Help Needed on Buying First Rifle

peter g

Hi, I want to buy a rifle to shoot rabbits and foxes, which one would you recommend? Have been shooting for some years now but not with rifles, shot a 303 when i was younger but can barely remember that far back.
mainly shoot clays with the odd magpie and grey crow for good measure.

any help would be gratefully received

peter
ps. just joined this board today

N.O.I.P.

I've never shot one myself but for bunnies the .22lr seems to be a pretty popular calibre and the Ruger 10/22 gets a lot of good press on this forum. I reckon you would would want something bigger for foxes but since I know SFA about hunting I am open to correction.

Edit : Ok I just Googled standard calibres for fox and the .22lr was mentioned in some old boards.ie shooting archives so I guess its acceptable for fox hunting. I'm still open to correction tough

peter, welcome to the board.

.22lr will do, I have one for the same purpose (CZ 452).

If there is a target club nearby, you should drop down and have a look and a chat with people there. That way you get a good feel for the various rifles.

foxhunter

If your going to shoot fox's at least buy .22 mag or swift or .223
.22 lr i think is a bit sub standard for fox's you dont want them running after being shot .As for the bunnies the .22 mag will suffice for both jobs

30.06

hey, if you want one rifle to do both i think you should be thinkin of .17 hmr its fine on rabbits and i can assure you it works on foxes just fine too. i love the 22 lr and think its great for rabbits but not up to foxes really. another option could be a 22 magnum but once you go into .22 hornet or .223 rem you wont making much rabbit stew, however they would be the better cal for fox.

johngalway

I've shot and killed rabbit, fox and others with .22lr, .223 and 12ga.

In my experience, not opinion, the .22lr isn't up to the job of being called a foxing calibre. It'll kill them sure, but not reliably. The .17HMR will also kill them but again I wouldn't take it out if I were going after foxes.

Both of the above will kill a fox at the correct range (I would say under 100 yards both, you'd want to be very sure of shot placement) and with good shot placement but they are not in themselves fox calibres. Either of them will do for rabbits.

For fox you should be looking at .22Hornet, .17REM, .222, .223, .22-250 or 220Swift. Out of those I would go for the .223. Reasons being there are a good selection of rounds available for it here, it's relatively cheap to shoot, it does the job properly, and it's got decent range depending on the driver.

peter g

Many thanks for all the help, rang a few dealers to see whats around. going to have a look tomorrow. One dealer said that the 17 calibre is useless not worth the metal its made from. I was maybe thinking of a 22mag not sure will make a semi choice tomorrow.

thanks
peter
ps. can anyone reccommend a decent firearms dealer near to me in dungarvan co waterford that will trade an aya sbs 26" no4 shotgun for a rifle? was told aswell today that the licence will take longer than ages! I have 3 shotguns!

johngalway

peter g wrote:

Many thanks for all the help, rang a few dealers to see whats around. going to have a look tomorrow. One dealer said that the 17 calibre is useless not worth the metal its made from. I was maybe thinking of a 22mag not sure will make a semi choice tomorrow.

thanks
peter
ps. can anyone reccommend a decent firearms dealer near to me in dungarvan co waterford that will trade an aya sbs 26" no4 shotgun for a rifle? was told aswell today that the licence will take longer than ages! I have 3 shotguns!

Don't believe all the FD's tell ya Friend of mine had one for 3 or 4 years, killed plenty of foxes with it. The only real problems with it are expensive ammo and quirky calibre so not good for any resale.

freddieot

Peter, rifles are a bit like cars, everyone has an opinion on the best ones. The best advice so far would be to avoid rare or unpopular calibres. As you get deeper into rifle shooting you will want to trade up etc. ( guaranteed !). Don't get something for your first gun that won't sell easily in a year or two.

.22 will sell easy, a 17 or a .999 probably won't ..

bunny shooter

freddieot wrote:

Peter, rifles are a bit like cars, everyone has an opinion on the best ones. The best advice so far would be to avoid rare or unpopular calibres. As you get deeper into rifle shooting you will want to trade up etc. ( guaranteed !). Don't get something for your first gun that won't sell easily in a year or two.

.22 will sell easy, a 17 or a .999 probably won't ..

