Im pretty interested in giving biathlon a shot. I seem to recall there are a couple people on this board who are involved. Anyone have a recommendation on a decent value starter rifle? I dont want a huge investment and would be happy to find something used. Thanks!
Im pretty interested in giving biathlon a shot. I seem to recall there are a couple people on this board who are involved. Anyone have a recommendation on a decent value starter rifle? I dont want a huge investment and would be happy to find something used. Thanks!
Page khai
Where do you live? The best way to get involved is to join a local club. They’ll typically have loaner rifles that you can use and you’ll get proper training in safe handling of a firearm as well as biathlon specific skills. I trust that you already know how to skate ski? If not that’s not a big deal either - you can learn that as well, but if you only have to focus on one new thing you’ll have an easier time than trying to learn two new skills at once.
There are two manufacturers of biathlon rifles: Anschutz and Izhmash. While it is both possible and legal to modify any 22LR rifle for use in biathlon it isn’t terribly common to do so. This has less to do with the difficulty of the modifications required to allow the rifle to take a harness as it does the accuracy of the rifle in cold weather. Sometimes clubs will use inexpensive 22s that have been donated for use by the little kids, but by the time they hit their teen years they’re all on “real” biathlon rifles. A new Izhmash rifle costs somewhere in the ballpark of ~$1500 and a new Anschutz a little more than double that. The German Anschutz isn’t really “better” than the Izhmash, but the action is more refined and let’s face it - German engineering is better than Russian. It’s definitely “nicer”. There are Izhmash rifles used on the World Cup circuit, however (and by German athletes!). Biathlon rifles tend to hold their value very well so you won’t generally save a significant amount by buying used - but sometimes that’s just the easiest way to get your hands on a rifle.
If you have a club near(ish) to where you live, join up with them. That is by far your best bet. Especially if you aren’t already well trained in firearms it’s not like most other sports where you can just sort of figure it out on your own. If you don’t have a club nearby it’s probably because you don’t have a range. Biathlon is shot at 50m and of course the range needs to be built into the ski loops - so unless a purpose build facility exists people need to get a little creative with their training. You could take a rifle down to any 50m range and use it there but while you may get good at some aspects of shooting it will not be a good representation of what you’d be doing in a biathlon race. You may have to suck it up and do a lot of driving. Attend camps and clinics. Ski as much as you can and incorporate dryfire drills in your living room. But first and foremost find out if there’s a local club that you can join. That’s the best way to go.
Do you happen to be anywhere in the vicinity of Boise, ID? I live in Boise and I am also interested in giving biathlon a shot (pun completely intended). I know that we have at least one athlete on the world cup circuit that lives and trains here, although her name escapes me right now. I even went so far as to purchase a Savage Mark II .22LR with open sights that I am going to try to convert to a biathlon rifle. I looked at the Izmash and Anschutz that Khai mentioned but could not swing the cost so I figured I would make do with a compromise for now - real rifle once I am a good enough shot for it to make a difference. Let me know if you come across any good starter material.
Jason
You’ll shoot your eye out.