Thread: Wanting a cheap little basher gun

Unfortunately last yeah I had to sell most of my firearms and reloading kit so I could pay for our honeymoon, as the wedding went a little overboard. women >< Anyways, so I have now managed to get back into it. Saved enough for a new shot gun, and now I'm saving for optics and a new rifle New rifle is likely to be something I can do LR with, so of course thats gonna be 3-4k rifle. I want something for plinking and pests in the meantime, and dont want to spend a bomb, as that would detract from my savings for a LR rig. I was thinking of bringing in a Bushnell Banner scope which would be about $170 landed into nz. I have been scouring trademe for a $500 gun in .223 or similar, but nada. So what are the Norinco jw103/105 really like? or spend a little more and get a stevens or something? Ideally I'd like to spend as close to $600 as possible with scope, otherwise its gonna cut into my decent rifle fund too much. the Norinco is $399 so with that scope is $570 plus rings.

Is there a better option for similar money in a similar calibre?