r/canadaguns • u/DryF1re • 16d ago
Buy recommendations Affordable and fun round + firearm combo that isn't in .22
What is your favorite affordable round+firearm combo that isn't a .22?
Yes, ideally we get our 5.56 firearms back but I'm not counting on that so just looking for alternatives.
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u/Omega_Shaman 16d ago
357 and 38 special lever action.
12 gauge pump for slugs
12 gauge over under for skeet
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u/DryF1re 16d ago
was looking at .38 spcl today. thought it was gonna be cheaper but 5.56 is probably cheaper
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u/Q-Ball7 In the end, it's taxes all the way down 16d ago
.38, .357 and .44 Magnum are about the only family of mainstream cartridges whose cost per round are cut by more than half if you reload.
If you buy a good progressive press, it'll have paid for itself once the 5000th round leaves the press (you save at a minimum 250 dollars per thousand for standard-performance .38 Special). If you burn through a few thousand rounds a year, it's worth it.
5.56's bulk price, on the other hand, can at times be so low that reloading is not actually cheaper.
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
About the same
Bulk cheap 223 is about 0.59 a round Cheap 38 special is 0.50 a round. So shop around and look online too!
Cheap 357 can be found for 0.72 a round, so more expensive, but if you buy both 38 and 357, together the cost is almost the same as 223
Prices taken off Ammobin.ca searches, my go to place to see how bad the local store is ripping me off
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u/Anyways_Im_Em 16d ago
12g, 7.62x39, .308/7.62x51. Pretty much my go to for range days.
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u/Whispersfine 16d ago
7.62*39 is slowly moving from dirt cheap to affordable
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u/Anyways_Im_Em 16d ago
Definitely. Not much left these days for cheap rounds.
Glad I picked up a crate when I did. Never enough. But enough to hold me over for the next while.
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u/LumberjackCDN Gold'n Loan Outfitters & Pawn 16d ago
233/556 is my choice. Shop the aisan and european brands and its not bad
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u/MEmERDuDe21 16d ago
While 22 is fun, hitting harder is also fun, cheap is fun too. I take 12 gauge 7.62x39 and my 357 lever, always good times but you cant beat 2 hours of shooting as much 22 as you can for like 50$ maybe like 80 but yk, this hobby is expensive at 16 I was spending 1000's a year on stuff
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
I like a mix! Shoot your more expensive rounds, and then fill in some time with some cheap 22! Like the said, it's great to blast a ton of 22 and not have to worry about the cost. The 22 always comes on the range trip
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u/Remote_Mistake6291 16d ago
9mm pump, .357 lever and .556 lever but none can compete with a 600 round .22 day.
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u/HappyCan7250 16d ago
Love my Savage 110 in 223, it's still pretty cheap to shoot. Some of the newer 223 semis are a lot of fun too but a bit more expensive to shoot (more ammo) and more upfront, but a Savage 110 in 223 or a used Tikka T3 Varmint are great accuracy and very fun in their own way. I paid $750 for my heavy barrelled 110.
A semi auto 12ga though is also a blast (pun intended). For some reason I find semi 12ga WAY more fun than a pump 12ga (although when bush camping/hunting its my pump that stays close by - more reliable)
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
Your comment makes me really want to try out a semi auto 12. Shot plenty of pump and break action, but you got me curious.
Any recommendations for a decent semi shotgun?
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u/krimsonkodiak 16d ago
Picked up a 357 mag lever action recently and it’s a blast. Haven’t had as much fun shooting in a while.
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u/Cock_ball_dickin 16d ago
Underrated pick is 5.56. Maybe not underrated anymore but in bulk it’s cheap. You can get like a thousand rounds for what, $700 or something? Not bad. Especially considering it’s just a goated cartridge in general.
Ngl probably not underrated lol, people know it’s goated
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u/JTrudeausLeftNut 16d ago
38 spl lever gun. Boxes are more expensive but the per bullet count is cheaper
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u/Canuck083 16d ago
I highly recommend Henry H23 Supreme in 556/223 Now they got it at Bass Pro and it goes on sale sometimes
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u/saulgoodman147 16d ago edited 16d ago
I still found 7.62x54r to be more affordable around my place, compared to 357/38spl or 30
But I have many mosin, so last 5 years I’ve stocked up
Or else 12 Guage and 7.62x39 Norinco boxes are still available for relatively cheap
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u/manny_mcmanface 16d ago
12 ga pump action shotgun. I recommend the maverick 88. It's all of the things you want.
