Thread: Rifle for NZ

You need something that will be easy to get ammo for and possibly resell in Europe, so 7mm08 and maybe 7mm Rem Mag won't be so good. 7x64 is rare in NZ so don't go there. .308 is universal but you can do better ballistically. I would suggest .3006 or 6.5x55SE both are reasonably common here, specially .3006 can be bought in virtually any shop. Actually you're best to go to a shop in a big city where you can choose from a variety of factory ammo and buy enough in one lot for your trip, preferably a bullet type and brand you are happy with. Personally, I'd spare no expense and get top of the range stuff from Remington, Federal, Winchester or Hornady. Unfortunately it will be hard to find enough boxes of Norma in one shop. It's more a matter of which caliber will a shop have 60 or 80 rounds in 3 different brands ? .3006 with 150 gr is very versatile in NZ. 6.5 may be a little light if you decide to hunt for tahr or wapiti when you get here.

For a scope, if you haven't got real definite hunting plans yet, you need 3-4x at the lower end (certainy no higher) and 7 to 12x at the top. A wide zoom range is nice to have if you can afford it in a top brand but 3-9 is plenty. NZ hunting is rough on gear and toughness and waterproofness are the key things. So steer clear of cheaper high spec scopes Vortex, Tasco, Nikko Stirling and ones intended for target shooting like March. Leupold scopes are very popular here due to their lifetime warranty and they seldom fail even with real abuse. The VX-3 series is a good price point, even if not that highly regarded in Europe. Higher end European scope like Swaro, Zeiss, Kahles and the SuB Zenith will all be fine. In my opinion, special calibrated reticles, illumination and parallax aren't needed. Try to get small compact turrets. Low light performance is well worthwhile so go for a 40-50mm objective. All scopes in NZ are mounted with rings, so if you want flexibility to change scopes here don't bring a rail mount.

Most of our countryside and wind is unfavourable for Long range shooting and it is a fascinating novelty in NZ. I would say that less than 1% of animals are shot beyond 300m. But every time someone is successful they will write about it and post a story. The stories are true and the shooters are very skilled. just not representative. It's pretty boring to say: "The shot was 120m, longer than my usual. I had to try hard and I'm pleased I got it." So, don't go for a heavy, long rifle or tactical long range scope. A 20 or 22" barrel in medium contour is fine. LIghtweight rifles are also an interesting fashion but don't go to extremes.

Among European brands, the sako 85 SS and finnlite are very well suited to NZ. Synthetic stocks tend to be better for our conditions too. Wood stocks are beautiful but need to be stripped, sealed, and oil finished fully floated and bedded before they are stable enough to use here. Not sure about laminates, perhaps some else can comment ...