What a rifled shotgun to choose for hunting

Part hunters use this right as a hunting rifle carbine gives you the opportunity to go on a slightly different level of relationship with nature. In this article we will try to understand, the more attractive these weapons and what rifle to choose for running or any other kind of hunting. After five years of continuous ownership of hunting shotguns, it becomes possible to purchase a license for the purchase and use of rifled.

Advantages and disadvantages of the rifle

A rifle is called a weapon, the barrel of which in some way made spiral groove of trapezoidal shape, each of which makes two or three full turns as you move from breech to muzzle slice. Thanks to them, the bullet passing through the barrel is twisted and acquires gyroscopic (rotational) moment that, first, keeps it on a straight trajectory, and secondly, does not allow to randomly change their position in space (tumbling).

Therefore, the projectile fired from a rifled barrel, it flies farther and more accurately than smooth, and largely maintains this kinetic energy, affecting its stopping power. This is the primary advantage of rifles.

However, he has also disadvantages.

• For example, when shooting at short distances on small fast moving targets (for the runaway Bunny or the flying duck) the probability of getting at least a few pellets of shot scree more than a bullet.
• In addition, smooth-bore weapon with the same stopping power that a rifle and the rifle usually weighs less. For example, TOZ BM 16 gauge weighs in at 3.25 kg, and the Remington 770 rifle caliber .243Win (cartridge 6,2х52) of 3.8 kg.
• It is not necessary to exclude the factor that the shotguns ammo is cheaper. So training with him is in the dash does not seem an unaffordable luxury, and the inevitable mistakes will not be devastating.

Below you will find useful video about choosing a first rifle a hunting rifle.

Which rifle to choose for hunting

When you choose a rifle or carbine should be based on three considerations.

1. The object of hunting.
2. The type of hunting.
3. The method of loading.

Objects of hunting and calibers

Rifle calibers

 

Small fur-bearing animals, rodents, upland game

Small fur-bearing animals, rodents, jackals, coyotes, foxes, rabbits, upland game. Suitable small-caliber weapon under the cartridge ring of ignition. Preferred .22 WMR, to a lesser extent .22LR. First, for the reason that it relates to the Magnums – he’s got a long sleeve with a large charge of gunpowder. The bullet in the copper shell fired from such a cartridge has a higher muzzle velocity and flat trajectory. .22LR bullet lead, metabolicheskaya, therefore has a steep ballistic trajectory and less range.

A good version of this rifle CZ 455 standard. This is a bolt rifle with a five-charging poliestireno wooden box, the butt type “hog-back”, a set of external sighting devices and the ability to mount optics on the bar type “swallow tail”.

About the choice of a rifled carbine for hunting small ungulates, see below.

Small hoofed animals

• Small ungulates such as ROE deer, wild pig, wild goat;
• the medium size predators – wolf, lynx, Wolverine;
• large upland fowl (grouse), geese.

Best suited maloimusciye cartridges Central combat of caliber of 5,6 mm. Bullets have a greater initial velocity – more than three times the speed of sound, and flat trajectory flight. Indexes calibre: .22 Hornet, 223 Rem, .243 Win.

Arms: CZ 527 Lux or Carbine, carbine “bars 4-1”, rifle Remington 700 BDL .243 caliber Win.

Medium-sized ungulates and carnivores

Medium-sized ungulates and predators all game from fifty to one hundred and fifty pounds. Used calibers from 7 mm and the most popular size of 7.62. Indexes calibre: .270 Win, 30-06, .308 Win, domestic ammo 7,62×39, 7,62x54r.

Such a weapon is most prevalent, the range is very wide:

• Domestic semi-automatic SKS (Simonov), “saiga”, SWT (civil version).
• Carbine “Boar”.
• Carbine Browning Bar, a rifle with the bolt direct action Browning Maral, bolt rifle Remington 700 XCR.

Big game weighing 200 pounds

Big game weighing 200 pounds:

• Males of deer and elk from five years
• large boar,
• grizzly bears,
• objects of African hunting.

Requires gauges from 8 mm ammo Magnum. It’s indices such as: .338 WinMag, 9,3х62 or x64 or х74, 375h, Wheelen and others.

The weapons of these calibers most often belongs to an elite class, the price of which starts from 150 thousand rubles. This, for example, Sauer 202 rifles, Heym SR-30, Sako 85 Kodiak.

Selection by type of hunting

The performance of hunting largely depends on how her character fits the design of the weapon.

• You should not take on the vehicle and driven when the game happens, Porsche almost from under his feet, “konobougou” with a very long barrel.
• And when shooting from an ambush conducted at distances of 200-300 meters, there will be no benefit from short-barreled small-caliber carbine.

