G'day from a hunter looking to get into the sport

[Dylan S]

Hi everyone,

I am from a hunting background but I'm wanting to develop an interest in longer range shooting. There is a SSAA rifle club where I live (Gilgandra) and they do some long range shoots but I don't think they shoot F-class. I could drive into Dubbo to compete I'm sure.

Next year I might look into buying a rifle that I'll be able to hunt with but also compete in F-class. I don't necessarily want to be super competitive, but it'd be good to use the sport to help learn some skills that I can then use while hunting.

I've had a bit of a read already and I have a lot more reading to do.

Cheers.

[shooter mcreid]

Welcome Dylan,
There are many who do very well with hunting style rifles, I used a 308 tikka for my first 12 months. It is a good idea as the gun you think you need when you first start generally may not be the one you want 12 months later!

[Dylan S]

I figured that could be the case.

Having owned a Tikka T3 before, I think I'll stay away from them for the F-class rifle. No issue with the accuracy or quality at all, but the magazine setup is annoying and hard to use while spotlighting.

I'm considering buying a Howa varmint action + barrel and putting it in a decent stock. I own a Vanguard in .308 so I'm familiar with this action and I've already got dies, etc.

Other than that, I might consider a Savage. I already have plenty of rifles to hunt with and I don't have the ability to sink a stack of cash into an F-class rifle, so something simple that will let me be competitive is a priority. I know of one bloke who uses a Howa in a Boyds stock with a Vortex scope and he seems to do well.

[ecomeat]

Dylan,
Welcome to the Forum.
I was in exactly the same spot as you, just over three years ago, having hunted my whole life and read enough to develop an interest in long range shooting.
I had actually just built a quality "wild dog gun" on a single shot action, and went along to my local full bore Club ........ just to learn bit more about this new calibre (6 x 47 Lapua) that I had built by shooting it for a few weeks at Club shoots, and have a bit of a crack at longer range work.
I was addicted from day one ! This rifle that I was going to break in carefully and then go and shoot dogs with, was going to spend most of its life behind the seat of a 4wd ute. But getting hooked on F Open right from the start meant that instead of living in a ute, it gets treated like Royalty, cuddled carefully and generally treated like my most prized possession......which it is .
So beware.......F Class can be extremely addictive !!
What I discovered was that the men and women involved in Full bore clubs in our part of the world, but particularly those in F Class, are a friendly, welcoming crew who basically make everybody welcome and who hold an enormous amount of knowledge that most will freely share, if you ask politely for help.
My mistake was having just enough knowledge to think that I knew what I needed to, generally...... do well shooting. I had worked it all out.......I thought........and didn't ask anyone for advice. In my defence I certainly didn't realize how high the addiction rate to F Class could be.
My McMillan A5 stock that looked pretty good to me when i ordered it is long gone, replaced by an F Class stock.
My Schmidt & Bender 5-25 x 56 PM11 with a P4 Fine reticle is long gone....the Mil Dot reticle was grossly unsuited to precision shooting at a tiny 0.5moa X ring.
The barrel is long gone....shot out from firing 23-25 shots every weekend for a bit over a year.
So the only things I have left now that I am deadly serious about F Open are the action and the Jewell trigger !!
In hindsight, I wish I had gone along to my local Club first, tried the Club rifles in 223 and 308, (virtually any Cllub you are near will haveClub rifles they loan to new members) and probably been offered a few trial shots from other calibres.
Every full bore/F Class club will have members with an extraordinary amount of knowledge that they are happy to share , if you ask politely and thank them when you are finished.
We have some of the best F Class shooters in the whole world, right here in Australia and what I have found in talking to the winners and high performers at big events around Australia is that they are all really good people, who will give you more assistance and free advice than you could have ever thought possible. They want to win, but they want to do it on the mound, on the day and will therefore give you any help that they can, to help you advance on your journey, and to improve your competitiveness .
Good luck in your new sport ! You have all of the pre-requisites that you need to become addicted.

[Dylan S]

Cheers, fellas.

Those A5 stocks look great. If I can afford something like that, I might be all over one. It might sound funny but it's important that the rifle looks good (to me). I'm a history teacher by trade so I'm interested in some historical rifles and I've toyed with the idea of making something that looks similar to an M40A1 but I think keeping things simple at first will be easier.

[plumbs7]

No 1+ Tony .

Welcome ! I started out with a Howa and a Mab barrel.

Just a little advise and I've mentioned this a few times , so sorry to others . But a real good rifle out of the box and is quite competitive at club level and is also a good hunting rifle. Is a Savage hspfcp in .308win . It would be able to grow with you by simply re-barrelling it in a 28" Maddco .
As for factory action rifles , I think Savage is the most numerous followed by Remington that I see being used successfully. Remington can very good but have to spend $ on everything to be successful. I still shoot with a miliradian scope which is good for the field . But at the end of the day everybody has their own preferences .
Yes it's very addictive . All of us hang on this forum thinking about the next shoot or OPM ! ( I personally post way too much . Trying to cut down on my Habit !Sorry!)
Best of luck!
Ps have a look at some of the rifles in this forum . Look it up on the main index!
Graham.

[Tim N]

Hey Dylan
My start to Fclass was very similar to Tonys
From a hunting background wanting to dabble in long range
I had a stiller actioned A5 in 204 built with a spare bolt and barrel for a 6.5x47, thinking I could have a dual purpose rifle.(dual purpose= not so good at 2 things)
In the end it was too heavy for spotlighting and the stock wouldn't ride the bags good enough for Fopen
My gun then had a suitable stock fitted for Fclass which made it competetive
I'll second what's been said and to go to a club a few times before spending any money
And yes it is addictive

[Dylan S]

I probably won't spotlight with the rifle much, but my gripe with Tikka mags for that purpose has turned me off the rifles.

I won't hunt like I normally do with this rifle. I have other sporter rifles I use to walk around, but there is a great property I have access to with some big hills and opportunities for long shots. I'll walk to a good spot with this rifle and wait I think.