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u/NoGrapefruit1213 16d ago
357/38 in the Canuck blackout lever
.223 out of a taipan x
Either the Ege Levar12s or the mossberg 590r And I run the cheapest target loads I can find which aren’t that cheap anymore but there’s still some okay deals. And some I slice open melt down and reload with Lee drive key 7/8 ounce slugs with a rifled choke tube at 100 yards can hit a 8” gong pretty much everytime.
Im fighting the adhd urge to pick up one of those Bulltac sa from FOC Labour Day weekend coming up I know they’ll have a 10-15% off sale so I might cave in and get one if they are still in stock
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
I've heard that's a great way to get some cheap low recoil slugs! Get some birdshot, melt down the shot and make a slug! Most I've watched use the shot cup and just cut the slides down to make a little sabot for the slug then. I've even seen some wacky things like a screw holding the cut shot cup to the back of the slug so that it shoots like a badminton birdie and is more accurate out of a smooth barrel. The better option I think, would be a rifled choke though.
I'm with you on the Bulltac SA shotguns.... just saw them a few days ago. Sleek little semi auto bullpup.... super tempting with all our other bullpups gone
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u/NoGrapefruit1213 15d ago
They work great I have a shell cutter I printed it trims it right at the crimp slide the slug into the wad and roll the crimp with a roll crimper in the drill. They work awesome the wad acts as sabot and away they go! Yeah I can’t make up my mind but I really want one but I still haven’t recovered from the last 3 firearm purchases lol
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
What I'm between is the folding Axor FS shotgun. Folds up nice and small but unfolds to be just a normal semi auto, or getting the Bulltac that's always nice and small, but is made with a lot more polymer and won't have the same warranty....
I'm thinking the gun safe probably has room for both, considering how different they are.... just gotta pick one to buy 1st
What were your last purchases, out of curiosity!!!!
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u/Ok-Turnover4223 16d ago
Lever 30-30 or 7.62x39 all day ... my .303 Brit and .308 are fun but not "affordable" for range days .... the 12ga with target loads is though...
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u/NorthwindX7 16d ago
9mm for a little more ooompf. (Homesteader, all others were banned)
.17hmr for more accuracy and range. (Whatever shoots it)
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u/Flat-Dark-Earth Big Bore Specialist 16d ago
9mm, 12g and 7.62x39 are your next most affordable rounds after 22.
After that, 223, 38/357 and 308.
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u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks 15d ago
CZ600 Trail in 300BO or 7.62x39.
I just think they're neat.
Also the KSG and Trailhand in 12ga are both hilarious in unique ways. The KSG because it holds a ton of shells, and the Trailhand because it has so much recoil with magnum buck and is so tiny that it feels like you're shooting the Noisy Cricket from Men in Black or something. It makes the KSG look very tame, and people complain about that recoil.
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u/DryF1re 15d ago
hmmm a CZ in 7.62x39 would actually be awesome. If i didnt already have a .30-06 and a .270, i would do that
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u/CryptidWorks CryptidWorks 15d ago
It's pretty neat - I went with it because I have a hefty stock of that ammo since I also own an SKS.
It's pretty much an ideal hunting cartridge where I am (Vancouver Island) and the terrain means you're unlikely to take a particularly long hunting shot outside of 7.62x39's effective range - most shots that would be farther are also ones that would be a pain to retrieve a harvested animal from.
Doubly so if you reload, as you can work up some pretty spicy 150 grain soft point loads. I wouldn't take elk with it (I have a .308 for that, you have a 30-06), but it will absolutely slay deer.
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u/IndividualCertain358 16d ago
Reload 357, it’s much cheaper that way. It’s just a time commitment.
7.62x39 as many have mentioned is going up in cost, but still affordable,
12g target load bird shot is probably your next cheapest
It really depends on what you want to do.
There are many discipline you could do, IPSC(shotgun, mini rifle, handgun) , skeet, multi-gun… ect,
It really depends on what you are looking to do and get out of it.
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u/Iokua_CDN 15d ago
My go to back in the day was the Sks and 7 62 x39. It still does alright now, but with sks prices rising always, now you also got to look at bolt action prices. A nice, light, CZ 600 alpha or Howa m1500 mini action is actually cheaper than an sks, far more accurate and can easily take scopes for even better accuracy. So it depends if you want a heavier, wood stock semi, or a lighter polymer bolt action at that price point.
Bolt action/semi in 223 is still always an option. Semi auto options like the AD500a and Chimera are still there for about 1k, but the bolt actions are what get really cheap. Cheaper than the 7.62 x39 options. You got 600 dollar Savage Axis rifles in 223, remington 783 rifles, New ruger Glenfield Model A rifles for 700, all the way to the same CZ 600 Alpha and Howa m1500 mini action rifles. Plus many many more at a higher price range.
