Thread: First centrefire rifle

Originally Posted by un4giv3n

Is there anywhere to shoot centrefires in Auckland other than the Deer stalkers range in Riverhead and the Waiuku pistol club?

Actually there are 2 Deerstalkers ranges at Riverhead, Auckland and North Auckland clubs.
Clevedon Rifle Club shoot over the summer.
Auckland Service Rifles shoot at Clevedon in summer and on a farm at Waiuku in winter.
Swiss club have occasional invite shoots on their private land too.

Hey mate dont think you could go wrong with a Howa 1500 in any of the calibres they offer 6.5 x 55 7mm08 and 308.

Originally Posted by rambo-6mmrem

7mm-08 is great but it is well known as the aucklanders gun because we are smart and know a great cal when we see one....
in all honestly here is a list for what I think is a good 1st deer rifle based on both common ammo and price and also shooting ie recoil
243 win
7mm-08
308
6.5x55 (my pick however I reload which you wont to start with)

in my opinion you shouldn't get any bigger than an 308 size case with the exception of the 6.5 there all lower recoil than the 30-06 size case and honestly the less a gun kicks the better no matter what anyone says..... out of that list my views

243 a little to small as an all-rounder ok for goats and the smaller breeds of deer
7mm-08 great all rounder plenty of power for any game in nz from small to the largest and nice and flat shooting
308 great round but wont do any thing the 7mm-08 cant and not flat shooting
6.5x55 great all-rounder less recoil than 7mm-08 but not as flat shooting (reloaded with right bullets it can be) also 6.5 ammo is slightly harder to get

so all of that said I would go 7mm-08 its honestly the most educated pick as a 1st deer rifle in my opinion

some people will say 270 in fact a lot will but I would suggest against it recoil sucks balls with a 270 its not so much a big hard kick but more of a real sharp fast unpleasant one and ive seen more recoil related injuries (with new non experienced shooters) than any other cal

rant over but hope there's useful info there

The above has pretty much said it all...as far as caliber choice is concerned.

If you are sensitive to recoil, most are to some degree. I know I am; Reload, or get someone to reload. A .308 loaded soft with a 130 tough projectile will still out perform many like a 243, 223, or possibly even a 6.5mm up close.
I think the main question for me would be 'what rifle do I like?'...

There is a mod 70 7mm08 for sale at the moment. It would do me and it would do you.

Lots of good advice. I think if you are interested in big game hunting, deer etc you should only be looking at 308' 6.5-55, 7mmo8, that size caliber or bigger. 223 forget it, to small unless u intend to hunt goats hares etc, even tho in the right hands it would do the job. Rugger make a lite cheap rifle called the all American which may be worth a look.

A Tikka T3 in 243 topped with the best glass you can afford would cover from varmints to deer. More versatile than the 223 but bordering a little on the light side for large game so precise shot placement is very important. I used one from the start of my hunting & didn't find it lacking for 10 years until I got curious to experience other calibres & dive into the world of reloading etc.

Originally Posted by sakokid

Lots of good advice. I think if you are interested in big game hunting, deer etc you should only be looking at 308' 6.5-55, 7mmo8, that size caliber or bigger. 223 forget it, to small unless u intend to hunt goats hares etc, even tho in the right hands it would do the job. Rugger make a lite cheap rifle called the all American which may be worth a look.

I was actually going to buy one of those Ruger american rifles they are nice and light but after handling it and feeling how flimsy the stock is I would not bother unless a company like boyds has a good rigid aftermarket stock for it if you are going to go the Ruger route it would be better to save up the coin a bit more and go all out and get the M77 Hawkeye.
For those guys who say the 270 has unpleasant recoil and kicks real hard it doesn't and this is coming from a person who is a bit hesitant about firing anything that gives a good wallop to the shoulder, I avoided firing that caliber for quite a few years because everyone was going around and saying it is savage with its recoil etc,etc,etc and here I was happily shooting my 308's with not a care in the world and unaware that the 308 actually kicks harder than the 270 but not sharp. Yes I will admit that my first ever 270 which was a Brno zkk600 did kick the shitters out of me but that was purely down to a very poor fitting rifle resulting in me wearing the eye bell of the scope and was enough to put me off shooting a 270 ever again. Roll forward another year I was working for a guy who just bought two rifles in 270 a marlin X7 (which is the model I owned at the time but in 7mm08) and a ruger m77 hawkeye, I bore sighted those scopes for him and told him to fire off a round only to see that he was pulling his shots so I decided to help him out and fire a few off to finish sighting in his scope seeing he was on limited supply of ammo, so I started off with the marlin and it did not give me the beating like the brno i had did and started to enjoy shooting it, then it was on to the Ruger had never shouldered or fired one before and it was a perfect fit to my shoulder and that also was very pleasant to shoot, roll forward a couple of years I picked up my Remington 700 in 270 because I could not find a 7mm08 that I liked that was inside my budget and really enjoy shooting it due to the good fit it has to my shoulder as a result it built up my confidence a bit more and wound me up behind the trigger of a 264 win mag which i just absolutely fell in love with shooting dammit now I want to get in the ring with a 7mm rem mag and a 7mm WSM. so if the OP does get the opportunity to shoot some rifles owned by members don't avoid trying the 270 based on what you read here because it is not really that unpleasant at all once you get used to the feel of the rifle if I had half the chance I would allow you to come down to have a go at shooting my 270 if I could organise somewhere close by for you to have a go.

