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Thinking of leaving the nest for Lincoln uni next year and only have a 12ga to take with me as the rest of the thunder sticks are dad's. I'm thinking about getting a cheap rifle e.g 303 for big game hunting, or considering just putting slugs through the 12ga (NOT rifled). what's the accurate range of these two options dyou reckon, is it worth getting an old rifle too?
Id pick the 303.
Actual accuracy aside (id expect 303 to be much more accurate) the 12g will have a crazy amount of drop, severely limiting your distance, and making shots at different distances a bit of a crap shoot due to the rainbow arc of the projectile.
Also to keep in mind, is depending on where you are hunting, shotguns are not allowed on public land.
Greetings,
I have not used slugs but from my reading, in a smooth bore, they are a short range option, very short. Fifty years ago a .303 was a cheap option hunting rifle but no longer. They are no longer cheap and many, if not most have well worn barrels. Add to that the difficulty of scoping and an older commercial rifle would be a better option. Have a talk to your dad. If he has rifles he is likely to have mates that do to. One of them is bound to have something suitable. Perhaps a .308 for the cheap and available ammo.
Regards and best of luck Grandpamac.
What sort of big game hunting?
I can't think of many places suitable for slugs in 12g for game in Canterbury, even on private land.
Cheap accurate 303s are Unicorns poo. I have a nice looking 303 sporter that seems to shoot 18", yes thats 18 inch groups.
If on budget, get a 2nd hand Howa 1500 or Tikka T3 instead for hunting and never look back.
Serious Shooters sell Mossberg ATR .308 for $699 good quality but built to a budget. Even I'm thinking about it.
After covid there was a real craze for .303s for a while there and they were selling for some silly prices.
Having just had a look at TM, the likely options start at about $300. As others have said, accuracy can be all over the place but there are good ones out there too.
The trick would be to not buy something sight unseen, make sure it’s accurate before the money comes out of your pocket.
As long as you get an accurate one, they actually have much more going for them than you would expect for the price.
The main weakness is they aren’t inherently conducive to shooting way out long.
Still when you get older and start having a bit more money to spend on something newer with more technology, don’t be surprised if you still want to hold on to the old 303 as a reliable backup.
It is the rifle that has shot more deer in NZ than all others put together.
The days are gone where you could get a cheap reasonable 303 and ammo to go with it. Bog stock 303 winny powerpoint is up over 60 bucks a packet and probably more.
Nothing wrong with it but you will usually only get a rifle that is stocked like crap for a scope and most likely is shit out past 150m.
If that is your limit then it's fine but for a couple hundy more there is a bunch of second hand late model sporters with a bigger range of just as affordable if not cheaper ammo.
now if you were to say...look Ive got say $500 to spend and want a rifle suitable for shooting deer etc whats out there????
Im POSITIVE yo uwould get 3-4-6-8-9 people offer you something suitable..if you were to use it and post up story afterwards the "love" for want of a better world spreads around... a lot of folks get a real kick out of helping folks out who are just starting out.
When I lived in the US I once used a borrowed 20 bore and hunted whitetail with sabot slugs (when the 2 week rifle season closed). They were 300 grains from memory and surprisingly accurate to around 50m. I shot a single deer and it did a lot of damage but dropped it on the spot. That said, I would go .303 as the others have said above.
Thanks everyone for the advice, that's very helpful. if I end up heading that way I'll try sort a rifle of some sort
308