I am not in the market (or it would already be sold), but I will happily answer the question and emphatically endorse the rifle
The value of this type of
full-size, quality, accurate, .22 rifles --- there are a few similar ones: Remington 541, Winchester 52, Anschutz 14xx, 16xx and 17xx series (model 64 and 54 actions), Walther KKJ, CZ 45x series, Cooper 57, Blaser R8 kit, and a few others --- is to allow inexpensive and noninvasive .22 LR training for centerfire hunting.
In addition, they can provide great rabbit hunts when big game season is over or no tag is available...
Put a quality scope in quality rings on it --- I am very happy with the relatively inexpensive but still high quality Zeiss Terra series and Talley rings/bases on my .22 LR rifles --- and you can practice shooting standing from the sticks virtually for free --- I use Remington Thunderbolt $40/500 rounds --- all the way out to 150 yards. Rainbow trajectory, cheap rimfire ammo inconsistency, and wind sensitivity make things a bit unpredictable farther than that...
- If you live in a city or in densely populated States, you can practice at the local indoor range on a 1" bull's eye paper target at 25 yards, or 2" bull's eye paper target at 50 yards.
- If you have access to a 100 yards outdoor range, practice on a 4" steel plate.
- If you have access to a 150 yards outdoor range, practice on a 6" steel plate.
Do not expect tight groups from cheap bulk .22
but, as the pics below show, it is good enough for the purpose at hand
Here is the goal: 5 series of 5 continuous hits (25 rounds) on the 4" plate/100 yards or 6" plate/150 yards, standing from the sticks. Each miss resets the entire 25 rounds count. No excuse, the plate either rings
... or it does not
This will change your hunting shots life...
After all, the skills required to shoot
standing from the sticks consistently,
reliably and
predictably 1"/25 yards, 2"/50 yards, 4"/100 yards, 6"/150 yards, etc. are the same as the ones required to make a 10" vital-area double-lung hit on a medium size deer/antelope/mountain-game/plains-game at 250 yards...
Winchesters 52 & Zeiss Terra + tripod sticks + 6" steel plate + 5,000 rounds case of Remington Thunderbolts + 150 yards shooting lane with natural backstop on National Forest + 100-round practice session once a week for 3 months = long string of one-shot-kills PG out to 300 yards on your next safari...
Winchesters 52 & Zeiss Terra 100 yards 20 rounds "group" standing from the sticks with $40/500 rounds Remington Thunderbolts. Despicable group from cheap bulk ammo, but it stays in the 4" target and is good enough for endless virtually free practice...
Anschutz 1418 & Zeiss Terra 100 yards 20 rounds "group" standing from the sticks with $40/500 rounds Remington Thunderbolts. Despicable group from cheap bulk ammo, but it stays in the 4" target and is good enough for endless virtually free practice...
Walther KKJ & Zeiss Terra 100 yards 20 rounds "group" standing from the sticks with $40/500 rounds Remington Thunderbolts. Despicable group from cheap bulk ammo, but it stays in the 4" target and is good enough for endless virtually free practice...
Final hint! I doubt very much Blaser developed their $1,500 .22 LR kit so that Dads could gift a $3,000 .22 LR to their kids for their 14th birthday. Blaser clearly got it right, providing a perfect training tool to the R8 aficionados. And when hitting the 6" plate at 150 yards becomes too easy, a .223 Rem barrel will extend the range to 300 yards. And yes, one can shoot a 6" plate standing from the sticks at 300 yards, it will just make you modest about your true shooting capabilities standing from the sticks in the beginning, then will become fairly routine --- but never guaranteed
--- after a few thousands rounds...
www.africahunting.com
