I'm looking for a rifle for long range shooting, but I'm not sure exactly what that will entail yet. This is something I'd like to get into, but I don't know if I'll be happy being able to take a deer at 500 yards or will want to try competing at 1000 yards at some point.
I live in FL, so don't need anything really special here for deer, but I would like a rifle I could use for elk or bigger game in Alaska at some point.
I was originally looking at the 338 Lapua, then I saw this:
https://defensiveedge.net/canyon-rifle/ and this:
https://defensiveedge.net/338-terminator/
I assume like many other things in life, you get what you pay for and as you move up the price scale there is a diminishing rate of return for your dollar. Of course, optics will be a major piece of the puzzle too. Would I be better off putting most of my money into a scope and then transferring it to a better rifle in the future?
I would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Thanks
You have left out a lot of information, so it's hard to give you advice. I'm going to assume that you don't have a lot of experience with these kinds of rifles. There are many things to think about when you start getting into the larger 338s:
1) Do you reload?
2) Have ever done anything with wildcat cartridges?
3) Are you recoil sensitive?
4) Are you happy with short barrel life?
5) What's your budget?
6) Are you a good enough shot to realize the potential of a long range rifle?
7) What is long range?
8) Do you have a good laser range finder and a good chronograph?
Speaking for my self, the answers are Yes, Yes, No - until about ~20 rounds, No - but it's part of the game, Varies, Some days, Yes. I would add for each of these questions:
1) Reloading will save you some money. I can't imagine how expensive it would be to find pre loaded wildcat cartridges. Also I'm not a big fan of hunting with wildcats. I would prefer to be able to find ammo easily when I'm a long way from home. Are you already set up for reloading? If not, add that to the cost.
2) If you haven't done any wildcatting, the costs can go up considerably when you consider custom dies, extra time at the range and other tools you need to make your own rounds.
3) This depends a lot on you, the stock fit, and how much you shoot. Only you can answer this.
4) I won't speak for other rounds, but my .338-416 gets about 1000-1200 useful rounds out of a barrel before accuracy starts to fall off.
5) My .338-416 is about $2 a shot. That include brass (brass is ~$2.50 a piece and I get 4-5 shots out of each round), powder primer, bullet and about $0.50 in barrel wear every time I pull the trigger. So a 20 round range session is about $40 with reloads. It looks like commercial 338LM is about $3-$4 a round. Don't forget travel to shoot the rifle. I lived in North Florida and there were no ranges close to me to shoot long range.
6) I have seen a bunch of guys at the shooting range with "long range rifles" and they are shooting +2" groups at 100 yards. That's probably going to equate to +30" at 1000 yards. Many of them, just don't know how to shoot. The most common thing I see is anticipating recoil and lifting their heads. Second is lousy trigger pull. This one is really something you need to think about - if you are not an experienced shooter. I don't think it's impossible to learn to shoot with a big 338, but I don't think that it makes it easier. In my opinion, you should be getting < 0.5" groups at 100 yards. I like to sight in at 300 yards, and at that range, I want less than 1.5".
7) You mentioned 1000 yards. If that is all you want, I'd go with a 6.5 PRC, 300 Win Mag (or 300 PRC) or 338 LM depending on what caliber you really want. With something off the shelf, you can get shooting quicker and see if it's really what you want to do.
8) When you starting getting out in range (past what you can estimate for), a good laser range finder is critical. Guessing at ranges is a sure way to miss. What I call hobby chronographs (anything with two screens ~2 feet apart, or the MagnetoSpeed) typically only have about 1% accuracy. That's not enough to do long range. You need an Oehler or Labradar (accuracy can be 0.1%). You're trying to get your standard deviations down to a few feet per second. You can't measure that with a chronograph that's giving you velocities with +/-30 feet/second error.
There are tons of choices out there:
1) Look for a used rifle that hasn't been shot out. You can sometimes find good deals on long range rifles because people find out it's not what they really want.
2) You can buy something off the shelf and find out for yourself. If you do this, I would suggest you get something with a good action that can be used as the basis for a custom rifle later. Then you can rebarrel and restock as you learn more about what you like/need.
3) Go for a semi-custom - I haven't done this. It's certainly more costly than a off the shelf, and whether you really get your money's worth depends on you. Speaking for myself, if I were going to give someone ~$4K for a rifle, it would be exactly what I want and I would go to someone like Long Rifles Inc and have them build it. I would also use a chassis system. The group size of my .338-416 halved when I sent to an XLR chassis. It may be that the stock didn't fit me as well, or it could have been a bedding issue, but I find the chassis much easier to use and maintain.
4) Go full custom - the sky's the limit here. You can easily spend ~$5-$6K (not including optics) for rifle, gear and ammo when all is said and done. Keep in mind that it may take more than a year to get your rifle too.
I'm sure someone will come along and say all of this is wrong and for them, they may be right. It really comes down to what you want to do and that's hard to know.
I haven't touched on optics here. That's another can of worms. I use a Nightforce ATACR on my .338. I would suggest you spend some time looking through scopes before you invest the money. You're going to need good mounts too.
Brad
