First Time Shooter looking for some help

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becks7

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As The title says, Im new to shooting and tryin to decide on a rifle. I live in canada and you cant try range rifle's so thats out os far as checking them out.
I dont know anyone here who shoots and so I cant see there guns. so im pretty much boned when it comes to that. I have only ever shoot twice, so ya, im new.
I was thinking like a .308 but from what I have been reading it seems like its a bit big to start off with, ppl seem to get a flinch from them. Any suggestions?
I have been thinking the remington 700's or a savage to start off, but that was when I was looking at the .308's. I want it for target shooting and I wouldnt mind hunting ether, i do like shooting long distances though.
im 5"10 about 135 pounds, and ive been told by the guy at the local gun shop that a .308 would be fine, but on the other hand he just wants to sell guns, so ya, any imput you guys have would really help.
 
If possible I would suggest something in .223 so you can get cheap surplus ammo. There are lots of bolt guns in that caliber that are quite accurate and available.

I might also suggest at first to get a .22 and learn the fundamentals on that with the super cheap ammo compared to a center fire. If it is in your price range something like a CZ 452 would be a great starter, then after you figure things out decide on what bigger gun you might want.

Edit: welcome to the high road!
 
I suggest moving to America.

If your interested in guns, you're to good for Canada.
 
Everybody handles recoil differently. Some smaller people love the feeling of shooting a big cannon, while relatively big folks may dislike anything more powerful than a .223. If you think you'll like the big guns, then I'm not going to try to dissuade you.

However, from a practical standpoint, I'd suggest getting something in a middle-of-the-road caliber. For target shooting, you might like something like a .270 Win which has a fairly flat trajectory with decent power and what I consider moderate recoil.

Another thing you should consider is the availability of ammo. For your first rifle, you'll likely not want something in a relatively new caliber like some of the 6.5's that lots of folks love and advocate. They're fine cartridges, but you'll be hard pressed to find them in abundance at Walmart and the likes.

Calibers like .223, .243, .270, and 30-06 will be readily available at any place that sells ammo.

FYI, my first "hunting" rifle was a Savage .270 with their Accu-trigger, and I love it. A little too much lead for smaller varmints, but good for anything coyote-sized on up to small-to-medium elk, depending on the region.
 
My first rifle was a 8mm German mauser. (i'm 23 btw). But if I had to recommend a first general purpose all around... Canadian rifle that will fulfill your target and hunting needs then 308 is fine. You have some pretty large animals up there in Canada and if you were to actively seek that meat of those animals you need something bigger than 22. And if felt recoil is a burden then use underpowered loads and use a recoil pad AND don't shoot off the bench all the time!

But going the 22 route is a good idea in my opinion. I am registered to go to an appleseed Appleseedshoot and they teach all you need to know at 25 meters. That range is perfect for a 22. I was shooting my 22 just for fun at 100 meters and putting my very cheap bulk pack at about 3 moa. That will be hours of entertainment on a limited budget.

My 308 is a savage stevens 200. I love it! What more can you get for $340 US? If you don't like something about it, change it! Every piece of that gun can be switched out: stock, trigger, bolt, bolt face, barrel. You name it, it can go.

But more importantly, go to a gun shop (do you have those in Cananda :uhoh:) and place your perspective buys against your shoulder. Swing the rifle around (not like a lasso!) like you were following a moving target, does it feel right to you? How is the weight? Does the bolt cycle with your hand or is it a forced issue.

Brands that are inexpensive: mossberg 100 atr (all the major calibers), Savage, Stevens, Remington (of course!), winchester model 70, and ruger m77. I have only experience with Savage though. Any name brand will do you well.
 
If you are pretty certain you are going to hunt deer and black bear, or coyotes and other varmints a .243 would be a great choice.

If the hunting is still just a "maybe some day" thing, I agree 100% with the recommendation of a .223.

You can always trade or buy a rifle for hunting later.

