Just bought my first rifle :-)

[MickGC]

Hope this is the right place to post it, no real point, just happy

Bought my first rifle today after waiting 5 months for a licence.

Howa 1500 mini action in 223, with a Nikko Sterling 3-9X40

Just waiting on the PTW to arrive at the LGS so i can pick it up

[juststarting]

Welcome and congrats

[sandgroperbill]

Nice.

Good choice for a starting rifle, too

[GLS_1956]

Congratulations. I remember the first gun I bought, used 22 handgun, 40+ years ago. First new gun a Browning pump action 22 rifle, also 40 years back. I hope you enjoy your purchase as much as I've enjoyed the ones I've made over the decades. Howa's guns are fine rifles, the ones that I've seen here in the USA were sold under both the Smith&Wesson and Weatherby names. And were high quality guns to be sure. The 223Remington is a staple cartridge anywhere it's allowed, probably because of its price, its ability to deliver is the reason it remains popular. Here in the American Midwest the 223 used to be thought of as a varmint round with the coyote being its upper limit, but with the newer improved and heavier bullets the 223 is used for deer and is getting to be quite popular with the feral hog hunters.

[rsj223]

Cool, so what are you getting next?

^^^ so true^^^
Congrats on the new arrival I'm looking at on of these tomorrow morning in stainless.

[MickGC]

Cheers guys,
22 next...then i wouldn't mind a shotgun.....308 looks nice...

[Gwion]

Hope you're getting a good sized safe, then!

That little Howa will do you very well, mate. Good pick up.
Did it a little back to front, though, didn't you!??! Most people go 22lr and THEN a centerfire. No matter, you'll still have fun.

Stay safe and good luck getting the rifle dialed in.

[sandgroperbill]

If you're gonna start on a centre fire, .223 is the right place to start

[Harts]

Congratz and happy shooting

[Flyer]

I bought 5 for my "first gun", LOL! Actually, I only bought 3 - CZ527 .223; CZ452 .22; and a CZ455 with .22, .22wmr and .17hmr barrels, which are considered to be three rifles (even though you can only use one barrel at a time). Bought a 4-gun safe and now it's completely chockers

It will be some time before I consider my next rifle, but I'd be partial to a .30-30 Marlin lever action. And a Lithgow Crossover. And a T3 .223 and/or matching .308. And maybe another CZ452. And...... well, you get the idea

[Oldbloke]

Sheesh 3 months..Unbelievable

[crows2332]

Howdy MickGC,

Sounds like a nice acquisition.

I viewed a review by Ozzie Reviews in youtube, on that Howa mini action 223 setup on the weekend, with a scope I can't remember what it was.
Looked great & seemed an accurate setup from how it grouped.

Out of curiosity, the scope used in the review by Ozzie, had a very simple adjustment when moving out in range, say from 100 to 200, simple 1 click movement & it was spot on (for the ammo specifically used).

With regards your scope/rifle package you picked up, is the scope able to 1 click adjust to the next 100m further out distance?

Cheers

Winny

[crows2332]

Hi MickGC,
further to my question above, I was meaning, does that scope with your package have the elevation turret that is easily dialled to a further distance, e.g. 100m to 200m actually listed on the turret.
Just curious on the packaged scope.
Cheers

[MickGC]

Heya Crows,
I didn't get this one as a package, just bought rifle and scope at the same time and had it fitted up.
I am just watching that review now, and it is a different scope to mine.

[crows2332]

Ahh, no probs MickGC, thanks for the update info. Hope yours groups as well as the reviewed one you just saw, happy shooting!
Cheers
Winny

[MickGC]

Cheers mate, i hope so too!, headed down to the range first thing in the morning to try it out

[Gwion]

Hope you bought enough ammo, Mick! Have fun dialling it in.

[GLS_1956]

I will warn you, it is a slippery slope you're heading down. Guns are like salted peanuts, or unsalted peanuts for that matter, you never see them referred to a "A Peanut". That is because one is never enough.

Forty plus and more to come.

[MickGC]

So took the new rifle down to the Belmont range in brisbane on sat morning.
Wow it gets busy there early! got there as they opened and there where so many already there!
ran a few rounds through it, got it hitting paper, then tried for a few 5 shot groups, best i got was about 26mm as the largest distance between the centre of 2 holes, pretty sure the rifle is still capable of much better!

It is def a slippery slope!
Now the part of trying to find somewhere to hunt

[brett1868]

Mick,
Nice choice of rifle, I have the S/S Varmint version of the Howa 1500 Mini action .223 and have so far been impressed. Mine seems to like the OSA 55gr Blitz Kings which group around 1" @ 100 which is fine for small game. I'll do some load development when time permits as I'm sure it's capable of shooting better with some tailored loads. Mine came as a package with a Nikko Panamax 3-9x4 scope but I ended up fitting a Bushnell 4.5-18x40 223 BDC Reticle as I prefer a little more magnification in my old age. I did have only 1 minor issue in that the barrel was binding on the synthetic stock, 10 mins to fix with a screwdriver and deburing tool.
Enjoy the rifle and keep us posted on your progress

[Xerox]

Welcome to the club Mick