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Hunting >> Hunting in Australia, NZ & the South Pacific

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eagle27
.400 member


Reged: 24/01/09
Posts: 1108
Loc: Nelson, New Zealand
First Rifle
      #346433 - 02/11/20 03:57 PM

Was reminiscing a bit at the weekend of my early hunting when graduating to deer, my first rifle I purchased and used throughout my high school years and on into my first couple of years working, was a 32 Remington pump action carbine. This was a wonderful little gun with which I shot a lot of red deer and feral goats, nothing much over 100 yards but a very fast and good pointing gun, knocking over animals in quite routine fashion and ideal on running game.

I can't remember when I eventually sold the 32 Remington, ammo was not common back in the '60s but I always seemed to have enough, didn't target shoot with it. Got to wondering if I still had any cartridges left in my box of odds and sods and low and behold one single cartridge, a Dominion with the 170gr bullet. I think this brand was the only one I could get back in those days.

Even have one old photo taken from a colour slide of the little Remington after a bit of action in an early morning shoot, my younger brother used a Cooey single shot 22LR (on the right in the photo) and was successful with it bagging half a dozen or so deer before getting himself an Oberndorf Mauser K in 250-3000 Savage.



My first and what is my biggest and most likely last, 32 Remington and 404 Jeffery. Similar sort of cartridges really with their bullets occupying much of the neck and gentle shoulders to help chambering. Would love to have the Remington back.



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93x64mm
.416 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 3954
Loc: Nth QLD Australia
Re: First Rifle [Re: eagle27]
      #346441 - 02/11/20 10:59 PM

My first rifle was (& still is) a Winchester Model 70A in .243 bought in 1980, was brand new then!
Shot more than a few 'roos with it, oldest son has claimed that one!


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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: First Rifle [Re: 93x64mm]
      #346445 - 03/11/20 01:20 AM

Mine was an Enfield in .303 British..open sighted.. paid $40. for it from my uncle.. 11 years old

Had an old Winchester 1895 single shot .22 rimfire at age 6 on the farm..was my grandpa's... had it completely restored with a new factory stock..old one was busted when I got it.. I had it taped when I was a kid...now property of my son..

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..


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yumastepside
.333 member


Reged: 25/10/15
Posts: 459
Loc: Tasmania Australia
Re: First Rifle [Re: Ripp]
      #346508 - 04/11/20 07:05 AM

....big, heavy old P14 in 303-270, wish I still had it too!

Roger

--------------------
If you live for a thousand years, you still only have one life, don't waste it.


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Homer
.416 member


Reged: 07/04/09
Posts: 3081
Loc: Canberra, Australia
Re: First Rifle [Re: yumastepside]
      #346620 - 08/11/20 10:01 AM

G'Day Fella's,

Thank You for sharing your memories Eagle27.

There was always family firearms around the house but the first firearm/rifle I purchased (in the second or third year of my apprenticeship), was a new Tikka, LSA-55, in .222Rem. Had a lot of fun with that. Wore out the barrel, and sold it off.
But a few years later, I bought another new one(Tikka LSA-55, in .222), with a heavy barrel ............... have had and still having Fun with it as well.

Avagreatweekendeh!
Homer

--------------------
"Beware the Lolly Pop of Mediocrity,
Lick it Once and You Will Suck Forever"


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rigbymauser
.400 member


Reged: 15/05/05
Posts: 1970
Loc: Denmark
Re: First Rifle [Re: Homer]
      #347345 - 30/11/20 09:43 AM

My first centerfire rifle was a m94 Win .30-30. It was for me a dream comming through. Bought in Christmas 1983 I was 15 years of age. It was not a registred rifle and I didnt have a permit made it even more thrilling.

Edited by rigbymauser (30/11/20 09:43 AM)


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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39055
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: First Rifle [Re: rigbymauser]
      #347358 - 30/11/20 07:43 PM

My first rifle to use, was my Dad's only rifle. A single shot bolt action Lithgow or Slazenger in .22 rimfire. Open sights, I learned to crawl up to six feet away from rabbits, but also could shoot pesty fruit eating birds out of the top branches of wind swaying gum trees.

I cleaned up his abused rifle. Sadly due to stupid legislation I much later returned it to him, he didn't shoot anymore. Couldn't have someone else firearms in my safe ... his safe like the old days was a place to store his guns with excessive moisture. Purchased them all from him with haste when I saw how rusty they all were. The .410 shotgun somehow survived mostly unscathed. The others ... ruined. Probably smarter to find another Lithgow single and not try to "fix" the newly rusted Grandfather's rifle. Not impressed. I had thoroughly cleaned and oiled them before returning. Keeping a safe in a shed against a wall seems a very bad idea.

MY first rifle is my Remington 788 in .222. The original model. A steel bar of an ugly rifle. But easily the most accurate rifle I have. Awful heavy but effective bridge mounts and a 3-9x Tasco scope. It would still do the goods. I MUST start using it again. Would also make a dandy weight lifting session. Do I still have some of my old ammo for it? I should have, but can't find it.

I used this rifle to head shoot running hares with a Harris bipod in vine rows. They run straight away at times. Well i could have but probably waited to see if they stopped and instant bang. Many rabbits and foxes. I remember one poor fox at hundreds of metres away. Had to shoot it several times. Some bigger "rabbits". And many many feral goats in the Flinders Ranges. Some pigs. I think a friend had a go at a feral donkey with it. Some deer head shot with it as well.

