Thread: Shooting

I wasn't quite sure if anyone here in Aus on this forum is a shooter or not. I thought it might be nice to get some chat around it.

I know there are other shooting/firearms related threads but obviously dominated by USA based shooters; needless to say our firearms cultures are radically different.


So please! Holla out if you're a shooter,

PS: If you are from another country and would like to contribute please feel free but keep in mind our gun laws and firearms culture in general.

I'm thinking of purchasing a Tikka Hunter Stainless in .243 soon. Would go the Sako 85 but a bit pricey ATM. I'd also love a Vanguard S2 in .257Wby but at $130/box (of 20) for ammo, I'm not that keen.

A young man who works for me recently went to a gun show and purchased a few rifles.
In discussing, I learned they were some non-common calibers. I expressed to him how only few shots would be needed for hunting, however, target shooting and becoming proficient would require some somewhat rare and expensive rounds, barring reloading which is not a cheap endeavor. I expressed my leaning toward common calibers unless an expert preference is developed for the 'Exotic' rounds. .243 is quite popular here.

I think Tikkas are a good value. I am a big fan of CZ rifles. Use the caliber that makes you happy. I have a 6.5 Creedmoor and a 6.5 Grendel. The Grendel is in the tiny miniature CZ Mauser 527.
The 7.62 x 39 can be extremely accurate in a bolt action and the rounds are inexpensive in the U.S. I am unaware of your laws.

I Have a CZ452 ZKM Lux have had it since I was 14. Great little rifle.

As for popular calibres the .223 and .308 would have to be the most common here in Australia. Owing that they are military calibres and there is plenty of surplus ammo around and also they are both pretty well suited for most shooting in Australia... aside from the 12ga of course.

I don't see a lot of the 7.62x39 I honestly haven't seen any bolt action rifles out here chambered for it. I imagine with our gun laws it would raise some eyebrows if anyone ordered ammo for it, especially more than 20 rounds at a time...

Personally I love Mauser actions on sporting rifles and in particular the Brno rifles from the post war to 1950s era. In particular the Brno models 21 and 22 small ring Mauser sporters and the large ring Mauser ZG 47. The little model 1 22 LR sporter is sweet too along with the mini Mauser actioned rifle in 22 Hornet, forgot the model now.

In the small rings the 7X57 Mauser caliber was a good match for the feather weight sporter and 30-06 caliber was nice in the ZG -47.

Moose and deer are the big game animals hunted in our area and 308, 270 and 30-06 are pretty common but magnums are popular too for moose. Unfortunately from what I saw years ago a lot of the hunters using magnums did not seem to handle them well. Probably lack of target shooting because of expensive ammo and added to that being recoil shy too.

A well handled magnum is something else again. When Sako first started selling sporter rifles in 338 Lapua a friend of mine grabbed one of the first in town in the late 1980s. That thing in his hands is an awesome moose getter at ranges at extreme/ridiculous ranges. He also machined a muzzle brake for it which helped make it more controllable but would wreck your ears if you did not have plugs in. It made the 338 Model 70 Winchester Alaskan I had at the time look anemic.

Those were fun days but I haven't shot a rifle in 20 years, sadly.

Bob

The Mausers are a classic action and their longevity is testament ti that.

Even the 338 Lapua is getting hard to get here. You need to show and prove that you need the calibre for large pest destruction (like water buffalo or camels).

The a a farmer who has a youtube channel. It's called Mark and Same After Work or something like that... He has his Sako TRG42 set up for 2mile (3.2km) shots on his property. Why he is using the imperial system here in Aus is beyond me :P

Do you still shoot other things or just haven't shot altogether in 20 years?

They have tightened up the gun laws in Canada over the years but they haven't got to the point of having to show cause for owning a particular caliber, yet, that I am aware of. Plenty of other restrictions and prohibitions though. I started shooting 22 LR as a kid and by the time I got into handgun shooting in the early 1970s you could still legally own a machine gun as a restricted weapon, same as a handgun. Wasn't too long after that iirc that the machine guns were placed on the prohibited list. Things just got progressively more restrictive after that. Much the same thing happened in other countries around the same time.

Growing up at a time when Canada converted to metric I am pretty comfortable using either the metric or imperial systems of measurements. I still calculate my cars fuel economy in mpg, Imperial gallon not US gallon, which puzzles the heck out of my nephew who is 20 years younger.

When I got into long distance rifle shooting with a DCRA club quite a few people were using the Australian Sportco target rifle. That was fun shooting out to 1000 yards from the prone position using issue military 308/7.62 Nato ball ammo in a target rifle with Vernier sights. No idea what is being used now in DCRA.

When things just got too stupidly restrictive I gave up shooting guns and used cameras instead on the basis that nobody got their nickers in a knot if they saw you with a camera. Oddly enough that has changed too to the point where some people think you are a perv if you have a camera with you. Sometimes you just can't win.

Bob

I have the cz 455 American with the 22 mag, 17 hm and 22 long rifle barrel Only shot the 22mag but plan to go to the 17 when I run out of 22 mag. I have an Anschutz sillouette rifle in 22.

Too bad about the lack of 7.62 many incorrectly think it is innacurate but they do not know it's potential.

You can do most anything with a .223 and a .308 except longer range shooting. Who shoots over 800 yards anyway.

Originally Posted by Kmcmichael

You can do most anything with a .223 and a .308 except longer range shooting. Who shoots over 800 yards anyway.

The long range match in DCRA, Dominion of Canada Rifle Association, used to be a 1000 yard match if the range had that distance. It was shot with service ball 7.62 Nato ammo issued to all competitors using bolt action target rifles with Vernier sights from the prone position. Wasn't very good at but loved to try that distance every chance I got. IIRC it took the bullet about 2 seconds to cover that distance.

More interesting was the one and only time I got to watch a black powder cartridge shoot at 1000 yards. Seemed like you could smoke a cigar between the round being fired and the round arriving on target. The trajectory must have been sub orbital too. All joking aside those guys were accurate. Live and learn.

For me the big difference in performance between the 223 ball and 7.62 Nato ball in use back then was penetration. We had a mild steel plate about 2X3 feet hung by 2 chains from a frame for a fun target. I can't recall the thickness but it took 2 of us to hang it on the chains. At 500 yards the 7.62 ball would make that plate jump and punch clean through while the 223 ball barely made it jiggle and only left lead coloured very shallow pock marks.

Oth after seeing how average hunters handled shooting at full sized moose silhouette targets at 100, 200 and 300 yards I think most should not push their shooting past 200 yards standing on their hind legs. The MNR had run these shoots for a few years to try and gather kill and wounding stats for their moose management. I also thought after seeing that there should be a practical shooting exam given all hunters before the got a hunting license as was done in Sweden at that time. Blow the shooting qualification and kiss getting your moose hunting license goodbye.

Bob

I like the idea of a qualification for a hunting license. I even think the gov should subsidize ranges here due to our current difficulties.

I also enjoy shooting steel at longer ranges and regularly shoot revolvers with 45 acp cylinders at 150 yards for the suspense. But for consistancy at 1000 yards there are better cartridges than the .308.