I am currently in the market for a .223/5.56 bolt action rifle that I have had my eye on for a while. However, I have recently been eyeing an ar as well. Within a year I'm sure I could afford both, but I find myself asking the question of "am I wasting money by doing so?".

I don't have any desire to hunt or I would get a 308 bolt action rifle. So I just do target shooting to have fun. Anyone care to tell me why I'd be stupid to buy both rifles? I could get a cheaper bolt action that only does .223 but I like the flexibility if it can do both. I would still have the issue of covering the same caliber but it would be cheaper.

Maybe I just worry too much and just need to "shut up and buy the damned things" like the wife says.

She wins.  Buy both,  Always the arfcom rule

rule #1 when the wife says you can get it this is not time to agree with her!
I do not know what you are after in the AR-15 but I do have a bolt action with bull barrel in .223 Rem. that is a first rate varmint rifle and also have an AR-15 in .223 Rem. with a heavy barrel a ground hog at 400 yards will never know the difference in the two rifles, but get in to a prairie dog town on a sunny day and the 30 round mag and not having to cycle the bolt will be the only difference that matters, I would buy the AR-15 first and see if you want a bolt action after that

In todays world I might do the following...

Get a light weight AR 15, 16" barrel,  and get a longer, heavier barreled, very accurate AR 15...

Get a 20" Bushmaster and you have both. A long range accurate rifle and 30 rounds. Win, win.

to piggyback on what NE450No2 commented... I recently suffered a shoulder injury due to a bicycle accident, and at the last 3 gun match struggled to hold up my 16" middle contour rifle for 20 or so offhand 100yd shots... I am currently exploring a .600" pencil barrel refit for my other carbine.... if your wife or juvenile children would need to shoot one of your rifles, can they hold up a heavy barreled AR?...  a friend had a Daniel Defense lightweight in his shop, and I had forgotten how light the SP1 style barrels were to hold...

She's got her own handgun and access to our backup handgun for home defense so really the rifles are primarily for target/fun. The current setup for home defense if it was needed would have her at the long end of a hallway on the floor aiming a rifle anyway, wouldn't really have to hold it up.

back to the subject though. I will keep the brand discussion out of it so it doesn't devolve into "omg that ar sux!!!?!!?"

I had debated on getting the 5.56/223 bolt action and getting a .308 AR, but the current price of ammo would keep me from ever shooting the thing, and as I said I don't plan on hunting. It would be a bit expensive as just a plinking/target AR.

Seriously just started owning a gun the start of june to introduce the wife to guns and shooting because I had so much fun as a kid. Now she wants practically everything... started with a 9mm, then a sr22, 10/22, and telling me to get one for concealed if I want, and the rifles....... never expected it to take off so quick. lmao

Nope, nothing wrong with your choices. A lot of people do what you're doing. I do. I have a lot of firearms that share common calibers and/or overlap each others "power" for lack of a better word and across different actions. One of the most common I have is in .22's. I have them in semi action rifles, pistols, bolts, levers, single action revolvers, SA/DA revolvers, pumps and so on.

What I mean by overlapping is a .22 is good for target/practice/warmups, pest control to small game. A .223/5.56 is a good round for varmints up to small/medium game if you ever get into hunting. 308 overlaps it in the medium to large. A .375 H&H overlaps that from medium to dangerous. Think of it as getting specific.

Action variations are what keeps it interesting and completes the specific tool for the job. Back to hunting as an example. I'd much prefer something light weight, compact and fast follow up say a lever action in heavy woods and brush then a long barreled scoped bolt and vice versa on a very open area like a very large field. I go through runs on actions. Sometimes I'll use levers and six guns then that gets old and switch to semi-rifles and pistols for a while and so on.

You can always add to your lineup. What I look for when I do buy (besides a bit of research on quality) is are there variations in caliber on the same model. That way all the ergos are the same. Muscel memory and all that. AR's are generally all the same in that measure. The others not so much with stock, sight, grip variations and such.

