With a right-handed bolt-action, shooting from a rest or bipod you should be able to run the action without taking the rifle from your shoulder while keeping your firing grip on the rifle. But from unsupported positions, with a left-handed rifle you will have to use your left hand to run the action, with a right-handed rifle you would probably dismount the rifle from your shoulder, roll it to the left, and run the action with your left hand. Biggest problem with lever-action is getting one that is accurate, the designs do not lend themselves to bolt-action accuracy. If neither of you is able to adapt to the rifle I would just buy two rifles. In different chamberings it also gives you more options in dealing with pests - say .22LR and .223.
The single biggest advantage the .22LR has is the cost of shooting. You can lay in a paddock and put 200rds down range practicing for about $30-$50 depending on which ammo your rifle prefers. With the WMR/HMR/.223 you'll be looking at about $200 at a guess to get the same amount of practice. It's worth having a .22LR even if you don't intend to hunt with it, use it for learning and practicing.
Your mate is being realistic about the .22LR on foxes. Unless you have an accurate rifle that can reliably put the .22LR into the brain you will want to stick to closer shots. Subsonic WMR will do exactly the same as the .22LR as the velocities will be virtually the same as .22LR. Have you considered .17HMR? It has a distinct crack but is not what I would consider loud, certainly far quieter than your 12ga. will be, generally very accurate and should nail foxes out to 100m with good shot placement.
Another option is an 8"-twist .223 and handload your ammo to suit your purposes. The rifle will fire bullets from 30gn up to around 85gn. So you can load subsonic 35gn VMax to replicate .22LR for close-range head shots on rabbits and foxes, around 2000fps with 40gn VMax to do everything you might use a WMR for, and heavier bullets for larger beasts and/or longer ranges. With the heavier bullets the .223 is not far short of the .243 for dealing with dogs, pigs, goats and even deer. The jacketed bullets are more consistent and have better drag coefficients than cast .22LR bullets, so at .22LR velocities you should have better accuracy and longer range than you would expect out of a .22LR. For practicing you can also cast your own bullets and shoot low-velocity ammo very cheaply. A drawback to .223 currently is lack of supply of small rifle primers.
Also worth considering is whether you might want to come over to Victoria to hunt some deer occasionally. For deer here you'll need a rifle that fires bullets at least .243" diameter and 80gn for the smaller deer, at least .270" diameter and 130gn for larger deer. My preference is 7mm-08 for its versatility. You can load 78gn bullets way down to subsonic and use it to deal with your rabbits and foxes at close ranges, right up to 175gn bullets for the largest beasts.
To toss you a curve ball, you could also consider a PCP air rifle in .25-calibre. Range is the limitation, but as your distances seem short anyway that shouldn't be an issue. Relatively, quite, generally fairly accurate. Downside is mainly the cost and the annoyance of having to fill the tank or carry a pump or fill tank around with you. Pellets are into the same price realm as .22LR ammo.
An example of some accurate .22's and air-rifles duelling.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wESPRpKsf0&t=2sLatitude37 wrote:Hi all.
Brand newbie. About to purchase my first firearms, looking for advice.
I'm on a small place in the SE of SA, surrounded by pine plantations on three sides. We've bunnies and foxes around and need to deal with them.
So, I've done my firearms course, done a lot of reading. Barely shot since I was a kid.
I don't intend (watch this space! Ha!) to have a lot of guns, these are going to be tools as much as anything.
So, 12g shotgun is a gimme. Local store has a nice 2nd hand Spanish O/U at what looks to be a good price.
Now, the query is about my first rifle. It'd be nice for both of us to be able to shoot comfortably.
I'm left handed, my wife is not. I found when doing my firearms course, that I didn't like the RH bolt actions. It seemed I had to take the gun away from firing position every time I reloaded, which obviously isn't the case with a lh action or a lever action.
It's going to be rare to see further than 200m. I recently set up some targets with a friend and his guns, and shooting down one side of my place, the targets were no more than 70m, and I could safely shoot out to 90 or so before the land dropped away and it wouldn't be safe to shoot.
Same friend commented that beyond 50m, the .22lr wasn't guaranteed a humane one shot kill on the foxes. He's got a .223 for those shots.
But I was thinking, would a lever action .22 magnum solve all my problems in one gun - given the distances. I don't intend to shoot a great deal. Just enough to get accurate enough to ensure clean kills. So cost of ammo isn't a huge consideration.
Or do I just get a lever .22 and later buy a .223 and be done with it?
Or do I just get a lh .22 bolt action (which seems to be more accurate) and let my wife's occasional shooting be less comfortable?
:sigh:
The big negative to .22 magnum seems to be the noise, which may scare subsequent targets away. Are the .22 wmr subsonics any good?
Sorry this is a long post.
TL;DR first rifle: .22lr or Magnum if I'm shooting bunnies and foxes no further than 90m or so?