slipperyox wrote: »

Rats, covids, wood pigeon, fox.
And maybe possibility of odd target competition,

Which 2 rifles would cover all?

I don't like 22lr due to ricochet potential, and can't get close enough to covids,
so what would you go for?

Am thinking 17 hornet and air rifle....

.22 all the way man,

Air rifle will covering everything except the fox.

223 for the fox. Good versatile calibre with a wide variety of ammo available.

For what you mentioned above,
PCP air rifle and 223.

For target shooting, if entering competitions, that would depend on the comp, for example some are 22lr only.

ace86 wrote: »

If you had 2 rifles would there be a lot of hassle getting an air rifle if u wanted one for rats or the likes especially around barn yards?

Not necessarily if you clearly explain why you need it. Every application is supposed to be considered on it’s own merits and as long as you abide by the storage conditions etc etc the number of guns you have isn’t really grounds for refusal if you demonstrate good reason for having them.

To give you an idea, in my house between two licence holders there currently are three shotguns and two center fire rifles. No issues at all to get them licenced. Just a brief visit from the local crime prevention Sergeant to check on storage once we went past the three guns in total.

For me it would be a. 22 and a. 243

hedzball wrote: »

I read here a few years ago a .17 a 243 and 12gauge will kill 95% of whats in this country and laughed at that comment..

I now own a .17 a 243 and a 12 gauge.

'Hdz

Whats the missing 5%?

I had the same, swapped the 17 for a 10/22 for no other reason than I wanted a change doe a while.

Feisar wrote: »

Dublin Zoo, elephants, hippos and rhinos!

They have their own heavy game rifles, .375's i think, in case of a breakout, so no help needed there.

Feisar wrote: »

Interesting, I wonder do they have to qualify or what the story is with that end of things?

Yeah, they would need to be well used firing them to be able to do it during a breakout with possible mayhem in the background.

Feisar wrote: »

Interesting, I wonder do they have to qualify or what the story is with that end of things?

Yeah i would imagine so, but then again if you can miss a Hippo/elephant from 20 yards ...............

Feisar wrote: »

Dublin Zoo, elephants, hippos and rhinos!

Karamojo Bell would have begged to differ with his standard 7x57 Mauser.

Bell used the .275 a lot early in his hunting trips around Africa, but as the place was hunted more and more and elephants became harder to hunt, he went with the heavier calibres. The solid .275 bullets would kill an elephant with a brain shot, but only if you were very accurate. I bought his book in a charity shop last year and its well worth reading.

Another was George "Yank" Allen, who controlled the lion numbers for a massive cattle farm in Africa. He usually used the .303 and is reputed to have shot 300-400 lions.

John "Pondoro" Taylor, Was a Dublin born big game hunter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_"Pondoro"_Taylor

kunekunesika wrote: »

Designated keepers have to range test on a regular basis.

Occasionally in Midlands you'll see a few empty boxes of .375 H&H in the bin. I was told this was from the zoo keepers.