However, there are two more significant factors that should be considered.

1. The presence or absence of an external sighting devices.
2. The design of the Lodge.

The rear sight and front sight

Many hunters carry entirely and fly to the anachronisms, believing that a scope will solve all problems. They are fundamentally mistaken. Optics have a very limited viewing angle, so the shooting suddenly appearing and quickly receding targets in a larger number of cases will be futile. Especially if its angular speed is too large. For example, when the elk or the wild boar running along the lines of rooms. With the exception of collimator sights of the open type.

• Whatever it was, but if you browse through all directories of rifles, one noticeable trend: most European manufacturers put the rear sight, and front sight. And carbine Browning Maral created for driven hunt for deer, is Planck’s dad is a symbiosis of rear sight shotguns and rear sights. Often it is equipped with a white line or a chain of fiber-optic elements, indicating the direction of shooting.
• But “the Americans” and models for US market, usually such devices have not. The impression that is part of the national mentality. Indeed, North American hunters prefer to shoot from close range, slowly and carefully. And all because there is a huge private estates and large open spaces where the game is not particularly timid. It is not necessary to drive enough to see.
• Rifles marked Varmint sight and front sight never put. They are so thick – the so-called match – trunks that to build a line of sight is possible only through optics. But they are designed for shooting at long distances (sports discipline benchrest). And with support (bipod) and predominantly in the supine position.

Strap under optical sight

We can not say about the choice of the strap under the optical sight. There are three species:

1. Dovetail bracket, having the shape of an inverted trapezoid in cross-section and smooth surface throughout its length.
2. Weaver rail – Planck weaver, the cross section of the same, but the top edge is made with deep rectangular notches, the distance between which the breech corresponds to the angular size of 1.5 MOA, and is closer to the receiver the cutoff is 0.8 MOA.
3. Picatinny rail – weaver differs from a uniform distribution of grooves, the distance between them is equal to 1.2 MOA.

At the same time:

• European strap dovetail has a width of 11 mm, us for around 13 years. They differ and the angle of descent of the sides. European more universal. Sights for “elastoplast” is not compatible with weaver and Picatinny.
• Weaver rail and Picatinny rail have a width of 21.2 mm. Mount optics on them more reliably. Sights under the weaver to put on the Picatinny rail can not, and Vice versa – is possible. Notches they suffered in order to move the sight along the axis of the barrel and make the detuning from parallax (the effect is clearly visible when either the mesh or the target). Its position on the strap depends on the individual arrow and distance to target. This is another reason why on a driven hunt is better not to take the optical sight. If it is set to a distance such as 100 meters, you can simply not see more than close targets.

The design of the Lodge

What can you say about the design of the Lodge? In dynamic shooting offhand, it should be easy and comfortable to lie down in the shoulder.The stock typically has a certain downward inclination relative to the axis of the barrel. And the larger the caliber, the angle must be greater, otherwise you can put “black” under his eyes.

• If the weapon can mount optics, that make high ridges – such as “hog-back” or “Monte Carlo” to a shooter would firmly put his cheek to the butt in the area of the eye socket, otherwise he will have to pull the neck and draw the lower jaw, which is detrimental to accuracy, and there is a danger of dislocation of the masticatory organ.
• The weapon is designed for firing from close range, has a straight comb butt, parallel to the axis of the barrel. The forearm, especially American models, made in the form of a beaver tail – a fairly thick, almost rectangular strips, which are easy to attach bipod or laying it on a fixed stop. But for the grip of her hand she is not too comfortable.

Perfect ergonomics for running and driven hunt have rifle CZ 527 Lux, Sauer S202, Blazer R93 standard, Sabatti Rover 870 and Tula carbines TO-30C (on the basis of the Mosin rifle) and TOZ-78 chambered ring ignition of calibre of 5,6 mm. All of them are equipped not only with a set of adjustable rear sights – front sight, but rail for mount optics. Exemplary rifles for hunting from ambush or storage shed is the model gun company Remington 700 series. This rifles VTR, XCR, SPS, Varmint SF.

Differences in the method of loading

On this issue among hunters there is the greatest divergence of opinion. Types of loading are only three, each of them has advantages and disadvantages.

And for a start learn, how and what bolt rifle to choose.

Lock bolt shutter

The locking bolt (longitudinal slide) the shutter. Classic design with handle, for operating which requires four movements: up – open, back – extraction of the sleeve, the forward – flow cartridge in the chamber, down – lock, the platoon drummer. Usually they are equipped with magazine rifles, although the first was a single shot, Berdan system.