Good Luck and welcome to the THR forums !

:cool:
 
buy a .223, shoot it, love it, then decide that one aint enough

then buy more guns:evil:

but getting to buisiness, youre about my size, but recoil is relitive, like some peoples pain threshold.

i shoot 12 gauge 3.5'' magnums all day for fun. i love recoil, but you might not.

a .223 is cheap, gives you good range and accuracy, plus from a 7-8lb bolt rifle, recoil is very, very mild.
 
I was wondering on the availability of a nice Enfield and surplus .303 ammo in Canada. It seems like it might be more available as it was your service rifle. If they are cheap and readily available go with that. If that is not the case then: Do a survey of gun stores and outlets to determine the cheapest center fire ammo available that you can legally hunt big game with. I know some places require either .30 or .25 to hunt big game. If the answer is .308, .30-06, .270 or whatever that is what I would go with. The most important thing is to get out and shoot, a .22 is fine. Get out with the guys and learn to shoot. You will develop your own tastes soon enough. That is why I bring up price, go inexpensive but reliable. If you find that your not much for shooting no big dollars have been lost. If you find that you love it than you have some cash left over to expand.

P.S. From what I have read about the Polytech M1A's being cheap and prevalent in Canada I would buy one and not look back.
 
The key to getting the "right" rifle is to identify the type of shooting you choose to do.
(hnt-one gun can't serve all uses)

Look around and try to find a gun club. If you choose not to join or can't for some reason don't worry, most clubs allow outside people to shoot events without being a member.
Most any gun club is full of the friendlyist bunch of folks you could imagine.
 
If you are near Detroit, come on over, and I'll arrange for you to shoot a variety of rifles. You buy the ammo.
 
Alta, I totaly agree, but thats a lot of work, and I dont think "coz I like guns" is a a reason they would let me live there for.
I notice the calls .223 &.270, .243 keep comming up, as well as 22. (isnt a 22 something u give to like a 12 year old?)
Ok, im not sure what underpowered loads are, so im gonna need someone to explain that to me.
And ya, we have gun shops in canada. but they suck ass, there are nothing when you look at the shops in the states, ur wallmarts are better for guns, lol

blackhawk200, I would be so ontop of that, but vancouver is was to far away from detroit

Its not that im afrade of the recoil or anything like that, but everyone tells me, and I read all over the place that it like gives you "the flinch" and that dosent seem good, and i have also been told that it makes you shoot badly.
but ya, I got a Elite 3200 scope today, so thats what im gonna put onto it, also got this stupid firearms licence today, now all I need is a gun, so yall think start with a .22 or something in the .200 cal range?

Btw, I dont think you can trade in guns in canada
 
i'm not familiar with canadian laws.. but if you can get a remington 700 you may be able to get a (very fun rifle and cheap ammo) Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R is about the same as a .308 and they run under $130 US Dollars, another option would be a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in .223 (very accurate rifle)

by the way... this is a Mosin Nagant M44

pict0688bu6.jpg
 
isnt a 22 something u give to like a 12 year old?
Click to expand...

Not at all. .22 is a great cartridge for training, plinking, and shooting small game. Most everything you need to know about shooting can be learned on the .22 with little to no chance of learning a flinch. Most folks (no matter what the age) start on a .22. The lessons learned here can be used on any caliber. Plus, it is super cheap to shoot so as you fire thousands of rounds to get the proper muscle memory and breathing control you will spend very little money in the process. Then you can go up to your .308 or whatever and not be learning shooting fundamentals at $1 or so per shot.

Think of it this way. Once you get it down where you can reliably hit something at ranges up to 100 yards with a .22 you will be able to do some pretty impressive things with a .308 or whatever strikes your fancy at a lot farther than that, just learn the different ballistics of the larger more powerful round.
 
