Long Distance (200-800 yrds) Target Rifle

[Jib 0]

If you wanted to get into target shooting, what rifle, round and scope would you start with? The goal being about $1k. You plan to use the same rifle out to 800 yards. Where would you start? What would you spend the cash on? Would you spend a little more for an upgrade?

I've read the sniper rifle thread and some Savage v Rem debates.

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[jdhill 0]

Springfield M1A, but that will spend you whole budget without the glass...

If you want a bolt action, my pref is building something of a Rem 700 with leupold glass... but that's just my pref because that is what I used to play with...

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[Kennedy 0]

Well, I'm still convinced that a Ruger M77 mark II is the best all around rifle, particularly for beginners.

If I had the money I'd mount a serious Leopold or Zeiss scope on it. (Unertl is also above reproach)

Even with the bagain scope I have on it, it is more capable than I am out to 1000 yards. I know. I put it in the hands of a real shooter, and he prooved it to me.

I'd suggest a scope with variable power, 3.5-10 is common, and that has the crosshairs mounted such that they do not change when the power is adjusted (no "thickening" or fuzzing).

edit: ps - If you really want punch out to extended ranges, you need heavier bullets with more powder and correspondingly more recoil.

witty subliminal message
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1*

[Jib 0]

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edit: ps - If you really want punch out to extended ranges, you need heavier bullets with more powder and correspondingly more recoil.

.308?? or something else?

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the depth of his depravity sickens me.
-- Jerry Falwell, People v. Larry Flynt

[Kennedy 0]

No, a .308 is basically a .30-06 with a shortned case. That means less powder and usually lighter bullets.

Things with more power include the .300 Win (winchester magnum), the 7mm Magnum, the .338 and so on.

edit: there are other calibers that can be said to have more energy at the muzzle, but are not ideal for long range shooting, such as the .375 H&H.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[freeflight 0]

dragunov!

[GQ_jumper 4]

300 win mag bro, you'll be looking at a 1/4 minute of angle weapon, if you have the right trigger, free floated barrel, and a few other extras on there. and like a few people have mentioned leupold scopes are the best there is. although one thing that may help is to start out on a rifle that doesn't have all those nice trimmings of a top of the line long range system, and get your basic shooting skills honed on that, so when you switch to the good stuff you can hollow out a quarter at 200M.

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--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[Kennedy 0]

I left out that one of the best things anyone can do for their riflemanship is to go out and buy a nice little .22 rimfire.

You can take that to the range and practice with it all day long for pocket change. Nothing beats trigger time. If it's a choice between shooting a .22 and not shooting, use the .22.

It's amazing what you can improve with something so small and completely different from your boomer.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[genoyamamoto 0]

Any specific .22 LR rifles you would recommend?

Gotta go... plaything needs to spank me
Feel the hate...
Photos here

[mnealtx 0]

Marlin and Ruger are both fairly inexpensive and available at your local WalMart...

I like the looks of the new Walther, I believe it's a model G22... like all things Walther, it's fairly expensive, though.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[kbordson 8]

OK... here's my 0.02

Target rifle for 200-800yds.
Rifle: Remington 700VS which has a HS precision stock (good composite stock) in .308. Should run you about $600. It will likely need a trigger job to make it truly worth owning.
Glass - Leupold 4 1/2-14 power. Run about $600 as well
Mounts and rings - Badger Ordnance (of course.)

.22 rimfire for practice, consider an Anshutz 64MS

Any other questions - you could either call or e-mail George at GA Precision (number 816-2211-1844 or email A10Xrifle@aol.com)

p.s. I still think the AI L98A1 would be better, but your cost and the availablity knocked it out of the recommendation.

[Kennedy 0]

Well I've played around with a fair share of them, but there are two that stand out head and shoulders above the rest.

The first is the Ruger 10/22. Everything good you can say about a plinker, you can say about this gun. It's also one of the easiest firearms to tinker with - a whole other bg of fun right there.

