The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Will shortly be joining my local rifle club. I will be focussing on Lightweight Sport Rifle and Target Rifle disciplines.

Suggestions for good first guns welcome.

Well I guess it comes down to what budget and how serious you want to be. No rifle will be perfect for both disciplines. A compromise might be something like a CZ of some form, They are usually fairly accurate and can be had for not much money.

As a starter, an old BRNO (CZ) 2E, bolt action will be well accurate enough to compete in any standing lightweight sport rifle match unless you are looking at the timed events - If it's five shots in 10 seconds type stuff then you will need a semi-auto of some sort. Probably the most popular semi-auto for this is the Ruger 10/22, however you would be lucky to win and lightweight benchrest trophys with it.

I use a Sako Finnfire P94s, (bolt action) and a Browning Buckmark, (semi-auto) and an Anschutz Match 54 (bolt action) for benchrest.

Tell us a bit more about exactly what disciplines are shot at your club or what you are partiularly interested in. - Try and have a go at as many different types as you can to get a general feel of things.

If by "target rifle" you mean what I call "proper target rifle" or what others call "getting dressed up in bondage gear", i.e. with a jacket and sling, then you will need something that has a hand stop etc. Anschutz is the industry standard. I use a Walther KK300 which I love. But budget will play a huge part in the decision.

Tallguy wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:53 pm Will shortly be joining my local rifle club. I will be focussing on Lightweight Sport Rifle and Target Rifle disciplines.

Suggestions for good first guns welcome.

For your lightweight sporting rifle, I would be looking at any of the CZ rifles e.g., CZ 452/453/455/457. CZ452's are excellent rifles, and they are -- usually -- plentiful and cheap.

I'd recommend a Ruger 10/22 for timed disciplines, but their triggers can be quite agricultural. I did have a Weatherby Mk XXII which was superbly accurate and reliable, so if you can find one they are well worth a look.

For serious target rifle disciplines, you'll need a serious rifle such as the Anschutz Match 54, Walther KK300/KK500 etc etc. The Anschutz can usually be found for not much money. Most of the others can be pricey, although price is relative to performance.

If you intend to go in for long range target shooting, I'll pass you over to the other members.

In my humble opinion the only .22 sporter I would entertain would be a secondhand Sako
P94S Finnfire

I have a CZ457 MTR with 20” varmint barrel. More than a match for my current skill level. Using Eley Club ammo so not too spendy when restocking.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am off to the club for my first visit shortly so will gather further opinion there. I feel this may be a piece of string of indeterminate length…..

Tallguy wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 4:53 pm Will shortly be joining my local rifle club. I will be focussing on Lightweight Sport Rifle and Target Rifle disciplines.

Suggestions for good first guns welcome.

Pardon the pun but you are rather jumping the gun. Your question would suggest that you are a novice shooter so probably won't be aware of the disciplines or type of competitions that the club you are hoping to join actually shoot. So no one can really advise you except in the most general of terms of a suitable or even several suitable guns.
I would suggest that you should not be in a hurry to get your first rimfire but use the time before you can apply for the grant of a FAC to get as much experience as possible using as many different guns as possible.

The only advice I can give you is that when you do to the gun shop to buy your rifle is don't take your wife with you (unless she is also a shooter) because you don't her to know how much you are spending.
Unfair? just remember they never tell you how much they spend on shoes, handbags and clothes.

Its easier if you initially fit in with what the club shoots, once you are up and running look at what other clubs offer. You will not make many friends if you rock up to a .22 TR club with a 25 round .22 AR15 and start doing high speed minirifle type shooting, equally a single shot .22 isnt going to be much fun on a range setup for semi autos. I currently shoot a .22 Ar15 type thing and a .22 long barrelled pistol, obviously for high speed stuff. At some point I would like to add a .22 target rifle and do some benchrest with it, to do that I will probably join another local club as they are more skilled in that kind of shooting and will help me improve. If you buy 2nd hand .22s are pretty even some really good target rifles, also a checkout what people are selling at the club.