Originally Posted by hunter308

I was actually going to buy one of those Ruger american rifles they are nice and light but after handling it and feeling how flimsy the stock is I would not bother unless a company like boyds has a good rigid aftermarket stock for it if you are going to go the Ruger route it would be better to save up the coin a bit more and go all out and get the M77 Hawkeye.
For those guys who say the 270 has unpleasant recoil and kicks real hard it doesn't and this is coming from a person who is a bit hesitant about firing anything that gives a good wallop to the shoulder, I avoided firing that caliber for quite a few years because everyone was going around and saying it is savage with its recoil etc,etc,etc and here I was happily shooting my 308's with not a care in the world and unaware that the 308 actually kicks harder than the 270 but not sharp. Yes I will admit that my first ever 270 which was a Brno zkk600 did kick the shitters out of me but that was purely down to a very poor fitting rifle resulting in me wearing the eye bell of the scope and was enough to put me off shooting a 270 ever again. Roll forward another year I was working for a guy who just bought two rifles in 270 a marlin X7 (which is the model I owned at the time but in 7mm08) and a ruger m77 hawkeye, I bore sighted those scopes for him and told him to fire off a round only to see that he was pulling his shots so I decided to help him out and fire a few off to finish sighting in his scope seeing he was on limited supply of ammo, so I started off with the marlin and it did not give me the beating like the brno i had did and started to enjoy shooting it, then it was on to the Ruger had never shouldered or fired one before and it was a perfect fit to my shoulder and that also was very pleasant to shoot, roll forward a couple of years I picked up my Remington 700 in 270 because I could not find a 7mm08 that I liked that was inside my budget and really enjoy shooting it due to the good fit it has to my shoulder as a result it built up my confidence a bit more and wound me up behind the trigger of a 264 win mag which i just absolutely fell in love with shooting dammit now I want to get in the ring with a 7mm rem mag and a 7mm WSM. so if the OP does get the opportunity to shoot some rifles owned by members don't avoid trying the 270 based on what you read here because it is not really that unpleasant at all once you get used to the feel of the rifle if I had half the chance I would allow you to come down to have a go at shooting my 270 if I could organise somewhere close by for you to have a go.

You wait till you have started cranking those 150's up, then tell us about the recoil.

Originally Posted by Spook

You wait till you have started cranking those 150's up, then tell us about the recoil.

Probably bugger all in it between the 130's and 150's

Originally Posted by hunter308

Probably bugger all in it between the 130's and 150's

There is a reason others have said that you may drop back to 140.

I have a Savage .270 in a Boyds stock and its fine to shoot.. The Boyds is slightly heavier than the original plastic stock though.
I went from .22 to .223 to .270 and I have no problems with the .270 recoil

Originally Posted by Tbirdsteve

If you want a cheap gun without too much kick you can't go past an SKS semi-auto which fires the cheapest centrefire ammo you can easily get. If you want something bigger that kicks like a cornered girl-scout but still cheap then a Mosin Nagant has sight marks out to 2km and can shoot cheap ammo ($1 per round) too. Both are very robust, incredibly easy to maintain and disassemble and require no special tools (most jobs can be done using just a live round). They both also accessorise quite nicely without having to mortgage the house for parts.

Is it difficult to get rid of that cosmoline stuff that they store the SKSs in?

You can get a grease remover from any gun shop just say that you want something that will remove cosmoline and they should be able to help.

If you point it straight "deer dont know what hit him" Be it long or short action - 6 6.5 7mm 7.62 or the extra few tho of the 303 etc.... find a rifle you like and buy it in a common cal - shoot it at the range - get comfortable carrying it - keep it for a while - then become a wierdo that slams others on the internet for not buyin said rifle in their pet caliber.....

Originally Posted by Jimmynostars

If you point it straight "deer dont know what hit him" Be it long or short action - 6 6.5 7mm 7.62 or the extra few tho of the 303 etc.... find a rifle you like and buy it in a common cal - shoot it at the range - get comfortable carrying it - keep it for a while - then become a wierdo that slams others on the internet for not buyin said rifle in their pet caliber.....

Great answer!👍

Originally Posted by Jimmynostars

If you point it straight "deer dont know what hit him" Be it long or short action - 6 6.5 7mm 7.62 or the extra few tho of the 303 etc.... find a rifle you like and buy it in a common cal - shoot it at the range - get comfortable carrying it - keep it for a while - then become a wierdo that slams others on the internet for not buyin said rifle in their pet caliber.....

Fair comment. Just thought I would get some advice. Mostly wanting the rifle to have fun, but thought it would be good to get something that i could use to go hunting if I needed to as I have read and heard that some calibers are deemed 'unsuitable' for certain hunting situations