I’d like to get into shooting. Probably mostly going to a range maybe once or twice a week.
I’d like to mostly shoot a rifle, but I’d like some recommendations on - getting a firm footing on the basics (safety, storage, loading, cleaning, etc.) - whether that is via online resources, books, augmented with in-person training, etc.
Also when it comes to a decent rifle for eventual purchase - I’m up for recommendations.
Welcome! Any reason you’d mostly want to shoot a rifle? What are you actually interested in doing? There’s a lot of different types of shooting. While the recommendations for a 10/22 are great for an all-rounder first gun, if you ONLY want to larp as a tacticool guy, then perhaps a M&P Sport II would be better.
Nope, no interest in larping here, lol. If anything, I want most of my guns to be on the DL.
Then a 10/22, especially a takedown model, should fit the bill. Note that a takedown model will be slightly less accurate than a non-takedown, so if you’re going for super precision shooting, then don’t go the takedown route.
A few other things to consider - if you’re planning on only buying ONE gun, you might want a slightly higher caliber, such as at least 9mm, in case you need to use it to defend yourself - sticking with rifles, the Ruger PCC is a good one (although heavyish), and is also a takedown. Obviously if you’re comfortable in getting a first rifle for learning the basics, then adding another rifle to your lineup later that’s got more bells and whistles, this won’t apply to you.
Another two considerations, especially if you want to be more on the DL, is storage and transport. Your state/county/city might have storage laws that you may have to comply with, making it slightly harder to store rifles than pistols. And clearly if you have to put a big rifle case in your closet it’ll be more obvious than a tiny pistol safe. Regarding transport, it’s pretty hard to covertly carry a full sized rifle around, since the cases are so much longer, whereas takedown models such as the 10/22 or PCC are much easier to fit in a (tall) backpack or tennis racket bag. Pistols are obviously much easier as well.
Thanks for all the info. Just to be clear, by “on the DL”, I meant more that I don’t want to put a lot of effort into presenting as some ammosexual - all the tacticool gear, the stickers, the flags, camo, and all the typical regalia that goes with being that persona, if you will. Although I typically do wear the same type of clothes - Carharrt, etc…
If someone happens to learn I have guns, I am okay with it, I suppose. I’m just not going to be one of those people putting out a sign on my lawn about what a gun nut I am, LOL.
Ah, well in that case, you might want to consider an AR-15 as your first or second rifle. It’s an extremely versatile platform and, because of its popularity, knowing how it operates will give you instant familiarity with a huge amount of rifles out there. You can even find conversion kits for .22lr (and 9mm, but those are supposed to be way less reliable), so you can have one “gun” (serialized lower) that can be reconfigured to shoot a lot of different kinds of ammo and is useful in various situations.