Budget 500 yd Rifle caliber?

All are good choices. I would say .270 simply because I have one and have shot it out to 1000, but accuracy really falls apart around 750. Mine is a very basic Remington 700. I would also look at 7-08 and 6.5creedmore. I hear great things about those rounds and they are getting popular enough to be offered as standard calibers.

I'd go 308. Sure, 270 will do it, but it's not what anyone calls ideal for the task. With .308, you can get factory match loadings such as the ever-popular SMK. With 270, you're stuck with hunting loads and bullets until you start reloading, and even then, your options will be inferior than if you had been shooting a .30 caliber projectile.

If drop is a concern for you, this isn't your game. Everything drops, and the difference between 308 and 270 - even at 1000 yards - is marginal. Nothing's easier to account for than gravity.

Budger 500 Yard

The only sure thing to me is a 25-06.Good for fox to elk.

I would go with the .308 Winchester and here is why. Any of several medium calibers will easily get you out to 500 yards including those already mentioned. I have a 7mm-08 which I enjoy. I like the .308 Winchester because the caliber is so common and available. The caliber is also lower in cost with a wide range of available bullets. I have 3 rifles chambered in the .308 Winchester to include my M1A, AR-10(T) and a Remington 700 VSSF and the only scoped gun is the Remington 700. Anyone of the three at 500 yards in the prone position is a pleasure to shoot. The 6.5 Creedmoor a spawn of the .30 TC is another good choice but for available brass and bullets I will take the .308 Winchester.

Ron

Reloadron said:

I would go with the .308 Winchester and here is why. Any of several medium calibers will easily get you out to 500 yards including those already mentioned. I have a 7mm-08 which I enjoy. I like the .308 Winchester because the caliber is so common and available. The caliber is also lower in cost with a wide range of available bullets. I have 3 rifles chambered in the .308 Winchester to include my M1A, AR-10(T) and a Remington 700 VSSF and the only scoped gun is the Remington 700. Anyone of the three at 500 yards in the prone position is a pleasure to shoot. The 6.5 Creedmoor a spawn of the .30 TC is another good choice but for available brass and bullets I will take the .308 Winchester.

Ron

Click to expand...

Got to go with this. The 308 has been the military standard for the majority of the sniper programs. Ammo is cheap and easy to find. There is any number of great bullets in 30 cal and the 308 is not picky about what powder you put in it. I had a Remington 700 Tactical that shot 1/2 MOA out of the box. All I did was adjust the trigger.

I have a Creedmoor now to play with, but brass is nearly non-existent and what I have found has 2 prices on it.

For target shooting at known ranges bullet drop is not a consideration. You can always adjust the scope to compensate for bullet drop. I'd go with 6.5 Creedmoor right now with 308 as a 2nd choice. You have MANY more options for target bullets that will do the job with these 2 cartridges than any other.

These are proving to be absolute tack drivers and street prices are under $400.

http://ruger.com/products/americanRiflePredator/models.html

This is the least expensive "QUALITY" scope that can be had with custom dials. Once you figure out your exact load ( bullet weight, BC, muzzle velocity, altitude, etc.) you give the data to Leupold and they make a custom dial for the scope. Once you know the range simply dial the scope for that range.

http://swfa.com/Leupold-3-9x40-VX-2-Riflescope-P78916.aspx

This will get you well past 500 yards in either caliber for under $800.

If you are shooting at unknown ranges a rangefinder will be invaluable. Prices for a decent one are around $300. I recently upgraded to this.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/leup...der%3BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=range+finders

Unless you are getting a custom barrel I doubt you will be able to buy an off the shelf rifle in 270 or 22-250 that has a barrel with a twist quick enough to handle the heavier bullets you should use to shoot long distance.

If it were me I'd go with the 308 (since you already shoot one) or a 6mm of some kind.....the 243 would work nicely.

If you want to shoot accurately at long distances you might want to consider getting into handloading.

Joshboyfutre said:

Does .270 burn up barrels like the 22-250 does?

Click to expand...

Even with a 22-250, you're talking about spending thousands of dollars on factory ammo before the barrel is "burned up." I wouldn't worry about it. Of course, you don't seem real keen on taking advice, so what's it matter?

Here's something that will do what you are looking for.....Savage has a 9 twist 22-250.....http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/12VLPDBM

Joshboyfutre said:

Does .270 burn up barrels like the 22-250 does?

Click to expand...

The 22-250 is not as bad as many people make it to be with some of today's powders. The barrel does not go from being accurate to inaccurate in a few rounds or overnight. I would think of it as going from MOPD (Minuit of Prairie Dog) to MOC (Minuit of Coyote) over a period of time or a few thousand rounds. This makes it impossible to say the 22-250 Remington barrel is only good for 3,000 or 4,000 rounds. I view the 22-250 Remington as more of a hunting round than a target round for punching paper. I also agree with those who mentioned most factory barrels have a slow twist and numbers like 1:12 or even 1:14 are not that unusual. The problem is bullets above 55 grains won't stabilize in the slower twist barrels. Just as an example Hornady tells loaders that the 53 grain V-Max will not stabilize in a 1:14 barrel. The 1:9 opens more possibilities and we are seeing more of that. My 25 year old Remington 700 VSSF was limited to a 1:12 and today the faster twist are becoming more popular.

