Hi in SA and about to get a roo gun, advice please!

[Gsxrdan]

The wife 'convinced' me we need to get a couple of roos a year for ppl and dog meat, I don't need to be told twice! What should I get? And where do I go to buy firearm and ammo? I'm in Adelaide's south. Pretty sure I want a 223, but my experience is only with an old Stirling .22 years ago (I did shoot prob 10k rounds thru it tho, fun times). And do most ppl reload your own ammo?

Thanks, and pls be gentle to a newbie!

[Blr243]

In that situation i would get a heavy barrelled howa 223 and i would be buying ppu or similar budget factoty ammo. Def no point reloading and beware of the laws before you start lining up up native fauna

[bigpete]

The wife 'convinced' me we need to get a couple of roos a year for ppl and dog meat, I don't need to be told twice! What should I get? And where do I go to buy firearm and ammo? I'm in Adelaide's south. Pretty sure I want a 223, but my experience is only with an old Stirling .22 years ago (I did shoot prob 10k rounds thru it tho, fun times). And do most ppl reload your own ammo?

Thanks, and pls be gentle to a newbie!

Its a little more involved than just " going out and getting a roo or 2 ".
Get a minimum 223 to be legal,doesn't have to be a heavy barrelled thing with a scope big enough to count craters on the moon. But it does have to be legal

[bigpete]

The first thing is you can't legally give other people roo meat. You can take it for your own use as long as you have tags for the property that you're a designated shooter on a destruction permit,but you can't give it to anyway

[Oldbloke]

The first thing is you can't legally give other people roo meat. You can take it for your own use as long as you have tags for the property that you're a designated shooter on a destruction permit,but you can't give it to anyway

[bladeracer]

The wife 'convinced' me we need to get a couple of roos a year for ppl and dog meat, I don't need to be told twice! What should I get? And where do I go to buy firearm and ammo? I'm in Adelaide's south. Pretty sure I want a 223, but my experience is only with an old Stirling .22 years ago (I did shoot prob 10k rounds thru it tho, fun times). And do most ppl reload your own ammo?

Thanks, and pls be gentle to a newbie!

First issue is that it is illegal to shoot kangaroos, and most other native wildlife without special permissions - rabbits, hares and goats might be simpler as they are pest species and make very good eating. Likewise for deer which are not a pest species, you'll probably need a deer licence for those. I assume you do have access to somebody's private property to hunt and shoot on as there is no public land hunting in SA anymore. But you could travel to Victoria to hunt on public land.

.223Rem is not a bad choice at all, especially if you can qualify to shoot kangaroos - but you have to become skilled enough to head-shoot them, that's the only legal shot you can take.

As for reloading, I wouldn't do it any other way. I started reloading when I bought my first centrefire and haven't changed since.

To buy ammo we can no longer order it online so your best bet is to discuss with your nearest dealer, it'll likely be cheaper to buy from him than to travel somewhere else and spend more on fuel and vehicle costs than you'll save on cheaper ammo. I haven't looked at factory ammo prices recently but you're probably looking at $1.50 to $2.00 per round these days. The rifle you can order online from lots of dealers, but again it may just be cheaper to buy one from your dealer rather than pay shipping and interstate transfer fees.

[bigpete]

The wife 'convinced' me we need to get a couple of roos a year for ppl and dog meat, I don't need to be told twice! What should I get? And where do I go to buy firearm and ammo? I'm in Adelaide's south. Pretty sure I want a 223, but my experience is only with an old Stirling .22 years ago (I did shoot prob 10k rounds thru it tho, fun times). And do most ppl reload your own ammo?

Thanks, and pls be gentle to a newbie!

First issue is that it is illegal to shoot kangaroos, and most other native wildlife without special permissions - rabbits, hares and goats might be simpler as they are pest species and make very good eating. Likewise for deer which are not a pest species, you'll probably need a deer licence for those. I assume you do have access to somebody's private property to hunt and shoot on as there is no public land hunting in SA anymore. But you could travel to Victoria to hunt on public land.

.223Rem is not a bad choice at all, especially if you can qualify to shoot kangaroos - but you have to become skilled enough to head-shoot them, that's the only legal shot you can take.

As for reloading, I wouldn't do it any other way. I started reloading when I bought my first centrefire and haven't changed since.

To buy ammo we can no longer order it online so your best bet is to discuss with your nearest dealer, it'll likely be cheaper to buy from him than to travel somewhere else and spend more on fuel and vehicle costs than you'll save on cheaper ammo. I haven't looked at factory ammo prices recently but you're probably looking at $1.50 to $2.00 per round these days. The rifle you can order online from lots of dealers, but again it may just be cheaper to buy one from your dealer rather than pay shipping and interstate transfer fees.

No deer licence in SA and you don't need to " qualify " to shoot roos under a destruction permit. Only if you are harvesting for consumption which is a different thing altogether.

[bladeracer]

No deer licence in SA and you don't need to " qualify " to shoot roos under a destruction permit. Only if you are harvesting for consumption which is a different thing altogether.

Nice about the deer. I meant qualify for cull permits - too hard for me to bother with down here.

[bigpete]

No deer licence in SA and you don't need to " qualify " to shoot roos under a destruction permit. Only if you are harvesting for consumption which is a different thing altogether.

Nice about the deer. I meant qualify for cull permits - too hard for me to bother with down here.

Its up to the landowner to qualify for the permits. Its not hard at all. Then they can buy tags that can be given to whoever shoots under their destruction permit so that individual can take roo meat for their own individual use ( that of their household ). The allotted shooters don't have to pass any accuracy qualifications but they do need to adhere to the federal guidelines for non commercial macropod harvest. Which in a nutshell is 204 Ruger or larger,head shots unless attempting to kill an already wounded animal,and no shots beyond 200m.

[Oldbloke]

About reloading. The only way to go. But if your only shooting off a couple of boxes a year probably not worth your trouble.

Even I have covered the cost of my gear and I don't shoot much at all. But probably took 25 years. But I like the process and there are additional benefits other than costs savings.

Suggest you keep all your empty cases. When you have about 100, rethink reloading then.

[bigpete]

About reloading. The only way to go. But if your only shooting off a couple of boxes a year probably not worth your trouble.

Even I have covered the cost of my gear and I don't shoot much at all. But probably took 25 years. But I like the process and there are additional benefits other than costs savings.

Suggest you keep all your empty cases. When you have about 100, rethink reloading then.

Yeah,I reload too and always have done , but I confess these days I don't put enough rounds down range that I'd warrant it if I owned a 223.

[SCJ429]

Buy yourself a Tikka T3 and some ammo that uses 50 or 55 grain Hornady VMax and Bobs your uncle.

[Diamond Jim]

In that situation i would get a heavy barrelled howa 223 and i would be buying ppu or similar budget factoty ammo. Def no point reloading and beware of the laws before you start lining up up native fauna

The Howa is a great value rifle but the heavy barrel "varmint" model is, surprise, very heavy. Fine if you are doing all your shooting from a vehicle or a rest or bipod but a beast to carry any distance at all and almost impossible to shoot from a standing position (unless you are built like Dwayne Johnson). If you are likely to be walking then I'd look at one of the lighter models which also shoot extremely well.

[JohnV]

223 , Either a Howa or a Weatherby Vanguard with a 4 to 12 Leupold scope . Works pretty good. My roo rifle is a CMC Mountaineer 1 of 500 celebration rifle in 223 with a 12 power scope . It's the forerunner of the Howa .