Thread: First Rifle

I'll throw a spanner in the works say get a really good set of binos and a range finder that's good to 1000yrds or so. Even though you may not shoot that far it will be more accurate at the closer ranges rather than it's limit. Bino's i'll stick my neck out and say 8x42's or even 8x30's if mostly bush hunting. You won't regret getting them as you'll see more game than you'd believe. Rifle is a second choice as first you have to find the game and then know how far away it is before you need your rifle to come into play. Not so much for bush stalking granted. Stay with common calibers if not reloading .243, .270, .308 etc as you'll get ammo and selection almost everywhere. I'll stick my head out again and say no need for magnums if you don't plan on shooting past 300- 400yrds. Probably getting near then end of range for a .243 with factory loads but some will disagree with me(watch this space!) but any of the others are more than capable. Most rifles have a 3 shot guarantee of 1moa or better these days so choose what feels right. You'll need a good scope and mounts. One with a good field of view is what I like so until leupold brought out the vx5/6 line european were usually better in that department compared to american ( there's some 3-9x36 swaro's about for run out at about 1k, damn good scope for the money). Don't over look jap optics either as they are usually very good.
There you go more things to think about than you started with but need to be got right I believe. You can often tune/improved a rifle that doesn't group well but you can't improve bad optics. They just frustrate you when your mate can see a deer but your budget binos and scope can't gather enough light and clear picture for you to see it. On the bright side you can always help him carry out the deer you should have shot and think of the ammo savings