sepulchre

I'm in the market for a .223 bolt action rifle, preferably I'm looking far a synthetic stock, blued barrel and action, including moderator and scope. (but will consider most options) If any PW members have a gun for sale that fits the criteria, let me know - Many Thanks

Tikka T3 Heavy Varmint barrel in appropriate calibre, great guns, very accurate, with good quality everything - spend serious money on your scope mounts an easily overlooked area of accuracy, .308 not a cheap calibre to shoot, as for a scope I would go for image clarity and lens quality over excessive magnification above x10 or x12 your going to struggle to hold steady at 300m, I try to shoot with the least amount of magnification as poss. If you want to see where your landing shots get a spotting scope If your going to use the gun in the field .308 may cause you some problems with your local police authority, had a right game getting a .243 approved for foxing (west mercia)

I have a Mossberg Ulti Mag 835 3 1/2 chamber - 5 Shot Pump Action in camo similar to the 500, its been a good tool but they are as I believe all mossbergs are built to be rugged, they do lack some finesse compared to other makes but they are tough as old boots, the trigger is a bit heavy but breaks nice and crisply, the safety is well placed, the action is an absolute dog if I use anything less than 3" cartridges but I love it. I've modded it a little with a comb riser for £6 holding it in place with some matching camo tape and a hawke red dot scope mounted on a picatinny rail about £46 for both, now I can shoot both eyes open and the comb puts my eye dead to rights every time, it transformed the gun for me! The downside to a pump action is not the speed of that second shot as some over and under or semi auto die hards will argue, believe me I can double tap two shots as quick as an o/u if not quicker, the bad issue is the visible safety of the gun, at a glance another shooter can see if an over / under is safe pumps and semi's rely so heavily on you / me the shooter not making a mistake, I always use a chamber safe marker, only takes a second to palm it out and chamber a cartridge

I've always loved the .22 for rabbits, moderated its whisper quiet with subs, and pin point accurate to 100 or so meters (my best 136m using a mildot scope).

Always meant to follow up with an image, better late than never

Took my new sako quad out tonight, god I love .22's there just so damn quiet. After 10 minutes of zeroing at 50 metrs, I turned my attention to some rabbits - and bagged 10 everyone's a head shot, always makes me happy to dispatch them quickly, all skinned, gutted and ready to cook in the morning the summer is just the best time ever.

Honestly well done for being so reserved and non confrontational, personally I would not of been able to retain myself quite so well!

I like it much better I'm a great fan of synthetic stocks all mine are, think wood is a bit dated nowadays

Always use bipods - there sturdy and suite my style of shooting !

I bought a new sako quad varmint .17HMR Last Saturday I reckon the quality is better than (wait for the retaliation) CZ but a little more expensive, it feels like a full bore rifle in weight and action, very impressed

Unfortunately some people are just cock knockers, I always have a signed permission showing my details, the land owners details, a map showing boundries of the permission, where i can park, what i can shoot, what times I can shoot, a copy of my BASC membership and my FAC, twice I have laid this information out for people who have raised an eyebrow or concern and each time it has shut them up in minutes, with no reprocutions what so ever.

I don't wear ear protection for my .17HMR moderated and .243 moderated I do wear ear plugs when shooting shotguns but that's only because Ii don't want my hearing to get any worse as it is already shot - 70% loss in left and 30% loss in my right ear. My resulting hearing loss was a combination of 7 years in a 130db foundry and umpteen thousand rounds of ammo in 9mm, .40 S&W, .357MAG and .44MAG mostly without ear defenders except for the .357 & .44 In short it was my own fault - And I was stupid not to think my hearing would be affected - aged 27 doc recommended I should wear hearing aids and now aged 44 I'm still thinking about that If any new comer to shooting reads this, please, oh please wear good quality ear plugs or ear defenders, its worth every penny / time / inconvenience / missing the opportunity of a shot or feeling a bit daft / once you've shot your ears (excuse the pun) there's no repairing them.

Targets the way, better trigger, .920 heavy barrel, good base rig to start, couple of mods I'd do would be titanium extractor and firing pin = years of bunny bashing

I see where your coming from, what's ya get for your money, I have a Hawke 4-16 x 50 mildot scope that I have been using for yonks and it works a treat, although not perfect, low light is acceptable, magnification is okay, side focus is a bit hit and miss on ranging, best magnification is at 10 - 12x, it's tough as old boots and very robust and I can land shots pretty accurately and I reckon for a sub £200 scope it's pretty mint. On the other hand I have zeiss duralyt IR that cost me £850 :( does it do anything any better than my hawke? Yup! Image clarity is crystal through the full magnification range, light gathering properties are amazing however does it improve my shooting from 50 to 150 meters? Not really So why buy one! For 100 to 300+ meters it does as other quality optics do and come into their own, by delivering such a clear and sharp image that lower end scopes just can't compete with, combined with such a fine reticle incorporating pin pont illumination without bleeding light onto the optic and giving you that cursed red or green glow, they are amazing. Would I put a zeiss or Swarovski on a .22 or 17HMR - No! Would I put a Hawke on a .243 - No! Save the expensive scopes for the larger calibre, longer range guns then I think it all makes much more sense Opinion delivered -

Lol