How nice of you to groom lil' Dog on how to shoot properly, and give a show of true marksmanship. It's quite the distance for a newbie who's used to .22LR, but it's good to hear he's been able to improve that much in just a few hours. I guess then, it's a double edged sword. This Tikka is the one that has engravings on it, right? I remembered not long ago when we talked about Finish guns, and those Nokia .308 rounds.
It would be a shame to sell it, since it looks like a pretty neat gun. But I suppose if the price is right, and you're willing to let go, then there's nothing wrong with selling it. As you say, no point in keeping something just for the sake of having it. You could always kill zombies with a bucket load of other .308 rounds. I've had a fascination with the FN FAL, though that's purely for the heck of it, and I'm not sure if its legal for you to have one...
He's a decent lad, comes from a difficult background with no dad. I've got no children of my own so it seems to work. If it was anyone else I'd tell them to fuck off, but I think my gun will go to a good home and I'll cut him some slack on price. Help him out a little.
Nah, this is a different gun. The one you refer to is my Tikka CTR .243. This one is a T3 .308.
Nope, semi-auto rifles are regulated here. I know mates who have them, and I fire them sometimes, but most people can't have them. The mates I refer to are professional shooters who make their living from shooting out of helo's in the outback. (Culling.) They mostly use the M4 Carbine in various formats. Heavily regulated firearms.
Ah, that's very nice of you to help out the lad. He's pretty keen on it, and with the skills he's earned in just one day, I think he'll get some good use out of it, as you said. If I recall from watching an old episode of Top Gear, don't they use helicopters for ranching?
You Aussies have some huge farms, but I didn't think you'd be shooting rifles from choppers. That sounds like quite a challenge, with the shakiness of the platform, and I suppose the draft from those propellers could have an effect on the bullet's trajectory, no?
They round up cattle and sheep with choppers yes. Plus shoot pigs, brumby's and camels when culling. The hunt in NZ by chopper too.
There are special rigs that get strung up in the doorway to help support the gun. Still, some skill is required. The rotor's don't really have much of an effect. They're only shooting at relatively close range and the projectile isn't under the rotor-wash for long. See video below. Skilled pilot. (Warning: Killing is shown, not blurred out in this video).
http://www.sportingshooter.com.au/video/one-shot-kills-the-most-lethal-aussie-chopper-cull
Jeez, they don't lie in the title about it being 'one shot, one kill', do they? That accuracy is astounding... A steady pilot, and a focused shooter. It looks like those rigs have some sort of gyro, or stabilisation to it, no?
That rig is probably one of the best available. Its very stable. Most have a rope set-up stung up within the doorway where the gun sits in, stable, but nowhere near as stable as this one.
I think that rope set-up reminds me of a video from a Vietnam War documentary. They strapped an M60 machine gun with some rope/cord on the roof. Must've been quite the change to go from that, to a dedicated mount on the side of the helo.
That one is mounted, but there are sling-versions that simply clip on and the shooter rests the gun in it. In chopper culling it comes down to the outfit doing it I guess. Some just shoot free-hand also. My mate uses the strap/sling version. I will see if I can get an image of his rig.