More rabbit shooting at the historic house

kombi1976

kombi1976

CGN frequent flyer
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Location
NSW Australia
A friend is moving to Melbourne and her farewell party last weekend happened to be at the same historic house myself and my mate Andrew have been culling rabbits. I expected no visible traces of bunnies after the myxomitosis symptoms they all had last time we shot there. But there were diggings EVERYWHERE. So Andrew, who was also at the party, and I lined up to go out last Monday night and thin the numbers again.

The weather was not promising with misty rain throughout the late afternoon but by the time 8:30 arrived it was cool but dry. Andrew had unfortunately had his CZ 22lr ruined by a local gunsmith when he sent it for a bedding job. The guy had dug so much wood out of it he'd weakened the stock and it was shooting disgraceful groups. So instead of him shooting too we took the sniper team approach. He spotted exclusively and with the use of shooting sticks I was the only shooter.

The numbers were down but having a dedicated spotter and being able to concentrate on shooting really helped. In the end we took 17 animals and recovered 14 of them, having seen the other three get hit but thrash away into cover where we couldn't find them once they died. That adds up to 24 on my first trip last year with Jane, 25 last time with Andrew and 17 on Monday. That's 66 bunnies in roughly a 3 month period. Not bad, I reckon.

HistoricHouse15-2-11_01ed.jpg

Yours truly with my Anschutz 1400 and the 14 we recovered.
 
Nice job, lot's of stew there! Just curious, how hard is it to get a gun and hunt there? I am guessing a lot easier to hunt varmints like rabbits.
Maybe the gunsmith was just out of practice from lack of work. :D

Just found this on wikipedia, how hard is it to get a permit and demonstrate the genuine need for the class B firearms?




__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Firearms in Australia are grouped into Categories with different levels of control. The categories are:

* Category A: Rimfire rifles (not semi-automatic), shotguns (not pump-action or semi-automatic), air rifles, and paintball markers. A "Genuine Reason" must be provided for a Category A firearm.

* Category B: Centrefire rifles (not semi-automatic), muzzleloading firearms made after 1 January 1901. A "Genuine Need" must be demonstrated, including why a Category A firearm would not be suitable.

* Category C: Semi-automatic rimfire rifles holding 10 or fewer rounds and pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding 5 or fewer rounds. Category C firearms are strongly restricted: only primary producers, occupational shooters, collectors and some clay target shooters can own functional Category C firearms.

* Category D: Semi-automatic centrefire rifles, pump-action or semi-automatic shotguns holding more than 5 rounds. Functional Category D firearms are restricted to government agencies and a few occupational shooters. Collectors may own deactivated Category D firearms.

* Category H: Handguns including air pistols and deactivated handguns. this class is available to target shooters and farmers. To be eligible for a Category H firearm a target shooter must serve a probationary period of six months using club handguns, and a minimum number of matches yearly to retain each category of handgun.

Target shooters are limited to handguns of .38 or 9mm calibre or less and magazines may hold a maximum of 10 rounds. Participants in certain "approved" pistol competitions may acquire handguns up to .45", currently Single Action Shooting and Metallic Silhouette. IPSC shooting is not "approved" for the larger calibres, for as 9mm/.38/.357 hanguns meet the IPSC rules. Category H barrels must be at least 100mm (3.94") long for revolvers, and 120mm (4.72") for semi-automatic pistols unless the pistols are clearly ISSF target pistols: magazines are restricted to 10 rounds. Handguns held as part of a collection were exempted from these limits.
 
It isn't that hard to get a firearms licence here so long as you've never had a conviction and you're willing to jump through the hoops.
The purpose the gun is for, at least for all States except Western Australia, isn't really an issue.
The categories you posted are indeed how guns are classified here.
Practically anyone can score themselves a high powered rifle or shotgun.....so long as they aren't pump shotguns or semi-auto firearms of any description.
All you have to be is a member of a target or trap club for target/clay shooting, or a hunting club or have formal permission from a land owner for hunting/pest eradication.
So with my Category A/B licence, which has both target and hunting reasons connected to it, I can own any bolt, lever, single shot or pump rifle and any single, double or lever shotgun.
I can also own any black powder long arm or air rifle.
It would be nice to own a semi-auto like a M1a but in truth I'm not a military sniper so I can probably do without it.
I can own a 50 BMG rifle if I like so long as it is a bolt or single shot.
The only state at present with troublesome laws like that is Western Australia.
The local police firearms officer has the right to decide whether or not you should own a 7mm Rem Mag or 375 H&H for anything aside of target shooting, although if he thinks the local range is not up to that then he can probably refuse permission for target shooting too.
My mate there is very jealous of my 450/400 NE 3".
He's having difficulty pushing a 7mm Mag through as the bloody cop also reckons he has enough rifles already (4). :mad:
That tends to be the exception though.
 
kombi1976 said:
It isn't that It would be nice to own a semi-auto like a M1a but in truth I'm not a military sniper so I can probably do without it.
.
Click to expand...

not to totoaly hijack, but, what makes you think a MR1 is some how related to military snipers lol? Dont let them brain wash you. There is no reason why you shouldnt have one. It's just an auto loading rifle, no reason any of them need to be restricted.
 
Matt308 said:
not to totoaly hijack, but, what makes you think a MR1 is some how related to military snipers lol? Dont let them brain wash you. There is no reason why you shouldnt have one. It's just an auto loading rifle, no reason any of them need to be restricted.
Click to expand...

Don't be too quick to remark, our gun laws are only slightly less irrational.
Many of our guns were banned because they looked scary.
 
Kombi, one question friend please?
A few years back there was a tv show aired in Canada about an Aussie soldier (a Major IIRC) who hosted a show called "Bushtucker Man" Seems I remember him with a 44 Magnum revolver in a holster on his hip sometimes.
Is/was this 'normal' activity for the outback, or a little extra drama for the show?
Please forgive my ignorance, but I think you fellas have much more dangerous wildlife than us Canadians do. (perhaps?)

cheers
 
Brutus said:
Kombi, one question friend please?
A few years back there was a tv show aired in Canada about an Aussie soldier (a Major IIRC) who hosted a show called "Bushtucker Man" Seems I remember him with a 44 Magnum revolver in a holster on his hip sometimes.
Is/was this 'normal' activity for the outback, or a little extra drama for the show?
Please forgive my ignorance, but I think you fellas have much more dangerous wildlife than us Canadians do. (perhaps?)

cheers
Click to expand...

My wife was a fan.

Les Hiddens (Hiddons?)

My understanding was that he was actually still in the Army when he was packing the sidearm. He did a season (or several) then got out of the Army and did the show, mostly as a travelogue.
It started with the premise that he was researching the edibles in each area (the Bush Tucker) to have the info to print on the backs of the appropriate survival maps so that if one had a good idea more or less what part of the country they were in, there was a decent chance of there being some useful info in the survival kit as far as finding some food and water was concerned.
It was a pretty good show, from the perspective of getting to see such a diverse bunch of territory, and a lot of it not areas a tourist would likely find themselves.

There was some fluff, but the scenery and countryside was sure nice to see.

I've a copy of The Bush Mechanics here, that you might enjoy, Brutus. A gift from a couple that had to move back to Aus.

Cheers
Trev
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom