Guns are expensive, ammo is expensive, and even magazines can be expensive. (Check out GunMagWarehouse for awesome deals.) If you’re new to guns or maybe on a tight budget, you’ve come to the right place. If you have exactly 1,000 dollars, could you purchase a budget-ready arsenal? Better yet, could you purchase 1,000 dollars worth of firearms that are worth a dang? I think you can and, to do so, I’ve gathered a wide variety of guns that can form a beginner’s collection of firearms.
Building a Budget Collection
The premise is simple: a beginner’s armory should contain the big three of firearms. You’ll need a rifle, a shotgun, and a handgun. This list gives you an option with the three most common types of firearms. Having these three types of guns allows a new shooter, especially one on a budget, to gain a vast amount of experience in the gun world. Three guns allow you a diverse experience that can guide your later firearm choices and interests.
I’m going to provide you with nine total guns with three guns per genre. Each gun will be assigned a letter within its genre: A, B, or C. The letters of one genre coincide with the same letters of another genre to give you a themed budget ballistic collection for less than a grand.
In terms of price, I used common prices found on the internet from a variety of retailers. My goal is to provide you with the price of a firearm that’s ready to fire. In two of the choices, sighting systems were added to ensure they’re shootable out of the box.
The Budget Blasting Collection
Shotguns
A – Mossberg Maverick 88 – $230
The Maverick 88 series is a classic pump-action shotgun. It’s as simple as a gun gets and comes in both security and field configurations. This 12 gauge shotgun is one of the most versatile guns and a Maverick can be used for home defense, hunting, and sporting purposes. At less than $250, the Maverick is one of the best budget picks of all time.
B – Rock Island Armory Traditional Single Shot- $105
The simple single-shot shotgun is a classic American weapon. It’s a relatively dull weapon, but an efficient one. Their light weight, low-price, but versatile design makes them great for new shotgunners. The Rock Island Armory Traditional Single Shot comes in the big three popular shotgun calibers and is a fairly nice shotgun. Nice wood furniture, a vent rib, and an exposed hammer are great features for a cheap shotgun.
C – Stoeger M3000 Defense – $469
If you want to step it up for defensive use, the Stoeger M3000 Defense shotgun is a semi-auto 12 gauge shotgun. There are numerous variants, but the cheapest is the standard at a little less than 500. These are inertia-driven shotguns that trace their lineage to Benelli. They are surprisingly reliable and well-made. The M3000 is perfect for home defense and one of the few affordable semi-autos I’d trust.
Rifles
A – PSA PA-15 + Savage Arms Flip-Up Rear Sight – $431 or Crimson Trace CTS-24 – $510
The classic PSA PA-15 delivers a 5.56 caliber AR with the very basics. It’s functional, but don’t expect free-floating handguards and Magpul furniture. It’s a bare-bones, optic’s ready rifle with a fixed front sight. It doesn’t come with a rear sight, but for 11 dollars, you can add the Savage Flip Up Sight, or for less than $100, a Crimson Trace red dot will get you out the door. The PA-15 series is reliable and perfect as a beginner’s AR.
B – Savage Axis 2 XP With Vortex Scope – $490
The Savage Arms Axis 2 is a bolt-action rifle series that comes in all manner of calibers. They are very accurate rifles with excellent triggers. They even come in camo finishes without too much of a price hike. Better yet, Savage has teamed up with Bushnell and Vortex to pair their rifles with scopes at a great price point. For less than 500 dollars, you have a scoped rifle ready to take hunting.
C – Ruger 10/22 – $250
The Ruger 10/22 is not the cheapest rimfire rifle on the market, but it’s the best one. At least as far as stock guns go, this .22LR rifle is the AR-15 of rimfire rifles. It’s easy to shoot, reliable, highly customizable, accurate, and oh-so-versatile. The Ruger 10/22 can be used for hunting and even defensive use in a pinch. It’s very easy to shoot and a ton of fun. It’s the ultimate plinker.
Handguns
A – Ruger MAX 9 – $300
The Ruger MAX 9 takes the LC9 and turns it into a modern micro-compact 9mm handgun. It’s perfectly suited for self-defense and concealed carry. With 10 or 12-round magazines, you get a ton of ammo for such a small gun. The MAX 9 is also optics-ready, so a red dot can be added, but it isn’t necessary. This is the best value concealed carry handgun on the market.
B – Heritage Rough Rider – $100
The Heritage Rough Rider is the Arizona Tea of handguns. I have no idea how they keep their prices so low. If one shops around, a plain model Rough Rider can be had for $99. While the average price might be closer to $129, I found three retailers with a $99 price point. These are six-shot, single action cowboy-style revolvers that shoot the famed .22LR but can be swapped to a .22 Magnum with a cylinder swap. It’s crazy cheap but also a ton of fun, reliable, and versatile.
C – Taurus 85 – $280
Revolvers are tough to make right and that often makes them expensive. The Taurus 85 finds a way to be a quality concealed carry revolver for a great price. It’s a six-shot .38 Special that comes in both 3-inch and 2-inch variations, as well as exposed hammer and trimmer hammer options. The $299 version is the snub nose variant. These guns are fairly solid, and I’ve been more than impressed with my Taurus 85.
Finding Your Collection Combination
Let’s break down my basic groupings and why I grouped them the way I did.
Group A – Self-Defense Minded ($960.99)
Group A includes the Maverick, PA-15, and Ruger MAX 9. All of these guns would be excellent defensive weapons. This group would cover your home defense and concealed carry needs.
Group B – For the Hunters ($694.98)
Group B gives us the Rock Island Armory Traditional Single Shot, Savage Axis 2, and Heritage Arms revolver. With this setup, you can hunt near anything in North America. Birds, deer, rabbits, and hogs will be at your mercy.
Group C – State Compliant (998.99)
We can’t live in great states with great firearm laws. Group C gets us the Stoeger M3000, Ruger 10/22, and Taurus 85. These provide you with a diverse collection that offers you state compliance.
Your Combinations
What combinations will you make? It has to be less than a thousand dollars in total. I came up with a few like what I call the “Well-balanced Collection” — which is the Maverick, Axis 2, and Heritage Arms revolver. Give us an idea of what combinations you’d make and what theme they would follow!