Good advice ! I recommend 22 magnum in a bolt action CZ do a good 'un

Remmy

the .17rem works grand for foxes.The hornet is great for them too.Id say your better off to buy two.You could pick up a nice little CZ 452 for around 300 and then a cz 527 hornet or .223 for fox at around 550.That way you have two rifles that are near ideal for their chosen targets!job done!:D

Anyone asks I'm not a Cz rep.



GO CZ:D

macnab

I have been told by an experienced hunter that the .17 need to be cleaned on a very regular basis or they become very inconsistent with shot groupings. On the .22 front, I am awaiting a licence for a CZ 452 (my 1st rifle) I have been told that I should use hollow tip rounds for greater impact when hunting fox.

bunny shooter

macnab wrote:

I have been told by an experienced hunter that the .17 need to be cleaned on a very regular basis or they become very inconsistent with shot groupings. On the .22 front, I am awaiting a licence for a CZ 452 (my 1st rifle) I have been told that I should use hollow tip rounds for greater impact when hunting fox.

.22lr is onlt relaible on foxes out to max of maybe 80 yards and this is with high velocity rounds. Minimum recommed calibre for fox is .22 Hornet

deise toffee

peter g wrote:

Many thanks for all the help, rang a few dealers to see whats around. going to have a look tomorrow. One dealer said that the 17 calibre is useless not worth the metal its made from. I was maybe thinking of a 22mag not sure will make a semi choice tomorrow.

thanks
peter
ps. can anyone reccommend a decent firearms dealer near to me in dungarvan co waterford that will trade an aya sbs 26" no4 shotgun for a rifle? was told aswell today that the licence will take longer than ages! I have 3 shotguns!

Philip Maher runs a gunshop out of his house all legal,in touraneena village co Waterford,you could call to see him ,and see what he says?

johngalway

bunny shooter wrote:

.22lr is onlt relaible on foxes out to max of maybe 80 yards and this is with high velocity rounds. Minimum recommed calibre for fox is .22 Hornet

Nope. I've not found HV's to be as accurate as subs. Have dropped them with subs at that range, brain shot, note I didn't say head shot.

johngalway

johngalway wrote:

Nope. I've not found HV's to be as accurate as subs. Have dropped them with subs at that range, brain shot, note I didn't say head shot.

I'm messing about with HVs and I find that as well, the .22lr subsonic groups much nicer at about 50m or so

N.O.I.P.

johngalway wrote:

Nope. I've not found HV's to be as accurate as subs. Have dropped them with subs at that range, brain shot, note I didn't say head shot.

A brain shot thats not a head shot, how does that work? A shot to the upper back of the neck (Brain stem area)? Or do you mean a well thought out shot?

johngalway

N.O.I.P. wrote:

A brain shot thats not a head shot, how does that work? A shot to the upper back of the neck (Brain stem area)? Or do you mean a well thought out shot?

I mean a brain shot as shooting into the brain, all headshots are not brain shots, you could put it through his snout or ear. When doing that with the .22 I try to get side on and to imagine a line going from the bottom of the ear to the eye and shoot the middle of it. Works for me.

N.O.I.P.

Ah right that makes an awful lot more sense than what I was thinking
Thanks John

deise toffee

I am looking for some advice aswell.What is a fair price to pay for a new rifle for a beginner?say a .22 or that,including scope?

bunny shooter

deise toffee wrote:

I am looking for some advice aswell.What is a fair price to pay for a new rifle for a beginner?say a .22 or that,including scope?

Tough question all depends on what you want to spend really

Should get a good secondhand 22 for €200 and a decent scope for same

freddieot

When you mention a new rifle, I assume you mean brand new. .22 shoudl go between 400-500ish and the sky's the limit on scopes but agan 200ih would be more than enough.

Some dealers do combo deals and these can be good sometimes. However, my best advice would be to ask someone at your club or someone you know to help you out either by looking out for a good 2nd hand kit or going with you to have a look and price new stuff. (For a new rifle that will do the job and is not too expensive, hard to beat a .22 CZ).

macnab

I am paying €600 for a new CZ 452 (Standard) with a silencer(parker hale), scope&mounts(3-9x40mm,make:?), sling and slip.

I have a CZ style, and it is a great little rifle!

Hope that it goes well for you