~ Shooters ~ (Firearms, Not Booze)

[Narcissus]

I'm finally taking my Firearms Safety Course the weekend after this and I'm going to be able to get out on some public ranges with my own rifle instead of the Army ranges. The rifle I shoot with now is a magazine fed .22 Savage that was used by my father and my grandfather. Its an excellent firearm, and I can't wait to go for a range day with it, but I'm reluctant to use it for more than that. I'm a minor still and a minor can only possess non-restricted firearms in Canada, which includes some hunting rifles, some shotguns as well as .22's. The Savage would be good in most any application I would assume but for plinking around out in the woods while me and my cousin are out hunting I'd rather have something a bit more fun to shoot with, and with less monetary and centimental value. Bolt-action rifles appeal to me for range shooting but for plinking and hunting its not what I'm looking for. SO... back to the original topic! Are there any shooters on GStwin? And out of those do any of you have lever-action rifles? There is a particularily good deal on a model of lever-action rifle on one of the dealer websites. Its made by a Chinese company, Norinco, which is not importable into the US but I've heard pretty decent reviews about their products being sold in Canada and Europe. Any thoughts?

[RVertigo]

I like shooting...  I don't own any though. :dunno:

[Badger]

I live in Massachusetts...I'm pretty sure that thinking about owning a firearm is punishable by death here.

[ktrim]

I own several firearms,no lever action rifles though.  I have fired a winchester 30-06 lever action,  it was very smooth and easy to use, very acurate using a scope butnot somuch with the stock sights.  I also have a savage .22 rifle that is very fun to shoot (and inexpensive).  also own a ruger mini 14 (.223).  it is extremely accurate up to 500yds (I cant see anything further then that to tell if its still good).  its a semi auto, comfortable, light, and the ammo is cheap.  (I once shot the center of the "E" on a 20oz mountain dew bottle at 200yds).  I also own several hand guns of various calibers but don't care to shoot them.  I prefer the rifles.  I'm currently in the market for another rifle (possibly a 30-06 or maybe an SKS) not sure wich way I want to go at the moment.  If the other firearms I have seen/used from chinese manufactorers are any indication of what to expect, I would have to assume that the rifle you mentioned must be pretty good

[Stephen072774]

I have owned several Marlin lever action rifles.  I have had a 35 cal, 30-30 cal, and I still have a annie oakley lever action 22.  I have never been let down by any of the marlin lever actions...

On the bolt action side, you can't go wrong with a Remington model 70 or a Winchester model 700, they are pretty much the same design.

[davipu]

currently I am shooting a Taurus pt-22 and a rem 700 custom chambered for a 8mm mag.

as far as lever actions go, I'll always be impartial to the winchester 30-30. chinese crap will always be chinese crap.  

but now a lever action will normally use a tube type magazine which means you have to use a bullet with a flat nose design. which will inturn limit your range.

it's more important to match the gun to the hunting situation though, and there is nothing wrong with a bolt action. it will teach you to hunt and not to relie on your gun.  the kennedy assination was with a old italian bolt action rifle. 5 shots in under 30 seconds. including a head shot.

[Narcissus]

I was wishing an hoping for a centerfire lever-action to fall in my lap but anything I could find was out of my legal class as far as I know. A cheap little Chinese lever-action might be the way to start though. About $200 CDN for a little rabbit hunting rifle sounds like a good place to start. Rabbits are the only thing I will hunt though, everything else either doesn't appeal to me, costs money to hunt or I wouldn't want to shoot/eat it. Next year when I am no longer a minor I'll most likely invest in a larger centerfire rifle that I can do some more difficult target shooting with.

[Stephen072774]

i wondered if I had the remington 700 and the winchester 70 backwards, either way they share designs

[bubba zanetti]

I've got a stainless Rossi in .357 magnum. It shoots pretty good, but I've only used black powder cartidges in it so far. It's a copy of the winchester 1892 model.  :guns:

[Narcissus]

What kind of firearm laws do they have in Australia? I'm kinda interested in compairing the different parts of the Commonwealth.

[bubba zanetti]

To get a licence you need to be a member of a club or need one for work, eg farmer, vermin control security, etc.

The licence has different classes as to the type of firearm, rim fire, centre fire, pistol. Semi auto long arms are prohibited firearms.

Then to purchase a firearm you have apply for a permit to acquire and have a ligitimate reason for purchase. After a 28 day cooling down period (but I'm angry now  :guns: ) they have a look at your application and hopefully send you a permit to acquire  

All up it's a PITA, but I still have my guns. If they want to take my guns off me they'll have to pry them out of cold dead hands.  :guns:  :guns:

[Budrick320]

they'll have to pry them out of cold dead hands.

Yeah! That NRA slogan rules!

[Ed]

I recently bought a Winchester 9422 ( lever action .22  that looks like the venerable Model 94). Have not had a chance to shoot it much but so far I like it. They may be hard to find as this is their last year of production. Marlin offers their Model 39 which by all repute is a good gun.

