M14 Forum

Single Six

Looking to buy or build an an accurate all-purpose rifle - on a budget, HA!

davecampperry

Check out the PX. I don't like 'blanket statements' but will say everyone here is trustworthy, because we don't tolerate liars, cheats, thiefs, etc. Good luck on your search, and for a 'utility' rifle, an SKS is hard to beat. Cheap, practically indestructible, cheap ammo, easily scoped, cheap to maintain, sized for smaller shooters but comfortable for larger ones. Did I mention they are cheap to buy and shoot?

Single Six

...but accurate? I'm a bit of an accuracy stickler.

lefty o

if you want accuracy on a budget, buy a savage/stevens bolt action. even low end M1's and M1A's are generally not considered budget items.

Single Six

I have an accurate budget Savage...but I want a semiauto. The budget thing was kind of a joke, I expect to have to pay a chunk or two of change unless I can educate myself to the point where I can do most of the work myself. That or just start saving.

If I wanted accuracy out of the box, what should I look for? SA Super Match? How about customs?

Boom Stick

Welcome and good luck

82nd ABN

I would say you are on the right track. Out of the box accuracy can be found with a SAI SM with a heavy krieger or douglas barrel. I prefer the kriegers because of the way they are made, thats not saying that Douglas is not as good a barrel. There have been claims that some members have bought an have had 1/2 moa accuracy out of there loadeds but I think that is hit or miss no pun intended. This platform was made o shoot at man size targets and through the years armorers have developed mods that increase there accuracy. My personal belief is that 95% of the mechanical accuracy comes form your barrel and the trigger. The other 5% is how well it was built and it has to be done right. On the other side of the coin, you can have a 1/2 inch moa rifle in the hands of someone that does not have the experience and that person will think its the rifle. With that said your best chance of out of the box accuracy is with a SAI SM for an off the shelf rifle. Mind you it will cost you quite a chunk of change. I bought my M21 in 07 wholesale and it cost 2677. I am not sure what they retail for I would imagine somewhere around 3K. Not sure what the base SM cost but it would be in the same ballpark.
Now you start thinking about a custom job. I will use an LRB receiver for this example. In todays atmosphere I can't see using anything else, to many "if" involved buying anything else these days. That gentlemen is my opinion so don't hang me on the cross if you have your favorite. Your looking at approx 900 for a rear lugged receiver, if you go with LRB for the build they will part with a Krieger heavy barrel for I think 275 or there about unless they stopped offering this as an option. Then yo uwill need all the other parts that are required. If you are not particular, they have parts kits available caveat is not all the parts are GI unless you specify you want all gi parts. There bolt ad gas cylinder are top notch. I believe they are the only company making a forged gas cylinder at this time. The bolts have recently come to the market and they are as good if not better than GI. I say if not better because in the big scheme of things they were built yesterday. I am not sure what one of these would cost you but don't be intimidated not to call and ask. If you are looking for a top of the line SM from them dropped into a Mcmillan M1A stock, your probably looking at 3500-4K. It may be less I am not sure I build my own rifles and use LRB receivers. There are other companies making receivers, I suggest you do your research and look long and hard before you make your decision. If you decide to start collecting parts, IMHO its more fun and you educate yourself along the way. Thats the way it was for me. Good luck with your choice. If you are on a budget that only allows for about 1K I suggest getting hold of White Oak Arms and take a look at there -15 match uppers and tossing a lower together with a giessele trigger. You can put a tack driving NM -15 together for 1500

Hamstrosity

Most semi-auto (Edit: rack-grade) .30 cal rifles are going to be around $1400 (AR-10, M1A, FAL, ect), the only exception that I can think of at the moment is the M1 Garand, but typically, if you're an accuracy stickler, a cheap M1 Garand probably won't get you where you want to be.

The other thing, that just came to me would be something like a G3/CETME type rifle, mine's pretty accurate, cheaper than the other .30 cals in most cases, but more or less destroys brass. If you're a reloader, the fluted chamber in them is kind of a PITA to deal with.

There is always the AR-15, but for all purpose the .223 might not have the punch that you're looking for, if you're trying to hunt something around Deer size. I've always been told that 75gr bullets are the lightest you should use on something that large, and that's the upper end that you can run though a magazine in an AR-15 because of Cartridge Overall Length (C.O.L.) concerns (at least in my experience).

The other sticking point is that you're in California. There are some silly rules regarding magazine capacity and all those other "evil features", and that might complicate your search a little bit.

As Dave mentioned, the SKS is a good little cheap rifle, ammo is cheap, and is at least minute of man capable.

Hope to help, good luck.

1KPerDay

You want a .308 that is:

1. Accurate 2. Inexpensive 3. Semi-auto



Pick two of the above. ;)

DukeRustfield

Seems about right.

Single Six

Thanks guys. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm dealing with, or at least the parameters. I want to learn more about the M14.

I have bolt guns but want a semiauto, not an "evil black rifle", not that I have a problem with them. M14 is what I came up with, open to others.

82nd ABN

Check out the M1 Garand as well.

davecampperry

The M14 is semi-modular, in that upgrade parts can be installed fairly easily. My standard mantra is, "Buy a 'rack grade', it will shoot up to about NRA Expert class, then by that time you will know either A. how to install or B. someone who knows how. You won't be wearing out a high end barrel learning to shoot it, and you can upgrade as you can afford to do so."

CWUSCG

Are you a handloader? If not, it may be a good place to start if you want to get the best out of your M1A. Just learn how to do it properly! Plus, it will save you money if you shoot a lot. You can work up sub MOA handloads for your M1A.

Single Six

I intend to start reloading. I'd like MOA but minute of coyote or jackrabbit would suffice. Picking up the least expensive rifle I can find and working on it is probably what I'll do.

Anyone ever had any luck getting them to shoot light bullets?