[osmiumtet]

Hi all,

I've decided I wanted to take the leap into possibly getting a rifle for target shooting. The question I have is do I go with .22LR or .17 or do I get a little fancy and get a .223 . Anybody have any recommendations? I'm thinking bolt action maybe semi-auto. Thanks.

Roland

 

[thegrandenigma]

Hi Roland, welcome here. The rules are simple: be nice and join in!

If it were me, I'd get a .22 LR bolt gun. The CZ 452 is a great choice. It's up there in price (for a .22) but totally worth it! .22LR is the cheapest round available, which is nice (Spending $25 on 500 instead of $25 on 20). If all your going to be doing is target shooting, totally get a .22LR! There are other good brands out there, but I'll let others talk about those, I'm not too familiar with them.

If you want to get a centerfire, a .223 would be a good choice. Cheap ammo, and accurate. You have the choice of bolt or semi-auto for accurate platforms. If your in the states especially, an AR-15 would be a good choice. Accurate, and fully customizable, you can do WHATEVER you want to it! A bolt gun would be good too, and accurate as well. If your target shooting/varminting, that is definatly an option.

As per the rules ( ) you are required to ask questions when you have them. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask!

SYATF


~Matt

 

[MikeG]

CZ 452 and a good scope. Practice will be more fun when you can call every shot

Step up to the centerfires when you want to extend range. No wrong answer. If you are thinking of formal or informal competition, see what the other shooters are using.

Have fun and enjoy.

 

[pruhdlr]

Few Thoughts

I'm different so might as well stay that way.

"Possibly getting a rifle for target shooting".....well....iffen you are still undecided as to what kind of target shooting,that's fine. If you have your mind set on one discipline fess up to what it is/could be.

BUT....if you want to head on down to the dirt pit and bust clods that's one thing,iffen you want to compete that's another thing altogether. In any 22 rimfire match(BR-50) you can compete and have fun with a standard Ruger 10/22,a $129.95 scope,and a box of Remington,or Winchester 22's. But,if you want to get serious and buy a Win 52,a 4-6C$ scope,and pay $8-$10 per box of the high grade 22's,that would be just another option.

If you want to get serious with the centerfire(.223)competition go with a bolt gun. All the records that I am aware of are held with a bolt action rifle. There again,big bucks for a scope,and big bucks for the high grade factory ammo. I tried this once and quickly found that the competitors were waaaaay outta my league. I was older and it would have taken me til the day before I died to even come close to truly competing with them.

Would highly suggest that you go to several matches. Watch what goes on. Ask questions. Act interested. Try to make friends with one of the competitors(good luck with that). As stated above,you aint gotta win just to have fun. Better yourself with every match. The "guru's" of the sport will respect you if you are giving it your all. If your still extremely young,you probably have enough time left to eventually win.-----pruhdlr

 

[osmiumtet]

Hey all,

Just thinking of getting accurate at the range first off. I've always wanted to try and shoot for accuracy so I figured bolt action would be the way to go. I think I'll mainly be competing with myself and trying to put shots where I want to. Then later on if I feel like it maybe I'll do competition shooting. Sorry if I was a little vague. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Os

 

[pruhdlr]

Well Then.......

That narrows it down to(my opinion) a bolt 22. Remington makes a great one for not huge bucks. A scope with fairly thin crosshairs and several boxes of ammo to experiment with. It can be the cheap stuff. Most 22's are kinda picky about the ammo fed to them. They'll shoot it all but some is more accurate than others. If you have friends that have 22's see if you can get 5 rds of this and that from them to try.

Also a fairly cheep item to have that will help your accuracy is a headspace gauge. Mine is the Neil Jones brand and it is simple to use and sorts the 22 ammo(any brand)by rim thickness which to a 22LR is headspace. I have had it for awhile now but IIRC it cost about $30.

Then......start shooting concentrating on your form. Shoot lots of ammo. Buy it by the brick at the discount stores or gun shows. Keep the weapon clean,especially the bbl. Compete with yourself every time you shoot.

And mainly.....have fun. -----pruhdlr

 

[geneus]

A bolt action 22 is the way to go for starting out with rounds are cheap and fun to shoot.

If you really like it then step up to a .223 or other center fire rifle, but you'll always be glad to have the 22 you can never have to many 22s

You might want to look into the .17 HMR, rounds are significantly more than a 22, so i would recommend starting with the 22. But the 17 will shoot a lot farther if you are also interested in varmint hunting of longer target shooting.

 

[mattsbox99]

I've got several bolt action .22LRs and my favorites are my Ruger 77/22s. They aren't cheap, but they are accurate and fun to shoot.

Welcome, you'll enjoy it here.

 

[Lynn]

I do not know of any organized matches the .17s, as for 22 there are a bunch of different disciplines. Probably one of the best to start in would be CMP rimfire it is about the same coarse of fire as high power but at 25 and 50 yards and any gun under 7 pounds can be used. Scopes are limited to 6X and semis are handycapped a couple of seconds in rapid fire. It is a lot of fun and a good way to get into a competitive shooting sport. www.odcmp.org
At the other end of the spectrum is bench rest with custom built guns, 3P and prone where it's not uncommon to see 4 or 5K invested in equipment. www.champchoice.com
Check the clubs around your area to see what is offered, also the CMP site list clubs through out the country go to a few shoots and see what interest you. Most shooters will loan you equipment to try there sport. Most of all it's about having fun.

 

[mattsbox99]

There are also some Appleseed events that travel around the country. Nearest one to me is still 350 miles so I don't make it out there.

 

[Marshal Kane]

If you're not quite ready to compete yet, the previous posts provide some very good suggestions on where to start out. If you are thinking seriously about competing someday, you will need a bolt action rifle that is a target rifle from the ground up. Suggest you look into researching rimfire target rifles like the Winchester models 75, 52, and Remington models 513T, 540X, 37, 40X. These are competition rifles and they require a diet of match ammunition to shoot high scores. There are even better rifles than what I mentioned but then you run into the problem of affordability. You will most likely be out-gunned if you bring a sporting type rifle to a serious competition. You sound like you're starting out so this is a good time to do your homework and decide what you really want to do. This is not a put-down on the previous posts, I'm just trying to give you another perspective on what competition shooting is all about and for you to not make the same mistakes that I did.

 

[osmiumtet]

Hi all,

I appreciate all the advice. It has definitely given me a lot to think about and look into.

os

 

[Irv S]

Also check the CMP website. There are sometimes good deals on surplus (used and new) .22 target rifles if you are eligible to purchase them.