I was under the impression you knew you wanted a centerfire rifle but if you are open to getting a .22 rimfire - Man, by all means that would be my #1 suggestion - it is infinitely cheaper, tons of fun and will teach you a lot about shooting.

:cool:
 
I cant say I know what a "centerfire & rimfire" are:confused:, but everyone or just about everyone has brought up the .22, so thats what im gonna do, witch ones are good?
Is there a difference?
are they cheeper?
any advice yall can give is greatly appreciated, and I cant tell you how much I appreciat all the help yall have already gave me.:)
 
You'll be glad you chose the .22LR You can shoot 500 rounds for 20 dollars as opposed to 500 rounds for 150 dollars for .223

You'll be able to get lots of practice. Then later you can always buy something more powerful.

Common suggestions on this board are a Ruger 10/22 (semi-auto) and Savage MkII (bolt action). They can both be had for around 200 dollars.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerfire
You can find lots of info about centerfire vs. rimfire on the web. The wikipedia article is a good place to start.


I'm sure you know this and I'm sorry if I'm telling you the obvious: read all you can about firearms safety (especially the four rules). Things that seem safe (like pointing a gun that you think is unloaded at someone), are certainly not safe.
 
Everyone should start shooting with a .22. I think a bolt action is the way to start but if you must have a semi auto there are many nice Marlin 60s to be had.
 
Becks7, a suggestion: Type a manufacturer's name into Google. Go to the company's main website. Almost all have pictures of their rifles. That will give you a start on the looks of the various types and models. Many show the retail prices.

I pretty much always suggest that a new shooter begin with a bolt-action .22 of medium quality. That's an inexpensive way to learn about eye-finger coordination with proper sight picture. It IS a learning cure and it DOES take a good bit of time and quite a few boxes of ammo.

I started with a .22 at age seven, so Lord knows how many thousands of rounds I'd shot before my first .30-'06 at age sixteen--and that was 58 years ago, come July.

"Flinch" probably is more a function of the noise of the muzzle blast than of the actual recoil--at least, for non-magnum cartridges. The quality of the recoil pad and the weight of the rifle also come into play, of course. But a quality set of hear-guard ear protectors makes a big difference in avoiding flinching.

Start with iron sights. Buy a .22 rifle that'll let you mount that scope on it after you sorta get "married up" with your starting package.

But don't be in a hurry. Money generally goes away a lot faster than it comes in.

:), Art
 
Ok so its a .22
Now I have been lookin at the remingtons and they seem pretty nice, is it worth it to go for like a 597 or should I keep it under $300 and get whatever remmie they have for that price?
I will prob wanna keep it, you know, first gun and all.
 
I started when i was 5 in my grandfathers basement with a red ryder bb gun shooting at 30 feet or so. I shot so much i had blisters from working the action. Then i moved on to a 22 and shot that for a very long time until i was around 11 or so when I moved up to 222 and then 6mm for deer season when i was 12. There is nothing un-manly with shooting a 22. You will be far better off starting this way and learning to shoot instead of jumping behind somthing bigger that will cost more to learn and could give you bad habits. And 20 years later i still get out the red ryder that i learned on.
 
A nice entry level bolt action rifle would fit the bill here. Ther are several options in this price range, the MArlin 925 is a great little shooter, and can be had new for under $200 US. Also if you can find one, an old Glenfield model 25, under $100 at most pawn shops... The CZ is a good gun, a bit pricey... The Savage I have never had any experience with their rimfire stuff, but I have read that they are also fine rifles.

If semi-auto is your gig, the Marlins are all good tack drivers out of the box. The Ruger 10/22, eh, they're ok, but not great for out-of-box accuracy, but tons of aftermarket support for mods to pretty much do anything you want. The Rem 597, well, there's a long debate over this model, some people get them and claim that it's a jam-o-matic, I have one, and it's yet to have any issues... so, to remove any bias here, the Remmy is a hit/miss deal... thay are quite accurate though...

Hope this helps in the confusion... ;)
 
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