38 special and 357 are my next options because you can get something other than a semi or a bolt action. On the cheapest end, Turkish Made Morrisons are the cheapest, but Citadel Levtacs regularly go on sale and get close, and give you Brazil or American QC (I believe production was originally Brazil from Rossi, now American from the Heritage branch). Going up a bit in price, Turkish Canuck and Brazilian Rossi and Heritage are all options, even Italian Chiappa, before you get into the more expensive Henry, Marlin and Smith and Wesson. Somewhere in there are also a few 357 revolver rifles too. Ammo prices are about the same as 223 and are a ton of fun to shoot. My cheap 357 Levtac gets shot more than my sks, and is honestly more fun.
12 ga is a mixed bag price range. Birdshot is as cheap as 223. Birdshot melted into a slug costs only time, heat and some sort of slug mold (still got to try this someday), slugs cost double, usually a buck a round. Still not bad. Now the guns, have even more variety. Cheap Maverick 88s are probably the most common suggested cheap pump. Cheap Turkish and Chinese pumps may off more features but also less reliability, and available parts. Old double barrels and over unders from Intersurplus and other stores offer timeless European Quality at very low prices, but again, parts are going to be near impossible to buy. Better to buy another shotgun, and use the old one for parts at that point. Rising in costs from the cheap pumps and break actions, there are all sorts. Cheap Turkish semi autos, odd lever actions, higher quality pump actions, up to more expensive Italian and American semi autos that can still be bought for around 1k. All in all, a very versatile round, with a variety of guns that every gun should at least have 1 of!
Getting into the more expensive ammo option 3006 and 308. Believe it or not, semi autos are still available here too! European 3006 BARs are cheap, and Turkish 308 semis are only a bit more. But of course, to get the cheaper firearm, you gotta go bolt action. From the cheapest European Intersurplus 3006 bolt actions for 300 bucks, the the budget brand Savage Axis in 308 for 400 and the norinco bolt actions for 500, you got a ton of cheap options. And even more options as you rise in price. Nearly every bolt action maker makes a 308 or 3006 rifle. So while ammo costs more than other options, the guns themselves or cheap cheap cheap.
And lastly my wildcard. Ammo is about 308 prices, guns vary but can be had for as low as 600-700. The wild and wacky and very fun 410 Revolver shotgun! These weird little freaks of a gun may spit gas everywhere, have a trigger pull heavier than a fat guy in a toboggan, amd questionable QC at best, but they are fun. Short little barrels, shooting 5 shots as fast as your trigger finger can manage, these guns are hilarious. Is the 12 ga better and cheaper? Absolutely. But these little guns still provide a ton of fun. And why stop at the funky revolvers? You can get break actions, lever actions, pump actions, pump action bullpups, all sorts of wacky 410 guns. Worth having at least 1, especially for any smaller shooters that want a shotgun with less recoil, but also for any other shooter. They are a ton of fun, even if less practical.
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u/Sad-Stop-2401 15d ago
7.62x39mm and SKS I guess... With chrome lined barrel you can get those corrosive round surplus bricks for free with your SKS. Just remember to clean your rifle.
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u/GFN_good_for_nothing 15d ago
22 WMR and 45 acp aren’t too expensive right now… Rossi makes the RS22M which is a semi auto that takes 10 and 25 round mags of 22WMR and there’s a variety of lever actions that take 45, you also have the sr45
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u/DryF1re 15d ago
There was a guy shooting an over/under combo next to me at the range. Had it resting on sandbags.
I think it was 12gauge up top and .22wmr on the bottom barrel.
The bottom barrel was shorter and he was resting the 12-gauge on the sandbag.
So, when he went to shoot the bottom barrel .22wmr, he shot it straight into the sandbag and it EXPLODED into his face and the neighboring shooting bay where i was sitting (thank you eye protection).
My respect for .22WMR as a legitimate cartridge was cemented that day.
Also learned a lesson if i ever shoot a combo rifle from a bench rest.
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u/munterboi23 15d ago
7.62x39 is alot of fun to shoot, dirty af though if you get the surplus Chinese ammo. 9mm is always a good time. my range days usually encompass all of my guns, start with 9mm tp9sf and girsan regard, 1911 in .45, my sks, my derya tm22 and when the target is riddle with holes, I make the target disappear with a box of 12ga buck or bird
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u/TheBulletBuddy 16d ago
9mm with the Homesteader has been fun. Helps that theres some new handguard options for it too.