Thread: First rifle advice

Some good caliber suggestions above - all will do the job. I'll add some thoughts...

I know this area you're going to shoot in very well. Spent first decades of my shooting career living in, and for most part hunting in, the Waikato. Also went to Waikato Uni and belonged to shooting club there back in the day. 270 will be good but I'd recommend a 308 as better for you. They are both hard hitters and will drop anything to your 300 max range - but alot of your shots will be less than 100m in the bush terrain. 308 has edge because of constant availability of a good range of ammos at good prices. This is because it has been a world round - ie civil and military use around the globe - like 223. Its other advantage is you can chop it to 18" and 16" and it will still (rifle specific) retain excellent accuracy and stopping power. 270 does not handle chops as well. The advantage of shorter barrels is very clear for north. You may hunt/stalk through alot of dense Waikato bush and it is a BIG advantage to keep your rifle short to minimise catching long barrel/suppressor on over head vegetation. Inches matter - and we always liked to keep our firearms as short as possible.

My suggestion - I'd pick up a secondhand 308, cut it to 16 or 18" maximum, then fit a shorter fat type overbarrel suppressor. This will make it very easy to handle through the bush, but still hit like a Mack truck esp with good 180 grain softnose. This is/has been a common setup up there and examples will pop up on trademe etc. Rifle could be from a number of makes - new and older. Howa offer very good value, as will older Winnies/Remmies etc as someone mentions above.

Hope this helps - happy hunting. PS say hello to the old Uni for me .. Mudz