rifle basics

Question
I would appreciate your recommendations in purchasing a second rifle.  I have owned a bolt-action Remington .22 rifle for awhile -- nice, very accurate, fun, get a lot of compliments on an old classic.  

I love the bolt action, prefer a scope and would like something lighter (Rem weighs 6.5 lbs) since my range does not have any shooting rests and that solid wood stock gets heavy.  My local range is indoor, so you can only shoot pistol-caliber rounds there.  Can you recommend a lighter rifle and/or a reasonable step up from a .22?  I would like to spend less than $800 and still keep things fun.

Answer
Hi Jill.

The bolt action .22 LR rifles are hard to beat for plinking, target work, varmint control, and just plain old cheap, easy shooting. You didn't mention a number of factors which are important: the distances that you shoot at, the types of targets you shoot, right or left handed, any other people that will be shooting the rifle, and any other purposes for the rifle other than the indoor target shooting. I will still give you a few ideas but keep in mind that your choice should be based on these and many other factors so only you can decide what is best in the end.

You mentioned a "step up" from the .22 so I assume you are interested in a more powerful cartridge. You shouldn't need much more power for indoor target shooting and the extra noise, flash, recoil, smoke, and cost can be drawbacks associated with stepping up but there are a few choices which aren't too bad. To start you could look for a .22 WMR (a.k.a. .22 Magnum) rifle. This cartridge is similar to the .22 LR regarding bullet size but it has significantly more power. Here is a good short article about the .22 WMR:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/22mag.htm


A second option would be the .17 HMR cartridge, which is basically a .22 WMR cartridge that has been modified to hold a .17 caliber bullet. The advantage is a very fast projectile with an exceptionally flat trajectory which would be great for target work. Here is a brief overview of the .17 HMR cartridge:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.17_HMR


Another option would be a short lever action rifle which can fire the .357 Magnum / .38 Special cartridges. These are significantly more powerful than the smaller .22 caliber cartridges but you can buy some low power .38 Special target loads which aren't too bad. Walmart currently sells a Marlin lever action rifle of this type which is 6.5 lbs. so it would be similar to your .22 bolt action while providing a big step up in power.


Unfortunately rifles tend to get heavier as you step up in power factor because the actions must be stronger to deal with the increased pressure, thus they are larger and contain more metal. If weight is more important than power to you then I recommend sticking with a bolt action or maybe even a single shot break action depending on which caliber you prefer.

Regardless of which caliber and rifle that you select, you may want to look into a quality sling as this can offset the weight of the rifle and make you much more accurate when shooting from the standing or seated positions. Here are some links on how to use a sling:

http://www.rifleshootermag.com/shooting_tips/sling_0612/
http://carnival.saysuncle.com/001086.html

I can't recommend a specific rifle brand and model - there are simply too many to choose from. I recommend that you first decide on a cartridge and then search for rifles which are chambered accordingly. In general I prefer Remington, Marlin, Savage, Ruger, and Taurus.

I hope this helps! Good luck with your research.

Bob