Help needed

HugeCheapskate

Can anyone recommend a good place to buy a .22 target rifle. Something suitable for benchrest maybe.

All info appreciated.

Cass

Can you give a rough budget? There are some dealers selling suitable rifles for €500 then other dealers selling rifles going to €3000.

I'm assuming its benchrest?

Rosahane

Go up to Hilltop and have a look. There is a good selection for sale and a thriving benchrest community which will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

http://www.hilltopshootingsports.com/

fat-tony

Anschutz 1813 with aluminium stock - €1,300 - see the "for sale" section http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056252578

clivej

Intershoot.ie

Cass

+1 to Intershoot.

The lads seem to have a great selection of rifles for all smallbore disciplines and in all price ranges. You would have to import, but they are most likely well used to dealing with lads in the south and would easily help you out with any paperwork.

Jim Griffin does a small range of the older Anschutz target rifles at reasonable prices. He's in Tullamore.

After that i've not seen many dealers carrying a line of dedicated benchrest rifles. Perhaps as suggested above you visit some ranges that deal with these type of competitions.

HugeCheapskate

Ezridax wrote: »

Can you give a rough budget? There are some dealers selling suitable rifles for €500 then other dealers selling rifles going to €3000.

My budget is roughly €500 to €1000. It's not a big budget but I'm only starting out. I realise I won't get a top of the range gun for this money but I don't want a totally crap gun either, just something that is more accurate than me. I am still in the info gathering stage because I don't want to spend more money than I have to - I'm Joe Bloggs, not Richie Rich.

To be honest, I have never shot competitively before. The only shooting I have done is a few bunnies and targets at home with my ancient and well worn Brno but every target shooter has to start somewhere.

Cass

€1000 is more than enough to get you not only started, but into a decent quality rifle. For example an Anschutz 1817, 1411, etc. Old guns but excellent quality and still used by some of the top shooters.



Around €500 or so.

Stick a (personal choice here) Weaver T36, fixed powered scope with ultra fine reticle ontop. Depending on the rifle you will be in 1 of 4 catgories. The T36 can only be used on unlimited class. They are excellent scopes, cheap and reliable on a .22lr.



New about €500, but can be gotten cheaper second hand. About €300. Although there are a few alternatives. Any of the Bushnell .22 range (banner, trophy, etc)



Tasco


Hawke


etc will all suffice. Make sure to get a fine reticle. You will need it for the 25 ring targets used in benchrest. All these run around €175 - €250 and would be great scopes.

Lastly you need a decent rest and back bag. Caldwell are about the best to get you started, but as with all things money is the only restriction. I used a Rock BR, but once shot against a lad using a Seb. They were about £600, for the front rest only. For the moment a Caldwell Rock or secondhand Rock BR can be gotten for €90 - €150, and a back bag for about €40 max.

Rock


Rock Br

Back bag


Throw in a set of rings for around the €40 - €60 marks and you're good to go. So you have ;

Rifle - €500
Scope - €300 (ave)
Rest - €150
Bag - €40
Rings - €50

Total - €1,040.

Of course you can always get better deals on the rifle and scopes with pre-assembled "kits" or a different brand/model rifle.

HugeCheapskate

Thanks Ezridax. U went to a fair bit of trouble compiling that last post, much appreciated.

Cass

No trouble at all.

To many benchrest seems a fairly boring discipline, and in fairness even when shooting it myself i was bored watching others shoot it. However its more about wind reading, perfecting your rifle and gear to give you every available advantage. It is surprisingly addictive once you get going.

HugeCheapskate

Ezridax wrote: »

No trouble at all.

However its more about wind reading

Would wind be a big factor when shooting short distances like 25m and 50m?

Cass

Yes and no.

Yes - You will want absolute repeatability for every shot. You will want wind flags which can be bought or made. These will give you great indicators for the same wind value to achieve this repeatability.

No - You will, with a similar rifle to the one above, hit one hole groups all day long. They may be perfect or ragedy (is that a word) but one hole groups all the same. Thing is in benchrest you fire a single round at each bull and move on to the next one. Hence the importance for wind flags.

The wind would need to be 10mph+ to really affect the bullet in a bad way, but with practise you will learn to see the wind changes and adjust accordingly. Personally i never adjusted the scope from its true zero, but simply held off. Unless shooting in a constant wind which rarely happens.

I'm not really explaining this well. It sounds good in my head, but not the same when i put it into writing.

At 25mtr the wind effect is not as bad as 50mtr. That sounds obvious enough but there are also indoor 25 mtr ranges and there is not wind, light issues, etc so this is when you're rifle will shine. The midlands range is a fine setup, but it will challenge you all the time with the changing wind. I've always said if you shoot well there you will only do better elsewhere. Just about every rifle range caters for benchres shooting and there are plenty of club and national shoots every week/month to keep you well busy.

I cannot stress the importance of going to a range and seeing it in action for yourself. You will see the array of rifles, gear, conditions, etc. Seeing is much better than listening to me rabbiting on.:o

Scalachi

Hi Ezridax,

I agree with just about everything you have said, your advice is always spot on.

One little point I need to correct though is the T36 can be used is LV or HV.

For the OP, you have 3 categories in Benchrest:

1. international Sporter - Any gun under 8.5IB's Weight limited to a scope magnification of 6.5 power (can be taped in place for the match if variable)

2. Light Varmint - Any gun under 10.5IB's - Any Scope

3. Heavy Varmint - Any gun under 15ib's - Any scope.

Other rules apply, but these are the basics.


Regards

DB

Cass

Scalachi wrote: »

Hi Ezridax,

I agree with just about everything you have said, your advice is always spot on.

Not always.

One little point I need to correct though is the T36 can be used is LV or HV.

Ah. For some reason i though it was 6.5 power, 12 power then unlimited.

Good to know.

Scalachi

With LV there is no scope power rule, but saying that, i use a T36 in Light Varmint, as the weight of the scope can put you in to the next bracket, and the T36 While an excellent scope is also one of the lightest

In the UK, they have a slight difference in the Sporter class, i think they call it UK Sporter, but they allow Scope power to either 8.5 or 10.5.

Bananaman

Pat cooke at www.hilltopshootingsports.com usually has a few BR rifles about up to and including the latest Anschutz models a, he also has a 50m BR rannge on site along with a wide array of rests, back bags etc so you can 'kick the tyres

Always a few of the countries top shots either practicing or competing so good for a chinwag about the pros and cons of different options and get a look at what they are shooting, what scopes, rests, bags, etc

Give him a bell, tell him what you want to look at or try out and arrange a visit

B'Man

HugeCheapskate

Bananaman wrote: »

Pat cooke at www.hilltopshootingsports.com usually has a few BR rifles about up to and including the latest Anschutz models a, he also has a 50m BR rannge on site along with a wide array of rests, back bags etc so you can 'kick the tyres

Always a few of the countries top shots either practicing or competing so good for a chinwag about the pros and cons of different options and get a look at what they are shooting, what scopes, rests, bags, etc

Give him a bell, tell him what you want to look at or try out and arrange a visit

B'Man

A few people have been mentioning Pat Cooke so I reckon he is worth giving a bell. Thanks.