The other is pure sentimentality on my part, but it is the Ithica lever action family of rifles. The first gun I ever touched, held, fired, etc, and the one I had to fight with my brother to eventually own. (not too soon, I hope)

see pics below.

Also, if I were completely honest in suggesting .22s to beginners, I would have ot at least mention that bolt actions are a good idea for beginners.

witty subliminal message
Guard your honor, let your reputation fall where it will, and outlast the bastards.
1*

[jdhill 0]

for plinking, a ruger 10/22... for target stuff, I used to have an Anschutz 1903, and have played with some Walther stuff... but if you are not shooting comp. stuff, you will spend way too much $$$ on those...

J

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[mnealtx 0]

Quote

OK... here's my 0.02

Target rifle for 200-800yds.
Rifle: Remington 700VS which has a HS precision stock (good composite stock) in .308. Should run you about $600. It will likely need a trigger job to make it truly worth owning.
Glass - Leupold 4 1/2-14 power. Run about $600 as well
Mounts and rings - Badger Ordnance (of course.)

.22 rimfire for practice, consider an Anshutz 64MS

Any other questions - you could either call or e-mail George at GA Precision (number 816-2211-1844 or email A10Xrifle@aol.com)

p.s. I still think the AI L98A1 would be better, but your cost and the availablity knocked it out of the recommendation.

NOICE!!!!!! I like the way you think!

mmm.....Anschutz....

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[kbordson 8]

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OK... here's my 0.02

NOICE!!!!!! I like the way you think!

mmm.....Anschutz....

The girl knows her toys, and she has a couple nice ones...... Don't all?

[mnealtx 0]

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OK... here's my 0.02

NOICE!!!!!! I like the way you think!

mmm.....Anschutz....

The girl knows her toys, and she has a couple nice ones...... Don't all?

I shot competitive smallbore in HS with an Anschutz, had a blast with it. I need to get a rifle eventually... probably a Savage model 10 in .308 with an intermediate eye relief scope. Oughta be a good middle-distance deer rifle.

Before that I'm going to get my Colt sent off to the gunsmith for a fluff-n-buff.... since I don't have a place to hunt at right now anyway...

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Layton 0]

i bought a savage tatical (110 action with a heavy barrell) cal. 308.and put a leupold target scope on it.i found the scope on ebay and it was local.total price was about $900.this thing shoots really well.we have a set up for 800 yard shots at the gun club and i did better than i expected.

[br0k3n 0]

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If you wanted to get into target shooting, what rifle, round and scope would you start with? The goal being about $1k. You plan to use the same rifle out to 800 yards. Where would you start? What would you spend the cash on? Would you spend a little more for an upgrade?

I've read the sniper rifle thread and some Savage v Rem debates.

If I could I would get a Barret M107 Semi Automatic Ten Round .50 Caliber Rifle, how much fun would one of these bad boys be
http://www.barrettrifles.com/military.htm

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--+ There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.. --+

[LouDiamond 1]

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how much fun would one of these bad boys be

Funny you mentioned that, I have one at my disposal and it is fun the first couple times you fire it then it's no big deal. But I will say all soft tissue types of targets tend to disappear and durable skinned targets have pretty holes punched in them just hope you never have to hump it up the side of a mountain as it isn't light by any means.

"It's just skydiving..additional drama is not required"
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[steve1 5]

I fell in love with Remington 700's about 40 years ago. Yes, I'm a very old Fart who started hunting early. I now own several of these. All have free floated barrels, glass bedded actions, fine triggers, and taylored hand loads. Most have Leupold scopes. One of my favorites is in 270. It's flat shooting, extremely accurate, and doesn't kick too much. I can also get maximum veloscity out of a 22 inch barrel.

I also have a custom 700 BDL, 300 Winchester with a Matte 3X9 Leupold on it. I really like it but I wonder if the 26 inch barrel isn't too long to be handy. It also kicks a little too much. A great elk gun for that big bull across the canyon, but I'd rather be packing one of my 270's.

