1000 Yard Round

[Kachok]

264WMs and 7mmRMs eat barrels too quick, 300s and 338s kick the snot out of you in a sporter weight rifle, 243s require too much custom stuff, 308 are just too dang slow with heavy high BC bullets, they don't make 30-06 with the bullets you need, and 6.5x55/6.5Creedmore/6.5-284 are not for sale at your local walmart. There really is no super easy answer there. I figure the easiest two answers are either go with a 300 and get used to getting bounced around a little, or go with one of the 6.5s you would probably have to order match ammo online for most any caliber anyway. The BEST answer is learn to reload, a very useful and practical skill especially when you want to fine tune accuracy (or when everyone is SOLD OUT like now) and you can turn a regular ol 270 Winchester into a solid performing 1,000yd rifle if you wanted to.

 

[mnhntr]

Take your pick .243 .260 6.5CM 7mm-08 .308

 

[Zak Smith]

It depends how easily you want to be able to find good factory LR target ammo.

The next "best" after .308 if common factory ammo is important is .300 Win Mag.

 

[mljdeckard]

Out to 800 meters, I would say .308. Now, of course it CAN do 1000, but if 1000 was the planned job, I would grab a 300 win mag. A 338 Lapua may well be superior, but....have you seen how much factory ammo costs?

I'm (slowly) building a AR-10 upper in .260 for longer ranges, because I reload, I won't be stuck with factory ammo.

 

[wgaynor]

Ok... I'll say it... 7.62x54R.

 

[Edarnold]

Suppose I wanted a precision rifle that could put rounds on paper at 1000 yards using factory match loads. Initially I was looking at a .308, but a 1k shot might be easier with something else. I'm looking for something relatively easy to find (i.e., not .338 LM) and available in common bolt rifles like the Rem 700.
What round would you use?

If you want a factory rifle, the Savage F-Class and Palma target rifles are one of the few choices. Even more important than the cartridge is the barrel length. A cartridge like the .308 Winchester that is marginal out of a 22" barrel picks up 200+fps out of a 30" barrel and becomes more capable at extreme ranges. The owner of my LGS, a rifle Distinguished Master competitor, says that most of the long-range shooters he knows have gone to factory rifles such as the Savages, because you get as much practical performance as a custom that costs twice as much to build.

IMHO

 

[allaroundhunter]

If I were trying to build a 1000 yard rifle, I probably wouldn't go with either cartridge, especially if I was planning to reload. Maybe a .338 Lapua?

Doh....

The .338 Lapua

......

To the OP... A .338 Lapua is not needed...for purely target shooting, anything over .308 is not needed. Yes, a .300 WM will shoot a little flatter, but it will also recoil more and cost more to shoot. To be honest, there is not many factory loads that will do well at 1,000 yards. That distance pretty much requires you to handload. The .308 has the best factory match loads available though, if you are dead set on not hand loading.

I am getting into the long range game, and a friend shoots 155 gr Lapua Scenars at 2,950 FPS in his .308.... He hits 10" plates at 1,000 with more consistency than anyone that I have seen shooting a .300 WM or a .338 Lapua. The reason being, the .308 is plenty, and many people shooting more gun just buy the gun thinking that it will do all the work...

Stick with a .308, one of the 6 or 6.5mm's, or a 7mm/.284 round. No reason to go up any more.

And to whoever suggested .50 BMG. Definitely not necessary, though it is a fun round.... It also is not available for common actions which the OP requested.

 

[Derek Zeanah]

Here is an article where I took Zak's long-range course. With a .308. In the opening paragraph I talk about the kinds of adjustments for wind you have to make with a .308. If you're shooting 10" targets, that's a lot of room for error.

Adjusting for range is simple: shoot a consistent round, know its BC and velocity, lase the target to get range, and dial it in. If you're still > 10% above the subsonic crossover it's all easy-peasy.

The problem is wind. And some calibers offer better BCs than you can get in a .308. You don't need them at 100 yards. But they sure can help.

 

[Zak Smith]

If you don't need ubiquitously-available factory LR match ammo, go .260 Remington or 6.5 Creedmoor.

 

[xfyrfiter]

A friend and I did some creedmore shooting a long time ago, his favorite was 50/110 and a 42 inch barrel 18 inch bull at 1k was doable with regularity and a lot of fun. Man I can't even see 1k anymore lol. His rifle as I couldn't afford one at the time. Nowadays I think I would go with a Savage 111, or something of the sort in 308 and 1in 10 twist. Good glass is your friend at anything over 500 yd.

 

[RmB]

How about .300 Win mag?
Use a muzzle brake!