Gun Owners?

[Huff1371]

Those old tula rifles are awesome for the money. I had one in 7.62 and really enjoyed it. Accuracy on a budget I'd rank it not far behind a k31 but better than my 8mm shoulder destroyer

[Kijona]

Well, the Mosin is dead-on. Unfortunately the Ruger is...not. Windage is off and I'm afraid to f%$k with it for fear of messing it up worse, lol.

Nah. I just need to bump the rear sight over a hair.

[Kijona]

Well, the rear sight ain't budging on the Ruger. Oh well. I'll just have to use some 'ol Kentucky Windage.

In other news...I finally caved in and bought a 10/22. Basic model.

While it's not as accurate as either of my Marlin .22's, and cost almost 50% more, it DOES have a fairly decent line of accessories which is fun. I'd really like a different stock but they're EXPENSIVE!


(clicky for bigger pic)

[Janx101]

dad and i used to have several of these back when they were permissible over here ... you can remove that front steel ring/band and float/bed (fibreglass) the barrel.. to improve the accuracy .. our best one would still put 10 shots into a 20cent coin (roughly same as a quarter) at 50m ... which is a rabbit head shot 90% of the time .. 5-6 shots in same area at 100m .. it is a semi auto .22 after all!

[mister]

I miss my 10/22. I'm sure there's still a whole bunch of them circulating around the criminal underworld and on farms and in people's cupboards and and and...

Michael

[Janx101]

Oh for sure .. Not so much the underworld but farms and 'forgot its' .. We handed ours in tho .. Orig bought 2nd hand for about 4hunj ... Every one was handed in for 7 hunj 

Then the old boy bought a couple mint cond Brno model 2 bolt action .22 .... Of the early 70's vintage ... 5 shots in 5 cents at 50 meters .. And some real nice walnut on the stocks too

TYVM gummint buy back !!!

[iclrag]

sswwweeeeeeeetttt!!
 i want a .22 bolt action... fond memories

[mister]

Yup. I made some coin - but - by the time the govt stole the money from me to pay me for my guns I had paid my Extra medicare levy I'm not so sure.

[Kijona]

I miss my 10/22. I'm sure there's still a whole bunch of them circulating around the criminal underworld and on farms and in people's cupboards and and and...

Michael

I honestly don't know why people have such a hard-on for the 10/22's, other than at this point, there's an entire world of accessories for them.

My Marlin Model 60 is superior in just about every way. Longer, thicker, freer floating barrel; much nicer stock, less picky about ammo. You can consistently hit something the size of a 25 cent piece (about 25mm or so) at 100yds with it. It's also far less expensive. But, the downside is that 1) there's zero aftermarket for them and 2), it's got a tube magazine instead of a detachable box magazine like the 10/22. They do make a magazine'd version called the 795, but, it's not exactly a 'rugged' rifle.

[Janx101]

as a carry all day unit the ruger 10/22 was reasonably popular cos its short, the little 10 shot box mag was handy and pretty simple to reload.. especially if you carry a spare! .. it does get a little clogged with 'dirty' powder ammo .. so we just used to use winchester super-x ... of course its not as accurate as a longer heavier tube! ... but.. it was designed as a handy, short, rough-ish look little plinker .. not as a sniper unit! ..

there were good ones and bad ones ... if yours is second hand check the tube inside for a 'ring' about halfway up .. sometimes they got a tiny swell from poor maint and dirty powder ammo... but even the new ones ... some are great and some are average . yours is the basic model though .. and ALL their timber is ordinary... you want nice timber you get a deluxe and pay for it! ... or get a synth stock and float/bed the action into it.... works great!

it is handy for walking through tree laden scrub.. cos on a sling the barrel not usually above your head... doesnt get caught on low branches!

its the kind of little rifle that you have to appreciate for what it is.... not what it isnt

oh and i'm not all hung up on the 10/22 as best ever .. i'd much rather use the Brno Mod 2 for watching over a rabbit warren on a sunny arvo at about 100m .. but soon as we switched to walk around in the scrub and maybe 40 metres WAS a long shot... perfect!

oh and a simple little Tasco 4x32 scope on the top ... nice!

as an aside .. nearly all the mates i went hunting with .. we all used scopes .. we hunted rabbits for the meat and tried for headshots only.. about $9/pair at the local butchers .. but thats here i guess...

if it was just for fun/varmint removal i'd get out the .220 swift with handload 52gn speer hollowpoints at over 4000fps and then any bunny/crow/fox within about 450m was in for a bad time..

sure there are iron sight purists ... and fellas who are deadly accurate with iron sights .. i've used iron sights with great success too ... always prefer a good scope though in the end.

[mister]

As Janx said.... for walking through the scrub with a little 4x scope on it, it was a Great rifle.

Interesting what you said about the 220 Swift. In the August edition of Australian Shooter they ran an article about Most Reloaded Rifle Cartridge in Australia. They were...

1 - 223
2 - 308
3 - 243
4 - 222
5 - 22 Hornet
6 - 22-250
7 - 204
8 - 270
9 - 25-303
10 6.5x55
...
29 220 Swift

The two big surprises on this list, to me, was number 9 and that the 220 Swift had fallen to 29th place.

Also interesting was "... the 223 Remington, which first appeared in 1964. And although the .204 Ruger outsold the .223 Remington in its first year of production, Ruger currently sells several hundred rifles chambered in .223 Remington for every one it sells in .204 Ruger."

Michael

[Janx101]

Wow I musts been outta the scene longer than I remember! ... Or the .204 wasn't that popular over here ... Never heard of that critter .. Between the old boy and I though we would have had most of 1 to 10 plus a lot of others over the years .. Mine were always hot loaded though cos young and fast was cool!

