3 months as a 22LR shooter

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

3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by minimike » 12 Oct 2020, 12:08 am

3 months as a new 22LR Owner

Hi all ,

As the title states I've been a new 22LR owner for 3 months and here's what I've found which may or may not be of interest to someone.

Getting the license
As long as you have a genuine need it's not complicated, you'll jump through a few hoops but they're not that hard.
The best thing to do is go into a firearms shop and talk to the guys, I haven't found a shop where they aren't helpful.

Once you have the necessary paperwork just toddle of to the post office with some identification and pay the application fee.
Keep the Post Office receipt, I can't stress this enough, keep a copy of all paperwork/receipts even if you think it's not important.
Now the hardest part... waiting.

After a short while you hopefully will get notification that it has been preliminarily approved and it's time to start getting a safe and installing it.
Buy a bigger safe than you think you'll need. Mine is an eight rifle safe and it can properly fit 4 rifles with scopes, I only have one rifle but I keep all my cleaning parts in there so it's a bit crammed
Take lots of pictures of the safe installation, thankfully it's easy to take pictures now everyone has a mobile phone.
Don't forget to put a ruler/tape measure up to the washers so they can check the size.
Send off statuary declaration for the safe install with all the pictures, I emailed mine off.

OK, the second hardest part.... waiting again!

If everything was done correctly you will get another notification that your license has been approved, be prepared, this can take a while.
Now you just need to wait for the postie to deliver your paper license.
This paper license is your firearms license, it doesn't have your photo on it and isn't credit card sized, it's the bit of paper.
Hopefully you've got your Post Office receipt when you applied for the license as you'll need to attach it to the firearms license as it states "This license is not valid unless proof of payment is attached"

A Little bit later the postie will bring your Firearms Identification Card. This card is similar to your driver’s license.

This process took me about 6 weeks.
It seemed to take a long time, not as bad as the eastern states but I applied the start of June and got my paper license mid-July


Price
My rifle wasn't expensive. I could have bought an expensive rifle but I get lots of joy with a cheap rifle and if I wanted to upgrade I would, plus the rifle is excellent if I needed to use it on my property.
Rifle Cost $450
Safe $550
Application fee $300
Cleaning parts $100

Ammunition
I read that 22lr rifles like different types of ammunition. Some rifles that perform well with one type of ammunition might not perform as well with another and you can't tell unless you try them.
With this in mind I've bought several different brands and types of ammunition and found that Fiocchi works well for me, I don't know if this is psychological or not but at $10 for 50 rounds I'm not complaining.

Where to Shoot
There's a couple of rifle ranges around the Perth area but I've only used one and the guys there are friendly so I'll continue to use them. Once I've got the confidence to shoot in public then I'll go out to Wanneroo and see about joining a club so I can shoot competitively which is my main goal.

Rifle Care
I clean my rifle after every shoot. So far I've put about 1000 rounds through it and the only time I didn't clean it I got bad grouping so the results are inconclusive and again this could be psychological. I will continue to clean my rifle after every shoot as I like cleaning it.

I hope this is of some use to new shooters
Minimike
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by TassieTiger » 12 Oct 2020, 3:51 am

Hi mate - nice write up snd im sure ppl will find useful.
Just FYI - and up to you obviously what you do. .22’s in particular tend to shoot better with some fouling - it would be worth doing a bench test to see if your groups get better after 50-100 shots.
Tikka .260 (Z5 5x25/52)
Steyr Pro Varmint .223 - VX 3
CZ455 .22 & Norinco .22 (vtex 4-12, bush 3-9)
ATA 686 U/O 12g & Baikal S/S 12g.
Adler a110 reddot
Sauer 30-06 - VX 3
Howa 300 win mag. SHV 5-20/56
Marlin SBL 45/70
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by marksman » 12 Oct 2020, 11:58 am

TassieTiger wrote:Hi mate - nice write up snd im sure ppl will find useful.
Just FYI - and up to you obviously what you do. .22’s in particular tend to shoot better with some fouling - it would be worth doing a bench test to see if your groups get better after 50-100 shots.


+1 :thumbsup:

very informative thanks for posting :drinks:
“If you do not read the newspapers you are uninformed. If you do read the newspapers you are misinformed”. Mark Twain
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by Woden » 28 Nov 2020, 7:56 am

TassieTiger wrote:Hi mate - nice write up snd im sure ppl will find useful.
Just FYI - and up to you obviously what you do. .22’s in particular tend to shoot better with some fouling - it would be worth doing a bench test to see if your groups get better after 50-100 shots.


Tassie Tiger I hear what you're saying and I got the same advice from our club armourer. I did this and my accuracy was all over the place. Watched the video of the manufacturer's cleaning recommendations. When I followed this regime after every shoot (200+ rounds) I found the rifle performs better.

Long story short, just like favourite ammo, I guess rifles like to be treated differently too in regards to cleaning.
DaZ
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by Woden » 28 Nov 2020, 7:58 am

minimike wrote:3 months as a new 22LR Owner

Hi all ,

As the title states I've been a new 22LR owner for 3 months and here's what I've found which may or may not be of interest to someone.

I hope this is of some use to new shooters
Minimike


Thanks Minimike. I'm a new shooter too and found your experience very close to mine. Now just waiting for the Zombie Holocaust to start so I can put my new skills to use! :sarcasm:
DaZ
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by Bello » 28 Nov 2020, 1:57 pm

Hi mate
Your write up will help new shooters with some question they will have. :thumbsup:
It was good if you to do that and share your experiences for other new shooters, will ease some concerns the may have. :drinks:
Will you be looking for any larger calibers in the near future?
If so, what will they be?
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by Shootermick » 28 Nov 2020, 2:36 pm

minimike wrote:3 months as a new 22LR Owner

Hi all ,

As the title states I've been a new 22LR owner for 3 months and here's what I've found which may or may not be of interest to someone.

