I have a few favourites, but generally I take what I feel like depending on the type of shooting I want to do. There are days when I want to shoot a lot, and other times when I'll be a lot more disciplined and have no problem shooting very little but for groups.
It's definitely not inexpensive
. I take 2-3 to the range at a time. No more (These days usually only 2 since I don't like spending all evening cleaning). For instance I'll shoot a lot of .22LR (I buy this stuff by the crate) and then finish with a .308 or other centerfire. A lot of my rifles are .22LR. They're fun very accurate, don't burn through barrels, are fairly inexpensive to shoot even with match grade ammo and can be shot indoors during the winter.
Also if I feel like plinking, I'll shoot a .22LR at 200 yards for the gongs. You'd be surprised how accurate it actually is. Or I'll shoot the CZ 858. Cheap to shoot and tons of fun. For closer stuff, CZ 858 7.62x39mm or indoors I'll go to the CX-4 storm in 9mm, or again .22LR.
The point is,
there is no all around rifle that will do it all plus it may be cost prohibitive to do so even if the rifle could do it. You'll become more specialized with time. The cost savings in ammo alone for shooting a .22LR, CZ 858, or a CX-4 storm pays for the firearm very quickly versus doing the same thing with a .308. In other words I can own 4 firearms for the same cost
. More importantly those firearms are specifically for the type of shooting I'm doing.
You have a beautiful rifle, get matching glass for it but don't settle with it being your one and only rifle. Use it for Sniper/accuracy shooting at the end of your range trip or for long range shooting. Shoot out the less expensive firearms that are designed for closer range and shoot less expensive ammo for the really close range stuff.
Just to prove my point. .308 match Federal Gold 168 grain is now over $40 for a box of 20 rounds. $2 a shot (Yes I also reload). A crate of 7.62x39 surplus is $160-180 for 1100 rounds. Match grade .22LR runs me about $54 for 500 rounds. Varmint/plinking .22LR ammo runs about $14 for 500.
I still get bugged by a buddy of mine every now and then with regards to my "one and only rifle". At the time that's how I thought it would be. He knew better.
Ha
Well using my Grandfather's old .22 Bruno is outta the question as my Uncle still loves to use it
Do you shoot for fun, or do you compete as well?
I understand how much cheaper it is to shoot .22's even if you do reload, trust me I do... it's the same way I feel about car insurence, which is:
So I just purchased a 25,000 used car and your telling me in about 5-7 years I will have purchased my car just on car insurence?
Same can be applied to factory ammo, using FGM as example, in about 2,000 rounds I will have bought my rifle... lol =/ I partially blame the USA for freaking out over Obama though and buying up all the ammo to the point there is a shortage
Is a sad reality of life I guess...
My first 100 shots will probably be using match factory ammo though, just to make sure everything is proper with the rifle
I appreciate you taking a great amount of time to articulate your comments. A healthy discussion would not be possible without it.
Certainly, the 20000 rounds per barrel is possible, though I would take it with a grain of salt:
- Could it be the exception, rather than the norm?
- It was, as you say, an old Steyr Scout, thus a different rifle made from a different time period.
- The report comes from one man (who does have experience).
I'm not calling BS because I haven't seen/heard of 308 barrels going over 20k without losing accuracy, but the general accepted norm around the shooting community is 5k-6k, give or take 1k.
On another note, where are you getting your Premier Heritage from?
Yea I totally understand and agree, by no means is 1 rifle a fact for all rifles, let alone all Steyr Scouts... let alone my particular model, but I mean I stated it not as a fact for my rifle but just as a fun fact I heard from a guy, which may, if I'm lucky ring true for me or come close... there are many major differences between blue barrels and cold forged, one of which is longevity.
I will be getting the PR from Halifax, Nova Scotia. If you would like more info, feel free to PM me.
Koshy,
I don't have a problem with you what so ever. Never have, never will. However, a lot of what you're saying is based on your perceived bias of Steyr rifles, which is ok if you're playing to that audience but misleading to others.
What bias have I suggested here? Hey, Steyr for the most part makes decent rifles. I'm not going to argue that, nor have I suggested otherwise.
Trust me when I say this, I wouldn't need 20 weeks of my time to know that this rifle wouldn't be my personal first choice. So what, if it is or isn't? It doesn't matter. Like I said originally a number of posts back, I hope you're happy with your purchase and congratulations on your new rifle.
You claim to have a great deal of experience but I'm not seeing that in your posts. You've made some comments and suggestions that would make anyone question your sources and on what basis you came to form your opinions.
