Long range caliber

What ranges are you shooting? Just target or hunting or both? I just put one together for long range, went with a rem 700 in 308, I'm using it for mainly up to 600 yards. cost, availability, and versatility sold it for me. I do handload for it and there are a lot of options for it. 338 would be nice but its damn expensive and I like to shoot a lot, so it wasn't a good fit for me. If I was shooting 1000 yards and beyond might have gone with 6.5 creedmore, 260, or 7mm-08.

Ya really depends what you want to do. As far as ww2 ammo and capability idk. 308 is a good round. I shoot one for target play. I'm not a big 30 cal fan. I like my 7mm. A 300 win a beast of a round in comparison to the others but it's a lot more component when you consider it's about 75-80 gr powder and 3006 is about 50-60 and 308 is 40-50.

I think a 338 lapua is not on the screen. I think it's a lotta waste as far as hunting or target unless your gonna shoot 1 mile plus on man sized game in the wind. IMO

^agree the 300 is more beastly than those listed except the lapua. I really like my 338 lapua, cheaper to reload than buy. It really depends on the ranges u are looking at and what u are seeking in terminal ballistics

A good 308 load goes transonic somewhere around 1000-1100 yards usually. 308 is perfectly capable to reach 1k and 30-06 will get out to 1500 with the right loads.

For your stated purpose and goal 300 Winmag is best IMO. I have a Sako TRG in 300 Winmag and one in 338 Lapua. The 338 is awesome but expensive,the 300 not so much. I shoot both supressed which makes them a pleasure to shoot.

@ ro1911
The 300 compared to the '06 is a step like going from a .308 to an '06.
But the biggest thing you will feel between the two is the recoil in your wallet.
The 300 is far more expensive to shoot, but worth it at long range.

Look at these, already in an accurate stock, 26 inch barrel, and hold value a bit better.

http://www.remingtonle.com/rifles/700p.htm

I've seen used police 308s around $700-750ish lately. Figure a $250=300 stock and a $500 action, you could true the action and re barrel to a .260 or 7-08 and gain better BC and less recoil than the 30 calibers.

There's a video on youtube showing a three guys shooting a man size hanging steel gong at a legit mile with several calibers. Guy with the 7-08 dings it with the first shot. Every caliber you mentioned is shown on youtube bustin something at a mile...rather consistently.

Ro1911 said:

How is recoil on a 300 win mag compared to 3006?

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Depends on several factors.

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

These guys are awesome.

"I'm looking to take man sized targets as far out as possible."

Really?

What do you do for a living?

Special Forces sniper??

if so, you don't have to worry about a rifle, ammo and training -- that is all paid for you by the U.S. taxpayers.

If not, why are you looking to take out man sized targets as far as possible?

Doesn't sound like you are a hunter or anyone with even the most basic grasp of calibers and ballistics.

In fact, you sound downright scary.

Acp, are you serious? Scary? I didn't know only law enforcement was allowed to have such things. In all honestly thinking like yours scares me a hell of a lot more than Ro1911 and his desire to shoot long range. He doesn't need an excuse to have something that can hit a man size target at a mile or how ever long he wants. I wanted something that could do that as well. So I bought a 338 lp. And guess what? I am not sniping people. Nor do I intend to.

There's a good series on You Tube called "Long Distance 101" or something like that. The maker goes through the method for picking a round based on what the person want to do. It's boring as blazes but the information and methods are really sound and far better than limiting yourself to a few options then asking about them.

Ro1911:

I agree with the recent statement that you can and should purchase whatever you want; it's your God-given right.

To the end of which to purchase, I have several .308s and a .300 Win Mag. In fact, the .30-06 Sprg, when hand loaded, so closely compares to both the .308 Win and .300 Win Mag that it makes no sense to own all three. By that, I mean you can load the .30-06 up close to a .300, or down close to .308 levels. Ergo, I have the .308 and .300. I could just as easily have opted for only the .30-06.

What I like about .308 Win is barrel life. On average, one can expect 5,000 rounds fired through a .308 Win, if properly maintained. You will not get 5,000 rounds of high accuracy life out of a .338 Lapua, or a .300 Win Mag. I bought my M70 Stealth .308 Win, with a Nightforce 3.5-15X56 scope for exact the reasons you are looking to purchase, but never took it yet to 1,000 yards. Haven't fired-on any man-sized targets either. I take that back, I have hammered the Hades outta some man-sized AR500 steel targets. And I shot some deer that were larger than most humans.

