New hunter, First rifle and scope

Rimfire bolt action rifles, lever action, pump action and self loading rifles. Air rifles.

Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by Aussie_Vic » 25 Sep 2021, 9:15 pm

bladeracer wrote:
Aussie_Vic wrote:Would 2.7kg be over the limit for a .22 bare with no rings or scope on it.?

Edit: Sorry was a silly question just read above with your Ruger .22lr


Nope, not over any limit, unless you find it's more than you're comfortable carrying around the bush all day. As I said earlier, it's just an awkward lump of ballast until you actually want to shoot something :-)

The Ruger American Compact without the scope is an absolute pleasure to wander around with, and the iron sights are just fun to shoot with. My Ruger Precision Rimfire weighs 5.5kg as I have it set up currently. It's still quite comfortable to walk around all day with it hanging on a single-point sling, but it is certainly more obvious that you're carrying it. My Ruger American Rimfire Target with the lami-stock is en-par with the LA101 as they're aimed at similar markets, bench shooting at paper rather than hunting (despite the LA101 being classed as a "crossover") with a heavy barrel, and no sights.

I mainly use the lighter rifles for practicing offhand shooting, a 100rd session offhand with the RPR gets pretty tiring :-)

Shooting off a bench at the range for an hour or two doesn't compare at all with carrying your rifle around for eight, ten, twelve hours or more in heavy terrain, and probably damp weather.


Ruger rimfire target price is very good and is en-par with the la101 but also 2.7kg for lugging around might have more of a look into it. Has a lovely lami stock on it. would it work well out in the field as it's a target shooting rifle with the barrel?.
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by boingk » 26 Sep 2021, 2:57 am

Big fan of the Ruger brand in general here, and the Ruger American in particular.

I've got their 223 Compact Stainless, 308 Compact and 350 Legend 'Ranch'. All 18" barrels with the exception of the 350 that's a 16".

They all shoot very well indeed. I can place 5 shots in 15 seconds into a 4" spread at 200m with the 308 and factory PPU ammunition, using nothing more exotic than a basic bag rest and a quick right hand.

They all weigh around 2.8kg bare rifle, and with a Leupold 4~12x40 Rifleman like my 308 is wearing it comes to about 3.4kg loaded with four rounds of 308. Very light by all accounts.

You really only need one 22LR :wink:
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by Oldbloke » 26 Sep 2021, 5:24 pm

bigpete wrote:Only thing extra weight helps with is recoil. And that will help with accuracy. You spend more time carrying a hunting rifle than shooting it,so why not have as light a rifle as you can shoot accurately.


Hooray. I agree.

Been a while since I looked at this thread.
All that waffle about weight and bigpete summed it up in a flash.

And I'll repeat 8lb max.
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by bladeracer » 26 Sep 2021, 5:38 pm

Aussie_Vic wrote:Ruger rimfire target price is very good and is en-par with the la101 but also 2.7kg for lugging around might have more of a look into it. Has a lovely lami stock on it. would it work well out in the field as it's a target shooting rifle with the barrel?.


Although the Ruger Target models and the LA101 are aimed at that market, neither is a true target rifle at all.
My neighbour was shooting some 20m Benchrest here for a little while with his LA101, nothing like the dedicated BR builds others were using. One beast had a barrel about 40mm diameter and almost a meter long!

Both rifles make fine hunting rifles for small game, they're just on the heavy side for carrying around all day, like patrolling fence lines on larger properties.
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by mickhead » 27 Sep 2021, 5:27 pm

My LA101 is an early one. Occasionally it would misfeed the last round on some types of ammo. Did not bother me too much, as it was rare. 4 years after purchase, I read that this was a fault with the mag. Emailed them, sent a pic and S/N on request, and they immediately sent a new mag to a dealer of my choice. Free. Problem solved, Brilliant service.
Pros: Aussie made. Military grade hammer forged barrel. Very accurate, better than the Brno model 2 I had when my eyes were better.
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Cons: Not a cheap rifle, looks like some might find it a bit heavy.
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by Briza » 11 Oct 2021, 12:22 pm

personally id go with 1 of

1, Cz 457 Varmint
2. LA 101
3. Tikka t1x
out of those 3 my preference is the cz 457 Varmint, if purely hunting go with 17hmr if ya like to get into paper punching go with the 22lr.
IMO thos 3 are the best bang for buck, not the absolute cheapest but far from expensive.
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by Aussie_Vic » 20 Apr 2022, 6:19 pm

Howdy all!

Picked up a tikka T1X in 22lr and a burris 3-9x40mm droptine scope today.

Will have photos on Friday when heading out!

Finally worth the wait!!
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by in2anity » 22 Apr 2022, 9:46 pm

Have fun :)
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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by Oldbloke » 23 Apr 2022, 3:06 pm

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Re: New hunter, First rifle and scope

Post by safeshot » 27 Jun 2022, 7:46 pm

Spend on a scope what you spend on the rifle or considering scopes is like breeding horses. You put your best on top..
You have some goodadvice here from other posters. Best wishes whatever you do.
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