get better ballistics. Just sayin'.

 

[texaswoodworker]

+1 for the .22 hornet. Almost no recoil, good range, great accuracy, and cheap to reload.

 

[bigdaddy573]

I suggest getting a 22-250 I think marlin has them in the x7 series I ain't sure also look at savage edge/axis I have one and I love it and seems how you got in to reloading ammo wont be to bad plus it about the same recoil of a 223

 

[Axxe55]

I was actually looking at Marlins X line of rifles. I just haven't REALLY looked into them at all. But I think I'll do that since I've got an entire day to kill before Boxing Day.



That's insane, I think the highest I seem one up here (Canada) was $640.00 and the cheapest was $325.00. I won't even lie, I'm insanely surprised at the difference. Usually the guns up here are around $100.00 more.



Oh I know, I've never had awesome timing with anything. Haha
But all though Obama is one of my "brothas from a notha motha", you guys can keep his sorry rear down there......unless his antics drive up our prices do to all this panic buying.



That's actually one of the reasons I'm looking for a .223 or something similar now for ammo cost. The price of .17 and .22mag are fairly close up here depending on what brands you buy. This being the case, I figured I'd pay a little extra and get out of the rimfire area of things.

As far as the .22hornet and .22-250, I've heard those are pretty hard on barrel life, or is that just with high velocity hand loads?

EDIT: on a side note, anything smaller then a .243 is legally to small to hunt deer sized game or larger up here. Think the book of regulations states the caliber has to be .23 or larger.

I suggest getting a 22-250 I think marlin has them in the x7 series I ain't sure also look at savage edge/axis I have one and I love it and seems how you got in to reloading ammo wont be to bad plus it about the same recoil of a 223

Kaido, please check into the Marlin X7's. they are a great value for the amount fo rifle a person gets. they are very well made and very accurate. have an adjustable trigger, awesome recoil pad and have a pillar bedded stock. MSRP in my area is about $390-400. the Savage Axis is another one to consider as well. very good rifle for the money. but i do personally prefer the X7 over the Axis, but that's strictly a personal preference.

BigDaddy, the XS7VH is offered in the 22-250, 308 and now the 223. the 22-250 is only offered in the heavy barreled varmint version of the X7 though. the 223 is offered in the XS7VH, the XS7 and the XS7Y models.

the XS7 is the short action and the XL7 is the long action.

 

[kaido]

The 22 Hornet isn't hard on the barrel at all, you might be thinking about the 220 Swift, it's just a bit better then the 22-250 but ammo is also a bit harder to find.
If you want a really versatile caliber that you can use for both varmints and deer size game then give the .243 Win a look. It's not hard on the barrel and has pretty mild recoil.

I've already got a .243, I'm just looking for something that's not to hard on recoil so I can get my girlfriend into shooting a larger caliber. Also want to be able to hit gophers farther away too, same with coyotes.......in other words, an excuse to buy a new rifle.

Kaido, please check into the Marlin X7's. they are a great value for the amount fo rifle a person gets. they are very well made and very accurate. have an adjustable trigger, awesome recoil pad and have a pillar bedded stock. MSRP in my area is about $390-400. the Savage Axis is another one to consider as well. very good rifle for the money. but i do personally prefer the X7 over the Axis, but that's strictly a personal preference.

BigDaddy, the XS7VH is offered in the 22-250, 308 and now the 223. the 22-250 is only offered in the heavy barreled varmint version of the X7 though. the 223 is offered in the XS7VH, the XS7 and the XS7Y models.

the XS7 is the short action and the XL7 is the long action.

I'm thinking I might go with either an Axis or an X7. It's what most people seem to of suggested, now ill just need to hold an X7 series rifle since I've held an Axis and rather like the feel. Still up in the air about calibers so far.