Got my FAC today, but what rifles should I buy, Can you advise please?

[robbobsam]

Hiya Guys,

 

I have received the good news today that I have been passed for my FAC and I am in the market for a .22lr, a .17HMR and a .243.

 

The guns will be used on a regular basis on my local farm and my quarry are rabbits, pigeons, crows, rooks, magpies, foxes and muntjac. I have over 200 acres to hunt and need some advice on guns selections.

 

I have £3000 to spend on all 3 including scopes and mods.

 

So what rifles would you recommend

 

I have been looking at;

 

.22CZ American Varmint in Walnut.

.17HMR Synthetic Sako Quad.

.243 Tikka T3 Lite Varmint.(Synthetic).

 

What do you guys think

[Vipa]

Hiya Guys,

 

I have received the good news today that I have been passed for my FAC and I am in the market for a .22lr, a .17HMR and a .243.

 

The guns will be used on a regular basis on my local farm and my quarry are rabbits, pigeons, crows, rooks, magpies, foxes and muntjac. I have over 200 acres to hunt and need some advice on guns selections.

 

I have £3000 to spend on all 3 including scopes and mods.

 

So what rifles would you recommend

 

I have been looking at;

 

.22CZ American Varmint in Walnut.

.17HMR Synthetic Sako Quad.

.243 Tikka T3 Lite Varmint.(Synthetic).

 

What do you guys think

 

No help with any but the Tikka.... awesome, you will struggle to find better straight from the box and the trigger is oh so sweet. My 6.5x55 T3 stainless lite produced as it's first 2 groups (after 20 rounds blatted through to run the barrel in) 1x 1/2" gruop at 100mtrs and then a 1/4 inch group straight after with 2 of the bullets going pretty much through the same hole! Only thing is, you can't have a T3 lite Varmint, it's either the Lite or the Varmint. Be aware that putting a mod on the lite will make it very (verging on the uncomfortable) front heavy. I am thinking of putting 1/lb of lead in the stock to balance it up a little more, it will then still be 1/2lb lighter than the Varmint!

 

Re - scopes, get the best glass you can afford, the rule that keeps being quoted to me is that the glass should cost as much if not (a lot) more than your rifle as any modern rifle will be able to shoot better than you can straight out of the box but if you can't be confident in your optics, that could make all the difference! My Tikka is an out and out deer machine so wanted to keep things as simple as possible and went for a Hungarian S&B 8x56 which is awesome. I will probably swap that out for a Swarovski z6 at some point when I have an extra grand to throw at glass but before that I need to invest in a .308 long range target rifle with necessary glass to match!

Edited May 17, 2010 by Vipa

[ST3V3]

dont think youll go wrong with a 452 in 22 or 17.

im sure theres a 452 in 22 on here for sale with everything needed with it

[njc110381]

If I was you I'd try to keep the budget to the minimum on the rimfires. A CZ .22 and HMR would be my first thought, then try to pick up some decent used optics for them. Then spend the rest on a reasonable .243 rifle and a top class scope for it.

 

A .22 is a workhorse and a close range gun. If it can do an inch and a half group at 100 yards that's fine as it isn't much use further out than that. The scope has to match this performance, so budget here too.

 

A HMR goes a bit further but again a CZ will work fine. Get a slightly higher mag scope for this one but still don't go mad. You'll be shooting out to 150 odd yards with it and no matter how good the gun you can only get factory ammo, so inch at 100 yard groups will do.

 

A .243 can go out to 500 yards so needs to be good. An inch at 100 yards is 5 inches at 500, so just about a boiler room shot on a Fox. Spend your money wisely here.

 

Seriously, I'd try to spend £1k or less if possible on both the rimfires. Then blow the other £2k+ on the .243 as that's where the quality needs to be.

[Billy.]

I've now been taught that it's not the rife, but it's the scope that counts.

 

Go cheap on the rifles. I paid £150 for my CZ .22LR and it's the best/most accurate rifle I own.

Edited May 17, 2010 by Billy.

[albob]

I've now been taught that it's not the rife, but it's the scope that counts.

 

most do not do that and put poor glass on a good rifle,which they hopefully will change and realise that they should not scrimp on a good scope at the offset.

al

Edited May 17, 2010 by albob

[groach1234]

If I was you I'd try to keep the budget to the minimum on the rimfires. A CZ .22 and HMR would be my first thought, then try to pick up some decent used optics for them. Then spend the rest on a reasonable .243 rifle and a top class scope for it.

 

A .22 is a workhorse and a close range gun. If it can do an inch and a half group at 100 yards that's fine as it isn't much use further out than that. The scope has to match this performance, so budget here too.

 

A HMR goes a bit further but again a CZ will work fine. Get a slightly higher mag scope for this one but still don't go mad. You'll be shooting out to 150 odd yards with it and no matter how good the gun you can only get factory ammo, so inch at 100 yard groups will do.

 

A .243 can go out to 500 yards so needs to be good. An inch at 100 yards is 5 inches at 500, so just about a boiler room shot on a Fox. Spend your money wisely here.

 

Seriously, I'd try to spend £1k or less if possible on both the rimfires. Then blow the other £2k+ on the .243 as that's where the quality needs to be.

 

I will echo this i have a CZ in .17hmr and am putting in for .243 in the next week or 2. Went CZ in hmr and will be going tikka in .243 (in left hand) t3 lite a smidge under £750 new then about £200 for a mod and min £350ish for S&B 8x56 if not a bit more for Swarov second hand (£550 locally) so thats about £1200-1500 and would be almost half your budget. You should be able to get both rimmies in CZ with scopes second hand for sub £1000 so you would have some extra cash for a better scope or mod.

 

All the best with it all.

 

George

[magman]

If I was you I'd try to keep the budget to the minimum on the rimfires. A CZ .22 and HMR would be my first thought, then try to pick up some decent used optics for them. Then spend the rest on a reasonable .243 rifle and a top class scope for it.

 

A .22 is a workhorse and a close range gun. If it can do an inch and a half group at 100 yards that's fine as it isn't much use further out than that. The scope has to match this performance, so budget here too.

 

A HMR goes a bit further but again a CZ will work fine. Get a slightly higher mag scope for this one but still don't go mad. You'll be shooting out to 150 odd yards with it and no matter how good the gun you can only get factory ammo, so inch at 100 yard groups will do.

 

A .243 can go out to 500 yards so needs to be good. An inch at 100 yards is 5 inches at 500, so just about a boiler room shot on a Fox. Spend your money wisely here.

 

Seriously, I'd try to spend £1k or less if possible on both the rimfires. Then blow the other £2k+ on the .243 as that's where the quality needs to be.

 

[pbickerd]

Isnt it possible to get a .22lr and a .17HMR barrel for the Sako Quad? That would mean 1 less rifle freeing up more money for scopes.

 

However, if you were changing the barell you would have to re-zero each time..

[njc110381]

I've now been taught that it's not the rife, but it's the scope that counts.

 

 

That's so true. What would you rather have? An old CZ that can hold 3/4" at 100 yards and a Schmidt and Bender that can show you the fly that lands on the target, or a Sako TRG that can shoot every bullet through the same hole fitted with a Chinese scope that you can only just make out the target with?

 

There's no point having a rifle that can shoot a gnats *** off if you can't even see the **** it's standing on!