Too bad the good ole .222 has fallen out of favor these days.
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Not a gun fan. Grew up in the city, never around guns, but bought a S&W 9MM in my early thirties for home protection.
Never took a class, realized it was irresponsible to own it without training and was moving to DC so I sold it.
Now, my brother, who had the same upbringing owns close to fifteen guns and over ten thousand rounds of ammo.
Bottom line is what are your goals - think you explained them. But realize, it is a rabbit hole to go down.
Thanks for all the info everyone. I like the suggestion about getting a second one, so I think I’ll get the 10/22, and am looking at either a “big boy gun for big boy stuff,” or the shotgun option.
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I’ve never heard of someone regretting dropping $500 on a 10/22 and a few thousand rounds.
Probably one of the best ways to spend $500 if you know you will be getting center fire rifle down the line.
It reminds me of an old lifting quote, maybe from Rippetoe but I don’t recall.
Don’t worry about $100 squat shoes when you’ve got a ten cent squat.
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A little late to the party, but I’ve put thousands of rounds through 10/22s. Can’t recommend one enough. Only drawback, and it’s minor: when teaching kids to shoot, it’s tempting to hammer that trigger and “spray and pray” because it’s so darn fun.
Not sure how old your kiddos are, but one of these little single-shots is great for teaching. Similar to what I learned with. (Dirt cheap, too.)
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I got a Ruger Airhawk for my son. He’s not crazy about the noise, so I gave him my old crossman to learn on.
But that thing is just too much fun. I can sit there for hours and ding the spinny targets.
When it warms up I’m going to get him using the scope.
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I love .243. Flat shooting and maintains its energy pretty well. My grandfather was a “small” caliber guy. Every deer he killed was with a .243.
I see a lot of success with hydrostatic shock on deer. So I like fast rounds. I’m a 270 fan, too, but it might be a little rough for kids depending on age. I’ve never had one run more than 30 yards after a 243, with shots out to 300 yards. And given round trajectory, you can “miss” and still hit the boiler maker at that range.
Sometimes turkey will wander around too, and .243 is perfect for them if I want to call an audible. Can consistently shoot a turkey in the neck out to 100 yards with .243, and even a body shot doesn’t damage turkey meat too much either.
If the new plan is two for different purposes, I’d personally skip the shotgun and buy one later, and go with a .22 and a .270.
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Used to use a .22 mag but you’re 100% on point here
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Ever fired a machine gun?
Everyone should get the chance to fire a Mark 19 or an M2.
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There’s a new .50 cal coming out… absolutely terrifying
M16 was fine and manageable.
SAW 249 was less manageable, but still doable.
She just liked to jam a lot.
M240B was too much yee for my haw. At least, when I weighed like 160lbs, anyways.
At least she never jammed.
I was a 240 G, M2 and MK 19 gunner
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I carried toolboxes and fixed airplanes, lol.
I just did a lot of pew pews in training.
I did get to shoot my local PD’s AA-12 at one point, though. That was fun.
I remember the first time firing one and thinking whoever invented that thing was a psycho.
Id recommend getting yourself a stripped lower from your local LGS real quick & building it out yourself. From there you can swap out upper receivers for a range of calibers.
They make conversion bolts for 22lr that can drop in to a 556/223 ar15 and be ready to go for like ~$200
Additionally, you can swap out to 300blk, 6.5 grendel, 6 arc, 9mm(this is a bit more involved but very doable), 450 bushmaster if laws where you live require straight-walled cartridges to hunt, or 458 socom if you feel so inclined.
Most of those just need an upper receiver swap(pull two pins, remove, put new caliber upper on), a different magazine, and maybe a change in buffer/spring.
Also, working on/building your own guns is good practice for the end of society,etc.
Wasn’t a fan really… Ma Duece and 240 were my jam