I have one featherweight Winchester 270 with a laminated stock. It didn't shoot too well until I put a small shim under the barrel near the foreend. It has a very light 22 inch barrel and is great for packing around all day. I've shot a lot of four shot half inch groups with it at a hundred yards. My wife usually shoots her deer and antelope with it every year.

I think all these guns would shoot good out to 800 yards. I shot my antelope this year at around 400 yards this year with one shot. I rarely shoot further than that for fear of wounding something. But target shooting is a different matter.

I'd like to try out a good rangefinder and do some experimenting with one of the new leupold scopes with the turret knobs. I think a guy could extend his effective range out quite a ways with a set up like that. Right now I estimate range with my duplex recticles set on 9 power. I've done quite a bit of shooting out to 500 yards testing my hand loads.

For guesssing range I've figured out how much an 18 inch sized critter covers up in my recticle and can quickly and easily decipher how far it is out to 500 yards. A range finder would probably work better though. I sight in about 3 inches high at a hundred yards. If you were shooting out to 800 yards you would probably want to sight in higher than that. Just some food for thought.....Steve1

[Salsa_John 0]

AR-15 A3 Flat top removable carry handle, H-bar, 1:7 twist, your choice of scope, many use Iron sights...

Try DPMS or Armalite

Ask same question on AR15.com

JRC..

NRA Certified Range Safety Officer
Firearms instructor

CMP Rifle Marksman
IDPA Pistol Marksman

"You did what?!?!"

MUFF #3722, TDSM #72, Orfun #26, Nachos Rodriguez

[kbordson 8]

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AR-15 A3 Flat top removable carry handle, H-bar, 1:7 twist, your choice of scope, many use Iron sights...

I like that response too and I'm not saying that isn't a fun gun. AR's can be made VERY ACCURATE... but the bullet is a little light. You can be (and many are) competitive with a .223, but you just might have to be a little better at reading the wind.
But your choice brings up the other question for the original poster...
What will the desired use be (target, hunting, type of game, average distance range, ect) How far are you going to be carrying it? Are you a wuss when it comes to recoil (do you flinch?) Would you perfer a lighter firearm?

[Tonto 1]

Anshutz.. or maybe a SAKO.

t

It's the year of the Pig.

[masterrig 1]

Out of curiosity, what do you think of BSA scopes?


Chuck

[steve1 5]

I don't mean to knock anyones choice of rifle. If it works well for you, go with it. I really enjoyed shooting AR's and M-16s, but few would consider these a long range weapon out to 800 yards. A 223 round is very accurate out to 300 yards or so, but really falls off accuracy wise beyond that.


The bullet is so light it is easily affected by wind and other factors. Also it is very difficult to find an automatic weapon that is as accurate as a bolt action. You can accurize an automatic with dramatic results, but seldom will they shoot as well as a good bolt action that has been tuned properly.

The Army used M-14's for a while as sniper weapons, but I think most of these have been fazed out in favor of bolt actions. I think the standard sniper round is in 308. This is a very accurate round that bucks the wind well, but I wonder why they didn't go with something like the 30/06 or 300 Winchester which were used as sniper rounds in Vietnam. They may not be quite as accurate as a 308 if you are measuring tiny groups, but they are also flatter shooting. But then again they have more recoil and noise too, so I guess it's up to the shooter what he wants. To ring maximum velocity out of a 300 magnum you really need a 26 inch barrel which is awful long. I would think a 7 MM magnum would also make a great sniper weapon for military or police work. Or just a great hunting or target rifle. You could get by with 24 inch barrel . They are very accurate and flat shooting. But again, go with a bolt action if you want super accuracy for long range shots.

Many Vietnam era snipers didn't like the early day model 700 rifles they were issued. The rifle was great, but they were all in 308 which many snipers felt couldn't shoot as far as the Winchester rifles that they had used earlier, which were in 30/06 or 300 Winchester magnum.

Also put a good quality scope on whatever you choose. An iron sight just covers up too much of your target at longer ranges....Steve1