Future Centre Fire Purchase - Newbie

[25 Sharps]

Thanks for this reply, very informative. With regards to calibre choice, the Tikka T3X Tac A1 is also available in .260 and .308 as far as I understand, so the alternative options are there as you highlight.

Thanks again loving all this knowledge. So pleased I joined this forum.

Don't go .260 you'll struggle to feed it factory ammo wise and have no ballistic advantage over the creedmoor. As has been said the links you posted are for (expensive) bullets only, cartridges will be much more. I would honestly go .308, in fact apply .308/7.62 because that way you can use cheaper military surplus ammo for practice. You can look at reloading at a later date which brings the 2 cartridges in line cost wise, loading either for 60-70p a pop but one step at a time

 

[25 Sharps]

Ps the tac A1 is a lovely rifle, possibly not the best for a sporting purposes but will work for both.

 

[25 Sharps]

Legals:
Not all clubs are the same. Speak to the committee and ask their advice. MOD range using clubs have a set of rules they can not control
Private clubs have very different ones. We have a "club" that set up locally that is not much more than a "pay and play" range.
It is being used as good reason and does not have the probationary element that others do
Apply with as many good reasons as you can.
Get land permission for fox and deer if you can.
If you have experience of firearms (SG/Air) the bit you need to add to your knowledge is backstops and the ballistic differences of a Centrefire
ALWAYS apply for a moderator for EVERY rifle you apply for under H&S grounds
Whether you use it or not the slot can be switched for a firearm for free under 141 variations. Nice to have

Ammo allowance - apply for minimum 200, ideally more.
target ammo often comes in 50s, you may want to try a few types
if you reload you will want to make 100 at a time
range days could see you fire 50 or more
if you want to hunt you will need some different ammo further adding to the number held

Whatever you go for write a letter with your application
You want to answer ALL the questions BEFORE the FEO comes to see you
Get your ducks in a row
Know your cartridge inside and out
Know your safety inside and out
Know you reasons inside and out

Get as much experience as you can.

Costs/Choices:
If cost is a concern at all the just get a 308
Nothing with "CM" behind the name is cheap!
I would argue that the recoil benefits are as much down to the gun as the cartridge

the Tac A1 is a heavy sucker already - Moderate or Brake it and you have even less recoil
Be aware moderators won't just screw on to the A1 Tac, the threads have been cut for the US market at 5/8" for use with a brake NOT a mod and do not have the standard undercut required to centre the mod on the shoulder of the barrel rearwards of the threaded section.
But the 308 is cheaper to feed, you can buy plinking and target ammo cheaper than you can reload
The rifle options are much wider
The competition options are much wider
The components are more numerous and much cheaper
Lapua 308 is roughly 60% of 6.5CM brass

Practicalities:
None of the component choice above will make you a better shooter!
Choose one you can feed reliably and within your budget
Learn to shoot it, that comes from range time and rounds fired.....costs
No amount of mental masturbation is going to put your bullet on target at 800-1000m if you got the wind wrong!
The external ballistic advantages of the CM do not come into significant effect until past 600m
A 150-155gr 308 bullet is just as capable of 1000yds as the 6.5cm is in the right hands

All very sound advice Ed, the .308 I mentioned is still the old girl I bought off you and it still puts rifles 10x the price to shame.

Out of interest is the club you mentioned HO approved? In terms of shooting on MOD ranges we (Hunters, formerly BBS NRPC) meet at Bisley monthly and don't find any of the MOD or NRA rules prohibitive.

 

[Scapegoat]

The Tac A1 is indeed a gorgeous beast, but as others have said, it'll be a brute to carry. A friend of mine has one and he takes it occasionally but trust me he is a big strong lad. It spends more time on the range. It is far more of a a target rifle and there won't be many folk who could be comfortable with it as a sporting rifle. There is, in my humble opinion , a compromise option, two in fact, and those are the T3X Supervarmint and the T3X CTR. Both available in .308 and 6.5 CM, and not much to choose between them in price or weight. The TCR also has a couple of barrel options, 20" and 22". Both have the same superb stock, with grip scales on the supervarmint, but otherwise identical. The shorter CTRs come with a straight stock, and the longer ones have the adjustable cheekpiece. The supervarmint has a heavy varmint barrel, the CTR a semi-varmint barrel. The supervarmint has a standard 3 round flush magazine and standard T3 bolt, the CTR has a metal 10 round mag and a teflon coated bolt.

