What do you guys think of this for a 308?

MR Wick, why are you wanting a 300 Winmag?

MR WICK said:

Last one:

SAVAGE ARMS 110 PRECISION .300 WIN

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I have several of these: 6.5 CR, .308, 6.5 PRC, .300 PRC. I really like them, they are a great value for the price.
Excellent rifles for long range shooting. Some consider it less than optimal for hunting. Also, you will find a subset of shooters who do not like Savage actions. I also have a number of the upgraded version of these with the MDT ACC. Designed specifically for PRS and competition shooting. About $1600-1700. Great chassis. Very very less than optimal for hunting. If you are looking a hunting/target rifle I'd stick to one with a hybrid chassis. Best wishes.

https://www.savagearms.com/content?p=firearms&a=product_summary&s=57562

Federal Gold Medal Match 300 Winmag 190 SMK. 80 dollars a box.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/953156625?pid=313766

Federal Gold Medal Match 308 Win 175 SMK. 44 dollars a box

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/953728886?pid=728886

Federal Gold Medal Berger 130 OTM Hybrid. 40 dollars a box

https://www.academy.com/p/federal-p...eedmoor-130-grain-centerfire-rifle-ammunition

Another thing with the 6.5 Creedmoor, the regular old 140 grain ball ammo from American Eagle, S&B, and Aguila tend to shoot pretty dang well out to about 1200 yards if you are just shooting steel.

MR WICK said:

I can't find 6.5 Creedmoor ammo. 300 WIN Mag is everywhere.

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https://ammoseek.com/ammo/6.5mm-creedmoor

MR WICK said:

If you guys say 6.5 then it's 6.5. That's why I come here.

That brings this baby into the game

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The Ruger can shoot, but for 1500 bucks you are getting into the category of serious rifles. For just a few hundred more you can buy some Production class rifles and have a no BS competition rifle.

C-grunt said:

https://badrockrifles.com/rifles/

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I will have one of those purple beauties eventually.

For anything greater than $1500, which should really be anything greater than $1000, money is better spent building a custom rifle on a custom action than buying the Bergara, Ruger, or Savage rifles.

Even the 6.5 Creedmoor will be a SIGNIFICANT disadvantage for PRS competition, if this is the game you’re intent on joining, and still seems very disadvantaged for BR or F-class.

If you’re just wanting to plink around at long range, great. A great number of rifles will do the task. But buying a rifle for competition on advice which includes “I have one of these and I shoot long occasionally,” rather than based on “I compete in that sport….” is just a bad road.

Pick your game, and the rifle you need will pick itself. If you buy that Bergara, Ruger, or Savage, if you go to F-class, you’ll be shooting against @Nature Boy ’s Kelby, if you go to Benchrest, you’ll be shooting against @South Prairie Jim ’s BAT, if you come to PRS, you’ll be shooting against my Defiance and @Walkalong’s Impact… and spending $1000-1500 on that “wrong rifle” is just slowing you down to buying the proper $2500+ rifle you should have started with. ‘Cuz either you’ll quit because that rifle won’t compete, or you’ll end up spending that money later; spending more overall…

MR WICK said:

But Verminator. Your recommendation is 6.5. Correct?

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The 6.5 creed would not be my personal choice for long range benchrest games, no. It’s a concession I might make as “far, far better than 308win or especially better than 300wm for the task,” but not my first choice.

600-1000yrd BR games, 6 Dasher would be my first choice, chased quickly by 6 BRA, and passing through 6 GT, 6 Creed, fast twist 243win, long before I got to 6.5 creed, with acknowledgement I might favor 300wsm over 6.5 creed (on a wild hair playing that heavy hammer 1000BR niche), and I’d never personally get to 308 or 300wm.

Varminterror said:

The 6.5 creed would not be my personal choice for long range benchrest games, no. It’s a concession I might make as “far, far better than 308win or especially better than 300wm for the task,” but not my first choice.

600-1000yrd BR games, 6 Dasher would be my first choice, chased quickly by 6 BRA, and passing through 6 GT, 6 Creed, fast twist 243win, long before I got to 6.5 creed, with acknowledgement I might favor 300wsm over 6.5 creed (on a wild hair playing that heavy hammer 1000BR niche), and I’d never personally get to 308 or 300wm.

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Filtered through the lens of someone stuck with factory ammo like OP though, I think the 6.5 creed moves up a few notches. 6 creed would be better, but I had a hard time finding models I wanted (in my price range) chambered so.

Certainly, it's not a bad choice. Far better than some, but you are leaving some performance on the table.

MR WICK said:

It's just competitions at my local club. We have 464 acres and tons of competitions. I will only be shooting against club members. There are a lot of them but none close to being world class. I just want to have fun and eventually hit a target at 1,000 yards. I'm just a bench rest target shooter. For now.