As for costs, get into reloading. Those .308s will get down to .223 prices if you do. Yes, you need to invest a bit up front, maybe 5-600 to make it comfortable or less if you want to work harder at it. You can actually do it with a lee classic loader for like 25, and a hammer. Thanks anyway, been there. That's how I started way back when with the old man.

Your wife is correct.

Where do get this notion you need to hunt if you buy a .308???

I have one and probably will never hunt with her.

Buy a .308 and an AR and suppress them both.

.223 bolt guns are fun and "relatively" inexpensive to shoot.

Ruger African .223 Rem.

Here is an idea, get the AR for home defense and general shooting, then forget about the bolt actions and go with a TC Encore. with the TC you can swap out barrels for different cartridges. In addition to my AR I currently have 5 different barrels for my Encores to cover all the different hunting seasons and game, not too mention for shooting steel plates etc. A Single Shot is far more economical to shoot, though anyone who practices can put down accurate shots as quickly as a bolt action and go thru ammo. The SS also guides one to be a better shot, the Motto "one shot, one kill" takes on a new meaning with a SS, LOL

That does look pretty cool.  I almost bought a CZ527 carbine in .223, but the hunting laws in VA and other places I can go require rounds larger than .223.  Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but they are what they are and I just couldn't justify getting a hunting rifle I couldn't take hunting...

Until I have the room to reload the prices of .308 is too much for plinking. If I was a hunter I wouldn't have as much reservation. As for suppressors, in IA so it's a nono.

Get an AR and Mossberg MVP in 5.56mm. Then you have a bolt gun that can take ar mags

That's what I did, a 14.5" lightweight setup with irons and a 16" stainless barrel with a scope. And a 9mm AR just for cheap plinking...

Well that is the bolt action I'm looking at. I also got a free pmag  with an order of ammo I got from iammo not that I need 30rds but oh well.

I'd say the MVP isn't going to be any more accurate than the AR -- depending on the AR, it might even be less accurate.

I'd combine the funds and get 1 really nice AR or 1 really nice rifle, along the lines of a Larue or a Savage F/TR.

you didn't mention optics? if it's buy two guns and have no quality optic's then i'd say get one and buy quality optics for it. something like a spr profile 16-18.5" then buy a nice scope for it. then later down the road you could buy the bolt gun and slap the scope on it and be better off than having two mediocre weapons right now.

Unless you are dead set on a bolt gun, this is the route I would go. You really don't save money building an accurate bolt gun versus building an accurate AR and from a mechanical accuracy standpoint, the differences are pretty negligible. With the proper kit and training, either can be a sub-MOA rifle. The AR will always be more versatile as well.

I actually had a longer post written up but my stupid ipad killed it so I'm going by memory here.
I really shouldn't have even mentioned a name because no one every agrees on anything. Threads get mired down in 'that rifle isn't any good, just buy XXXX rifle"

I'm not willing to spend 2000+ on one rifle. I want something to shoot now and I will be getting the other later. 500-600 bolt action + optics, I was given the OK for as the wife put it "as long as you don't spend over $1000 I don't care...*pause* well maybe a little over $1000.... *another pause*.... whatever just buy it" In about a year, maybe less I'm thinking about an AR.. No names, no 'build vs buy', just what I'm planning. The problem with giving numbers is that someone also always says "for just a few hundred more you can do this" and then "but if you're doing that a few hundred more here....."

I like opinions and I like options..... but as my wife says I tend to think my options to death..... If only i could just shoot them and put them out of their misery.

You were talking about an AR (which means ~$1500 today) and a bolt rifle (~$650). Together, those put you in the range of a Larue (or insert other quality brand name here) AR that will give you very good accuracy and quality.

Given the new information that you don't want to spend $2000 on a single rifle, then I think the previous suggestion from Traderjac of a Bushmaster (or insert other quality brand name here) with a 20" heavy barrel is a much better option. That's looking at ~$1250-1500 plus something like a Zeiss Conquest (~$400-500). This gives you a quality combination. You can then go NE450No2's route and add a 16" barrel with a red dot later. (Or do it in reverse, but if you're target shooting, I'd go with the scope.)

