I don't currently own one, but the first rifle I ever bought was an old surplus M1 Carbine. I picked it up at an auction pretty cheap, as the handguard had been removed and not reinstalled properly, so the seller decided to just tape it in place. I think I paid $55 for it (don't get too excited about the price; this was the late 1970s), and shot the living crap out of it for the next couple of years.

Once I tired of it, I sold it to a friend who later gave it to his father.

Fun little guns, and handy as heck. Not much of a deer rifle/caliber, but it will do the job up close. Magazines and mag-related problems can be troublesome, but with good mags and decent ammo, they run like a top. For a short time, one of the commercial manufacturers made them in 9mm; I should have bought and kept one of those.