First gun..

Donal123B

I've been a lurker in the shooting forum for quite some time, and have now decided to take action. Just want some tips on buying my first gun.
Id be hunting rabbits mainly, foxes, and maybe some crows, magpies etc.
From reading other threads, it would seem that a .22lr would be the right direction.
Also, im 16, just wondering would there be any difficulty getting a license for a rifle, or would maybe a shotgun be better?
I have a a lot of land to shoot on, and a local gun club. Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

.45auto

Donal123B wrote: »

I've been a lurker in the shooting forum for quite some time, and have now decided to take action. Just want some tips on buying my first gun.
Id be hunting rabbits mainly, foxes, and maybe some crows, magpies etc.
From reading other threads, it would seem that a .22lr would be the right direction.
Also, im 16, just wondering would there be any difficulty getting a license for a rifle, or would maybe a shotgun be better?
I have a a lot of land to shoot on, and a local gun club. Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

Well first thing is first. You need to join a gun gun club of some sort. Thats usually how people go about it. Also you are 16 so your parents, I hope are ok with the situation. Now from a paperwork standpoint you go to your local garda station and ask for an FCA 1 I believe its called. Its about 6 pages.

.45auto

.45auto wrote: »

Well first thing is first. You need to join a gun gun club of some sort. Thats usually how people go about it. Also you are 16 so your parents, I hope are ok with the situation. Now from a paperwork standpoint you go to your local garda station and ask for an FCA 1 I believe its called. Its about 6 pages.

A lot goes into buying a gun. You are going to typically need a safe. And if one of the occupants around you has been in trouble with the police its gonna be a bit more difficult. Its a very expensive hobby

.45auto

.45auto wrote: »

A lot goes into buying a gun. You are going to typically need a safe. And if one of the occupants around you has been in trouble with the police its gonna be a bit more difficult. Its a very expensive hobby

Shotguns are usually the easier of the two to get but if, as youve said youve loads of land you shouldnt have a problem getting a .22

skipking

as you are a member of a gun club i would get a shotgun and then later on a dog and you could go pheasant shooting.
magpies and crows can be shot from a hide, also you have the option of pigeon and clay pigeon shooting foxes
can be shot with heaver loads. not trying to put you off a rifle as i own 2 but you have more options with a shotgun,

extremetaz

Donal123B wrote: »

I've been a lurker in the shooting forum for quite some time, and have now decided to take action. Just want some tips on buying my first gun.
Id be hunting rabbits mainly, foxes, and maybe some crows, magpies etc.
From reading other threads, it would seem that a .22lr would be the right direction.
Also, im 16, just wondering would there be any difficulty getting a license for a rifle, or would maybe a shotgun be better?
I have a a lot of land to shoot on, and a local gun club. Any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance

There's shouldn't be any difficulty getting the licence provided you populate the forms fully and correctly, no.

Rifle or shotgun depends on your intended application.

For rabbits, corvids, etc.. the LR is absolutely brilliant all the way out to about 50meters; it's also a lovely caliber to shoot and cheap as chips even running match grade ammo. Couldn't recommend it highly enough as a first rifle.

If you're going for fox aswell though then I'd say 17HMR rather than 22LR. The LR is a cheaper round and hands down the best platform to learn to shoot properly on, but not an effective round for foxing as it simply doesn't have the energy. You CAN use it, and people do, and it WILL do the job, but only at very close range (like shotgun close) and only with impeccable shot placement.

The HMR will reach out to, and remain effective on, a fox sized target as far as 80m or so (others will tell you longer but I prefer to be conservative when it comes to fieldwork) and up to 150 and beyond on rabbits and corvids.

To be honest though, I think the best advice would be to get the 22LR and cut your teeth on rabbits and corvids, then get yourself a smaller centerfire if you find yourself going foxing in the future.

Bottom line - I'm not aware of anybody who's EVER regretted buying a 22LR.
CZ or Brno would probably be the best known and most available, and for good reason, although I'm an Anschutz man if you can stretch to them (they're pricey).

PSXDupe

As mentioned above, a .22LR is very cheap to run, 100 round range from €10+ and for starting out you'll be shooting 100's of round just getting use to the rifle, trigger control etc. You can get cheap round for about €40 per 500.

I have a CZ455 .22LR Varmint, lovely gun, 16" heavy barrel which is nice and short, good for field work.

Saying that I recently bought a CZ455 .17HMR Thumbhole again with a heavy barrel and its extremely accurate, the CZ 455 .22LR is an accurate rifle but the HMR is just better, and does pack a little more punch if you were to take down foxes.

I only started with rifles about 6 months ago and from a quality, accuracy & cost point of view you can't better the CZ 455.