I also have a Model 94 in .45 Colt that I use for occasional Cowboy Action Shooting.  The consensus amoung CAS shooters is that the Winchester is not the best choice but I have had no problems with mine. I am, however, slow.

You mentioned you may want a centerfire  rifle for target shooting. Do you have any idea what type event interests you? It might be worthwhile to get a .22 with the same action as your centerfire model. I've recently gotten interested in single shot rifles; you can use these in silhouette events as well as paper targets and even simulated "Buffalo Shoots" in some areas.

The Single Action Shooting Society is the primary sanctioning body for Cowboy Shooting. They have a website (www.sassnet.com) with a forum and you might want to post there. While obviously geared toward CAS I can almost guarantee that someone on there knows of the gun you write of and will offer their opinion. There are Canadian members who may be of help as well.

Ned

[vtlion]

dayam... I love this country  

Romanian-made Kalashnikov here, also a Glock 32C and a Taurus PT945.  A shotgun so old it says 'Sears AND ROEBUCK' on the side, and a .22 rifle with no firing pin  :dunno:

Haven't been to the range in months though  

[natedawg120]

yeah i love shooting too.  Don't have a firearm yet but i plan to get a .22 rifle for plinking and a 9mm for shooting and carrying, once i get a conceiled carry permit of course.

[Ed]

Narciccus:

You might want to check out Henry rifles (www.henryrepeating.com).

They offer .22 lever action rifles with pretty good prices. Can't say if they are available in Canada. They also offer centerfire models.

Personally I find their appearance a little odd but I have read many favorable comments about them.

Ned

[ops_south]

I don't think I have ever shot a lever action .22.  I've used bolt action and autoloaders.  The Ruger 10/22 is a good rifle if you would consider an autoloader.

[Narcissus]

To get a licence you need to be a member of a club or need one for work, eg farmer, vermin control security, etc.

The licence has different classes as to the type of firearm, rim fire, centre fire, pistol. Semi auto long arms are prohibited firearms.

Then to purchase a firearm you have apply for a permit to acquire and have a ligitimate reason for purchase. After a 28 day cooling down period (but I'm angry now  :guns: ) they have a look at your application and hopefully send you a permit to acquire  

All up it's a PITA, but I still have my guns. If they want to take my guns off me they'll have to pry them out of cold dead hands.  :guns:  :guns:

Holy Crap, for some reason I thought Australia would have been more lax than that. In Canada you just need a license to aquire the firearm, don't need a reason. Because I'm only a minor I can only get a minor's non-restricted license, that is I can own most hunting rifles/shotguns, I just can't aquire them myself, buy ammo for them or go hunting alone with them. Its kinda lame but next year I can get a restricted firearms license so I can get a larger centerfire rifle, the Norinco M14 replica comes to mind :lol:

ED - Its pretty difficult for an individual to import firearms I believe. I could probably get a dealer to import it but it would end up costing me quite a bit I'd think, and unfourtunately, I believe centerfire lever-action rifles could be restricted firearms here. But thanks a ton for the reference to the site. I thought I might try bolt-action centerfire when I get my restricted lisence, possibly a Lee Enfield? Its what my grandfather had, and I guess every commonwealth WW2 soldier used at one time or another. I think I'll have to get a bit more experience with the different kinds of actions and rifles before I could choose one for myself.

ops_south - I've heard a lot of good things about the Ruger 10/22 but I've got a Savage .22 and its a really nice repeater, perfect for range applications like the Ruger would be. I'm looking for something a bit more entertaining though, for plinking mostly. I thought of a Yugo Mauser replica, cause I've always loved the bolt-action K98. But bolt-action isn't really what I want to plinkage, I'm thinking something that requires some manual cocking action but can still fire quickly, there fore I guess its either a lever or pump-action eh?

[flyingbeagle71]

Its made by a Chinese company, Norinco, which is not importable into the US but I've heard pretty decent reviews about their products being sold in Canada and Europe. Any thoughts?

chinese crap will always be chinese crap.

I've owned a few of Norinco's.  I think they are still imported into the US.  They were banned for a couple of years during the Clinton Gun Ban, but now are legal again now that the ban has expired.  I've had a couple of SKS's and a JW-20.  To call the SKS "crap" is a major understatement.  The machining was really bad and the wood was even worse, but they do shoot, and shoot pretty well.  You need to be pretty small framed to handle them, they weren't built for us "stocky" Americans.

The JW-20 on the other hand was pretty good.  It's a little .22 semi-auto that they ripped off from Browning.  The Browning version goes for $450 while the Norinco is only $190.  Not a bad firearm, it's light and shoots well.  Good rabbit and small game gun.



It's nice to see so many shooters on GSTwin...

[yamahonkawazuki]

ive only got 2 pistols right now, a glock 21 (.45 cal), and a s&w model 500 (.50 cal) revolver, although it costs me too damned much to shoot the .50 the .45 is a lil more reasonable tho