Getting into long range shooting, need advice

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Bob_Konysh

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I'm wanting to start long range(500+ meters) shooting and I'm debating which rifle to buy, the only one that i realy like are several grand. I was mainly considering 308 Win. but arn't set in stone.

These are some of the rifle i was considering:

Springfield M1A - like them but they are too expensive for what you get.
Savage 10FP(friend has one fired it several times) - nice trigger, but extractors seem picky
Remington 700 - can be made nice, but need trigger work
Winchester 70 - about the same as a rem 700, and i would perfer the 700
Ruger M77 - hate ruger even though i own a 10/22
Steyr ProHunter - like the detatchable magazine, the proper placed safty, have good price on them right now in cdnn, but being steyr it will be harder to upgrade or repair
Romanian PSL - not very upgradeable, to short of stock
RRA A4 Varmint - 223 not good for long distance

anything im forgeting, can i hear any of your sugestion, or am i horibly miss informed on anything.
 
Service Rifle competition.

Your Rifle: Either an M1 Garand from www.odcmp.com ($500) or a good AR15 ($1000). Ammo's cheaper for the AR15.

Then you will need a good sling ($50), some sort of ground pad ($0-$100), a sweatshirt ($?) and a left-hand glove ($? - could be a ski glove). Eventually you will want a shooting coat ($300) and a good spotting scope and stand ($500). Search for posts by Steve Smith here on THR.

Go watch, and maybe shoot, a few matches before buying anything. Most clubs will loan you a rifle and an Obi-Wan to help you get started.

Shooting a few boxes of ammo against yourself does not compare to shooting an over the course match against scores of other shooters. You also get comaraderie, new friends and a satisfaction in your shooting ability.

There is nothing like a little competition to bring out the best in a man.
 
If you just want to do some distance work and are not worried about trying to conform to the rules of any type of competition I strongly recommend you take a look at a Remington 700 sendero in .300 Win Mag.

The M1A or AR15s are fine rifles but a good bolt action is much easier to be accurate with.

.300 Win Mag is alot better than .308, it shoots alot flatter. The military uses .308 because they don't have a choice.

You don't need a detachable mag or anything like that. Get a remington 700 with a heavy barrel (free floating) and a synthetic stock. Get a harris bipod and a heavy sling. Put a Leupold, Zeiss, Swarovski, or similar scope on it (10 power at least) and you'll be good to go. Get someone to do a trigger job on it if you need to. The rest is up to the shooter and not the rifle.
 
If you do go the hunting rifle route - the rig suggested by mattw is a very fine choice - please check out the "F" class competitions at many clubs.

I just can't over-emphasize the value competition offers you to connect to other shooters.

At the end of the day, you're really only "competing" against yourself. But you are scoring, pulling targets, waiting in line and BSing with people inside and outside your state who are just like you (if you're here on THR).
 
Long range shooting is easy to get into with various types of rifles.

Considering you are actually going to make a purchase to get into long range shooting, it would be a good idea to evaluate what kind of shooting you plan to do. If you simply plan on shooting at the range or out on open public land to test your skills, then a decent scoped rifle in .308 would work out the best.

But if you plan on shooting in matches, then you should probably decide what types of match shooting you would like to participate in.

NRA High Power probably has the most venues, but you will sink quite a bit of equipment to get started. A good AR15 configured for Service Rifle high power, a shooting coat, and a spotting scope will be your minimum pieces of equipment (aside from good ammo). That alone will cost you at least $1500 (and that's being generous).

Considering F-Class is now an NRA recognized tournament type, I think getting a bolt gun in .308 with a good scope would be the best option. Considering that there are lots of informal 'tactical' matches and prone mid/long range matches where a scoped bolt rifle in .308 with a bipod will fit in perfectly, along with F-Class (F-T/R), this will be the 'cheapest' type of long range shooting to get into. All you need is a rifle, scope, bipod or front rest, and ammo, and you're good to go. No need to worry about shooting coats, range carts, and all the various knick-knacks of NRA high power.

Of course, I'm not trying to disuade you from high power service rifle. I shoot NRA high power service rifle and it's the only 'official' competitive shooting I actively participate in, and I love the sport. I suggest you go to a match or two and spectate. Talk to other shooters. Depending on the match organizers, they may even have a rifle on hand that you can borrow to shoot in the match.
 
I recommend a savage. I think the extractor problems were over hyped. I have a 10fp w/hs precision stock and love it. Later on I may rebarrel from
.308 to .260, and its all work I can do myself.
From what Ive seen and read, good gear is important, but practice at those extended ranges is what really helps.
 
