Advice on .22 !

brianfrancis45

On one of my permissions there is a healthy rabbit population .
However, its very open land with very little cover and the rabbit warrens are right in the middle of very big fields so its near on impossible to get close enough to bag a few bunnies with the shotgun. The nearest I can usually get is about 75-100 yards before they bolt to ground.

Also my son ( just turning 14) is showing quite a bit of interest and I'd like to encourage him and if possible get him a training licence ,so that he could go out to shoot a few rabbits with me . So, I'm thinking that a reasonably good .22 that both he and I could use would be the way to go. However, he is left handed and I'm right handed and I'm wondering if it would be a big issue for both of us to use the same .22 ?

Having always used shotguns and never owned a rifle , I would appreciate any advice/opinions on what would be a decent .22 plus scope to buy and if you feel the right handed v left handed matter would be a big problem or not.

Thanks very much.

ferrete

a ferret would be cheaper than a rifle and u would get fast shotgun action with that

Tackleberrywho

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

On one of my permissions there is a healthy rabbit population .
However, its very open land with very little cover and the rabbit warrens are right in the middle of very big fields so its near on impossible to get close enough to bag a few bunnies with the shotgun. The nearest I can usually get is about 75-100 yards before they bolt to ground.

Also my son ( just turning 14) is showing quite a bit of interest and I'd like to encourage him and if possible get him a training licence ,so that he could go out to shoot a few rabbits with me . So, I'm thinking that a reasonably good .22 that both he and I could use would be the way to go. However, he is left handed and I'm right handed and I'm wondering if it would be a big issue for both of us to use the same .22 ?

Having always used shotguns and never owned a rifle , I would appreciate any advice/opinions on what would be a decent .22 plus scope to buy and if you feel the right handed v left handed matter would be a big problem or not.

Thanks very much.

Since he is leftie and you are rightie.
1.get a straight stock.
2. Don't get a semi auto as he will have hot crap spat across his face as he will fire from opposite shoulder.
A CZ, Remington Ruger or Anschuts will all do the job.
Not forgeting Sako amongst others.

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_25&products_id=154&zenid=569284f333b81b839cd61eb4f0e30bd6
The above ~€900 with scope bipod mounts etc

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_25&products_id=101&zenid=569284f333b81b839cd61eb4f0e30bd6

The above will be got for around the €5-600 mark

Both of these rifles are new and I am including teh price of a cleaning kit, 500 rounds of ammo, a bipod and an entry level scope.(I suggest a 3-9x scope on a .22 for shooting bunnies ~70 yards, or a 4-16x if you prefer a clearer picture)

The straight stock mmakes shooting easy from either shoulder.
I use a right handed rifle from the left shoulder myself.

sfakiaman

Maybe a lever action rifle like the Marlin 39A would be worth a look.

brianfrancis45

ferrete wrote: »

a ferret would be cheaper than a rifle and u would get fast shotgun action with that

Good thinking outside of the box that ! Thanks.

However the young fella ( he is fairly slight in stature) is not too keen on shooting my 12 gauge (even with lighter loads) as he finds the recoil a bit much for him yet , so if I went the ferret/shotgun route I'd still have to buy a shot gun with lower recoil for him to use comfortably.

brianfrancis45

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Since he is leftie and you are rightie.
1.get a straight stock.
2. Don't get a semi auto as he will have hot crap spat across his face as he will fire from opposite shoulder.
A CZ, Remington Ruger or Anschuts will all do the job.
Not forgeting Sako amongst others.

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_25&products_id=154&zenid=569284f333b81b839cd61eb4f0e30bd6
The above ~€900 with scope bipod mounts etc

http://www.shoot.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_25&products_id=101&zenid=569284f333b81b839cd61eb4f0e30bd6

The above will be got for around the €5-600 mark

Both of these rifles are new and I am including teh price of a cleaning kit, 500 rounds of ammo, a bipod and an entry level scope.(I suggest a 3-9x scope on a .22 for shooting bunnies ~70 yards, or a 4-16x if you prefer a clearer picture)

The straight stock mmakes shooting easy from either shoulder.
I use a right handed rifle from the left shoulder myself.

Tack , sound advice there- thanks v. much.

So bolt action with a straight stock seems to be the way to go and I suppose the only thing my boy might find a bit strange at the start would be having to cock the bolt with his right hand rather than his left , but I assume he would get used to that quite quickly.

Although I don't have any experience of scopes as such, I think I would probably prefer the 4-16x scope for myself as the old eyesight is not the best ! Could you recommend a decent scope (i.e. manufacturer) at a reasonable price ? Forgive my ignorance as I can imagine the answer will be '' you get what you pay for '' but I'm just trying to get an idea if there are certain makes of cheaper scopes that are best avoided and for reasons of budget would also like to avoid the very pricey top end scopes !

I think I will also look around to see what might be available 2nd hand.


