Thread: First Rifle Decision

Hey everyone, my name is George and I am 16 years old from Christchurch. I want to get my first rifle and I am planning on hunting rabbits and occasionally possums. I need the rifle to be as cheap as possible but work decent enough of course. Even better if anyone had old rifles they would sell me for cheap it would be awesome.

Hi George. I would suggest a bolt action.22lr, spend as much as you can on a rifle and scope combo, even if you need to save up a little more for better quality you will appreciate it in the long term. Also ammo is cheaper and plentiful.
I would suggest a .17hmr if you have the budget for rifle and ammo.
The .22lr is very versatile so definitely a good place to start a rifle collection.
I hope this helps.

welcome to a brave new world yes agree with comments on a bolt .22 cheap well theres cheap and worn out and cheap and accurate - generally blokes on here will not sell you a lemon - now the real good bolt .22 have somewhat held value and still command a reasonable price - just as a starter the early BRNO .22 are great early Remingtons Winchesters Marlins all shot well - agree good optics are a must - some of the European .22 are good Voere Anshutz etc - budget well for good with a scope $ 600 and up -under that well pot luck - lets see what comes out of the cupboard for you and good luck - you could of course use open sights for awhile while you save for a scope - nothing wrong with that - many of us started with open sights - just a bit limiting if spotlighting for possums - but not impossible - my kids all learned with open sights first - you might just pick up a good .22 without a scope for $3-400 for a good one

I'm selling a Norinco model 14 bolt action, no scope and is threaded for a suppressor.
Comes with a Leupold bino case, $190. But....you don't have a licence yet?.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....4-22-a-119727/

Originally Posted by Twodiffs

I'm selling a Norinco model 14 bolt action, no scope and is threaded for a suppressor.
Comes with a Leupold bino case, $190. But....you don't have a licence yet?.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....4-22-a-119727/

Thanks for the offer but no I don't have my license.

All good...you may want to edit your post accordingly then, you can't buy a firearm without a licence mate.

Originally Posted by Twodiffs

All good...you may want to edit your post accordingly then, you can't buy a firearm without a licence mate.

Yea that is a good idea. When I made the post I thought that a firearm license took just a few weeks.

Have a read of this thread https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ng-time-84867/

Originally Posted by george_coote

Yea that is a good idea. When I made the post I thought that a firearm license took just a few weeks.

There's no harm in expressing an interest pre FAL, good onya I reckon, if you're a keen young fella which it sounds like you are then just progress forward slowly.
Wait for the time when your licence is approved & valid, until that happens then the best thing you can do is learn how to be sensible & responsible handling rifles and take in the wealth of knowledge in this forum.

if you know someone with a license George they could of course buy a rifle for you and register in their name for later transfer to you when you have your FAL - of course you could not take it hunting on your own but supervised by them and that means right alongside - if a bargain came up worth a thought - but take your time - we all get carried away some times and I have regretted a few hasty purchases -start swatting that arms code - if there is a small bore club near you and it has club rifles - get down there - that target discipline will serve you well when it comes to animals later on-

A small bore club would be a good starter,just cost you a few $$ each week.You learn a lot from oldish experts in the art of shooting targets.
Barry the hunter has got that right.

yes Trout served me well and won a few shoots to - a funny story for morning - went down to Hawkes bay full bore Champs as a young sixteen year old shooting C grade got third and won $60 came back asked Dad if me and mates could have a few beers in Caravan out back to celebrate - so 5-6 of us got stuck in - Dad came out and we had six dozen lion white ponies ready to go " when I said you boys could have a few beers I did not mean the whole bloody pub " but to his credit he grabbed a dozen and left us to it - the 48 I got at 800 yards still remember that - our Gisborne range only went out to 600- that 900 was a bloody long way out - the mirage of that river bed range at Roys hill was fierce - dropped severly and only got 38 at 900 - but my wind reading was still shit then