Thread: Hunting Rifle

Originally Posted by Kelton

What why?

Because somebody will confuse a once fired case with a live round and kill his neighbour.

Dry fire practice is only ever done with snap caps, that are of non-brass colour (most often red), or nothing at all, depending on the rifle model (most centrefire rifles are perfectly fine to dry fire)

Originally Posted by STC

Because somebody will confuse a once fired case with a live round and kill his neighbour.

Dry fire practice is only ever done with snap caps, that are of non-brass colour (most often red), or nothing at all, depending on the rifle model (most centrefire rifles are perfectly fine to dry fire)

If someone confuses a fired case with a live round then the dumbfuck shouldn’t be around firearms. There used to be plenty of snap caps around that simply had a piece off nylon or some plastic pressed into primer pocket of empty case.

Originally Posted by woods223

If someone confuses a fired case with a live round then the dumbfuck shouldn’t be around firearms. There used to be plenty of snap caps around that simply had a piece off nylon or some plastic pressed into primer pocket of empty case.

also, rule number ( I forget which) ALWAYS point your gun in a safe direction and lets not forget NEVER point your gun at ANYONE.....both of which preclude someone dying because an idiot didn't know the difference between a fired and live round.......then again, do idiots know the rules?

I'm far from experienced nor an expert . I have however just jumped on the hunting wagon within the last 12 months. ANd whilst the collective wisdom in here is a very awesome font of knowledge, I can't help but think that many of the greybeards have forgotten quite what it's like to be "new" to hunting, seeing as they were "new": around the time that Adam was getting refused service at the local.

So from one newbie to another, this is what has worked for me.
Firstly, I spent a few months limbering up with a scoped Rossi semi auto .22. Cheap as chips to buy (new ones go for around $400 with a scope, from memory) and cheeeeep as chips to run (ammo is about 33 cents a round) This is important because of the following:

If you're new to firearms, you need to get adept at handling them safely, shooting them safely and just generally being safe around them.
To achieve this, you'll want to spend plenty of time (as I did) shooting vermin (possums, rabbits, magpies etc) This gives you experience in managing your firearm, ensuring your shooting safely (what's around you, what else is in the direction your aiming (houses, vehicles, other people etc) have you got a good backstop? (this is the landscape that catches your round when you miss whatever you're trying to shoot(this happens a lot in the beginning btw))

Whilst shooting your .22 you can practice position, technique, breathing, trigger pull and everything else involved in being a proficient and safe shooter/hunter AND MOST IMPORTANTLY (in my humble opinion) you'll learn great shot placement (because ethical hunting is all about minimal suffering of the prey imo) and it'll be cheap (for comparison, my Franchi .243 costs 3 buck 60 per round. I couldn't afford to "learn the basics" at that rate) and dare I say it, an "accident" would be less catastrophic with a small calibre because you've got a much shorter effective range (that last is my own personal opinion which others may differ on)

Whilst you're practicing with your .22 number of things will occur. You'll get comfortable with what you're doing and won't have to think so much (you've still got to be sharp but your brain won't have to work so hard, this in turn allows you to relax a touch) you'll get comfortable with your gun, with handling it, reloading it and most importantly, you'll get comfortable shooting it (nothing stuffs up a well aimed shot quite like a flinch)

The payoff with all of the above (as I discovered) is that when you move onto a larger (deer killing) caliber (in my case the afore mentioned Franchi .243 Win Horizon, bolt action) you'll be comfortable with what you're doing and will be able to focus on getting to know how the new rifle shoots and then shooting some veni! Cos thats what we're here for right?

My experience has been that having followed the process above and got comfortable handling and shooting with the .22 , going out with the .243 I'm getting one wallaby 1 round out to just over 200m (the effective range on the Franchi with the 95g projectiles is a shade over 230 metres) I should add that bar a few clay pigeon shoots and an air rifle as a kid, my shooting experience was zero before I got started.

There's a lot to learn and the good buggers in here are a wealth of mostly useful information (and opinionated!) and if you ask questions....you'll get someone who will point you in the right direction.
My next is to join the Deerstalkers and then do the HUNTS course, it seems like a logical next step

Originally Posted by Zedrex

I'm far from experienced nor an expert . I have however just jumped on the hunting wagon within the last 12 months. ANd whilst the collective wisdom in here is a very awesome font of knowledge, I can't help but think that many of the greybeards have forgotten quite what it's like to be "new" to hunting, seeing as they were "new": around the time that Adam was getting refused service at the local.

