Thread: Advice on semi auto rimfire for goats

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Old man has one of these. Had it for few years now and uses it for some commercial shooting. Reckons it's a bit of alright.

https://55six.co.nz/excel-arms-accelerator-22-magnum/

@Ryan_Songhurst - cheers this is the type of thing I think he wants I will show him

Originally Posted by tiroahunta

Hmmm .... pretty sure the op wasn’t asking for offers to help shoot/cull..usually in this type of scenario it’s a shoot them while you are there/can situation. If the landowner/manager has to go back n ring joe bloggs rec hunter it’s a” nah can’t make it cos if (insert excuse/reason) I’ll be there next weekend..” it’s too late. The damage is done.


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@tiroahunta yeah he just wants to deal with them himself when he comes across them. Thanks for all the offers though everyone.

I found the 22mag a bit of a mixed bag on goats. As @Flyblown mentions, yearlings and the like are quite diminutive in size; a 22mag will cream them at 100yd no trouble. But solid billies are a different kettle of fish and this is where the 22mag can be found wanting; you wanna keep the range below 50yd if shooting them on the run and try and place your shots carefully, which is difficult on a moving target.

Others have mentioned a Howa mini 223 with some 10 round mags and I think this would be a good bet, a micro action can be cycled very quickly with a bit of practice. A good 55gr soft point would be the ticket but even better would be the 62gr fusion or winchester/federal 64gr; that would sort out the big stinkies

Yes after seeing quite a few runners and screamers, with well placed shots from hot 223 loads, the 22 magnum has me a bit skeptical. But I know people that swear black and blue that they are perfect for the job.

Do the average blokes have any other choice when it comes to semi auto? Give me my ar back I’ll ditch the 22mag.

Originally Posted by 308mate

He has a BLR and some other lever guns, he is wanting something with the point /shoot/repeat ability.

BLR ummmmm that HAS point shoot repeat ability in droves.....6 well aimed shots is 6 dead goats.

Wasn't there talk of making P licences available to farmers for this exact reason?

22 mag would be the best rimfire for the job but still not that ideal to be humane really
as others have said a cf lever gun would probably be the best bet slow at 1st but with a bit of practice almost as quick as a semi
use the time it takes to switch targets to reload doing to things at once can be fun though

side note (and i dont wanna turn this thread into yet another fuck this fuck that thread re the new gunlaws) but has your mate applied for a p endorsement i know they said farmers weren't eligible but i think they have relaxed a little on that front ive herd of other farmers being successful with p endorsement applications

Im using a Ruger American predator 223 for culling goats, takes 10rd Pmag/AR15 mags.
Mag changes are quick etc.
The stock is shit but mostly shooting offhand so doesnt matter too much.

Ive shot enough goats with the 22lr to know not to bother with it, Also have used a 22 KHornet and found that a bit average also.
Bullet mass on target solves problems

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

BLR ummmmm that HAS point shoot repeat ability in droves.....6 well aimed shots is 6 dead goats.

It's not the same as a semi mate. It's still a manual reload with limited mag capacity unless you hang one of those aussie mags off it and get nine shots.

correct its not the same....but having used one I can honestly say its nearly as fast especially from standing and athough expensive a 2nd magazine would make the next 6 goats dead pretty quickly too.
limited mag capacity........well that is what it is...AND 2 years ago YOU HAD SAME RESTRICTION with semi unless you were breaking law so its a moot point.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

correct its not the same....but having used one I can honestly say its nearly as fast especially from standing and athough expensive a 2nd magazine would make the next 6 goats dead pretty quickly too.
limited mag capacity........well that is what it is...AND 2 years ago YOU HAD SAME RESTRICTION with semi unless you were breaking law so its a moot point.

Breaking the law with an E cat AR? They were legal two years ago.

so get P endorsement......... if you were legal to use a semi with large capacity magazine for hunting/pest control before you werent on joe blogs bog standard FAL before...so again mag capacity is moot point...either you had more than basic licence or you were breaking law and knew it.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

so get P endorsement......... if you were legal to use a semi with large capacity magazine for hunting/pest control before you werent on joe blogs bog standard FAL before...so again mag capacity is moot point...either you had more than basic licence or you were breaking law and knew it.

Yes...as I mentioned in my first post in this thread he is looking to get the exemption, he just wants something he can use now. I had a number of members here who read my comment in the first post and kindly advised how they went about applying successfully for the P endorsement which I will discuss with him after the lockdown.

As mentioned he had an E cat before. He's a stand up guy and wouldn't break the law.

fair enough...was just thinking how its like the lyrics from song by Joe Walsh
"my car does 195,lost my licence so now I dont drive"

for now he could do alot worse than use his BLR in whatever calibre it is...308/243/7mm-08/223??? any and all will more than do the job.
something as simple as changing projectile will make huge difference to the "instantness" of knock down in any of the calibres mentioned.
you said he has levers...asssumably more than the BLR...... depending on accuracy/calibre there will be options there too.
personally have never found goats hard to kill other than when using .22lr with open sights....that worked too but had to get close... the .223 is just about perfect goat round IF you use right projectiles.... the .243 is pretty hard to argue with either...feed a .308 with 130grn hp speers and NO goat will take more than a step if hit even half reasonably.
there are options.