by No1Mk3 » 29 Mar 2016, 1:05 am
G'day Greyham,
Any of the 3 you mention would be a good basic hunting rifle that will produce good accuracy out to 500m. The Howa and the Weatherby are, for all intents and purposes, the same rifle, both made by Howa Japan, so quality is the same, just different twist rates and some small receiver changes. For target and long range work the Howa and Weatherby heavy barrel version would be best option, but becomes a tad heavy lugging around the paddocks. What twist rate you choose will be determined by exactly what you want to shoot, with most varminters preferring lighter pills at high velocity from a slower barrel like the Howa, but long range nuts liking the faster Weatherby with heavy pills, though my Howa HB 1:12 seems to shoot up to 60g quite happily. As for 22-250, unless you reload, there is a huge difference in price for ammo. The 22-250 also bangs more, but delivers heaps of energy from very fast bullets. Don't believe any of the "it will burnout the barrel quicker" nonsense some folk will try on, you won't be shooting fast enough to heat up the barrel to the point of excessive erosion, I have a Tikka M55 in 22-250 that has fired several thousand rounds and is still in great shape. So, for my 2 cents worth, forget the 22-250 for now, The Zastava has a 1:12 twist like the Howa, and be aware that Weatherby also has 1:12 prior to serial VB084281, if you look at 2nd hand rifles. Within the price range your considering, don't forget the Ruger K77RFP, Cheers.