G'day all,
I'm new to this shooting caper and I'm looking to buy my first rifle in the near future.
I've decided on my calibre - .243win now I just need to decide on a make of gun.
At the moment I'm leaning towards a Tikka T3 stainless Varment.
Can anyone reccomend anything else in a .243 with a heavy varment barrell
Cheers
Stu

Hey Beast...Welcome to this fine site....Grab one of Vince's beers and pull up a stump. I bet that one of the guys will be along shortly to give you a lhand with that big decission. Just hang tough....I'm not the .243 expert, but I know we have a few here.

Welcome to the forum Beast,

I thought Bushy was just being tight, when he offered you one of Vince's beers, then I read you are from Australia. Sorry, Bushy, for thinking such dreadful thoughts about a perceived character flaw.

Cary

Tight? Me? I just squeek a little...

Hang in there Beast...The experts will be along any minute now...

Beat

It's hard to beat a Tikka. With that being said, remington SPS varmint comes to mind as well as any of the major makers varmint offerings. Savage probably being one of the most affordable.

Brad

Tikka, I also agree, is a good choice for an accurate varmint rifle. There are others, but, more important is parts and service availability. Here a visit to a Port Kennedy or other area gunshop can be fruitful by asking the owners their opinion on ease of warranty repair by brand as well as getting the factory parts and pieces you may need in the future.

The 243 Win is a superb choice for the range of varmints from rodent to roo. Bullet selection is huge for handloaders and reasonable for those that buy factory ammo. Again, something you should check locally for ammo/component availability.

Scopes: the rings that are supplied with the Tikka are serviceable, however, the mounting screws are softer than norm and can strip with even moderate force. Even if rings are supplied, I recommend other options. Relative to scopes, please resist the temptation to buy too cheap of glass and keep in mind that magnfication is secondary to clarity and resolution, along with light transmission in dim conditions. Far too often new shooters are under the illusion that magnification is the priority. It isn't. A good quality 3-9X40 (for example, the Leupold Rifleman) will give great service and be reasonably priced, even in Australia --- if available.

Avoid scopes made in the Phillipines (some Nikons, for example), China and Taiwan. In the main, they are a sad waste of money. Most Japanese sourced scopes meet higher optical specifications and along with Leupold and Sightron SIIs, offer excellent optics and durability.

Good hunting!

Welcome to the HuntingNut Beast. Look into the Savage 12fv there shooters

www.savagearms.com/12fv.htm

Joe

Welcome to another Aussie member!!
Yeah this forum is fast to became an Australian board

Mate, I can say that a 243 is definitely suitable for most animal in Australia.
you got that choice right for an all rounder type.

As to the choice of brands? well, all I can say is as follows:
Who cares what other say about the brand of your gun?
The best gun for you is the gun that fits you well. Not the gun that fits others.
Over the years I collect a few guns, and some of them are in .223 caliber.
I notice that I tends to grab the cheaper one, a Ruger 77 MKII because it is reliable and the weight suits me better than others.
I bought a Weatherby, and a Remington second hand when they are available,
they seems to be of better make with more elaborate triggering system than the ruger, but I seems to grab the ruger more.

So my advice is go to the nearest range and ask some guys if you can try their gun.
Bring some FACTORY ammo in their original box,
because some would be worry to lend their gun out to unknown person with unknown ammo.
Make sure you have your license handy to show that you are indeed allowed to shoot.

Beast

I use a Remington 700 BDL in 243 and is great for anything up to medium pigs, goats fox etc and even down to rabbits although a little messy on rabbits.

Dont go chasing water buffalo with though.

As previously advised put a good brand scope on your rifle and unless you intend shooting more than say 300 yards (must go metric one day) a 3-9 scope should be sufficient.

A VX-I Leupold 3-9x40 will cost you around $320 (just bought one).

As far as brand is concerned nearly all brands these days will give you hunting accuracy even with factory loads and better with handloads.

But get to a gun shop and actually feel each of the brands. I just purchased a new .223 and when I put a few different brands to my shoulder there was one that just felt right and a couple which I did not like at all. For reason such as the front of the stock was to wide etc.


Need to be comfortable when you throw it to your shoulder.


Mark

hi beast,i see your an ozzie too.nice gun tikka.i have a remington 243 and will be reloading in 55 gr for wabbits and foxes.also have a shangeye i use on wabbits.150 metre plus shots through the eyes.no bruising the meat.

Hey Beast, welcome to the family. Here's my suggetion for a good, economical rifle and scope.

www.savagearms.com

12 Series Varmint
Model 12FV – with AccuTrigger™
Action Short
Caliber 223 Rem, 22-250 Rem, 243 Win, 308 Win, 204 Ruger
Overall Length 46"
Barrel Length 26"
Weight 8.75 lbs
Magazine Capacity 4 rounds
Stock Black synthetic with positive checkering, dual pillar bedding
Sights Drilled and tapped for scope mounts
Rifling Rate of Twist 243 Win (1 in 9.25")
Features AccuTrigger™, oversized bolt handle, blued barreled action, heavy free-floating and button-rifled barrel, with internal box magazine and swivel studs.
Suggested Retail $620.00

As far as an economical scope goes, I have a Centerpoint 4-16x40 illuminated mil-dot on my .223 and it does a great job. Here's the web site,
www.centerpointoptics.com

Thanks for al the replies guys,
That beer tasted great, cheers Bushy
Took some advice and checked out the Tikka at a gun shop, she felt pretty good, just got to go have a look at some more shops and see what suits, only thing I didn't like about the tikka was I prefer the look of a wooden stock.
It amazes me the differences in price from one end of the country to the other, the rifle was about $100 more expensive over here in the west, not too bad I thought but I was looking at a Bushnell Elite 5-15 x 50 and was quoted $635, I can't see how they can even remotely justify thatwhen reading advertisements in shooting mags they can be had for about $450 over east
Thanks again for your replys fellas

Welcome Beast,
Tikkas are good shooters,
Varminters only have Synthetic stocks
Sako will have the Laminate (So does Savage, Ruger, Remington)
Just buy one go shooting and enjoy it.
If you don't like it buy another brand to try,
and another calibre, then another brand,
then another calibre, then another brand,
then another calibre ...............................

Beast, I have some Bushnell Elites and like them. That price seems pretty high though. Can you order things like that from the US? If so take a look at Natchez Shooters Supplies as they seem to have about the best prices for optics. That scope is $350 US there. >> www.natchezss.com/

gelandangan...License? Allowed to shoot??

Paden...Welcome to this fine site...As was told to Beast. Grab a "Vince" beer and pull up a stump...Glad to have ya...

[Note to self...Must find a way to control amount of Ozzies allowed on this board...]