Quoting "Tactical-Life" magazine and some old man working for Steyr aren't exactly 100% credible. Neither is a distributor making claims of 20 thousand round barrel life, or making claims that the CAF is using any Styer rfile.
I really hoped not to say this because it's going to sound ignorant and offensive but the only reason for taking my precious time to post in this thread is to mitigate some of the bullsh!t being spread by someone who doesn't know better.
Outlandish claims aside, I'm GLAD you're taking the time to tell us how happy you are with your purchase. Your assertion that I'm trying to somehow alienate you is perposterous. We need more guys like you who are willing to buy new product to help feed the growth of the shooting sports.
I'm with Epoxy. High quality rifles are just like Pringles. "Once you pop you can't stop".
And this is why I don't like typing, the way you word most of what you say is argumentative.. if you look at your first post, or the way rishu_pepper made a point, it is not "stand offish" (but everyone is different). So I will leave you with: I am by no means an expert. I have shot .22's for 3 years with good success, I am new to Optics and higher caliber rifles.
Somehow I don't think anyone could properly please you, I'm an individual... there are many other individuals all out there with different experiences, because guess what? They are different people, with different rifles. You might have a SSG 08 but FGM doesn't work well for you or produce same results as me, you need something else... why because every barrel is different. But that doesn't mean you just go and discredit something simply because you don't believe it.
If there are very few SSG 08 in Canada and even less giving any kind of judgement on it anywhere, you cannot get a broad swath of opinions. All you can do is work with what you have. It also isn't a car where you can test drive it (unless you are lucky enough to know someone with one), it is more like a Motorcycle, you buy it and then find out.
So when I get around to shooting and reviewing I will take your opinion of my review with a grain of salt because clearly individuals opinions don't mean much to you.
Because you haven't answered most of my questions let alone address my responses like, what would you shoot if you were doing what I am doing, what would you buy for with $5-6k (besides a custom rig). All you have been doing is judging and giving your opinion, but not responding to my statements, additional information, or giving what you would do, but you have no problem with saying whats wrong with what I'm doing. Some would conclude from that, that you don't know what you are talking about, not that you would care... and not that I care, I don't judge or draw conclusions off of a few mere replies to my post.
Koshy - One of the things to remember here is that pretty much 100% of posters are happy for you and are pleased to see another keen person taking up the shooting sports. A second thing to remember is that advice ( e.g. buy a second rifle, practice with something cheaper, consider handloading etc etc ) is well-meant and based upon a great deal of experience.
I do not consider myself experienced with all firearms but I have bought and sold something like 30 long guns over the past few years alone (some of the ones I have sold I regret selling and some of the ones I currently own I don't really use and probably should have bought something else) and the point of telling you this is that through experience I have learned that every rifle does something different - sometimes the difference is marginal and sometimes it is very pronounced - and most people appreciate that one rifle doesn't cover all the waterfront that a shooter likes to explore. Lastly, the people offering you advice are mostly shooters - that is people who actually get out and pull triggers not just read about guns in mags etc.
I am not taking up the shooting sport.. I have been doing it for 3 years now (shooting competition .22 targets at 20 and 50 meters) and been wanting to get back to it for 4 years (which I know isn't concidered much, but you need to start somewhere -- so that comment at the end was not required). I totally like and get what Epoxy7 is saying... in a perfect world though I would not have to shoot .22's to defer costs
If I was a millionaire this also would not be a problem
So explain to me why you wouldn't sell the ones you don't shoot and buy back the ones you regret selling? If you find a rifle you like why in God's name would you sell it and move on?
I would have been shooting weeks ago if I could... but bloody PAL is taking its sweet time as it always does.. I can use the PR scope at 50 meters quite well (although most would deam it a waste), what I wanted was something for the Wednesday nights, that includes 20M too. But who knows maybe I will just go with a Blackrifle I reserve for Wednesday nights.
One last thing, I did buy the rifle, in hopes it could fufill most roles I am looking to try, but I am not expecting it to, just hoping. And the only way to find out what it fills and what it doesn't is to bloody well shoot it, no amount of information via people or articles will ellude to this. But once I shoot it, I know what it is good for. From F-Class 1000m (yes I know the barrel length is low) to F-Class precision shooting (the moving targets, etc)... there is only one way to know if it is capable of this, and that is buying it and trying it. At no point did I say OMG THIS RIFLE IS GOOD AT EVERYTHING!!!11 Let alone speak about what I was hoping to do short of the Wednesday night shoots. So I don't know where some of you get off saying the rifle isn't what you are looking for, when you don't even know what I want to do!
Anyway [/rant]
Thanks,
- Koshy
I, like you, have only begun shooting 3 years ago.
