.223 for a first rifle

Tha Dev

Is a 223 suitable for a beginner.

My brother will be 16 soon and has his heart set on a 223 remmy. Is this a good idea? He has had some experience with firearms, he shoots 22s with our uncle( sometimes...) and is telling me now that he fired a 12ga on a few ocasions.

revan23

depends on why he wants it, is he going to be out hunting foxes, or does he want it cause it "rulz" :cool:

bunny shooter

Personally I would't give any 16 year old anything bigger than an air rifle, unless I was sure they knew exactly what they were doing

Our man in Havana

I would say that most supers would share that opinion.

quackquackBOOM

wouldnt go for the .223 myself get him a small rifle to start with and go from there
he will learn to have more responsibality for a firearm
if he likes hunting and guns that much he will appriciate any gun + whos going to buy him all the ammo?

bitemybanger

Most of us start out rifling with a 22lr, the reason for this is they are a good beginers gun. your super will be very reluctant to give you approval for a 22lr given your age and no previous firearms experience, its all well and good saying you shoot with family or friends but that means nothing.
So in other words the chances of your sup granting a 223 as a first firearm is slim to none, good luck tho.

revan23

my first rifle was a remmy 700 .220 swift, but i would still say its a bad idea for a 16 year old, i had already been shooting with my shotgun for a couple of years first and i was about 23 when i got it. ask him why that particular caliber, and if he says cause he likes the gun then its definatly a bad idea. you should buy a gun based on what you're going to be using it for.

José Alaninho

Agree wit all of the above. Get him a .22LR- a lot more powerful than they sound and a good way to learn responsibility + SAFETY. 16 year old with a rifle shooting the same round as the Irish Army, with a 600+ yard kill range? Garda's nightmare. No chance

kiwi84000

I don't agree,

non of us can make that call, Its down to you, As you know you re bro best,

If you think he is grown up enough to have ANY FIREARM + Air Rifle then get him it,

Just remember Safety first, My first Rifle was a 6.5 i was 18,

If you're going to give someone any type of Firearm make sure he has a good head and knows Shooting is not a GAME! and people have been hurt and killed miss handing firearms

Its down to you mate,

The .223 is a GREAT round for anyone,

José Alaninho

kiwi84000 wrote: »

I don't agree,

non of us can make that call, Its down to you, As you know you re bro best,

If you think he is grown up enough to have ANY FIREARM + Air Rifle then get him it,

Just remember Safety first, My first Rifle was a 6.5 i was 18,

If you're going to give someone any type of Firearm make sure he has a good head and knows Shooting is not a GAME! and people have been hurt and killed miss handing firearms

Its down to you mate,

The .223 is a GREAT round for anyone,

Yeah... hard part is convincing the gardai of your brother's merits. No offence, I'm sure he can handle it, it's just the BS you'll have to got through with the licenisng process...

Umiq88

Centrefire is not so much a bad gun to start out with its just shooting rimfire first is a much better way to start out. Not going into it but couple of reasons

Price for gun and ammo
Loopy tradjectory for learning
Less dangerous but not really all rifles dangerous
Can develop bad habits like flinching with CF which will ruin shooting and hard to get rid of
Relatively easy to license .223 first will give you lots of hassle esp for a 16yo with no previous experience

Bad idea to be giving anyone a rifle unless they have been supervised and thought properly especially with hunting target isnt as bad as your on a range and surrounded when people but when your on your own you need cop on and someone there that knows what can go wrong and to make the call.

kiwi84000

psittacosis wrote: »

Centrefire is not so much a bad gun to start out with its just shooting rimfire first is a much better way to start out. Not going into it but couple of reasons

Price for gun and ammo
Loopy tradjectory for learning
Less dangerous but not really all rifles dangerous
Can develop bad habits like flinching with CF which will ruin shooting and hard to get rid of
Relatively easy to license .223 first will give you lots of hassle esp for a 16yo with no previous experience

Bad idea to be giving anyone a rifle unless they have been supervised and thought properly especially with hunting target isnt as bad as your on a range and surrounded when people but when your on your own you need cop on and someone there that knows what can go wrong and to make the call.

But i am sure he knowns what his little Bro is like! if of sound mind and all that

As for the Cops, thats another war!

Tha Dev

My brother is resposible, but after hearing all of you... he'll just have to wait.

Thanks.

Sparks

Not so sure responsibility is such a major variable (it's a very important factor, yes, but it's invariant across the type of firearm involved). The important thing is that it's easier to learn on a .22lr than on a centrefire rifle. Less recoil, cheaper ammunition (therefore more shooting, therefore more learning about shooting), and so forth. However, I wouldn't start someone off on a .22lr ideally; ideally, I'd get them an air rifle and start them off there, because it's even better than a .22lr for learning as you have even cheaper ammunition and even cheaper rifles and therefore even more learning; you can shoot indoors, so it's even more convienent; and the skills learnt carry over to rimfire and centrefire (as a lot of air rifle target shooters have shown in the past).

However, the very, very, very, very best bit of advice is not to buy him a firearm at all; but instead to take him to the local club and join him up so he can learn on club firearms from club members in a club environment. Somewhere around 400-700 college students do that every year, and we've gone about 60 years between the two college clubs without an accident, which illustrates the safety of that approach.

foxshooter243

Sparks advice is spot on