Thread: Your expertise required

Hi guys

I get out rabbit and hare shooting quite regulary and will be looking for goats later on and to be perfectly honest I am over my .22lr with a reliable range of 0-80m. I am looking for some advice about getting something much more accurate from 20-250m for head shooting them. There are so many different calibres out there like 22-243win, .223, 17hmr, .22-250, etc and to be perfectly honest I have no idea about the differences between them and their range for shooting accurately. I would love some recomendations on what might suit me bearing in mind that i will be buying second hand as im a student with 4 kids and don't have much money to pour into rifles also that I shoot a farm with houses dotted around it so would like the calibre to be either quietish or the rifle suppressible. I will be topping with a 3-9 scope.

Sorry about the long winded intro, I may be drunk.

Any of those centerfires would do what your asking(250m) however you will need to know it is 250m IE range finder

Sorry , put a photo of a tripod mounted Machine gun up, on reflection I figured it wasn't really in the spirit of what you were asking.
so I deleted it.
223 will do. long barrel life, accurate and cheap to feed.

The .223 is the most common and cheapest to shoot (Beside the .17 HMR but would be reluctant to use on goats), especially if you don't reload. Ammo is available almost anywhere quite cheaply.

Good feedback guys a few more questions if I take goats out of the equation would a .233 or a .17hmr suit better do you think? I'm realistically gonna be consistently shooting 20-150m but I want to be able to go further. At these ranges if I zeroed at let's say 80m I should be able to adjust to suit bullet trajectory without a range finder for head shots a? and jakewire a tripod mounted machine gun f**k yeah throw that bit*h up here

If it were me id go 223 ammo can be found for the same price and very versitile

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I agree, .223 far more versatile, and more punch if you ever wanted to take something slightly larger. You can also handload for the .223.

For headshots only you would still need a rangefinder, for body shots maybe not. I would zero at 200 and hold under slightly for any closer. Others may prefer other methods but thats how I would go. You could zero at 100, wouldn't recommend 80.

I just paid for my first 223 today .I don't reload so it's a no brainer for me , bunnies and Roos for 65 cents a pop out of a box .

I'd go 223 out of those. I like 204s as well, but 223 ammo can be found cheaper if you don't reload. I'd also consider a 243 to give a bit more confidence going for deer as well (lots of meat on a deer to help the new rifle pay for itself!)

17hmr or 22wmr give a bit more range on bunnies than a 22lr but are still very wind sensitive and limited range against goats etc.

I've used one for 14 years now. from reds in size downwards, they all fall over. Every gun cupboard needs a .223

I would personally go for a .223 and put a can on it. Cheap to run with a good selection of affordable decent ammunition, and will perform well in the range you stated.

Sounding like .233 is the way to go. I see gun city has norinco .233 new for $499 pretty good value if you ask me

Originally Posted by savagehunter

Sounding like .233 is the way to go. I see gun city has norinco .233 new for $499 pretty good value if you ask me

I have personally owned one of those Norinco .223 rifles. They are pieces of shite IMHO. You would be better off getting a Howa, Marlin, Zastava, they are well priced brand new and come up second hand on TM all the time.

Originally Posted by Bryan

I have personally owned one of those Norinco .223 rifles. They are pieces of shite IMHO. You would be better off getting a Howa, Marlin, Zastava, they are well priced brand new and come up second hand on TM all the time.

I would take the above advice. Its sells for $499 for a reason and they still need to make money on it.

Do you want to head shoot the goats or the bunnies at 250m?

If you want the meat off the bunnies, 223 might not be the best option, but otherwise go for it. I had amazing success with my 223 on bunnies out to 466 yards.

Chris