I stopped using it on goats, and donkeys. On goats, too many wounded goats, which took tracking and follow ups. My second rifle, my Parker Hale 1200 in .30-06. Decided to go for something which didn't need such precise shooting. Goats died much quicker with less than perfect hits, and didn't travel far at all.

Now wearing a new custom stock, it is still the rifle I reach for almost all of my medium game hunting. Such as the sambar I took with Gryphon. I took it on my first African plains game safari. It is always the rifle I choose for deer hunting. For the sundry SA fallow hunt, I almost always carry this rifle. Took my first NZ red stag with it. And took my first SA red stag with it as well.

Funny when I got it I was probably the youngest member of the local deer hunting club, but had the biggest rifle, the .30-06. Everyone else was using .243s, .270s and perhaps a 7 mm Rem Mag. The choice completely changed a few years later with most using bigger, more powerful rifles.

Carried it on my first buffalo hunt with 220 gr Norma RNSPs, loaded by the previous owner, Tony Brown or "Tony Browns Mans World" a barber! He was also a small gun shop with rifle racks in store, fishing gear, a beer fridge, and leather sofa. Never had a haircut with him. But an old school place gentlemen could gather and no doubt bullshit. Never tested it on buffalo. Never found any that trip. We hunted on an abandoned NT station, where every NT man and his dog was probably going. Ny friends did not allow a decent amount of time that trip for hunting, prefering to go fishing. It was called St Vidgeon Station and had lands up against the Gulf of Carpentaria. Back in 1983. It was mostly outside water buff country at the time I believe being South of Arnhemland South of the Roper River. Later Buffalo spread there in great numbers. It was given to Aboriginals so is now part of an Aboriginal reserve.

My third rifle was the Martini-Henry Rosier .577/450.

But the fourth was my Whitworth M98 in .375 H&H Mag. After some troubles with it, and custom work, it is now extremely usable.

With a .222, as .30-06 and a .375, one doesn't really need anything use other than rimfires.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39055
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: First Rifle [Re: eagle27]
      #347359 - 30/11/20 07:53 PM

Quote:


Even have one old photo taken from a colour slide of the little Remington after a bit of action in an early morning shoot, my younger brother used a Cooey single shot 22LR (on the right in the photo) and was successful with it bagging half a dozen or so deer before getting himself an Oberndorf Mauser K in 250-3000 Savage.



Would love to have the Remington back.





Kiwis and their rimfre shooting of deer.

I was "once told" by "someone", "if you place a .22 RF sub sonic into the second or third dot ( I forget) on a fallow, broadside, it will get the heart". I forget who it was, but when the person's deer paddocks were surrounded by urban houses in the hills, "hushpuppies" were used to cull the venison. (Mr Police Officer reading this , NOT ME, my deer paddocks are not in an urban area ... I use a .222 to brain shoot my deer paddock venison.)

That last comment. So common. One reason I am extremely reluctant to part with any of my firearms willingly. Sell off brummies. One gone to John Howard. Worrying I might sell off some to fund some dollars for other needs.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"


Edited by NitroX (30/11/20 07:55 PM)


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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26413
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: First Rifle [Re: NitroX]
      #347405 - 01/12/20 05:23 AM

My first rifle was an Ace .22 Cooey, gift on 12th Birthday from RCMP uncle. Then, I save up (amazing as that sounds) and bought a 10/22 Ruger.
My first CF was a 20 bore single shot for ducks, grouse, pheasants, cottontails and squirrels, then 6.5Rem.Mag. for groundhogs, then .22-250,
same groundhogs, and a BRNO Fox .22 Hornet. Somewhere in there, I upgraded to an O/U Baikal for ducks, grouse as well as European hares in
the winter time.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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Ripp
.577 member


Reged: 19/02/07
Posts: 16072
Loc: Montana, USA
Re: First Rifle [Re: DarylS]
      #347426 - 01/12/20 01:22 PM

Quote:

My first rifle was an Ace .22 Cooey, gift on 12th Birthday from RCMP uncle. Then, I save up (amazing as that sounds) and bought a 10/22 Ruger.
My first CF was a 20 bore single shot for ducks, grouse, pheasants, cottontails and squirrels, then 6.5Rem.Mag. for groundhogs, then .22-250,
same groundhogs, and a BRNO Fox .22 Hornet. Somewhere in there, I upgraded to an O/U Baikal for ducks, grouse as well as European hares in
the winter time.




My first rimfire was a Winchester 1995 single shot.. First shotgun was a single shot hammer 12 gauge.. believe it was a Savage?? I blew up the barrel crawling up on geese in the early morning..plugged the bore with mud.. took it home and sawed it off.. was then my snowmobile fox/coyote shotgun.. worked equally well for that..

--------------------
ALL MEN DIE, BUT FEW MEN TRULY LIVE..


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vykkagur
.300 member


Reged: 28/11/19
Posts: 223
Loc: Canada
Re: First Rifle [Re: Ripp]
      #347485 - 03/12/20 02:04 PM

Ljungman AG-42b. Brand new, unissued, surplussed off. Not a scratch, dent, or slightest wear on wood or bluing. Came with spares and tool kit (also brand new), all for the princely sum of $85.00.

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26413
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: First Rifle [Re: vykkagur]
      #347520 - 04/12/20 05:04 AM

vykkagur - that was a semi-auto 6.5x55, wasn't it? An interesting rifle indeed.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V


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