The .220 swift was never as popular as the .22-250 though.. However you could drive the swift harder .... Max speed I got while a 50gn bullet and the primer would hold together was 4165fps (this load shot crap groups tho)chronographed out of a ruger 26" barrel. Old boy had a 30" heavy barrel swift in a ruger but never maxed the load or had a chrono , wouldn't let me test it either 

I do know when I sent the 52gn hollow points out at a tad over 4000 .. A crow about 90 meters away erupted! ... We honestly found the head and feet and wings .. The rest was too small or too hidden in the grass    .. Sure I knew the barrel would be toasted after about 1500-1800 rounds but hell it was fun ... Had a Dennis Tobler replacement barrel lined up but got out of the bang sticks b4 then...

I miss my swift and my Carl gustav 6.5 x 55 the most ... Next the .375 H&H ... In last place the ruger stainless .338 win mag with synth stock .. To group well it needed a 250gn spitzer at 2600.. Son of a b$&@@! It kicked.. Too light a weight and too hard in the stockpad! ... Don't miss that devil!

[iclrag]

As Janx said.... for walking through the scrub with a little 4x scope on it, it was a Great rifle.

Interesting what you said about the 220 Swift. In the August edition of Australian Shooter they ran an article about Most Reloaded Rifle Cartridge in Australia. They were...

1 - 223
2 - 308
3 - 243
4 - 222
5 - 22 Hornet
6 - 22-250
7 - 204
8 - 270
9 - 25-303
10 6.5x55
...
29 220 Swift

The two big surprises on this list, to me, was number 9 and that the 220 Swift had fallen to 29th place.

Also interesting was "... the 223 Remington, which first appeared in 1964. And although the .204 Ruger outsold the .223 Remington in its first year of production, Ruger currently sells several hundred rifles chambered in .223 Remington for every one it sells in .204 Ruger."

Michael

.22 Hornet, hell yeah! not too many of those out here, infact only ever seen one and it was my uncle's. a TON of fun to play with though!

[mister]

When I used to take my 6.5x55 to the range, noone knew what it was. They just saw some plastic synthetic stock thing. But Everytime, after I shot a couple of rounds, the guys next to me would Always come and ask what it was. I thought this was strange until one day I let a mate fire off a few rounds while I sat at the next bench over. As soon as he fired I felt a shockwave wash over me. Fark. No wonder they asked me what it was.

I only used to put 20 rounds at a time through that beast. And when you hit live targets... begeezus... they stayed hit. Once shot a roo in the head and when we got to it the entire top half of the head was gone! 

204 Ruger. Yeah Janx, when it came out a few years back (2004) there were articles written about it in all the related magazines down here. Gun shops had signs up. Salesmen would mention it as an alternative to people asking about 223s etc. But I like to think the proof is in the pudding. If it was as a good a caliber as made out, word of mouth would have kept that sucker in good sales like the old stayers. But still, it's in the top 10 of reloaded calibers so there must still be a good number of them out there.

I have a sneaky feeling Ruger brought it out in the hopes it would take over the popularity of the 223 as a varminter. Least, that's my theory.

Michael

[Kijona]

We (Academy) are supposedly the largest retailer of hunting rifles in the South-East U.S., yet, we never seem to have ANY .223's other than youth model single shot break-action piddly rifles and AR-15's. I've been wanting a bolt-action .223 for a long time but...to no avail.

We do have some on the website but...not anything in the stores.

What about a .17 Remington Fireball? The off-shoot of the .17 Mach IV.

[Janx101]

.17 rem ... dunno about fireball or machIV .. my old man shot foxes with a .17 rem for 15 years or more.. back in the day when a good skin was worth $30-$40 ... (late 60's early 70's) ... ive used his remington 700 bdl too.. its sweet .... affected by wind a LOT .. and after about 20 shots the accuracy suffers.. after 25 its crap! ... so cleaning that tiny little bore every 20-25 is mandatory!! ..

out to about 220 yards though .. straight between the eyes of Mr Fox every time .. barring wind... or heavy/tall grass of course .. that little 25gn bullet is really easy to deviate!

[Kijona]

Strange. According to what I've read, the .17HMR was designed to be more stable in flight than the .22WMR. The typical .17HMR bullet is like 15-17gr.

[mister]

Yup. My 17HMR shoots good - even in high wind at 110 yards rabbits are toast.

Michael

[Janx101]

oh ok.. yeah the HMR etc are vastly different ..

.17 remington .. no other letters or acronyms is a centrefire unit ... necked down .223 case .. 25gn pill .. about 3,300 fps .. dad was spotlight foxes out to about 200m mostly with some out to 300m .. headshot only and usually between the eyes to minimise pelt damage ..it would handle some wind sure .. but for precision at night then calmest was best .. and i should revise the dates .. early 70's to early 80's ..

a rimfire barrel usually wont need cleaning near as much... but the .17 REM suffered as i said... after 20 shots it was time to clean the barrel and have a cuppa for 10 mins.... most of this shooting was also done in winter at night on the farmlands of east/central NSW.. Tamworth, Gunnedah, Manila, Armidale .. and then Southern Tablelands of NSW .. Goulburn, Yass and Crookwell.

the end of winter 1976 was his best $ year ... with $10k made from fox skins ... and less than a thousand in costs... lot of cash for that time!

[Kijona]

Yup. My 17HMR shoots good - even in high wind at 110 yards rabbits are toast.

Michael

Please don't kill the bunnies...