Similar to that in price, you can go with the Savage F/TR bolt action, again ~$1300 plus something like a Zeiss Conquest (~$400-500). This will give you a competition quality sub-MOA bolt rifle that needs nothing but scope and rings for competition level accuracy. (There really isn't another "insert other quality brand name here" for a rifle at this level of accuracy at this level of cost, that I'm aware of. They were even nicer when they were $300 cheaper.)

If you want a $500-600 bolt action, I'd buy whatever Savage (or insert other quality brand name here) you like that comes with a laminate, wood or Choate (or other good) stock. And then put a Zeiss Conquest or similar scope on it.

Yeah, 2 ar's,
1 for op, 1 for wife.
Two is one, one is none, and all that (always have spare parts,  always have at least one functioning gun)

Spare rifles are good, options are good.....

.......for defense, or fun

Get the AR first.  A good AR may kill any desire/need for a bold action 223.    If that doesnt do the trick, find a good CZ in 223 for a bolt gun.

Yes a  good ar sounds like what you need you can get a DMR variant or put it together slowly. Long range is possible and still can be shot for the ammo is cheap to reload and is still on shelfs if you cann afford current market prices.

Not familiar with DMR....

Designate Marksman Rifle -- basically a rifle with a rail in place of a carry handle but retaining a fixed front sight.

So i guess what i need to take away from this is shut up and buy guns as long as the wife keeps saying she doesnt care.

Yes and no (there's always two answers here).

The yes part is as long as it doesn't become an addiction and you meet any and all obligations first. Not just the immediate but what may be in the future. They may be an investment in years to come but for the most part, be willing to loose half in the short term if necessary.

The no part is don't buy on a whim. Think about what you would want as a bare bones collection in the end, write it down. You can adjust it over time and flush it out around your main battery. Research what your looking at. If you go by reviews on forums remember most will be negative, it's just the way it is. The majority of positives are not posted.


Just edta: In one of your previous post you said you don't have the room to reload. You'd be surprised on how little room you actually need with a little imagination.

Here's one way but your not limited to it:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/324379/lee-reloading-stand

Heres a write up I did awhile ago:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_42/377402_I_said_I_would_write_up_my_style_so_I_did__enjoy__I_hope____.html

Naw this is all after bill and savings money so its all good. As for the space we live in a tiny box til we buy a house next year. At that point ill be taking a serious look at reloading depending how much we end up shooting.

As for the snap decision. I've been beating the horse to death for over a month and have a bit over another month before our extra money will add up to a rifle so i'll have even more time to waffle back and forth. It sucks living in my area that i cant even hold 1/2 the guns mentioned let alone the mvp i have leaned towards. Oh well though

Really my ending inventory would be

2 9mm one home, one carry (dont start with caliber wars please)
1 ar 5.56/.223
1 .22lr..... Currently have a 597 remington im trading in asap.. Crappiest rifle ive ever shot and remingtons CS sucks. Took 3 weeks for new magazines that didnt fix the problem
1 bolt action rifle 5.56/.223 to share ammo

This doesnt count what the wifw has/wants.

I said the same thing. My wife doesn't care for them so I dumped my first collection when we had our first born. She was ansi about them with the kiddo. Wasn't  big deal to me at the time. They were only safe queens by then any way. Then I said, ahh, hmm, well just one as a "just in case". Well, here's about a third of the herd out for winter cleaning. Between these and the rest, leather, knives and sharpening, the bows I don't know what else off hand, it takes me two weeks vacation around Christmas. I like doing it though..:

Im lucky i would/will never have that much extra money. I also have computers i spend money on as an IT guy. My current mindset just doesnt care for having multiple calibers. Maybe it will change maybe it wont, but for now ill stick with the plan.