rnbra-shooter: thanks for the info. I also see you are from New Brunswick so I was wondering if you happened to know the actual laws of target shooting on private property in New Brunswick?
To be honest, I am not exactly sure, though there's probably a useful amount of info in the hunting guide booklet that you can get when you buy a licence.
http://www.gnb.ca/0078/PostedLand-e.asp is a good start. It talks about hunting on other people's property.
Or are you asking about doing target shooting on your own private property? If so, I think that DNR takes the position that you are always hunting, even on your own property, so you would need to have a hunting licence, and be using a rifle that is acceptable for the licence. If you want to know more, or get a more official answer, I could ask my neighbour (a DNR enforcement officer) about what the law says, and also what their actual practice might be.
It would probably not be practical (too expensive) to get your own place certified as an official shooting range, unless you had some natural features that would serve as an adequately high backstop. You could always ask the provincial Firearms Office for more info on what they require for range certification.
Also is the 6mm legal for Varmint hunting ?
No, it's not. During varmint season, on a varmint licence, or during big game season when you've used your tag, you may use a centrefire rifle as big as a .22 centrefire - so .223, .22-250 etc are fine, but the 6mms are not legal. Which is a big negative for a 6BR.
If it is important to you that you can take your rifle out in the woods virtually year round, a fast-twist .22-250 Savage would be a pretty good choice, and it would also be usable for 300m-900m target shooting too. But to be honest, I'd get a 6BR, shoot it on a range, and if I really needed a rifle for blowing up crows etc, get a .223 or .22-250 as well.
What all am I going to need to start reloading? Any suggestion on good place to buy my equipment and rifle in New Brunswick? Any good gun smiths around ?
Hmmm, that could take a while... ;-) Have you reloaded before? Will it be just for your rifle, or for several different rifle calibers, or pistol calibers too? It might be easier to chat on the phone about this - PM me and we can set up a phone call.
A good specialist store for accurate rifle shooting is Blue Mountain Sports, in Browns Flats. He also does gunsmithing work too.
Other gun stores include "The Gun Dealer" in McAdam, and the Fredericton Gun Shop (he also does gunsmithing).
If you're interested in target rifle specific gunsmithing, there are a couple of target shooters in the area (Moncton, and New Glasgow) who also do some barreling work.
If you like shooting, joining a local gun club would be a good idea, if there is one in your area. You can get a lot better shooting and load development and practice done on a "real" range, with a bench, proper target stands, etc.
If you're interested in longer range shooting, the Royal New Brunswick Rifle Association's outdoor fullbore season is about to start. In fact, our first match of this year is tomorrow, at CFB Gagetown, it's a 300m match on Batouche range. We shoot most weekends, either Saturday or Sunday. Typical distances we shoot are 300m, 500m, 600m, 800m, and 900m. We like new shooters (!), and are more than willing to help you get on paper, and be patient with you. Have a look at
our schedule, and PM me to make arrangements to come out as a guest (if you want, I can let you shoot my scoped .308W F-Class target rifle, if you want to give that a try).