But Verminator. Your recommendation is 6.5. Correct?

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Have you tried the 1000 yards with your 223? Buy some 77 grain SMK or TMK loads and give it a try

For informal fun type competition the 308 and 6.5 Creedmoor will be fine. The 6.5 will do noticeably better at range than the 308.

MR WICK said:

It's just competitions at my local club. We have 464 acres and tons of competitions. I will only be shooting against club members. There are a lot of them but none close to being world class. I just want to have fun and eventually hit a target at 1,000 yards. I'm just a bench rest target shooter. For now.

But Verminator. Your recommendation is 6.5. Correct?

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you are doing the right thing. not spending a ton of money having fun and not going anal trying to shave a 1/4 inch off a group. then it is no fun but a lot of work money and disappointment. those shooters are almost like women ditching one round after another cause one guy won a match with a new round the way women flock to a "better" lipstick or eyeliner

I too like the 700. I can't vouch for a new one that I haven't personally touched. I have more than a few of the older ones. I know all sorts of things going on the arms these days, I don't post them anymore because I just get contradicted. Not worth the effort. Even though I know more than one person who actually makes them. Hands on the machine makes them.

I am happy with my Milspec 700 in 308, and 300 Win Mag. For Creedmore I have the Savage LRP. It was my first Savage center fire bolt. Never liked the bolts on the Savage. They seem too loose for me, temper that with I have never seen one fail. I like to stay American where I can. Key point is where I can. Not really entertaining Howa, Tikka, Bergara, Sako, etc, even though they are great options and great rifles.

Playing an informal Long Range BR game with factory ammo in a factory rifle, some flavor of a Savage 12 would draw my attention, looking hard at the 243win models. The BVSS, F/TR, or LRT.

Seeing the range at which the OP has membership, he’s not likely to be shooting against a bunch of factory hunting rifles in these competitions, and he’s evaluated a couple rifles with $6-7k price tags for this pursuit, AND he’s claimed to be shooting long range several times per month, so I’m not really thinking there’s much point in making do with a factory rifle which is “good enough” in the perspective of folks who aren’t doing what he’s doing. Especially a $1500-2000 factory rifle, when a $2500-3000 custom would align better with what he’s been doing. Most of these factory rifles simply aren’t good values for their price points. A guy can spend $800-1000 and buy a rifle which shoots VERY SMALL, or buy a $1800-2000 model from the same company which may not even shoot as small, and reliably shoot no smaller… or they can spend more wisely and build the rifle they actually want and need and shoot smaller, and smoother doing it.

robin banks said:

you are doing the right thing. not spending a ton of money having fun and not going anal trying to shave a 1/4 inch off a group.

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He’s posted about taking size off of his ~1moa 500yrd groups multiple times in his threads. He’s also asked about buying $7k rifles to play this game.

MR WICK said:

Yeah. It's a huge learning process for me. My job has me working 6 days a week so I can't shoot anywhere near as much as is used to. Talking about spending 7k on a rifle was a dumb novice statement. I'm leaning towards the Ruger Precision 6.5. I'm thinking it has everything I need for a reasonable price.

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The RPR will shoot long just fine. It’s not well suited for BR shooting, so you’ll spend/waste money modifying it for BR use, like changing the forend or adding a front bag rider, and changing the buttstock also to ride the bags better. It has a very tall profile for BR use, making it less stable on the bags. It won’t be as easy shoot as small with the RPR as the Savages I mentioned above from the bench.

Varminterror said:

The RPR will shoot long just fine. It’s not well suited for BR shooting, so you’ll spend/waste money modifying it for BR use, like changing the forend or adding a front bag rider, and changing the buttstock also to ride the bags better. It has a very tall profile for BR use, making it less stable on the bags. It won’t be as easy shoot as small with the RPR as the Savages I mentioned above from the bench.

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Im thinking when he says bench rest shooting he is talking about just shooting targets from the bench. I dont think he is looking at actual bench rest competition. I agree on the Savage over the RPR though. Much more room to grow and build with the Savage than the RPR.

C-grunt said:

Im thinking when he says bench rest shooting he is talking about just shooting targets from the bench. I dont think he is looking at actual bench rest competition.

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If you’re certain that’s his intent, then he sure seems to mention competitions a lot….

MR WICK said:

competitions at my local club.

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MR WICK said:

What's better for target shooting for competitions

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MR WICK said:

Research says this is an amazing rifle to shoot for long range target competitions.

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A couple local ranges host informal BR matches near here, balloon shoots, egg shoots, paper games… they’re won by the guys using gear built for benchrest competition, with a couple PRS rigs holding their own in specific classes.

I like the Savage option too. When the inevitable point in the future comes and you want more performances pick up a match grade barrel from one of several top manufacturers and take the accuracy potential to another level.