My first small batch of questions.

[SnoopLoggyDog]

McDonald's Gun Shop near Marion has a decent selection of used .22 rifles. Their prices are competitive and the owner is very helpful. I agree that a Ruger 10-22 is the best rifle to start out with. Another good rifle is the Savage mdl 64. Not as big a selection of aftermarket accessories, but the basic rifle can be purchased for around $120.

Elwood is a very good range. Lots of nice people and no worries about shooting center fire there.

 

[the1kidd03]

take a day off, spend a tank of gas.....start off at Gander mountain to thumb through the selection...don't worry you won't be back once you can compare prices....then head to bradis, which also has a good selection with a far better price....then head to plainfield shooting supplies...they won't have as big of selection (at least on 22's) but they can usually beat prices at Bradis by a little (if they have the same thing)....by this point you should have a GOOD IDEA of what gun exactly you want...then just go a little further southwest to Moorseville and stop in at ITS....let him know what you want, he'll get on the computer to check his suppliers and I'll lay ya 10 to 1 he'll give you a better price than anyone .....then when you return home search through Gunbroker.com for what you want....look at the prices on shipping .......and make your selection from where ever you wish

 

[hrdwarhax]

wow, thanks so much you guys. once my sweaty friend :P feels better we are going around to all these places. hopefully we will come home better armed than when we left home

 

[the1kidd03]

hope you become armed very soon.................as a private collector, my little "rule of thumb" is...that I don't make any purchases before checking Gunbroker.com.....more often then not you can get a better price there (even with shipping and transfer) than anywhere locally...unless you come across a private person selling something....but anyway, just be sure to check online prices before you buy to if you really wish to save money.................Gunbroker.com, auctionarms.com, and buds gun shop

good luck, happy shopping

 

[hrdwarhax]

ok thanks a ton. ill be sure to check before i buy.

 

[Fullmag]

Armslist.com is good one also. The Blue Book of Gun Values is another good resource. Neither are pefect but gets you in the ball park for values. Experince and getting around and talking to people are the best.

Also watch the selling sub-forum for prices, if they go quick then it was goood deal.

Have a 10/22 it is great little gun, have spent many afternoons shooting away.

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

I haven't bought any, but .32ACP isn't one of your more common rounds these days, and I don't know if they'd be cheaper than some surplus 7.62x54R. Yes, get a .22. You can get your feet wet, learn a lot, shoot a lot cheap. Bradis has a whole room full of used stuff, and others have used as well; you should be able to get something good used pretty cheap.

 

[CountryBoy19]

The $200 tax you keep talking about is a tax for making an NFA firearm (suppressor, short barreled rifle, AOW etc). To make a standard title I firearm for yourself there is no "tax".

There is, however, an 11% excise tax on firearms made and sold by manufacturers. That is figured into the price of the firearm when you buy it from the dealer.

 

[SirRealism]

2. It's possible to make whatever you want, as long as it's legal to own, and you don't even have to tell anyone. There is something called an 80% lower for an AR15, for example. The lower is the only part that requires an FFL transfer, but if you complete an 80% one, no FFL, no paperwork, no taxes, just build it. As stated, it's for your own use, and cannot be transferred to anyone else.

That's interesting... I had never heard of an 80% lower. What does "80%" refer to?

 

[the1kidd03]

That's interesting... I had never heard of an 80% lower. What does "80%" refer to?

80% means that the lower itself is 80% complete.....all that needs done to it is 3 holes drilled for the pins, stamp a manufacturers name on it, and apply the finish(anodizing) and you have a brand new complete lower........many manufacturers produce their lowers in this fashion, which is why the price you pay is largely just the name and you are actually buying the exact same thing no matter who made it..........producing lowers in this fashion reduces the cost significantly for "firearms manufacturers" because they do not need the additional, and EXPENSIVE equipment ..such as a precision CNC/CMS

this ultimately is exactly why I refuse to pay ridiculous prices for any "brand name" lower when I build..........paying twice as much for the same thing is insane..........the only thing that is different between them is that they may go through a few more/different steps when going through the quality control department(QC), however the product itself is still the same............I can also tell you that in most manufacturers, NOT EVERY part is inspected by QC..they'll complete an order....let's say one pallet stacked full of lowers.....out of that pallet they may inspect ONE lower or even ONE box of the pallet....not ALL necessarily get inspected by QC

 

[Mr Evilwrench]

Specifically, for an AR lower it's more than three holes, there's some milling as well. I do have a fixture that guides all the steps. The 80% number may be somewhat subjective, but you'll find that a lot of things coming out of the .gov regarding firearms to be subjective, confusing, or perverse.