Thanks again for your help

kildare.17hmr

I was in my RFD the other day and he has a few marlin 917's in .17 hmr left. 340euro new and they are a nice rifle, longer range on bunnies, flatter trajectory, much faster bullet and quite cheap to run. a box of ammo in there ranges from 16-25euro for 50 depending on what you want and iv been told you can get them cheaper around the country. worth looking at and a superier calibre to the .22lr

CJhaughey

I think the OP would still be better off with a .22lr
Undoubtedly the .17 HMR has better ballistics and higher performance but when starting out and especially with a young fella the low price of .22 ammo in relation to .17HMR will allow a lot more shooting for the same money.
Don't get me wrong the .17HMR is a great round but it is at least 2x the price of .22lr ammo.
You also have the option of using subsonic ammo with .22lr which is good stuff for knocking bunnies in a field without disturbing them all.

kildare.17hmr

Yeah i suppose your right about the price an all, didnt think the differance in price of ammo was that much TBH, the .17hmr ammo is cheap enough for me anyway, 30c-50c a shot aint bad but i suppose a young lad startin out might be more trigger happy

Tackleberrywho

brianfrancis45 wrote: »

Tack , sound advice there- thanks v. much.

So bolt action with a straight stock seems to be the way to go and I suppose the only thing my boy might find a bit strange at the start would be having to cock the bolt with his right hand rather than his left , but I assume he would get used to that quite quickly.

Although I don't have any experience of scopes as such, I think I would probably prefer the 4-16x scope for myself as the old eyesight is not the best ! Could you recommend a decent scope (i.e. manufacturer) at a reasonable price ? Forgive my ignorance as I can imagine the answer will be '' you get what you pay for '' but I'm just trying to get an idea if there are certain makes of cheaper scopes that are best avoided and for reasons of budget would also like to avoid the very pricey top end scopes !

I think I will also look around to see what might be available 2nd hand.


Thanks again for your help

Simmons are the best of the low cost scopes IMHO.
There are loads available second hand, try before you buy!

If the stock has a raised cheek piece you will have the benefit of it ;but your son won't, however one of my Remington has a raised cheek piece and I shoot quiet well from the flatter leftie side.

The .17Hmr might be better if your fields give you longer shots 75-175 yards say.
It has less bullet drop ~ the 100 yard range which means invariably the young fella (and yourself may hit more and be more confident as a result.

Ring around a few dealers in your area.
You could get a semi auto but potentially he could get spat burnt powder in the face (I used a 10/22 and if the wind was blowing i had this problem firing from left shoulder).

Get a bipod too and this will make the rifle much steadier to shoot from (**Harris 9"-13" with swivel ** )
Try and get a vari scope with parallax as without the image will appear blurry on the higher mag settings.

Second hand €600 should get you a very decent rifle and scope and perhaps second hand bipod too.
(Harris are as tough as old boots)

clivej

Most of the ceap scopes will do for a 22lr.
Ring around for second hand deals as there will be good value to be got. My son picked up a CZ 22lr for 150 euro and it´s a nice little shooter, if you done mind the slight rust marks on the barrel :eek: if he would only clean it up a little :rolleyes:.

In fact my CZ 22lr style is now in Stakelums, Thurles for sale and you won´t get a better shooter than that one, it will shoot 1/2" groups all day. I don´t know what the asking price is on it. I traded it in for Bunnyshooters CZ 22lr varmint

dwighet

clivej wrote: »

Most of the ceap scopes will do for a 22lr.
Ring around for second hand deals as there will be good value to be got. My son picked up a CZ 22lr for 150 euro and it´s a nice little shooter, if you done mind the slight rust marks on the barrel :eek: if he would only clean it up a little :rolleyes:.

In fact my CZ 22lr style is now in Stakelums, Thurles for sale and you won´t get a better shooter than that one, it will shoot 1/2" groups all day. I don´t know what the asking price is on it. I traded it in for Bunnyshooters CZ 22lr varmint

Clive old mate...Would ya just not enjoy your holiday in spain and give boards a rest for a while....
If I was you I would have my head buried in a pint and my eyes focused on bikinis.....:rolleyes:

CJhaughey

dwighet wrote: »

If I was you I would have my head buried in a pint and my eyes focused on bikinis.....:rolleyes:

Or your head buried in a Bikini and your eyes on a Pint!

dwighet

CJhaughey wrote: »

Or your head buried in a Bikini and your eyes on a Pint!

Even better:D

clivej

dwighet wrote: »

Clive old mate...Would ya just not enjoy your holiday in spain and give boards a rest for a while....
If I was you I would have my head buried in a pint and my eyes focused on bikinis.....:rolleyes:

err NO. It´s like a drug I can´t break free of.

CJhaughey wrote: »

Or your head buried in a Bikini and your eyes on a Pint!

I wish, it´s enough to make an old mans eye´s water.:o

declan1980

go for the 17hmr, better round altogether