First Rifle

[LeighC]

the only thing i would change is to have her wages

Me too!

[HALODIN]

Right after a huge amount of reading, chatting and being generally undecided, I've finally decided on my first rifle. I'm going to go with the Spike's Tactical ST-22 when my ticket comes through. The setup is as follows:

- 1 x ST-22 “Biohazard” billet receiver
- 1 x ST 12” BAR Rail
- 1 x Black Magpul UBR Stock
- 1 x Black Magpul MOE grip
- 1 x Black 16 inch barrel
- 1 x Black Smith’s Vortex muzzle brake
- 1 x Catch 22 "bolt hold open catch"

Now this isn't about getting the best value for my money, the final decision was based on "I want it..." but hopefully it goes some way to cure my black gun lust and I can finally move on to rifle 2...

So what's rifle 2 to be? A 7.62 AK-103, an AICS Remington 700 or an Enfield .303?

[John MH]

Good luck with the Magpul parts unless you already have them and if you are going to use the lower with a .223 upper then make sure you get a standard bolt release as the Catch 22 will not work on a full bore bolt.

[Dombo63]

Go with the 700 and 303. Two classic rifles and, if you get bored with the 700 you can always change the stock

[HALODIN]

OK thanks for the advice. As my allowance has now increased from 1 to 2 rifles (thanks Mrs HALODIN!), I'm going to buy a dedicated .223 traditional rifle and at the moment that's likely to be an AICS Remington 700 + 26 inch barrel, but if I ever do buy an upper for it, I'll make sure I get a standard bolt catch for it.

Good luck with the Magpul parts unless you already have them and if you are going to use the lower with a .223 upper then make sure you get a standard bolt release as the Catch 22 will not work on a full bore bolt.

[HALODIN]

Yes I think you're right. I do want an AK-103, but that's possibly rifle 4. I guess I'll need an alarm so I can go over the 10 gun limit...

Go with the 700 and 303. Two classic rifles and, if you get bored with the 700 you can always change the stock

[Dombo63]

Yes I think you're right. I do want an AK-103, but that's possibly rifle 4. I guess I'll need an alarm so I can go over the 10 gun limit...

Go with the 700 and 303. Two classic rifles and, if you get bored with the 700 you can always change the stock

Something I discovered after getting my 700 (pure luck as a bloke in my club was selling a nicely tuned left-hooker) was that there is masses of info about the rifle on the internet, particularly in 308 win which mine is. Lots of ammo choice too in that calibre, from blue box Prvi, to RWS and other top makes.

[HALODIN]

I like it when things like that happen, it almost seems like fate... The reason I thought .223 for the Remington 700 was the cost of ammo, although the lure of the larger calibres could pull me more to .308 again. It's going to be a year or so before I'll reload my own ammo, so with that in mind, would you still recommend the .308 over the .223? Assuming everything is granted on my ticket, there's 1 free .223 slot and 2 free .308 slots.

Something I discovered after getting my 700 (pure luck as a bloke in my club was selling a nicely tuned left-hooker) was that there is masses of info about the rifle on the internet, particularly in 308 win which mine is. Lots of ammo choice too in that calibre, from blue box Prvi, to RWS and other top makes.

[Dombo63]

I like it when things like that happen, it almost seems like fate... The reason I thought .223 for the Remington 700 was the cost of ammo, although the lure of the larger calibres could pull me more to .308 again. It's going to be a year or so before I'll reload my own ammo, so with that in mind, would you still recommend the .308 over the .223? Assuming everything is granted on my ticket, there's 1 free .223 slot and 2 free .308 slots.

I'm still very much a newbie to the sport but I had noticed when shooting with the club guys at Bisley that a lot use .308, particularly when going out to 1,000 yards, so it seemed a quite versatile calibre.
Your club members can probably better advise you, but personally I just wanted two full-bores, one of which was always going to be a 303, figuring they'd do me for long range target shooting and then stalking/hunting if i ever went down that route. Also made for a very easy convo with the FEO, two full-bores, a mod for the 308 and a couple of 22LRs.

[HALODIN]

Thanks for the reply. I suspect I'll buy a Dolphin Gun Company .308 rifle at some point, so I can go out to the F-Class 1000 yard mark as well. The idea of the Remington .223 was something nice and precise over the 100 yard distance at my local club.

Have you decided which Enfield .303 to buy? Personally I think this could be the hardest rifle to choose because of all of the variations and the historical aspect. I have to say I was enamored with it when I shot it and they're so cheap! May be I'll have one of each... A 10 unit gun cabinet is never going to be enough for me!

I'm still very much a newbie to the sport but I had noticed when shooting with the club guys at Bisley that a lot use .308, particularly when going out to 1,000 yards, so it seemed a quite versatile calibre.
Your club members can probably better advise you, but personally I just wanted two full-bores, one of which was always going to be a 303, figuring they'd do me for long range target shooting and then stalking/hunting if i ever went down that route. Also made for a very easy convo with the FEO, two full-bores, a mod for the 308 and a couple of 22LRs.