My First Centrefire

[Snelly]

Hi All,

 

I am relatively new to this site so first things first - hello! I am a Sussex based bloke who has been shooting for a few years. Mostly with shotguns and latterly with .22LR and .17HMR rimfires.

 

During the past week, I have had a slot added to my FAC for a .243 for deer stalking and fox control. Given that I have relatively little experience on centrefires and having read about some of the custom builds on here plus having had a quick email exchange on the subject with Baldie, I am now wondering what I should go for and how much I should spend! Thanks Baldie for all your help so far and I hope you don't mind me asking a wider audience for tips on this.....

 

At first, I planned to get a Mannlicher as all my mates in Sussex rave about them but theirs are about 10+ years old and I have read that the current models are not of the same quality. With this in mind and given that I have bought both my existing rifles from SYSS, I plan to do the same with this one as I rate them for service, value, quality and so on. Another reason being that I also have new slots for a semi-auto 22LR and a HM2 to fill so a deal on them all as a bundle might be in the offing?!

 

Anyway, I am keen on the rifles that SYSS are producing based on the Remington 700 - http://www.rimfiremagic.co.uk/remington700.html - see here for details. Does anyone have any advice for a centre fire novice on what to go for based on what SYSS are doing with Remingtons?? I see that there are other actions and barrels available: Lawton, Surgeon, Lilja and Border etc. All Greek to me at this stage....

 

My shooting will be woodland stalking and foxing too, the latter being off a bipod most often if this helps.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions made.

 

Best regards,

 

 

Snelly.

[Alycidon]

You seem to have built a good rapport with Baldie so go with him if you are comfortable. I did see a Remmy 700 in 6.5x55 that he had done some nice work on recently and it shot pretty well. There are also a number of other guys here that will do an equally good job.

 

A lot depends on your budget but buying a shot out Remmy (or Sako or Howa) and rebarrelling it is a cheap way into the sport. Looking at the SYSS site depending on project costs that may though be a better option. If you want ultimate accuarcy then you have to look for single shot (BAT, Borden, Lawton etc) but from what you are saying about how you will use the rifle then a factory magazine fed rifle will produce acceptable accuracy for you. Just fit it with a good scope and think about a moderator, you only get one set or ears !.

 

A

[nemasis243]

This is lesson I leardned and over the years has cost me alot of money , If you go and buy a brand new ,run of the mill rifle off the shelf , you will get what you have paid for , run of the mill accuracy.

Have a think about finding a tidy second hand action you like and getting a custom barrel onit .

It will be more accurate especially if you are hand loading.

I have just had one done and total for the rifle and custom barrel is around £760 (what you would pay for a new gun) but this will shoot the tits off anything in that price bracket and it will hold its own against most expensive toys

If you have this accuracy to begin with you can always try shooting at longer targets and have confidence in doing so.

Also as ALYCIDON has said put good glass on the top this is where you will find a big difference if shooting at Dawn/Dusk or at Night.

good luck Andy

[baldie]

Hi Dave, and welcome to the board. Give me a ring thursday/friday, if you want a chat.