Okay…I'm done. Let us know what you buy, and durn-it!!! Post some photos!

Good luck,

Geno

Yes, if you hand load, I'd get the .30-06 as you can load 200-208g high BC bullets to near 300 WM velocity in a longer tube. Plus, the ammo you already have on hand for practice and it will have a lot longer barrel life and be cheaper to shoot than the 300WM.

.30-06 works better with heavy bullets than .308 and you already have plinking ammo for it. If you have a choice of twist rates get the faster one.

Why not get a 300 ultra mag the win mags big brother. At around 100grs a round it's pricey but you could always download it to 300 win or 30-06.

it sounds as though you should do a bit more research and decide exactly what you'd likely do with the rifle. not what you 'think would be cool' to do, but what you actually 'will' do. that will help determine caliber, barrel length, twist rate, etc. the 700 is a fine platform, and very workable.

unless you're just a wannabe sniper and want to have a cool sniper rifle, just for the sake of having one, do yourself a favor, and do a lot more research into the actual type of shooting you'll be doing before you start to limit yourself to this or that.

A longer barrel 308 will reach 1100. A 3006 will do the same. And so forth with 300 win mag. I'd change caliber and look at a 7mm something but then you get into the search for bullets. My 7mag will shoot pretty well out far. Better than I can honestly. Shooting distance is like building a race car. It's not quik and easy. It's expensive and takes time.
My 7 mag.
26" barrel
Bushnell elite 6500 4.5-32x50
I shoot 162 amax
I can stay withing moa to 1000. That's the farthest I've short strings. I hit at 1205 but 2/5 times.

My 308
30" barrel savage Palma
Vortex viper 6.5-20
I shoot 155 and 175s.
I can shoot it all day at 800

I built a 7-08 too but it's more a hunting rig. I shoot 140s out of it and am plenty comfortable at 6-700

6.5 Creedmoor

Here's a link to the B.C's of various Sierra bullets.
http://www.sierrabullets.com/documents/BallisticCoefficient-rifle.pdf

I was easily able to hit a 22" round gong at 800 yards with mild charges handloaded on 7mm08. 120grain spitzers over 42-44 grains Varget (depending on temperature) Not even using a boat tailed bullet. Since I picked my bullet for much shorter hunting ranges, you could do a LOT better than mine -- B.C. in the low .300's. And I had a realtively short barrel -- 22", bull barrel chosen to reduce barrel whip. I chose 7mm08 over .308 to get higher BC and higher velocity with reduced recoil. Reload cost is probably 40 cents per shot.

If I were willing to abuse the brass at bit more, I think I could get to 1000 without too much trouble!

If you REALLY want to get into it, I think you can get a B.C. in the .60's with surplus 50BMG FMJ's for 85 cents each. Wideners has cheapo powder at $8/lb. Once fired brass is well under $1. There are single shot 50's out there at reasonable prices. If you are willing to pay $2/bullet, the Hornady has a BC > 1

For my money, I'll stick with the 7mm08!! Velocity is a huge friend at long distances, so I'd go with a 140grain boat tail, punish the brass a bit to get a bit more velocity and I bet I'dd ring that gong on every single shot......

I'd like to be able to shoot out to 1000, but I don't think the 308 or 3006 are up to that

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Ro1911,

I shot in 1,000 yard competition for 6 years, using the .308, .30-06, and 6.5x55. While you basically only list .30 caliber selections, personally I would go with a 6.5mm for LR shooting. Having said that, both the .308 and .30-06 are perfectly good selections for 1,000 yards shooting in a good bolt action rifle. With optimal loads with heavy, high BC bullets, the .30-06 will deliver 200fps more velocity than the .308. I used the 190SMK in .30-06, and I got an honest 2900fps with my load while remaining within pressure specs. This duplicates Federal's .300WM Gold Medal Match ammo. The best I could do with the .308 is 2700fps. There is simply no substitute for case capacity when using heavy bullets and slow powders. Hope that helps.

Don