Getting the license
As long as you have a genuine need it's not complicated, you'll jump through a few hoops but they're not that hard.
The best thing to do is go into a firearms shop and talk to the guys, I haven't found a shop where they aren't helpful.

Once you have the necessary paperwork just toddle of to the post office with some identification and pay the application fee.
Keep the Post Office receipt, I can't stress this enough, keep a copy of all paperwork/receipts even if you think it's not important.
Now the hardest part... waiting.

After a short while you hopefully will get notification that it has been preliminarily approved and it's time to start getting a safe and installing it.
Buy a bigger safe than you think you'll need. Mine is an eight rifle safe and it can properly fit 4 rifles with scopes, I only have one rifle but I keep all my cleaning parts in there so it's a bit crammed
Take lots of pictures of the safe installation, thankfully it's easy to take pictures now everyone has a mobile phone.
Don't forget to put a ruler/tape measure up to the washers so they can check the size.
Send off statuary declaration for the safe install with all the pictures, I emailed mine off.

OK, the second hardest part.... waiting again!

If everything was done correctly you will get another notification that your license has been approved, be prepared, this can take a while.
Now you just need to wait for the postie to deliver your paper license.
This paper license is your firearms license, it doesn't have your photo on it and isn't credit card sized, it's the bit of paper.
Hopefully you've got your Post Office receipt when you applied for the license as you'll need to attach it to the firearms license as it states "This license is not valid unless proof of payment is attached"

A Little bit later the postie will bring your Firearms Identification Card. This card is similar to your driver’s license.

This process took me about 6 weeks.
It seemed to take a long time, not as bad as the eastern states but I applied the start of June and got my paper license mid-July


Price
My rifle wasn't expensive. I could have bought an expensive rifle but I get lots of joy with a cheap rifle and if I wanted to upgrade I would, plus the rifle is excellent if I needed to use it on my property.
Rifle Cost $450
Safe $550
Application fee $300
Cleaning parts $100

Ammunition
I read that 22lr rifles like different types of ammunition. Some rifles that perform well with one type of ammunition might not perform as well with another and you can't tell unless you try them.
With this in mind I've bought several different brands and types of ammunition and found that Fiocchi works well for me, I don't know if this is psychological or not but at $10 for 50 rounds I'm not complaining.

Where to Shoot
There's a couple of rifle ranges around the Perth area but I've only used one and the guys there are friendly so I'll continue to use them. Once I've got the confidence to shoot in public then I'll go out to Wanneroo and see about joining a club so I can shoot competitively which is my main goal.

Rifle Care
I clean my rifle after every shoot. So far I've put about 1000 rounds through it and the only time I didn't clean it I got bad grouping so the results are inconclusive and again this could be psychological. I will continue to clean my rifle after every shoot as I like cleaning it.

I hope this is of some use to new shooters
Minimike


What rifle did you go for?
.22, .22wmr, 223, 243, 303, 20ga, 12ga
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by minimike » 28 Nov 2020, 9:52 pm

Woden wrote:
minimike wrote:3 months as a new 22LR Owner

Hi all ,

As the title states I've been a new 22LR owner for 3 months and here's what I've found which may or may not be of interest to someone.

I hope this is of some use to new shooters
Minimike


Thanks Minimike. I'm a new shooter too and found your experience very close to mine. Now just waiting for the Zombie Holocaust to start so I can put my new skills to use! :sarcasm:


It's funny that I play as lot of video games and I do like the genre where you travel wastelands clearing it of Zeds. I used to think that I'd be great in a post apocalyptic world , but after using a real rifle I just know I'd be zombie food before the week was out. :D
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by minimike » 28 Nov 2020, 9:55 pm

Bello wrote:Hi mate
Your write up will help new shooters with some question they will have. :thumbsup:
It was good if you to do that and share your experiences for other new shooters, will ease some concerns the may have. :drinks:
Will you be looking for any larger calibers in the near future?
If so, what will they be?


HI Bello ,
Thanks for your comment.
I've tried a larger caliber and to be honest the kick backs a bugger ! At the moment I'm happy with 22LR and it serves my purpose quite well.
minimike
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by minimike » 28 Nov 2020, 10:02 pm

Shootermick wrote:
minimike wrote:3 months as a new 22LR Owner

Hi all ,

As the title states I've been a new 22LR owner for 3 months and here's what I've found which may or may not be of interest to someone.

Price
My rifle wasn't expensive. I could have bought an expensive rifle but I get lots of joy with a cheap rifle and if I wanted to upgrade I would, plus the rifle is excellent if I needed to use it on my property.
Rifle Cost $450
Safe $550
Application fee $300
Cleaning parts $100

I hope this is of some use to new shooters
Minimike


What rifle did you go for?


I bought a Rock Island M1400 which I believe is very similar to a Aussie Stirling Model 14, I'm quite happy with it at the moment.
I am eyeing up a Ruger Precision Rimfire or a CZ455 , but at around $1400 im a long way off buying one.
minimike
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Re: 3 months as a 22LR shooter

Post by Bello » 30 Nov 2020, 10:52 am

Hi Minimike
If you decide a bigger caliber, can I suggest 223.
Don't let your mates talk you into trying their old service rifles or 45-70, or a 300 Win mag or bigger.
I see it so often at the range, guys make their newbie mates shoot large caliber rifle only to have the stuffing kicked out of them.
It may be funny to them but you are doing a dis-service to a new shooter.
Hone your skills on a 22LR, then move up gradually.
223 is fun once you master the 22.
Enjoy
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