Hi. With current global tension due in no small part by the warmongering Putin I have decided that I should get a license and get familiar with using a gun. As guns are quite expensive I need to pick a gun to save up for. After much thought and research I am almost certain that I would only get a non restricted gun as I would not be limited to the range. For caliber it seems like 556 is the best since you can get around the 5 round limit with lar15 and 50 beo mags in STANAG rifles, pistol calibers are alright too I guess with a 10 round limit (9mm specifically for cheapness) but rifles that fire them seem to be priced around the same as 556 rifles so I'm guessing it's better to go with the punchier caliber. 762 was also a caliber I considered but it is limited to 5 rounds and it's not in service anymore so not sure how abundant it will be in the future. I'm thinking more about a semi auto rifle since it would be nice to learn a rifle similar to what the military uses in case NATO gets dragged into war with Russia due to likely Russian aggression in Eastern Europe since as a Ukrainian born Canadian I would join the army if such a thing happened. I want a flexible rifle since I wouldn't be getting another gun for awhile. Plinking, range, hunting and SHTF/home defense versatility as much as possible (if there was 1 gun that did everything there wouldn't be different guns). I am hoping for a price range under $2k but worst case scenario no more expensive than a Tavor.

These are the 556 STANAG semi auto rifles I found: t97, su16, keltec rfb, xcr, tavor, ar180b, benelli mr1, sig 550, m17s

I also found some that I'm not sure we could get in Canada: mpt76, msbs radon, qbz03, f2000

Please help fill out both this list and suggest pistol caliber rifles, write your opinion on individual guns and feel free to suggest other non restricted guns (ex. shotguns, not sure if it's worth it for me). Thanks.