What is the best long range rifle?

[BrocLuno]

The best long range rifle may be Accuracy International in any of a number of calibers. But that will set you back many $K and the ammo will bankrupt you.

Better to start with a 223/556 in the configuration you will be shooting your next higher powered round. I agree in starting 22, but many 22's don't come in a chassis that equals center fire... Once you have the 223 chassis and prolly 308 version figured out, as in they fit you and function naturally in your hand, you can wonk on the scope and doping conditions, etc. Lots of work to do there. Many months of range time.

223/556 will get you to 500 yds. From there on, it's rifle No 2

 

[Bart B.]

Exactly what are your objectives in shooting long range? Bullseye targets? Steel plate banging? Benchrest group/score shooting. Each discipline has different requirements for a good set of stuff to do it.

 

[Az-quailhunter]

Depending on the purpose, why not just a good old bolt action hunting rifle, like a .270 or 30.06?

 

[Bart B.]

A .308 with a long barrel (>27") will get you out to 1,000 yards "accurately".

An M1A or M14NM rebuilt for best accuracy does sub MOA test groups at 1000 shooting 180's. 308's in rebuilt M1's with 190 grain bullets did as well. 22" and 24" barrels. That's what the military teams did 40 to 50 years ago.

The 2012 US Army team won matches and set records at 1000 yards shooting 185's from 308 cases in AR10's with 20" barrels testing equally as accurate.

All done with new cases; virgin brass.

 

[Varminterror]

Giving a beginner advice towards a 300win mag is an injustice. Poor advice.

A beginner will be best served to start on a short action rifle in a common cartridge pushing a high ballistic coefficient bullet, giving them an opportunity to reach long range with high forgiveness and minimal recoil. A guy can burn out a handful of barrels in a fast twist 243win for less than buying and feeding less than 1/4 as many shots to a magnum rifle. Unless you're killing game at 1,000yrds, the difference in a 300rum and a 6.5 creedmoor is nothing but cost.

Picking up a $350 Remington 700 ADL in 243win, 260, or 7-08 and paying $50 to have it bedded and the forend stiffened (or $200 for a Boyd's laminate stock and bedding), then putting good quality scope on top will get you into the long range game for cheap. Even if you ARE planning to hunt at long range, this short action, low cost, low ammo cost, low recoil rifle will serve as a practice rifle for the rest of your life, letting you only pull out your more expensive to feed magnum rifle when you actually need to kill something. A Savage 10/11/12/16 can be had relatively cheaply too, and can be rebarreled even more easily than the Rem 700 when you burn out the barrel.

Guys who start out with a magnum cartridge as their first rifle end up letting their rifle collect a lot of dust.

Even starting with a VERY cheap to feed 22LR or 223rem will serve you well. If you can learn to manage 300-500yrds with a 22lr, then stepping up to a larger cartridge at 1,000yrds becomes child's play, and it's much cheaper to purchase AND much cheaper to feed. Shooting a 223rem at 600-1,000yrds will make you a better shooter than shooting a 300rem ultra mag at 1,000, without question. And again - the trajectory advantage for a 300rum vs a simple 260rem really isn't anything more than killing power - and you don't need any power at all to kill paper or steel.

Any cartridge which will push a bullet with a ballistic coefficient between 0.500-0.600, or more, at a velocity 2600+ will take you to 1,000yrds, or even further. No need to break your shoulder or your pocket book to do so.

 

[Sav .250]

With out trying all that qualify, who knows. Looks like opinions will carry the day.

 

[DDDWho]

My best friend and neighbor has a Remington 700 target barrel in 7MM Rem Mag. I don't know the model of the Leopold scope he has but its a variable up to 16X as I recall. He can put as many shots as he cares to shoot in a quarter sized bulls eye at 200 yards. I've watched him do it many times. Its becoming somewhat of a yawner. I'm usually on paper with my Ruger 77 in .280

 

[Bart B.]

