I'll try and keep this breif....
Hi everyone; it's been a long time since I have been involved with firearms of any sort, but I'm picking up where I left off.
I got my first military rifle, an 1898 long Lee Enfield, back in the mid '70's when I was 16. My father, a professional shooter, self taught gunsmith, and firearms dealer, made it easier than most to get involved with shooting, so i consider myself pretty fortunate. He bought me my first two sporting rifles, and taught me to shoot when i was 14. By 18 I had a collection of about 32 ( at a rough guess) military, sporterised, and hunting rifles, plus about 6 handguns and a couple of shotguns for skeet and trap. Back in those days, you could hang them on gun racks and carry them to the range or hunting properties without any problems....but those days are gone.
As most of you probably know, family, careers, and mortgages tend to put your personal interests into the background, and i sold off my collection of military rifles to good homes, and my hunting and target rifles to mates and associates. I fired my last shot in 1989, downing a Water Buffalo in the Northern Territory with my sole remaining rifle, a P14 303, and sold it to an elderly retired gentleman who promised to look after it.
Fast forward to 2015, and my youngest son, just turned 16, asked about taking up shooting at the local big bore (7.62 NATO) range. They are a great bunch of blokes at the local club, in Sheffield, Tasmania, so I had no problem letting him take it up, but the laws have changed so radically!!! I was totally unprepared for the amount of red tape and BS involved, but six months later, the powers that be have approved my license, although i am still waiting to do the safety course before I can legally have a rifle on the premises.
Of course, I need to buy a gun safe, have the local police inspect it whenever they want, and make sure i don't do ANYTHING wrong or they will cancel my license and confiscate my rifles.....
So, to end on a happy note, I bought my son a 7.62 M17 action single shot target rifle, and found a low number Remington P14 303 in original un-restored conditioned for $750.00AUD with a really good barrel, which I am really pleased about. I'll probably collect a few more Lee Enfields, all though the prices are now outrageous, and really look forward to reading about, and discussing all things 303.
When I eventually get my P14 sent to me ( through a dealer who will charge me a transfer fee...) I'll do a thread on it and let everyone know how it shoots, cheers, Michael.