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.22LR Dilemma


martin_b

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To introduce myself, I’m a 60 year old, who after 40 years of competition shooting at clays has decided it’s time to try the stationary variety of targets. I’m coming to the end of my probationary period at my local rifle club and having tried Bench-rest,  Light weight sporting  and Target,  it’s the first two I defiantly prefer.   

Now the one thing I wish I’d done when I started clay shooting all those years ago was start off with the best gun you can afford, make sure it fits and stick with it. It must have taken me at least a dozen guns and 30 years  to end up with the Perazzi I now shot. Now when I miss I know it’s my fault not the guns. ( though I do wonder about the cartridges sometimes J )

 

What confusing me is with the myriad of different types of competition you can shoot what rifle should I buy?  From what I understand Bench rest you need a  heavy-ish bolt action, free standing as an old man I’d need a light bolt rifle, but then with timed events I’ve read about do I need a semi?

 

So while I understand just one rifle for all disciplines might be a bit of  compromise what would you suggest, now one of the few benefits of getting old is I have a little more in the piggy bank than all those years ago when I bought my first clay gun, so money isn’t  the most important consideration, that said the less I spend on the gun the more I’ll have to spend on other toys, I guess what I really want is a gun that will shoot better than I’ll ever be able to so I don’t end up in a permanent upgrading cycle.

 

Any Advice?

 

TIA

 

Martin

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Cheers.. Fly fishing  i see my other great love. I'm currently the owner of 19 fly rods from 3 wt  brook to a Salmon 11 Wt  and everything in between!   Im not obsessive obviously, but you can see why i'm keen to get the right rifle first time. 

Edited by martin_b
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Hello,Martin,

I shoot light sporter rifle (Sako Finnfire II ) and rapid fire (Ruger 10/22) while being a little older than you.

Check the course of fire and any weight restrictions for any of your chosen disciplines to make sure your choice will be in order.

Fit is very important with bolt action,I think,so try as many rifles as you can for fit and feel.

The best shot I know uses an old Brno/CZ he bought second hand.

Ruger 10/22 for rapid fire but try and source a reliable second hand one as they're not too expensive and accessories,including "better" triggers and stocks are available. A Ruger is almost a rite of passage for smallbore shooters and can be good fun.

Hope this helps.

Good luck.

 

 

 

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Martin,

My Ruger 10/22 came from rimfire magic. I just use subsonic ammo for pest control / few targets for fun. I got a few spare mags to cover any issues but it has always fed well. Its well customised for what I want. I love it. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

So after checking county and club rules I can only use a single shot ( or only have one round in a magazine) for benchrest, but there is no weight limit, so a used Anshutz match 54 seems to fit the bill, i've seen them for less than £500 locally.  Has anyone any thoughts?

 

 

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We have two Annies...............one is 50's vintage Supermatch 54, the other 70's Match 54. No idea how many rounds have been through them, but both shoot better than we can. (And the older one likes SK Std., which is one of the cheapest 22LR ammo's around).

One was £175 from a dealer at the Phoenix a few years ago, and the other was £50 from a club member who was giving up.

You can't really go wrong with Anschutz, provided you do the usual inspection for barrel bulges etc.

Re-Pete

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On 11/27/2018 at 6:13 PM, martin_b said:

So after checking county and club rules I can only use a single shot ( or only have one round in a magazine) for benchrest, but there is no weight limit, so a used Anshutz match 54 seems to fit the bill, i've seen them for less than £500 locally.  Has anyone any thoughts?

 

 

Are you sure about the one round rule? there is no mention of this in the UK Association of Rimfire and Air Rifle Benchrest Shooting rules.  In fact, if shooting Sporter Class, it MUST have a minimum 2 round magazine. http://www.ukbr22.org.uk/index.php/home/ukbr22-rules

I use my Sako Finnfire Sporter in sporter Class, and Finnfire Range in Heavy Varmint. 

Rules for Rimfire.pdf

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  • 5 months later...

OK so I posted last a couple of things have happened.  Good news, after 6 months my FAC visit has taken place so hopefully it will arrive shortly. Bad news.. HMRC and i had a difference of opinion and guess how that ended!

I now have a budget of 3 rather than 4 figures for a entire .22lr benchrest outfit.. Today on guntrader  used Match 54 or Match 64 action Anschutz run from £150 (64)  to £750 for a 54 and a Nikko sterling scope.  Im leaning towards getting the 64 for £150 and adding a £500-£700 scope with the view to upgrade the rifle later. Am i on the right track?

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The 64 is not as good as the 54...............hence the price difference.

https://www.nsrashop.co.uk/products/anschutz-match-54

https://www.guntrader.uk/guns/rifles/anschutz/bolt-action/22-lr/match-54-180925233107008

Re-Pete

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I guess the question really is and what im struggling with, is it better, if you have £700 to spend  do you go for

a 64 for less than £200 and spend the rest on a scope & mount which hopefully will be good enough to last for a while but knowing you'll have to change the gun, or go for a 50/50 split and probably end up compromising on both?.

 

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Tikka T1X. Not expensive and superb trigger. Drops into (most) T3 stocks. Accurate as hell. I think i posted some 100 yard targets here someplace.~Andrew

 

(That evening: I bought a 2nd T1X today so I could have one rifle with a dedicated target set up and one for hunting.  Put a 20 MOA rail on the receiver and will probably use this set up on our long range .22 shoots.)

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In the "for what it's worth" department, I shot the new Tikka T1X and it was every bit as accurate as my first -and that is saying a lot. This is the third T1X I have shot (2 my own, and one a friends) and the accuracy has been consistent across the board. ~Andrew

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So just to wrap this thread up.  I've managed to do a straight swap for a new 457 MTR with one of my game shooting  SBS shotguns that was getting seldom use.

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2 hours ago, ColinBR said:

Let me know how it shoots mate. We had to send ours back as it wouldn't seat the round properly. 

Think they hadn't taken the reamer deep enough. 

Shot 50 through it today with no scope and straight out of the box and so far so good.  Will need to lighten the trigger though.

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Yea it's most probably an isolated issue. Unfortunately it's put us off the rifle. Shame though as the 1 we had, had a lovely stock on it with some tiger striping. 

We wound ours down to the lightest setting and yes it still could be doing with going lighter again

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16 hours ago, ColinBR said:

Yea it's most probably an isolated issue. Unfortunately it's put us off the rifle. Shame though as the 1 we had, had a lovely stock on it with some tiger striping. 

We wound ours down to the lightest setting and yes it still could be doing with going lighter again

I see trigger kits are available in the US already.

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