Bob,

I'll second the advice of checking out the rifles being used in a nearby F Class competition. The .308 is a good all-around choice, although there are much better choices for 1,000 yard shooting. If you decide to go with a .308, take a good look at the FN SPR. For about $1400, you get a McMillan stock, a 20MOA picatinny rail, and a very accurate chrome-lined barrel. Then, be prepared to drop another $600+ into a halfway decent scope.

Don
 
Im not necessarily interested in compeating in the f-class comps, my kind of compitition is between me and my friends.

But i wouldn't mind going and seeing some of the rilfes. Does anyone know of any going on in the northern colorado area?

All your exotic calibers sugestions kind of become unreasonable when i look at my poor college student bank account, i was more interested in just rifle selection.
 
My 700

DSC00505.jpg

I asked around quite a bit before I decided on this configuration. It's a Sendero, 7mm RM. Burris 8x32x44 on .020 offset bases, Leupold rings. 162 grain A-Max with WW cases, Fed magnum match primers, RL-22.

The 7mm has a very high B.C. and will stay supersonic to about 1,300 yards. You can't get enough travel with most scopes to have sufficient elevation for 1,000 yards. Magnification depends on what your intended target is. Anything over 20x is subject to severe mirage on warm days.

Depending on new vs used, you can probably get something like this for a little over 1k, maybe $1,300. If it's just informal popping at targets, a .308 with something like a 3-12 or 4x16 would work.
 
What sort of long range shooting?

If you just want to learn to shoot long range, rock along to a Palma type rifle club. These guys are long range experts and if it anything like in Australia you will be able to pick up an older, but still very useable long range rig for a couple hundred bucks or so. I'd be reluctant to plonk down big money until you really get to know what you want. You will learn a lot from these guys and have fun as well. very satisfying.

By the way, the 308 is no slouch up to 900-1000 yards.
 
I agree with 4fingermick. If long range shooting is what you want, check out a Palma club. Those guys (and Highpower shooters in general I've found) are plenty willing to help out somebody interested in the game. Might as well take them up on their offers to help you out and let you shoot, it's only polite.

As a Highpower shooter (and poor college kid) I highly recommend a Service Rifle ready AR-15. They're accurate, easy to shoot (easier than a bolt gun IMO) and the heavier .223 loadings have plenty of steam to mkae 600-700 yard shots. It's what we use in across the course matches and I really don't feel like the .308 shooters have an big advantage over me at 600. (Well, except at Perry, where most of the .308 shooters (and many of the .223 ones too) know how to read the wind, whereas I'm not so good at it... :( )

Just look around, take your time and decide what you want to do with the rifle. Then pick your poison.

Oh, btw, the RRA is a great rifle. As long as you get a 1-8 or 1-7 twist for the .223, you're in good shape. Next step, reloading gear... :cool:
 
you can still shoot and have tons of fun with your friends with 223rem. the 80 grain sierra MK are plenty accurate at 1000 yrds. the primary advantage of the other calibers is they don't get pushed around by wind as much. i think i learned more about shooting in the wind with a less competitive bullet just because the changes are more noticeable.

anyways, it's definitely cheaper than a lot of other guns. another option is to pick up a cheap rem700 in 243win
 
+1 for the Remington 700 Sendero I have it in 7 mag, 25-06 and had the stainless fluted version in .308. All three were great shooters. I "adjusted" the triggers myself (very easy to do on a 700). The 25-06 also makes a great varmit gun for 'dogs way out there.
 
Bob,

We can demo most of the rifles mentioned in this thread, and some others. Send me an email and maybe you can meet up with us the next time we do a long-range day.

-z
 
Zak
yeah, ive read the entire practical long-range rifle shooting articles. i thought they were very well writen and discriptive. Ive also read several reviews on sniper central.

does anyone have any other web resources that are good?
 
Take a look at this ballistic comparison between .300 Win Mag (my suggestion) ,which is not exotic at all so it shouldn't hurt the wallet, and .308 Win.

http://www.remington.com/products/a...e_ballistics_results.aspx?data=RM300W7*R308W7

The .300 Win Mag has a much flatter long range trajectory.

Also take a look at some of the other ballistic charts on reminton's web site, you'll find some good info that might help you find something with a little less of an arc than .308.

Now that I look at those charts I change my suggestion... .270 Win!
 
Skill, not flat trajectory, is the crux of making long-range hits, and 300WM is more expensive both in ammunition and recoil "cost." A new LR shooter should buy something he can shoot a lot.
 
Id recommend .308, thats what im doing! I reload for it now too but you can get match ammo for decent prices. .300's are expensive and kick like crazy, even if its not "exotic".
 
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