So from one newbie to another, this is what has worked for me.
Firstly, I spent a few months limbering up with a scoped Rossi semi auto .22. Cheap as chips to buy (new ones go for around $400 with a scope, from memory) and cheeeeep as chips to run (ammo is about 33 cents a round) This is important because of the following:

If you're new to firearms, you need to get adept at handling them safely, shooting them safely and just generally being safe around them.
To achieve this, you'll want to spend plenty of time (as I did) shooting vermin (possums, rabbits, magpies etc) This gives you experience in managing your firearm, ensuring your shooting safely (what's around you, what else is in the direction your aiming (houses, vehicles, other people etc) have you got a good backstop? (this is the landscape that catches your round when you miss whatever you're trying to shoot(this happens a lot in the beginning btw))

Whilst shooting your .22 you can practice position, technique, breathing, trigger pull and everything else involved in being a proficient and safe shooter/hunter AND MOST IMPORTANTLY (in my humble opinion) you'll learn great shot placement (because ethical hunting is all about minimal suffering of the prey imo) and it'll be cheap (for comparison, my Franchi .243 costs 3 buck 60 per round. I couldn't afford to "learn the basics" at that rate) and dare I say it, an "accident" would be less catastrophic with a small calibre because you've got a much shorter effective range (that last is my own personal opinion which others may differ on)

Whilst you're practicing with your .22 number of things will occur. You'll get comfortable with what you're doing and won't have to think so much (you've still got to be sharp but your brain won't have to work so hard, this in turn allows you to relax a touch) you'll get comfortable with your gun, with handling it, reloading it and most importantly, you'll get comfortable shooting it (nothing stuffs up a well aimed shot quite like a flinch)

The payoff with all of the above (as I discovered) is that when you move onto a larger (deer killing) caliber (in my case the afore mentioned Franchi .243 Win Horizon, bolt action) you'll be comfortable with what you're doing and will be able to focus on getting to know how the new rifle shoots and then shooting some veni! Cos thats what we're here for right?

My experience has been that having followed the process above and got comfortable handling and shooting with the .22 , going out with the .243 I'm getting one wallaby 1 round out to just over 200m (the effective range on the Franchi with the 95g projectiles is a shade over 230 metres) I should add that bar a few clay pigeon shoots and an air rifle as a kid, my shooting experience was zero before I got started.

There's a lot to learn and the good buggers in here are a wealth of mostly useful information (and opinionated!) and if you ask questions....you'll get someone who will point you in the right direction.
My next is to join the Deerstalkers and then do the HUNTS course, it seems like a logical next step

You live in rhe right area to shoot a few thousand roos over there.Seen 4 on the side of the road in the long grass just pass Dobson the other night on sun set.A big buck and 3 small roos.

Originally Posted by Trout

You live in rhe right area to shoot a few thousand roos over there.Seen 4 on the side of the road in the long grass just pass Dobson the other night on sun set.A big buck and 3 small roos.

Most of those thoussnd wallabies are on private land so you will need to work on access. Trout’s not encouraging people to shoot by the road - its just an indication they are not uncommon where hunting pressure is low.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Most of those thoussnd wallabies are on private land so you will need to work on access. Trout’s not encouraging people to shoot by the road - its just an indication they are not uncommon where hunting pressure is low.

Theres 1000s of acres of doc land on the Hunter n Haka hills with 1000s of roos on them.You just gota walk the hills n get them on sunset or early morning.
Also 1000s of acres of private land too full of roos,just get permission to shoot them.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

Most of those thoussnd wallabies are on private land so you will need to work on access. Trout’s not encouraging people to shoot by the road - its just an indication they are not uncommon where hunting pressure is low.

Not so, there are heaps of the buggers on doc land as well, the place is rank with them! There may be "more" on private land but they're far from scarce on the doc blocks

Originally Posted by Trout

You live in rhe right area to shoot a few thousand roos over there.Seen 4 on the side of the road in the long grass just pass Dobson the other night on sun set.A big buck and 3 small roos.

Ya not wrong, the whole Waimate District is filthy with them

Originally Posted by Zedrex

Ya not wrong, the whole Waimate District is filthy with them

yeah, ended up going up mt studholme with my father in law just after new years, even with the cloud not playing ball we saw tons. every time i had to get back into the car I was wiping wallaby shit off my boots.

Originally Posted by Zedrex

I'm far from experienced nor an expert . I have however just jumped on the hunting wagon within the last 12 months. ANd whilst the collective wisdom in here is a very awesome font of knowledge, I can't help but think that many of the greybeards have forgotten quite what it's like to be "new" to hunting, seeing as they were "new": around the time that Adam was getting refused service at the local.