I had the two to choose from a month ago and chose the CTR. I was lucky enough to be around when my RFD had a special order version of the CTR, a 20" barrel with adjustable stock. I'm very pleased with it and put in some good groups on the zeroing range. I carried it on a 4 hour hill stalk, and can confirm the only drawback is the magazine which digs in if you've got your sling wrong. A couple of woodland stalks and a session in a high seat showed that it is perfectly good to carry, but again, the caveat is that I'm reasonably strong and fit, so the extra weight over a lightweight stalking rifle didn't limit me too much.

The Creedmoor rounds are dear at retail price in comparison with factory .308. Hornady ELD-X were £56 for 20, whereas I can load my .308 with nice Federal Powershoks for half of that. American Gunner ELDs were £78 for 50 RP so a bit better on the range, but I reload anyway, and get a healthy discount on components, so factory round costs are sort of irrelevant.

 

[pinkpanther]

Why such a big calibre to start off?

What you need to do:
1. join a target shooting club.
this should be straight forward, 6 month probationary period, buy pretty much any cal. that the range is cleared up to.

2. get some of your own deer permissions/syndicate etc
to use the rifle for hunting live quarry, deer, this is a little more complicated, you need to have land cleared up to the cal. you intend using, Deer need to be present on the land and as its your first FAC you probably will need a mentor.

3. buy a .243
Most ranges should allow .243 and it also covers all deer species, loads of reloading choices etc

Then you'll gain experience under you belt, you will see what setup other members use and then you can make your next purchase from there based on what suits your needs, a good target rifle/scope/ammo combo might not be a good stalking rifle.

 

[25 Sharps]

Why such a big calibre to start off?

What you need to do:
1. join a target shooting club.
this should be straight forward, 6 month probationary period, buy pretty much any cal. that the range is cleared up to.

2. get some of your own deer permissions/syndicate etc
to use the rifle for hunting live quarry, deer, this is a little more complicated, you need to have land cleared up to the cal. you intend using, Deer need to be present on the land and as its your first FAC you probably will need a mentor.

3. buy a .243
Most ranges should allow .243 and it also covers all deer species, loads of reloading choices etc

Then you'll gain experience under you belt, you will see what setup other members use and then you can make your next purchase from there based on what suits your needs, a good target rifle/scope/ammo combo might not be a good stalking rifle.

To the OP;

If you intend to shoot target at any range don't buy a .243, unless it's a fast twist to handle 105+ gr bullets it won't keep up with .308 or creedmoor over 600 yards, I would choose a 6.5 (excluding grendel) or .308 over .243 for deer any day of the week too!

.308 isn't a 'big cal' and neither is creedmoor!

PS, you won't necessarily need a mentor but firearms dept. may ask for one, or for you to do DSC1, lots of views on here on this some for, some against, personally I don't think either are a bad idea for someone new to stalking and CF rifles. You also don't have to have your own permission, proof of paid stalks should be enough, again this is covered in the guidance I posted the link for.

 

[CPShines]

If you've not done so yet, book and go on a few paid stalking outings using an estate rifle. Keep a record of when you go, who with, what deer you see/shoot. It will show the police that you are truly engaged in deer stalking which will help them grant your FAC for deer regardless of any target shooting/club criteria.

 

[gonzo]

Target shooting and clubs:

To have target shooting as a condition you must be a member of a HO approved target club. So their probationary thing needs to be done (which is a HO requirement and part of what they need to do to be approved.)
Once you have an FAC you are not limited to shooting at that club. You may booking in at any suitable club or range. But you must keep that club HO approved membership active.

If you only have sporting use on your FAC for a specific gun, you should be able to use it on a range, to work up loads or check grouping/zero (as long as the police have not messed up the wording on the licence). But you should not enter any competitions.
Usually you would ask for both target and sporting use. But it's possible that later on, you may have multiple guns in the same calibre and the police start being restrictive. So you may have to have to choose which guns to have for sporting and target. For example you have a couple of 308's which you use for deer and target, but now want another 308 to set up just for target use.
I have had this with 22 rimfire guns. Though I do have quite a few of those.

Check with a club what types of shooting they do. Just because they have an indoor rimfire/low power rifle range, it does not mean that they don't also shoot full bore at other ranges. Many clubs will have an affiliation to the NRA and also organise shooting at Bisley or MoD ranges.
(As mentioned already, shooting on these ranges has some extra hoops to jump through. But, it's nothing difficult and the clubs will help you with that. )