I don't have one but I have shot one a few times. I was not impressed.

FWIW, they were $300 (yes, Three Hundred Dollars) the other day on one of the gun websites. I tried to get one to resale for a quick profit but missed the sale (they probably only had a few of them) by a few minutes.

I have a Marlin .22 I always assumed it was a model 60, because that is the most common. But in looking around, I discovered it is most probably a 795, which is a scalled down version of the camp carbine (9mm), which I also own.

I have never had a single misfire in either rifle, ever. I use all sorts of ammo - whatever is cheapest - in both. I would not hesitate to get another one of either model. Add a scope, and they are very accurate.

I really like my 795. Put a wood thumbhole stock and tech sights on it. It just runs.

Amazing, simple action. No muss, no fuss, it just shoots. Easy to clean, too.

I love my Winchester 94 lever action carbine. It's a tack driver, and I've take a couple of deer with it (.44 rem mag) as well. But it's a very complicated piece of machinery, and a nightmare to clean all the nooks and cranies.

Both good guns, but quite the opposite in many ways.

I just had five fail to loads, every time it was when swapping magazines. WTF is wrong with my M&P?

BTW, everyone is sold out of the M&P9 SHIELD.

Mag spring too strong?

Not sure. I just cleaned it throughout and the loading and firing mechanism were very dirty. I then put 10-rounds in all 6 mags and cycled through all of them. I had one fail to load when cycling and I guess I wasn't slapping them hard enough.

I also bought some Hornaday Critical Defense for the house.

Have you thought about a Mosin Nagant? Its a Russian bolt action rifle that shoots 7.62x54R. The rifle can be had for around $80 and ammo is cheep too. Just a thought.

I love my savage Mark II .22lr bolt-action from walmart that I got brand new for a total of $140 with our background check included... the rifle is a super accurate and fun to shoot.

Pitlab77; what do you want to do, just shoot for fun or eventually start hunting? The Mosin you could hunt with if thats what your trying to get into.

Mosin's have big-time recoil. They are not a gun you go out to shoot for fun. I've shot 2 of them, and couldn't think of any reason (other than sighting in a scope) that I'd want to pull the trigger more than a couple of times in one sitting. Feel free to call me a puszy, but I wouldn't recommend one as a "to learn on" rifle.

They can be a decent hunting rifle, but are far from "accurate". I think the average 91/30 is a 2 MOA gun with decent ammo. Using the typical 50yr old surplus ammo that's cheap, you're not going to get even that.

Mosin Nagant's have 2 things going for them... CHEAP, both for the rifle and ammo, and HISTORICAL VALUE. But the list of things against them is a mile long, starting with accuracy compared to any modern cartridge in any modern bolt-action rifle.

If looking for a first hunting rifle (deer), and prioritizing budget, a used Savage Axis or Remington 770 for under $300 with scope should be pretty easy to find at any LGS or pawnshop. Decent rifle ammo is $20-$30 box for all the major calibers. I'm a 25-06 guy myself for deer, but 30.06 is cheaper.

Sam is a wealth of information and knowledge, you'd do well by listening to him.

Yes I have.

The ammo is not as cheap as the .22lr Or at least I cant find it that cheap. I want something I can go out and shoot for the heck of it at one of the many outdoor ranges here.

If I eventually want to try to go hunting well my friend that hunts deer with his brother has enough extra guns. Also my soon to be father in law, who was in the military, has plenty of guns. Plus it would be easier to visit him and buy something in Nevada than even here in Tx. Plus it would give me quality time with my Father in law :)

Does anyone hunt with a Garand? Or is it just too damn heavy?

My grandfather used to hunt Germans with one.

Hustler, when you say one failed to cycle/load. Is this during firing? Or are you going to slide lock and ramming a magazine home, and the slide is auto-releasing on its own and failing to strip a round?

All failures came from loading the first round in the freshly loaded magazine, when slamming the magazine in. I could not recreate the failure from manually pulling the slide.

Depending on where you live you may need a 5 round clip to keep it legal.

This is such bullshit. I can just see the day when bank robbers storm a bank with M1 Garands....

Oh, is this a bank? Sorry, we where looking for Nazis.