Five guns every Aussie should own

[GUN-DMC]

Five guns every Aussie should own

22lr
The trusty 'ol .22, the plinkers delight, the bunny buster, the gun you almost certainly learned to shoot with. There are a bunch of other great rimfires, the .22mag and 17hmr to name just a couple but every real Aussie owns at least one .22lr.

22cal Centrefire
There was a time not long ago when the .222rem was the mainstay of farmers and the bane of foxes everywhere, I still use one but its slowly been taken over by the .223rem, 22-250 and a host of other varmint rounds.
I don’t care which one graces your safe as long as you’ve got one.

30cal Centrefire
308, 30-06 and 30-30 have put more meat in freezers than anyone could ever imagine. These days your choices are endless with no shortage of new fangled magnums, ultra-mags and short magnums to add to the line up.

!
12ga Shotgun
From rabbits, quail and clay pigeons to Goats, pigs, buffalo and dinosaurs. There is not a animal in the world that can’t be dropped with the right 12ga load, I might not want to get that close to T-rex but if I had to I’d be glad for a couple of good slugs. 'ol trusty single barrels, side by sides, under and overs, levers, bolt guns and straight pulls. The shotgun is the most versatile gun on the planet and every Aussie should have one, if not 10!

and most importantly a Three-O-Three
Vegemite, Gum tree’s, Drop Bears and .303’s! There isn’t much that’s more Aussie than a Thee-oh, about the only thing I can think of is one of the .303 wildcats. .303-22, 303-25, 303-243, 303-270 and the mighty .303-35 chambered in Mk111’s, No.4’s and P14’s to name just a few classics.

Anyway that’s my 5 guns every Aussie should own.

What do you guys n gals think?
What guns make up your top five?

[AusTac]

22lr
12g
30 cal, eaither a .308 or 300win mag
Everyone needs a .303
And the last one… hmm people need a bit of .50 in their lives!

[sungazer]

Ben I think you are on the money. My thoughts would probably be the same. I dont have them all yet still need a 303 and a shotgun. The 303 would be a safe queen so I am holding off due to budget constraints and if I buy one I would like it to be a good quality one although original. I was thinking along the lines of one in waxed paper but I would open it up and use it. I am not that fussed about it being in use and the history of it as its not my history, it would be different if I could of had Grandads or even my Uncles old target 303.
So a 22LR, I really like the 243 I have a Sako 85 great for hunting. The 223 for cheaper center fire plinking. The 308 it has to be the most versatile gun out there this should be the backbone of anyone’s shooting. Then add a shotgun for the birds and other fun. Again I dont have one in the cupboard as yet I “shoosh” use the 22 from inside the house to head shoot a duck if one is wanted for the diner table.
A recent addition that I am really happy with is the Hipster 6.5 Creedmoore a very accurate and capable round that like its 6mm cousin the 243 is a great fox hunter.

[Oldbloke]

Agree. But my .50 runs on black powder.

[juststarting]

I have a .50 that runs on BP, but there’s a hole in my sole that can only be filled by a 50BMG

[Bigpete]

What about the 416 Strauss bentaz ?

[sungazer]

As a post has been made in this thread again I can give an update. I ended up with two 303’s one a 1916 all matching numbers but has had a heavy barrel fitted to it, not a modern one but a 1940-50s type for target shooting also a target style sight of that period. The other a 1942 at this stage I have restored one of them making the wood look beautiful again leaving all the Markings untouched but the rest sanded and re oiled. The other at this point is in original condition however I may do some work on the woodwork also as it also has a heavy barrel and a target style sight. Although it has all matching numbers everywhere including the stock and front metal they are not really collectables having been used as target rifles. Both rifles have the original paper bill of sale from the government to the previous owner who I acquired them off in the back of the stock.
The Shotgun also came from the same deceased estate a Belgian Pieper 2 1/2 inch but has since been tested with 2 3/4 inch modern loads a full choke and a skeet choke not a great combo unless you are going after quail and foxes one barrel at a time.

[Wombat]

Cannot a 303 be your 30 cal?

[sungazer]

Of course they could be. However the stock standard WW1 or WW2 303 has its specs of that time period. If your good with that its all good.

[GUN-DMC]

My main hunting rifle is an old (1917) sporterized no1 mk3 303, so i guess so.
As for ww1 era specs? Animals were just as dead when shot in the olden days, I find it hard to discount old rounds when people are still successfully bow hunting.

[sungazer]

I only say that as on paper target shooting them. They are not competitive. The round is still good and I know a guy that has put a modern barrel on one and he shoots competitively with it out to 1000yrds and is up there on the board.