Monday morning firearms dilemmas
Regular readers will know that their humble correspondent spends huge amounts of time scouring Blighty for left handed rifles as generally in GFWland, they are rarer than rocking horse sh1t. Now as anyone who is in similar circumstance will know, it is a thankless task. Whilst I am happy to report on behalf of all left handed shooters, importers are getting a bit better & LH Tikka T3s / basic Remington 700s are becoming more widely available, trying to find anything just a little bit (cough cough) interesting is a little like trying to stay sober in Ireland – you can do it, but you are very much on your own.
Now that Mickey is finished, I am hunting around for the next ‘project’ & just like anyone who lives in London knows waiting for a bus to come along & not get mugged by a gang of Home Office security guards posing a Kurdish asylum seekers, you can wait for weeks for a No.137 bus & then for no reason, two come along at once.
& its pretty much the same with the ole collection – the next task, aside for black powder pistol fun, was to be building an interesting .17 small vermin rig when two rather fun looking S/H left hookers have become available.
The first is an H-S Precision Pro-Series 2000 Varmint in .223 that would make both an excellent short range tactical / foxing rig (with the addition of a moderator)
The second is a Blaser LRS2 7.62mm which in terms of the PSH-o-meter must score at least a zillion de-merits with the GFW brigade
Both have their advantages & disadvantages: I don’t currently have a .223 & it could fill a gap in the burgeoning armoury – but then again, whilst the LRS2 would be confined to range use only, you can never ever discount that wonderful German engineering as well as gun grabbers with their trousers full of poo!
Therefore, this morning as a little adjunct to my musings over the course of this week, I thought that I would solicit a little feedback from my knowledgeable firearms friendly readership. All other things (such as price & both would come unscoped), what would you go for?
Comments
Seven - seven! - voters and I'm the only one going with the .17? A pox, I say, a pox on the rest of you! [Yeah, all six of you...]
Myself, I want to put together a .204 for those poor, cute little prairie dogs that invest us here in Colorado.
Posted by: OldeForce | December 17, 2007 4:48 AM
That is, of course, "infest". The little buggers are everywhere! It's just that the local Sheriff doesn't appreciate us potting the pests as we drive along the local streets. Seems that the shoulder of every road and every undeveloped lot is overrun. Of course, the red-tailed hawks living out back do love a snack now and then.
Go with the .17.
Posted by: OldeForce | December 17, 2007 6:33 AM
I see Santa was pushed toward the .17 but if weight and style worry you the Blaser is light enough for bipod based sporting, as in lamping from the new pick up truck that you will need to buy to gowith it. Mrs hasnt realised that even with a box body I can shoot from he lowered rear tailgate of her new Isuzu Rodeo with my .223 Ruger 77 Mk11 HBVMT. Its been a long time coming but the redneck rides again!
Posted by: Tim C | December 17, 2007 10:20 AM
A good .223 rifle is a blessing, for killing pests (humans, not so). The cartridge is accurate and cheap (cheaper than alternatives like the .222 Rem or .204 Ruger, for instance).
And lower recoil + lower price = lots more trigger pulls per session.
You already have a 7.62 rifle. Let's hear it for "caliber proliferation" and "cheap ammo"!!!
Myself, I've gone instead with a premier .22 mag rifle (even cheaper than .223), but that was more a question of luck rather than choice.
Given that you are a member of the Satanistic Dexterity Brigade, your choices are perforce limited, but frankly, none of your choices are BAD, as such.
Posted by: Kim du Toit | December 17, 2007 2:40 PM
Go with building the .17.
You know you want to.
You can always get a .223.
Posted by: trainer | December 17, 2007 5:09 PM
.17 Remington and a set of dies.
No question on that question.
Posted by: tom | December 18, 2007 11:28 PM
I fired a blaser when I did my dsc have to say didn't get on with the bolt at all. Give me a standard removable mag bolt action any time. I thought u already had a good fox setup which makes the .17 the winner everytime.
Got to run vension for Christmas and I haven't shot it yet
Posted by: Ghost Rifle | December 19, 2007 8:44 PM