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Mackie - I had a word with the guy who's selling the left-hand Paramount. He's talking £850, plus he has a jacket and one or two other bits. It really is a nice rifle - I thought he would want a lot more.

PM me on vinceb@targetshooteronline.com if interested and I'll put you in touch with him.

If buying a Paramount, take particular care. The primary extraction is done by the camming action created by the profile of the slot that the cocking lever runs in. Some of them were not machined as well as they should have been, and as a result the primary extraction (which breaks the seal of the cartridge case to the chamber) doesn't work properly. There is very little you can do about this, and it can lead to a lot of problems with stiff extraction and stuck cases. My club bought 5 of them, and one really wasn't very good.

That said, £850 is a good buy if the gun is complete and in reasonable condition. That's under £1500 for a rifle that has the potential to deliver international performance with a new barrel. If the current barrel is in the early half of its life its a very good buy.

GazMorris wrote: 7) Don't buy a Swing earlier than Mk. IV or one with a round cocking pin. Great rifles, but they're all really different and parts are getting scarce

This round cocking pin of which you speak, is it worth paying HPS to change it?

Thanks for the advice guys. I've got a lot to go on now :)

shugie wrote:

GazMorris wrote: 7) Don't buy a Swing earlier than Mk. IV or one with a round cocking pin. Great rifles, but they're all really different and parts are getting scarce

This round cocking pin of which you speak, is it worth paying HPS to change it?

Yes, if HPS have them get it done.

One option would be to ask your club if they'd sell you the club rifle you've been using.
The other is to get yourself a standard, infinitely customisable base like for example the Remington 700 SPS Varmint .308 in LHD with a 26" barrel. The standard stock is rubbish so you can change that but before you take delivery have the action trued and polished by the dealer, maybe the trigger adjusted for pull.
The 700P is even better as it has a decent stock already and was recommended to me and all new joiners to my club as the best value, accurate-out-the-box rifle available.
I'm lucky in that mine likes Privi Match rounds in 168gr HPBT and PB so far is 46.2 at 600 yards with wind (horizontal flags on Century at Bisley). HPS do decent match ammo using SMK bullets in 168, 175 and 155gr for when you start going further out.
But, as meles and others have said, lots of practise, ask loads of questions here and on the firing point, and especially learn to read the wind.

Well I went and bought myself a proper jacket the other week. I've not had a chance to trying it with a big boy rifle but on its first outing at my local smallbore club there was an instant improvement and I got some very nice groups. That was with a BSA Martini MkII that's much older than I am. Can't wait to try it at Bisley!

ETA: I've been using DAG surplus 7.62 ammo, I think I'll try and use some of the Sierra Match King stuff back to back with it on the same day and see how much of a difference it makes.