inexpensive rifle's..

D

Dave Allen

New member
hello..just wanted to express a few thought's & share opinion's with other's..i'm sick of plastic rifle's..i'm tired of plastic floor plate's..follower's..cheezy stock's..i also can't afford a sako..cooper..it seem's the rifle marketing folk's are focused on in-expensive product's..i wonder if a little more metal was added & a little more q.c. & a few more buck's to the price tag might work ?? i believe i will be buying used older gun's in the future..a re-barrel doesn't bother me even if the total cost exceed's the price of a new cheap rifle..i know some in-expensive product's shoot..at least for now..what about down the road..when it's zero out & your rifle's action is basically plastic ?? & something snap's...don't get me wrong i own some cheap gun's..it seem's there are low end & high end product's..& pretty slim pickin's in-between..
 
yeah I am also not a big fan of plastic stocks. the model 7 I just got has a plastic stock and I will be replacing it soon with a wood stock of some kind. http://rifle-stocks.com is a good spot to check out for stocks, they have some nice lookin stuff!!

we had an older rem model 600 in .350 rem mag out at a remote camp I worked at and it had a plastic trigger guard...........I mean come on, whats that all about?????
 
Dave, Sometimes that's all we can afford. It's that or nothing. Do you like to hunt? If a rifle with " plastic hardware " is all you have, You have no choice , you will use it. Some of them are real good shooters.

Happy Hunting .. Emilio .. Pico Rivera, Ca.
 
IDBob..you might be right the cz isn't much more than a remmy sps..i handled a new sps recently & just wasn't impressed..Graybeard..as i mentioned i own cheap rifle's hunt with what is in a guy's price range..i'm just saying that the manufacture's could spend a few more buck's & make a better product..yes it would cost a few more buck's isn't it worth it ??
 
yep, plastic is all the rage...i remember when a fiberglass stock was only available from a few custom makers. i visited lee six, he was making them out of his garage for about 200.00 early '80's.
but if you are not going to bed your wood stock rifle, todays plastic stocks have the potential, rifle to rifle, for better accuracy, out of the box. me, i dont like the sound they make when you scratch or bang them into something. everything else on the rifle had bettet be metal or it gets changed.-cam
 
I have gone full circle. I hated plastic, got into McMillen stocks and custom wood stocks.

I beat up several guns pretty bad, bouncing around the truck and getting scratched up sticking out of scabbord.

I have broke down and bought a Rem SPS, all I could think of was what a cheap piece of crap. I bedded the action, trigger job, put 1/4" square rods in the forearm and filled the forearm with epoxy to stiffen it up, and that piece of crap will shoot in the .375-.425 range most of the time with a 4-16 Bushnell 4200 on it.

I really don't care if this gun get scratched and beat up, in fact, I'm looking forward to putting some "age" marks on it.

My yote shotguns look as if they have been through the Indian Wars, and I do store them in a gun case when they are traveling in the truck.

For most guys, it is probably going to boil down to net dollars that they have as disposable income. You usually like what you can afford.
 
I once won a fancy Beretta 20 ga. O/U, in it's own velvet
case, with gold inlay, and all metal and wood. Since I
don't collect guns, I thought I would turn this gun into
my new favorite pheasant gun. On the first trip afield,
I looked down at myself, as I wrapped my body around the
gun, as I crawled through a dense thorned brush, to protect
the pretty gun, and thought, "You look ridiculous!". I
loaded the gun, in it's velvet case, and went down to the
local gun store, and traded it for a Browning Gold 10 gauge
Stalker, complete with plastic stock, and forearm. There
now I had a gun that I can treat like a tool, and not some
piece of jewelry. So for me, give me plastic. Plastic that
won't break, won't rust, and I can bang it up, and not worry
about it. I actually prefer those "cheap plastic" rifles,
if they shoot itty bitty groups, and operate reliably. A
couple of years ago I won a pretty 300 WSM, with a nice
walnut stock. Before the scope was mounted, a synthetic
stock was purchased, and that pretty wood stock was placed
in the original box, and placed in storage. I don't own one
rifle that I hunt, that has a wooden stock. Come to
think of it, even all of my shotguns have synthetic stocks,
except my 28 ga. O/U, and that is because no one makes a
synthetic stock for that little pea popper.

I kind of like the current gun fashion direction. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif

Squeeze
 
Must be an Idaho thing. I'm with Dave. I like metal and wood, though I prefer laminated. A good synthetic stock like a McMillan is OK but can't stand the sound the cheapo's make.
 