So from one newbie to another, this is what has worked for me.
Firstly, I spent a few months limbering up with a scoped Rossi semi auto .22. Cheap as chips to buy (new ones go for around $400 with a scope, from memory) and cheeeeep as chips to run (ammo is about 33 cents a round) This is important because of the following:

If you're new to firearms, you need to get adept at handling them safely, shooting them safely and just generally being safe around them.
To achieve this, you'll want to spend plenty of time (as I did) shooting vermin (possums, rabbits, magpies etc) This gives you experience in managing your firearm, ensuring your shooting safely (what's around you, what else is in the direction your aiming (houses, vehicles, other people etc) have you got a good backstop? (this is the landscape that catches your round when you miss whatever you're trying to shoot(this happens a lot in the beginning btw))

Whilst shooting your .22 you can practice position, technique, breathing, trigger pull and everything else involved in being a proficient and safe shooter/hunter AND MOST IMPORTANTLY (in my humble opinion) you'll learn great shot placement (because ethical hunting is all about minimal suffering of the prey imo) and it'll be cheap (for comparison, my Franchi .243 costs 3 buck 60 per round. I couldn't afford to "learn the basics" at that rate) and dare I say it, an "accident" would be less catastrophic with a small calibre because you've got a much shorter effective range (that last is my own personal opinion which others may differ on)

Whilst you're practicing with your .22 number of things will occur. You'll get comfortable with what you're doing and won't have to think so much (you've still got to be sharp but your brain won't have to work so hard, this in turn allows you to relax a touch) you'll get comfortable with your gun, with handling it, reloading it and most importantly, you'll get comfortable shooting it (nothing stuffs up a well aimed shot quite like a flinch)

The payoff with all of the above (as I discovered) is that when you move onto a larger (deer killing) caliber (in my case the afore mentioned Franchi .243 Win Horizon, bolt action) you'll be comfortable with what you're doing and will be able to focus on getting to know how the new rifle shoots and then shooting some veni! Cos thats what we're here for right?

My experience has been that having followed the process above and got comfortable handling and shooting with the .22 , going out with the .243 I'm getting one wallaby 1 round out to just over 200m (the effective range on the Franchi with the 95g projectiles is a shade over 230 metres) I should add that bar a few clay pigeon shoots and an air rifle as a kid, my shooting experience was zero before I got started.

There's a lot to learn and the good buggers in here are a wealth of mostly useful information (and opinionated!) and if you ask questions....you'll get someone who will point you in the right direction.
My next is to join the Deerstalkers and then do the HUNTS course, it seems like a logical next step

Post of the year right there mate.

Originally Posted by woods223

If someone confuses a fired case with a live round then the dumbfuck shouldn’t be around firearms. There used to be plenty of snap caps around that simply had a piece off nylon or some plastic pressed into primer pocket of empty case.

Dumbfuckery starts with unsafe practices.

Putting brass into a chamber to practice certainly is.

Originally Posted by STC

Because somebody will confuse a once fired case with a live round and kill his neighbour.

Dry fire practice is only ever done with snap caps, that are of non-brass colour (most often red), or nothing at all, depending on the rifle model (most centrefire rifles are perfectly fine to dry fire)

What about the lack of pointy thing sticking out of the case mouth? Iv trained all my dogs with shot gun round cut in half and all the good stuff tipped out so they just get the primer ignition crack and even so always pointed at the ground safe practice starts well before you chamber a round mate and we’ll after for that matter

Originally Posted by Kelton

What about the lack of pointy thing sticking out of the case mouth? Iv trained all my dogs with shot gun round cut in half and all the good stuff tipped out so they just get the primer ignition crack and even so always pointed at the ground safe practice starts well before you chamber a round mate and we’ll after for that matter

When checking whether a firearm is loaded you do not see the pointy thing.

It also conditions your brain to not immediately associate brass in there as a live round.

Its piss poor gun safety practice, that greatly increases the chances of a negligent discharge Just because some people are too cheap to spend 20 bucks.

Originally Posted by STC

When checking whether a firearm is loaded you do not see the pointy thing.

It also conditions your brain to not immediately associate brass in there as a live round.

Its piss poor gun safety practice, that greatly increases the chances of a negligent discharge Just because some people are too cheap to spend 20 bucks.

That’s even worse when checking if a fire arm is loaded and theirs a case in it it’s loaded full stop