• Advantage:Reliable locking of the barrel bore, resulting in almost the entire pulse from the ignition of the powder gases is transmitted to the pool. Combat bolt rifles the most accurate and heap. The more the larva shutter lugs, the more secure the lock, and carbine Sauer 202 and 204 is applied a special system of overlapping slots of the breech, which includes stops.
• Drawback: Quite a lengthy recharge, reduce the rate of fire.

About what a semi-automatic rifle to choose for hunting, read below.

The powder gases or the recoil energy

Semi-automatic weapons for reloading which is a part of the propellant gases or the recoil energy. The barrel is locked gate direct action or free.

1. Shutter direct action – it turns the larva at the entrance to the breech of the barrel without the participation of an arrow. Used self-loading rifles with a gas engine Browning BAR, Remington 750 Woodsmaster, Benneli Argo, “Vepr”, “saiga”, self-loading rifle SVT (civil version). The exceptions are the rifles Browning Maral, and Remington 7600. They are both weapons with muffled gas engine. However, the gate “Maral” is driven by a familiar – handle, and the “American” movement of the forearm (pump gun).
2. Free shutter – bars bore his weight. Usually used in small-caliber weapons or submachine guns. He is driven by the force of bestowal. Used self-loading rifles under the cartridge ring of ignition of the .22 LR CZ 512 and TOZ-99 and the KSO-9 “Krechet”, on the basis of a submachine gun “Cedar”. They also include self-loading carbine Simonov (SKS) 7. 62×39, which shutter is locked straight down.

It is also important to know:

• Dignity: increased rate of fire.
• Disadvantages: Complicated design, and, consequently, less reliable.

A loose locking bolt (during auto rotation, the larva must have some freedom) leads to a decrease in shooting qualities. If bolt rifles accuracy of the battle reaches a tenth of a MOA, the semi-automatic she is never less than 2 units. Valves of direct action that is subject to a lesser degree, free more.

Semi-automatic machines are usually heavier than bolt rifles.

It is likely that the thrill of the hunt you leave the whole store “in white light, like a lot of money”. It is ruinous.

• It is worth noting that semi-automatic with a gas engine of domestic production are based (except SCS) on the design of a Kalashnikov. They have it located on the upper side of the barrel. This leads to the fact that the sighting line is held high. Additional ridges on our butts do not exist, so the process of aiming is not too comfort and shooting effectiveness may be low. Unsurpassed reliability with a vengeance kompensiruet mass production and the use of stamped parts. Sniper qualities from the Russian “Vepr” and “Saiga”, without individual adjustment, should not demand.
• Rifles Browning Bar, Remington 750 Woodsmaster, Benneli Argo is built on a different scheme. Gas engine they have under the barrel. To implement this design uses two rods from the gas piston encircling the store on both sides. The increase in the number of parts leads to lower reliability of the weapons, they are inferior to us. According to this indicator, they are arranged in the direction of decreasing, as it is written in the first line of this paragraph. However, the sighting line is not so high, so easier to aim.

Fittings

Loading is a “fracture” of the barrel as it is with the smooth-bore hunting weapons. Very often, this weapon is combined – one barrel smooth other rifled. These are domestic IZH-95 on the basis of the IZH-27 M, shotguns Sabatti Forest. However, there are specialized model Mr-MN 18 caliber 7,62x54r or .223 Rem with one rifled barrel.

• Advantages: relative simplicity of design, the ability to shoot a shot or bullet.
• Drawbacks: single shot construction, the low density of the lock and not too heap (under normal conditions is sufficient). The need for manual extraction of the spent cartridge case after extraction from the chamber.

Fittings are used for so-called African hunting, their caliber can be very large – .375 H&H Magnum, .505 Gibbs. However, their design provides a very robust, multi-stage locking mechanism. Guns on the basis of the hunting smooth-bore (IZH-94) can not be considered reliable enough. Shoot them with Magnum ammo is dangerous.

What else affects the decision of which hunting rifle to choose, read below.

Other important factors

• It is always worth remembering that the chance to hit the target at a distance of 200-300 meters from the long-barreled rifle is higher than from a carbine.
• However, real-life encounter with the beast in the forest thicket typically occurs at distances of not more than fifty meters. So do not seek to acquire Bintulu CZ 527 Jaguar just because of the fact that she has a barrel length of 726 mm. it is possible to do domestic carbine “bars 4-1”.
• Should not be squeamish plastic boxes. According to the ergonomics, they are not worse than wood, but more practical to use and weapons with them is usually cheaper.

The weapons should, like, fight, impact, ease of application. In this case, the appearance of the beast will probably be accompanied by a shot, not a cry of “Ah!” Shoot and get, always with the field? Don’t listen to critics!