If you have your heart set on a 22-250 or a cartridge like the 220 Swift then by all means buy what trips your trigger, just be aware of the good and bad of the different candidates before you get what you don't really want. You are the only one who needs to be pleased with your decision.

Ron

Anybody for 7mm Mauser?

Joshboyfutre said:

Only have a problem with taking advice from people that are condescending. Don't belittle me and act like I'm a dumb ass and it's all good. If I think ur just out to make others look stupid in some weird attempt at building yourself up then I'd rather not deal with getting advice or anything else from u. Everyone else has been very nice and respectful and I appreciate it. If I ask for an opinion, then I'm going to listen and weigh my options, but I'm not obligated to agree with everything u say. Sorry if ur offended but u came of belittling and condescending. If that wasn't your intent then I apologize. The comment acting like I'm a fool for wanting a round without alot if drop was uncalled for I think. Of course I know all bullets are prone to gravity.

Click to expand...

I never called you a fool or even suggested it, I just pointed out that chasing a round because it has "less drop" is poor criteria for selecting a cartridge. Reason I said you don't seem too keen on taking advice is simple: you asked for help choosing between three different calibers. After 13 posts in your thread, you had one recommendation for 270, and around ten for 308, and you made the decision to go with the caliber for which you received zero recommendations.

It's junk, get rid of it.

Your title and posts indicate that budget is a key consideration on what you buy. If you really want to save money, just start reloading right out of the gates. Match ammo is anything but cheap. It ranges from $1-$2 per shot from what I've seen, reloading is a fraction of that. You can get a Lee Classic kit for under $100 and not have to buy much more than a tumbler, set of dies, and a scale. You'll break even after just a few trips to the range. As far as caliber, for 500 yards, 5.56 would be your best budget caliber. Bullets are cheaper, brass is much cheaper and plentiful, and you'll use half the powder. Even if you still put off reloading, factory match ammo is still cheaper than most of the others.

500 yards is still mid range, you won't be doing much for wind until you get past 300 yards, regardless of the caliber you choose. As stated above, drop isn't much of a factor, you just have to account for it whatever it is for your rifle/load.
5.56 isn't the latest fad or in favor wildcat, and pry doesn't get you excited, but in your case it makes a lot of sense. Visit a local service rifle match and watch the groups fired from the 600 yard line with 80 grain bullets. You can't say it's not accurate.

If the limit is 500 yds for your shooting, even a .223 would do the job just fine....so long as you use the heavier bullets in a barrel with compatible twist rate. That would be the least expensive option to punch holes in paper IMHO.

A few years ago I had a Remington VLS in 308 and it was quite a good shooter. The barrel was pretty rough at first and fouled a lot, but a couple nites going after it with JB bore paste got it smoothed enough that copper fouling was no longer an issue and it would shoot quite a bit with good accuracy. With good ammo it would keep 10 shots within an inch pretty easily at 100yds, and with excellent handloads tweaked as much as I could tweak them it hovered around .5" sometimes but I always felt that I was the weak link in the shooting chain with it. Don't know how the latest 700's are coming out of the factory, but mine sure would shoot.

A friend just won a Remington 700 in .22-250 and asked me what I thought about it. So freshly researched it looks like a good rifle if you wanted to do extended range varmint hunting. The twist rate doesn't look super great for really heavy long range bullets, though that is a funny thing and sometimes guns will shoot great with a twist that really shouldn't according to what you read. Light weight (or normal 55grn for the caliber) seem to do really well in that rifle, but if you push them to the cartridges capability it's going to likely erode the barrel faster than many others will.

If you keep your reloads to 3000fps or thereabouts (otherwise .223 range) then there is no reason for it to burn the barrel any faster but stretching it for .220 Swift type velocity will likely come with a price of shorter barrel life. Being a handloader has many advantages and if you're just poking holes in paper it really doesn't matter how fast the bullet may be travelling. Shooting at a known distance you just adjust the scope and ring the bell.

At the end of a long range session you'd likely be less tired with .223 or 22-250 than .308, but the heavy Remington 700 isn't punishing in the least. You will, of course, take a little thump with every shot but that big barrel really helps to tame it down...but is not a ton of fun to hump long distances. No free lunch and all that. Good luck with your search and I hope you are happy with the decision you end up making.

I love the 270, but I really don't understand why the good ol' 30-06 isn't the number one contender here.

A great selection of quality bullets, especially match bullets.
Brass is inexpensive.
Factory ammo is easily available.
Tons of data.
Every bolt gun on the planet is chambered for it.

Considering OP's original requirements, I'd look at .223, .223, and possibly .223.

For shooting factory ammo, it gives you surplus options at 1/2 the price of anything else with that reach, and there are guns you can be reasonably confident will hold 2MOA with surplus ammo. If you need more accuracy, plenty of options in match ammo are available at about $1/round.

If you won't do .223 for some reason, the next best option is .308.