Be wary of sub half MOA accuracy claims through 300 yards.

That's where the best benchrest rifles shoot all their bullets setting records.

I suspect most such claims are the smallest few shot groups. Biggest groups show real accuracy; smallest group's are seldom repeated.

 

[Bart B.]

A guy can burn out a handful of barrels in a fast twist 243win for less than buying and feeding less than 1/4 as many shots to a magnum rifle.

The people shooting 243's winning matches and setting records get about 1500 rounds of accurate barrel life.

Here's what the same folks shooting best scores get doing the same thing with magnums:

264 Win Mag, 650 rounds
7mm Rem Mag, 900 rounds
30-338 Win Mag, 1300 rounds
308 Norma Mag, 1300 rounds
300 Win Mag, 1100 rounds

Same best scores, other cartridges:

260 Rem, 2000 rounds
6.5x.284, 900 rounds
7-08 Rem, 2500 rounds
308 Win, 3000 rounds

 

[Varminterror]

With all due respect to the OP, he probably won't be winning any matches with his first rifle, so I wouldn't expect that to be a concern.

I could have suggested any of the 308win family cases for his first rifle, but I picked to use the example of .243win because of its greater ammo availability over the 7-08 and 260, and flatter trajectory with greater forgiveness of wind calling over the .308win itself.

My comment wasn't specifically about the 243win's individual superiority, as i don't believe that to be so, but for a pure newbie, the point stands - a guy can load ~40grns of powder behind a 30cent 115 dtac in a super cheap .243win case and shoot with no recoil issues all day. Comparatively, he could put ~70grn powder behind a 154-180grn pill which costs 50-75cents in a 7 Rem mag and get beat to death at the bench, and really not get any significant advantage for punching holes in paper at 1,000yrds or ringing steel.

The ammo savings in a short action 6-7mm cartridge which will push a .500-.600 BC bullet to 2600-3000fps is substantial, but they shoot just flat as a larger case doing the same with a larger caliber bullet.

 

[Hanzo581]

If you are new, you're going to be hopefully shooting a ton to practice and learn the fundamentals of "long range" shooting. If it were me, I'd want an affordable round with a vast amount of ammunition choices and sources. So I'd grab a Ruger Precision in .308 Win, a nice piece of glass like a Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 and get a ton of trigger time.

 

[Howard Roark]

Usable barrel life can be maximized by how it's made and how its used. Using powders with a lower heat potential, using friction reducing coatings such as moly or HBN and not shooting every shot at the maximum charge level all help to get the longest usable accuracy out of a barrel. I have friends who have won national matches and set national records who get more accurate life out of their barrels than stated above.

One person pulls their .243 barrels at 2500 rounds for good measure and has gotten 2800 rounds before their x-count started to fall off. Another couple of friend gets a lot more rounds on their .260s before they have to replace the barrel:

Praslick noted that Sherri’s load, while not particularly fast, is ultra-accurate: “All these loads rely much more on accuracy than they do velocity. SGT Gallagher’s rifle has been tested repeatedly at 600 yards. It will easily shoot 3″ to 4″ groups all day long. This is evident by her X-count.” Praslick added: “I am a big believer in the .260 for High Power shooting. [It offers] easy load development, ballistic advantage, and long barrel life.”

http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com...uses-260-rem-to-win-national-hp-championship/

I suggest the OP look into one of the heavy barrel Savages in .308 Win (easy to find), .243 Win (light recoil) or 6.5 Creedmoor. Vortex AMG scopes made in Japan are some of the best scopes out there at any price point. Good luck and Good shooting OP.

 

[webrx]

I have been shooting something (bb, pistol, rifle) for the better part of 50 years, and i have been teaching my son who is 15 now (started when he was 6) to shoot at a little longer ranges (he wants to be a marine sniper).

We started with a .22 (cricket, then mossberg 340BB, then Savage btvss), when he could shoot that at 100 yards accurately (started at 25 then 50, then 100), we went to 223 (Howa varmint), goal is 1 MOA or better at 500 now, then we will move up to the 6.5 creedmoor out to 1000.

