Thread: Newbie needs help setting up.

Originally Posted by ebf

Whoa horse, settle down - we take the piss with each other fairly regularly on here, and every now and then there is even a bit of goatfucking

Damn me your club is wierd.....at least I hope its female goats?

Cheers for taking the time Steven, much appreciated.

No doubt will see you down at the range and we can have a chat.

Cheers mate.
Lee

Sure, I will be in Petone Club's section.

NB I shoot an Enfield because its fun and cheap, ie $800~1000 for a good gun, I cant justify $6k on a single use specialized TR rifle. It means I cannot compete in modern competitions (I do 1 to 2 MOA v 1/4 MOA or better), just shoot cause I enjoy doing it but there are 303 competitions.

Dick Travis VC Trophy Shoot Wellington | All About Enfields

Originally Posted by Jackangus

Well I did say I was a complete newbie, so yes I do have a lot to learn.

I think considering the response I've just got from a few of you guys, I should just talk to the guys at the range. I think they would be a lot more helpful.

I joined the forum to try and get some knowledge from you more experienced guys about shooting, not to get trashed for knowing nothing about rifles and ranges.

I said on the first line of my post I'm a complete newbie.
Everyone has to start somewhere, it's a shame some people forget that.

You'll go far in New Zilland once you realise that we take the piss out of people we like. It means you're sort of accepted into the club. Next step is to become a "good bastard"

and finally the height of NZ status, move to south island where its not illegal to be a sheep shagger, female sheep of course, rams, that's Australia.

Don't buy anything yet, go to some of your local clubs and see what discipline you're going to be shooting then go from there.

I haven't got my license yet, so will be at least 8 weeks before that happens. I have to do the firearms safety course in 2 weeks.

I want a good, accurate rifle that can be used for most things and not just down to one discipline, if that's possible. Really want to keep my options open.

That's my thinking at the moment anyway, might change once I have been to the ranges a few times and spoke to some people.

It's great to hear what you guys think though, really appreciated.

Cheers guys.

Welcome Jackangus.

Originally Posted by Jackangus

I want a good, accurate rifle that can be used for most things and not just down to one discipline, if that's possible. Really want to keep my options open.

So an across the course rifle. I would be looking at something like a tikka varmint (Link) or super varmint (Link) in .308 (7.62x51) with the 600mm barrel. Not the lightest rifle but well suited for an across the course rifle and should leave you some funds left over for a scope. Scope wise I would probably recommend you look at a Voxtex Viper 4-16 (Link) or something similar.

A rifle like this will give you something great for both positional shooting but still have enough barrel and magazine length to allow you to reload heavier bullets for F-TR shooting. The tikka varmint would also be well suited to using a sling to shoot as well. The .308 will recoil a bit more than a .223 but the rifle weight will help to tame that.

The tikkas can come with a 510mm barrel as well that arguably would be better balanced. Problem with the shorter barrel is that it will limit you if you want to get in to F-TR shooting at the longer distances.

This Sako 75 Varmint in 22-250 would be great as well and well within your budget. Problem with it is that it probably doesn't have the barrel twist to support the heavier projectiles and you would want to reload for it as well.

Cheers Gillie, that gives me something to think about.
Very nice rifles.

I went through a similar exercise a few years ago for an across the course rifle and ended up with a sako varmint in .260 Remington. Not something I would recommend for a new shooter though. .308 allows you to compete in F-TR where you can be very competitive with a production rifle as opposed to F Open where you will be at a significant disadvantage. The Varmint rifles have a bit more weight to them which makes them easier to shoot well (particularly for targets) and more so with a sling. .308 ammunition is available in every firearm store in NZ and once you have a source, factory 308 target ammunition is available as well (Lapua, Norma, etc...).

good comments from Gillie, especially about 308

however... don't be in a rush to buy something, especially a "compromise" rifle. if you end up doing smallbore or TR class fullbore, a varmint rifle is not going to help you.

not sure I agree about a production rifle being competitive in FTR, we've just gone to 1/2 moa super V targets, so its become significantly more challenging. I travel a fair amount to go do FTR shoots around the NI, and it is very rare to see a hunting or varmint type rig on the line, and even more so seeing one being competitive. lots of guys have tried, VERY few succeed. there are some remington 700 clones such as stiller etc, but those rifles are in decent heavy stocks and have match barrels, so effectively a dedicated target rig. My FTR rifle weighs just over 8kg including the bipod and scope, not the type of thing you want to drag around an across the course comp. It is however possible to be competitive using older (cheaper) target rifles provided you have a decent stock and barrel.

Yep agree entirely ebf, the big problem with a "compromise" rifle is that it will be good for most things but exceptional for nothing. Same with your comment about some of the older target rifles - my old man has a Parker Hale C3A1 (TX1200 or close enough) that can shoot a 0.5MOA group at 500yards. And you can pick them up for a lot less than the cost of a new tikka!

It has been a few year since I shot F class competitively and much still since I shot small bore competitively.

What I like about the tikkas is their action design - a strong action able to be upgraded with match barrels and different stocks for different applications. The .308 is obviously an advantage for ammunition and for F-TR in the beginning but the action length also gives the ability to re-barrel to something like .243 or 6.5x47L if down the track he decided he wants to change the purpose for the rifle (4 position or field shooting, etc).

You guys seem to really know your gear.
I think I'm getting the bug for shooting, and I haven't even got a rifle or a license yet.

it gets worse when you get the rifle
scope
mounts
ammo
bag
bipod
etc
and unlike being in the mob,you have to buy it all!!!!!!