DANTHEHUNTER

I have a ruger m77 mkIIvls .220 swift . I wouldnt trade it for any rifle in its class. it shoots a ragged hole at 100 yards and has killed several coyotes at 400 yards ( give or take a few ). Take a good look at ruger varmit rifles with there heavy barrel it is very nice package

HighDesertWolf

You might check out a Savage Varmint 40 they run about 300 to 400 bucks and you cannot complain about there accuracy heres target I am posting a picture of this is a 5 shot group at 250 yards shooting prone with the forearm resting on a sand bag. the ammo was Blackhills 52 grain MHP.

HighDesertWolf

err I hate my keyboard accidently hit enter key prematurily here is my picture of the target

USMC PMI

I beg to differ with ted3929, the 7.62 x 39 does not have better ballistics that the 5.56 x 45 (.223) They will serve different purposes. The 7.62 x 39 is ballistically similar to the 30 -30, if you are looking for a fairly short range whitetail cart. this will work, but this is not a long range shooter or would ever be considered as a cartridge for a sniper rifle in any country that has running water and paved roads. Matches are fired with the .223 upto 1000 meters but using special bullets and load data. If you get a 1:8 twist .223 in a 20" to 22" barrel and fire the 62 gr. or 69 gr. bullets you will shoot further and more accurately than you would expect. Bullet energy does get a little low after 400 yards, but the effective range of the NATO cartridge through a 20" barrel M-16 is 550 meters on a point target.

HighDesertWolf

in some cases the 7.62x39mm cant even be compared to the 30-30, The 7.62x39 would be a pitifull long range varmint caliber.

bigbuck270

If you want a military style semi, look at the Bushmaster AR15. I have the varmintier and it is super accurate and a semi. I never thought I could shoot sub and I mean SUB MOA with a semi and factory ammo. Yes people on this site will talk negetive about it but it is a great gun. If you are looking for pure accuracy there is no question a bolt will out perform any semi but I am blasting golf balls at 160 yards. I will be taking it to a 500 yard range this fall and will report the results. Good luck.

Deleted User

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pkfd7535

i too have bushmaster m4gery 223 and also a savage 112 fv in 223 i was on a buget when i got my varmit rifle and for the money i was very pleased i think with scope and rings and all i got a bit over 450.00 invested and at 200 yards with mil suplus ammo i can do 1.5 inch groups and that is me with a bi pod gun can do better i would bet .

but i would not want to drag it thru the woods much 26" hvy barrel
just my 2 cents
it also payed for it self friend lived next door to a horse farm and i got 5.00 a woodchuck in his pastures alot cheaper then a 100,000.00 race horse with a broken leg one of tommy hurns(michigan boxer) horses was boarded there .

sonuvagun

dragonthor,

Semi-autos are for the most part based on military rifles, where reliability is the most critical factor. Thus, tolerances are looser, and accuracy relies heavily on tight tolerances. You should decide on what you're willing to live with because it is a compromise, or it is if you're on any kind of a budget.

I've had a couple of Mini 14's, my first at age 16 . It held up quite well to all the very HOT Korean surplus 5.56 that was floating around back in the 80's. Neither of them would shoot any kind of useable group though. Not much better than the crappy Chinese SKS's & AK's accuracy-wise. I was pleasantly surprised however by a Mini 30 I acquired around 9 years ago. With the dirt-cheap Russian hollowpoint ammo, it would consistently group within 1.75" @ 100 yards sandbagged. I even had a fair number of groups that were 3/4 to 1", much to my astonishment. Domestic brands of 7.62x39 couldn't come close in that particular rifle. Had any of the junk (USA brand) 20 & 30 round magazines I tried actually functioned properly, it would have been a terrific find IMO. But, to me there's not much point owning a gun like this and having to reload every 5-10 shots, so it got sold. Fit & finish on all 3 were not too keen of course.

For the type of gun you're wanting, if you were willing to go up to .308 and could save a little more, up until recently I would have recommended a FAL variant such as those produced by DS ARMS. Primarily due to the enormous amount of surplus new & used 20 round mags for $5-$10, a result of the fact that this design was adopted by something like 90 countries since the late 50's. I've got a surplus R1A1 that shoots so-so (likely needs a barrel), but even the standard SA-58's from DS are supposed to be good shooters, as they should for that price. But now I hear (been out of the gun loop for a few years since I chose not to renew my FFL) that the inane 'hi-cap ban' might be about to meet it's demise. So, that being the case, and your preference of caliber I'd recommend Bushmaster. I believe they should have several models around your price range.

As others have stated, you're much better off with a bolt action if extreme accuracy is your primary goal. Among Ruger, Remington and Winchester, I'd pick Remington (just avoid that horrendous creation they spat out of the factory a few years ago, what an insult). I found a 600 Mohawk (short barreled lightweight predecessor to the Model 7) at a local pawn shop some years ago that was still in great condition. I couldn't have asked for a better rifle. Well, except for the trigger guard/'floorplate' arrangement and construction. It could be counted on to consistently group within .5" with Remington soft point ammo. It seems that they used thicker walled barrels back then (late 60's) than they do now on rifles of this sort. I wouldn't think twice about a Winchester rifle either, just haven't had much experience with them, but what I have it's been really good.

mainehunt

I recommend a Bushmaster AR15 I own a Bushy flat-top, 20" H-bar. Shoots MOA with some factory ammo, sub-MOA with my handloads of 50 grain ballistic tips. A GREAT gun built in the US of A.