Blaser Ash
Active Member
Been thinking about people new to rifle shooting or who are working to a budget and want to know which three calibres to choose. Here’s my pick:
Rabbits and general vermin:
.22 rf if sound level is important. You can pick up a good used cz bolt action with scope and mod for £200. I have had a few and all shot very well. Ammo is still way cheaper than centre fire or the other rim fires and with a good moderator/suppressor they are very quiet and give you the chance to shoot several rabbits before they work out what’s going on.
If sound isn’t important then .17 hmr doubles your effective range but roughly trebles your ammo cost. Again a used cz is a good buy with scope and mod for £300 and they really shoot.
Varmints (long range rabbits, foxes and other legal small quarry).
.222 REM used rifles are an incredible bargain and can be found way cheaper than the slightly more powerful .223. Accurate .222 Rem bolt actions appear frequently at around the £300 mark if unthreaded and for £450 or so threaded with a mod. I would be tempted to buy an unthreaded rifle, because you avoid moderator rot, where the mod was left on too long and the bore and crown is pitted. A decent threading job by a gunsmith is about £80. Less if you wave ten pound notes at them.
Ammo is also less expensive than virtually any other comparable centre fire and is often discounted. The .222 was originally a bench rest round and they are usually very accurate. On a still day you will lose nothing to a .223 out to nearly 300 yards because you will probably outshoot it with your .222.
Deer and Up
.308 every time. It’s a lovely round to shoot and within everyone’s capabilities to shoot well and there are so many around you will have plenty to choose from. You see perfectly good Parker Hales and BSAs around for £150 in .308. There are a lot of decent czs about too in .308 for not much money. If it was in 6.5 creedmore, the same rifle would be £500 and you would have to wipe the jizz off it before you could use it.
By the way, I don’t sell CZ rifles and only own one in .17 Hornet at the moment. They are just incredibly good value for money used and generally shoot very well
Those are my thoughts - would like to hear yours.
Rabbits and general vermin:
.22 rf if sound level is important. You can pick up a good used cz bolt action with scope and mod for £200. I have had a few and all shot very well. Ammo is still way cheaper than centre fire or the other rim fires and with a good moderator/suppressor they are very quiet and give you the chance to shoot several rabbits before they work out what’s going on.
If sound isn’t important then .17 hmr doubles your effective range but roughly trebles your ammo cost. Again a used cz is a good buy with scope and mod for £300 and they really shoot.
Varmints (long range rabbits, foxes and other legal small quarry).
.222 REM used rifles are an incredible bargain and can be found way cheaper than the slightly more powerful .223. Accurate .222 Rem bolt actions appear frequently at around the £300 mark if unthreaded and for £450 or so threaded with a mod. I would be tempted to buy an unthreaded rifle, because you avoid moderator rot, where the mod was left on too long and the bore and crown is pitted. A decent threading job by a gunsmith is about £80. Less if you wave ten pound notes at them.
Ammo is also less expensive than virtually any other comparable centre fire and is often discounted. The .222 was originally a bench rest round and they are usually very accurate. On a still day you will lose nothing to a .223 out to nearly 300 yards because you will probably outshoot it with your .222.
Deer and Up
.308 every time. It’s a lovely round to shoot and within everyone’s capabilities to shoot well and there are so many around you will have plenty to choose from. You see perfectly good Parker Hales and BSAs around for £150 in .308. There are a lot of decent czs about too in .308 for not much money. If it was in 6.5 creedmore, the same rifle would be £500 and you would have to wipe the jizz off it before you could use it.
By the way, I don’t sell CZ rifles and only own one in .17 Hornet at the moment. They are just incredibly good value for money used and generally shoot very well
Those are my thoughts - would like to hear yours.
