Thread: Hunting rifles and ammo to hire?

that howa 243 thats just come up would be perfect goat medicine..... just about hard to think of something better for someone starting on hunting journey.

I once hired one from Robbie Tiffen ( gunworks) due to not wanting to bring gun on the plane. Recoil pad was a bit manky but it was a sako 270 rebarreled to 338lapua - obviously a technical project challenge he once set himself. 10x S&B scope where everything was a blur closer than 100m. Paid for ammo less than it would cost to reload. He had a couple of others for hire also top quality guns. But it never really took off and i havent heard if anyone else doing it since. Perhaps legal “risk” would make a lot shy away now. Robbie trained as a lawyer before he was a gunsmith.

The idea of buying and setting up a new (old) gun before Matariki is a bit of a stretch for a new shooter on his/her own.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

no never will not lend firearms ever ----a good old mate in Gisborne loaned out a rifle some years ago - okay the guy he loaned it to was was found in a reserve about 30 km from Gisborne yes shot himself with it - so no never ever - no matter how good a looking the swap is

I learnt the hard way after loaning a rifle to go to Stewart Island and came back covered in rust,Uncle loaned another farmer shotgun and he shot himself and Mate loaned his son a nice Mannlicher and he strayed off DOC block onto farm land and rifle confiscated by Police and gone. So now I would have to be right their before anyone used any gun of mine unless I knew them really well. Too many horror stories going around.

Originally Posted by 338MAN mk2

Im embarrassed our fellow shooters aren't more friendly to your request. Probably coz of the current government and their bullshit ( stick the knife in at all cost policies )
I got my start because a family friend l gave me a 243 to use. Shot my 1st pig and i was hooked.
Probably he is the reason i have no money now, but i am forever grateful.
Not sure it helps but i have a remington m7 in 7mm08 you can use for free but based in South Waikato so cost of living and fuel costs could be a hindrance

Thanks heaps for your offer - I really appreciate it. Tokoroa is probably a bit far for me to get to at this stage unfortunately so will have to pass this up.

Originally Posted by 308

If you can afford a holiday you can afford to buy your own rifle

You can get a perfectly respectable Parker Hale in 303 /270/308 and a box of ammo for less than 800

then you could turn around in 6 months and sell it for maybe a hundred dollar loss



My paranoid side is thinking that you are a sock puppet trolling to see if anyone is dumb enough to help you out

Your right, there’d be heaps of very cheap 270s,

Originally Posted by dannyb

I don't think Tentman was referring to your particular experience, especially considering he was quoting someone else.
Your experience is one that would make anyone shy of lending a firearm and I'm sorry your friend went through that it must have been devestating for him.

Ihad a similar experience in my profession .young bloke i was nursing ,avid hunter but emotionally very very unpredictable .my professional gut feeling was surging toward high risk self harm so i made the tough decision to request removal of his FAL.His father through contacts sabotaged my efforts, and a lot of my own collleagues thought i was overreacting .two weeks later after father son argument that lad put a bullet through his head .I did succeed with another r emoval although in fact the police already had it ,but that bloke used a 12g round in a bit of galvanised pipe to do the deed.
yes the arena of desperate humanity is not at all pretty ,there were a thousand places id rather be ,but it was my choice .even now in my third year of retirement my memory is very vivid so naturally im very cautious about certain aspects of my life and this is one of them .broken or misused weapons can be remedied humans cant so if I come across as short /brutal at times well now you know.
lastly and to illustrate my POVwas a case in the NIsome 2yrs ago ,where a well meaning senior citizen leant a 12g to a mate who wanted to take his grandkids out after ducks.
wifey gets a call from the plod -"would mr .....contact the senior sgt please ."
bloke duly frontsa to be told Plod had caught the youngsters in possesion of said weapon and using it unsupervised ,so the owners FALwas forfeited as of this instant ..no ifs or buts !!
yesiree a good deed gone wrong and how manytimes does this happen. without the legal owner knowing. take a risk in this hostileenvironment -no shit sherlock?????

I think what most would do if confronted with lending a firearm to a stranger is err on the side of caution. To me its the respnosible thing to do...

Originally Posted by Tall kiwi

Cheers all for the advice and considerations. I knew it was highly unlikely but worth a shot (pun intended). Will keep an eye out on the 2nd hand market and see if I can wrangle something. I look forward to getting out into the bush and learning how to properly hunt (outside of rabbit shooting).

This is meant quite seriously, just go hunting with a camera and test yourself in the bush. If you are a novice, worrying about a rifle as you fight your way through the bush and dont see anything anyway is a chore. Just go to the bush, see how good you are, see how you like hunting, learn how to move through the bush without fighting it, come back and buy a rifle if it is your thing. Most of us started by tagging along with someone else who had the rifle, learning

Not sure if this is an option, but I've been researching outfitters, and most of them appear to offer to rent firearms for ppl who come from overseas.
Perhaps they'll do the same for a local?

Originally Posted by SanDiegoHntr

Not sure if this is an option, but I've been researching outfitters, and most of them appear to offer to rent firearms for ppl who come from overseas.
Perhaps they'll do the same for a local?

I would imagine that if you book a hunt with them and pay for guiding fees etc that would be the only way.

It's possible they restrict to clients, but they do make you pay for them even if you are a client. I would think they would want to make money any way they can. Couldn't hurt to call a few...

If someone could overcome legal and ethical hurdles there could well be a market for this again.
A lot of people would rather fly down for a southisland hunt ( due to ferry unreliability and 2 extra days’ travel time plus the hassle of security while staying at motels or campgrounds en route).
With the more explicit rules on transport storage and ownership, this might become easier rather than harder in future.

How hard is it to buy a rifle now, any different than six months ago?
In australia you need to apply first and pay money than wait for a clearance, hopefully this hasn't been implemented in nz.

no different than before bud

Ive said it twice now...if this fella has area with goats...ASK for someone to go with him and shoot a few and if works out he will be able to do so himself under supervision....
that would be my bottom line for someone I dont know REALLY well.