The point is, if you want to shoot accurately at range, you need to learn the basics, and you can learn that with a .22 at shorter distances - start at 25 yards and move up to 100, they cost less to shoot, you have to learn wind and drop as you move your distance out, and they don't teach you to flinch from the recoil. want a challenge, shoot the .22 out to 200 in the wind

Maybe .223 is an ok starter round for a teen or an adult, heck they are almost as cheap to shoot as a .22 to shoot now and you can put together a decent varmint rifle and scope that will shoot moa or better for $700-1000.

Just my opinion yours may vary.

Dave

 

[Torian]

It's about the money you are willing to spend at this point. What is your budget?

 

[WelshShooter]

An M1A or M14NM rebuilt for best accuracy does sub MOA test groups at 1000 shooting 180's. 308's in rebuilt M1's with 190 grain bullets did as well. 22" and 24" barrels. That's what the military teams did 40 to 50 years ago.

The 2012 US Army team won matches and set records at 1000 yards shooting 185's from 308 cases in AR10's with 20" barrels testing equally as accurate.

All done with new cases; virgin brass.

With all due respect, that's most likely at the hands of a good shooter. As you know with shorter barrels comes lower velocity and longer time of flight, which means that wind drift will have a bigger effect. A novice shooter is not likely to call the windage as consistently as a trained shooter, therefore a longer barrel (and higher velocity) will help compensate for lack of training. This is only going to affect the horizontal dispersal.

My original comment stating a barrel of 27" or greater is of benefit to a novice shooter. My .308 is a 20" barrel and I have used it to shoot out to 1,000 yards. One time at a range, I shot both my rifle and a friends, who has a barrel length of 27". Due to the nature of crazy windage in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, the windage was constantly changing and therefore a fair few of my shots were going off target in the horizontal direction. When I shot with my friends 27" rifle I was able to keep more of my shots on target when using the same ammunition. Therefore, for a novice shooter, it's best to go with a longer barreled rifle until you can adequately call the wind.

 

[Bart B.]

As you know with shorter barrels comes lower velocity and longer time of flight, which means that wind drift will have a bigger effect.

I agree.

Which means a Sierra 30 caliber 175 HPTMK bullet leaving 2700 fps from a 22 inch 308 Win barrel will drift about a 11/16ths inch less at 1000 yards than one leaving at 2825 fps from a 27 inch barrel. An 8.83" drift per mph for 2700 fps compared to a 8.17" drift per mph for 2825 fps. That's about a 7% change. Insignificant. He'll have to hold still longer after the primer fires when using longer barrels, too.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

Bart B. I have had my Springfield M1A for almost 10 years and I have always read and been told to avoid 180 grain bullets cause they can harm the gas port and even bend or hurt the operating rod? Do you have any info for me, I have lots of Remington factory load 180 grain, but afraid to use it in the M1A, only my bolt guns and AR10s.

 

[Bart B.]

The Army rifle team pulled the 172-gr. bullet from M118 Match ammo then replaced it with a Sierra 180 HPMK bullet to use in their M14NM riflels; or personal M1A rebuilt rifles. Civilians did the same thing. Thousands were shot without incident. Those rifle's gas system was refit to exact specs and never had a problem with those loads.

Yes, pressure went up a small amount as did muzzle velocity sometimes did. But the IMR4895 powder used kept port pressures in the safe range. Slower powders in commercial ammo may cause higher port pressures and damage things; I would not use them.

People were shocked to see us Navy team folks shooting 44 grains of IMR4320 under Sierra 190's in our 7.62 NATO Garands. Those M1's had op rods fit to exact specs and nary a problem bending them. In spite of the barrel's gas port opened up a few thousandths because port pressure on Garands with 7.62 ammo was lower than that of the M1 in 30-06. The USMC team tried them in their M14's but the gas system didn't last long.