Guess it is an Idaho thing. No plastic here, thats for the kids toys. They may all be tools for us in the end but good looking is still there far beyond the point of purchase. Before anybody says "yes but you get the itty-bitty ragged holes out of the box with the inexpensive ones" I will say that I don't believe it. Personally I think that there is a lot less group difference between all the models (bolt action) than folks will admit to. Basically I think most rifles shoot good and a lot of it comes down to correct loads and shooting abilities. If half of the internet claims were half true then the benchrest community could save themselves quite a lot of money for their rifles.

***No where above did it say the inexpensive rifles shoot bad.***
 
I to like the look of a wooden stalk.A wooden stalk is a thing of beauty.Although all of my hunting rifles seem to be plastic.I prefer the plastic to hunt with.It is lighter and i dont have to worry about scratching it up.To me,a beautiful stock has no place on my atv.I like to enjoy hunting not worring about scratches on my gun.
 
Yep, I'm with you DA, I like the warmth of wood and the solidity of quality steel components.

Too much plastic, flimsy junk out there.

I remember reading somewhere how it is the intent of the gunmakers to make a product that you'll have to or want to replace, because the old stuff was lasting too long, and people weren't buying new guns. I think it was someone from Ruger who said it, and that that was why they made a lot of their accessories proprietary (e.g., scope rings) so that they could make some cash in the accessory market.

Much like the automotive market I suppose.
 
I don't believe it is a completly Idaho thing. I am an Idaho born and bread boy and agree and disagree with what all you other Idaho boys are saying. The feel of the wood or laminated stocks do feel better in the hand. Or maybe it is just the boyd laminated stock that feels so good. BUT the bottom line to me is ACCURACY. For me it is ludicris to spend more for something that will most likely shoot the same but probably not better. I do also agree that the internet groups sizes get smaller everyday. But I love posting the pics and letting others be the judge.
100_0215.jpg

100_0217.jpg
.

Now while it is true that this is 2 of the best groups ever shot out of this gun. I get good groups everytime. Now this is from a $259 Stevens .223. Plastic stock and a $30 trigger job. Everything else is stock except for the sweet camo job I threw on it. For me if I a gun shoots who cares if it is a wood or plastic stock. The wood will eventually get chipped up faded and worn and then it looks just as bad. So even though the grey plastic looks dumb throw a camo paint job on it and it improves a great deal to the eye candy factor.
 
I don't agree at all. I had a reall nice winchester model 70 in .300 win mag, the wood was really nice.  I took it on one Elk hunt, and lost so much time worrying about the stock, I ended up selling the rifle.  I like the wood feel,but don't like premadonna's, My rifles are tools they are well kept and well cared for(perhaps that's why Plastic doesn't bother me), but I have fallen down cliff faces, had horses spook and roll over me, not to mention taken a dead run through nearly chest high sage brush to cut off a Elk Herd, Number 1 a rifle needs to be accurate, real world accurate,(I consider 2 1/2" acceptable hunting accuracy) Number 2 a rifle needs to be Tough, I have had no problems finding that in these new age rifles, a few plastic parts just means they won't cost as muck to replace if need be, come on guys we are outdoors men, I like all the pretty too, but in reality it seldom has a place in the actual hunting field
 
Us Idaho boys sure think a lot alike. I have a Hogue stock on my 10/22. Natch my AR-15 rifles are the man-made stuff. But all my bolt guns and Ruger #1 rifles are wood, with the lone standout being my HS Precision stocked Rem 700. Something about real wood in your hands.

It not just rifles either. A nice deep blue Smith and Wesson or a Colt just deserves some fine wood grips on it too. Oh, dont get me wrong, rubber grips have their place, but as far as how they feel in your hands? Give me wood thank you.

I dont like cheap glass, cheap booze, cheap women or cheap plastic stocks. But that just me.
 
And BTW Dave, that sure is a beautiful walnut stock on your latest 17 Rem, aint it? Would you even think of putting one of them plastical stocks on such a gorgeous rifle? Sacrilege!
 
TN chimin' in. My Savage 14 is a beauty of a rifle to look at. It shoots MOA or better with three different loads I have worked up, but it sits in the safe ALL hunting season. It's just too pretty to put through the "dangers" of walking through the briers, pulling it up a haul line, crossing creeks, and stomping through thickets. It handles like a thing of beauty, shoulders exceptionally well, but all it has ever shot at is paper - and for at least a while, that's all it will shoot at. Almost all of my hunting rifles are tupperwared in some shape, form or fashion.

RB
 
Ok it's an Idaho thing, because I actually like the look of synthetic and stainless. Wood stocks just look........like something my Grandad would use. However I don't like cheap plastic so I spring for quality synthetics like HS and McMillin. I will admit to being something of an image concsious buyer. And in the immortal words of Col. Whelen "Only accurate rifles are interesting".

Chupa
 
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