Getting back to basics.

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When starting out it always pays to consider how much you can do with as little as possible. More often than not, there are financial constraints on young beginners but also pressure to buy the latest and greatest.

When I started my first rifle was a Remington 552. Cannot remember what I paid for it but it was well earned by fruit picking and pushing a milk trolley around at god awful hours and freezing cold temps of Central Otago winters. I had already learned to shoot with the venerable TOZ owned by a school mate so was ready for a big boy toy. I stayed with the iron sights till I found a good used scope. Later on, two years into my apprenticeship saw me take possession of a new Ruger M77 in 270Win for $475.00. A princely sum back then. Sold the 552 but the Tasco scope that came with it was transferred to the Ruger. The Tasco was later traded for a second hand Weaver K4W when the M77 was finally swapped out for the more practical Rem. Mountain rifle and soon after, I found the little TOZ in a local gun store and at $90.00 it was too good to walk away from. It came with a fine little BC Miroku scope which stayed with it for many years. I also still the original two mags. Never thought they would become like rocking horse poo!! About twenty years ago I upgraded the Weaver with a Swift Premier and to this day it’s still doing the job. I think it was only about $400ish.

The two rifles above have been with me for literally decades and was all I had. Sure, I have other pretties now but back then they served me well for 99% of my needs and wants and would certainly nowadays as well.

The point is this. I bought what I could with what I had. Every thing was second hand apart from the M77. It was pretty much the same price as a used Carl Gustav in the same caliber anyway and fitted me better. If you’re patient, you can put together a rifle/scope package for the same money as I had to pay back then. In today’s dollars, very good basic firearms are in fact cheaper now to buy than they were in my day. Good fit and some self confidence in your rifle will see you right for life if you need it to.

Just remember, disposable income is your enemy:D It’s been said before but always worth repeating, get the basics sorted and then spend the rest of your valuable hard earned dollars on getting out there and doing it.

Cheers all and I hope the new year is treating you all well.