Chezball, I can understand the desire to get a do-all rifle and scope combo for under $500 that will take deer/elk AND shoot sub MOA at 1,000 yards, but in all honesty, unless you are buying used and getting a VERY good deal, I don't think that this is practically possible. And if your rifle won't shoot sub MOA, there isn't much point in trying to hit something at 1,000 yards.
However, if you are willing to invest between $1,000 and $1,500, I think you can get something that will fit the bill very nicely in either .308 or .30-06, and have a very nice rifle indeed.
In my own case, I bought:
•
Remington 700 VSF .308 - $831.00 (MSRP $1,185.00 for the left handed version, $1,159.00 for right handed; mine is LH)
•
Leupold VX-III 4.5-14x50mm scope w/ B&C reticle - $530.00 (MSRP $1,005.00)
• Leupold bases, rings, and flip up end caps - approximately $125.00 (maybe less, I don't remember for sure).
The point is, I got almost $2,200 worth of rifle and scope for less than $1,400 (not counting bases, rings, and end caps), and after having done a little post purchase research, it seems that I didn't get any kind of unusual pricing.
NOBODY sells a VX-III scope at full retail, and that seems to hold true for the rifle itself, so it's not like I scored some special kind of deal.
My son bought a
Savage 10FP-HS Precision for $800, which retails for $864, and a
Bushnell 4200 Elite 6-24x40mm for about $400. So again, for a price falling between $1,000 and $1,500, you've got an accurate rifle scope combo that can be used for both kinds of shooting you're interested in.
With firearms, it goes the same as for most things... ...you tend to get what you paid for. If you're willing to spend just a little more than your initial estimate, you'll have something that not only will shoot the tits off a mother flea at 100 yards, you'll also have a truly fine piece of equipment that will give you satisfaction to own and look at. As others have pointed out here, you CAN get an accurate rifle scope combo for $1,000 or less, but what will your long term ownership experience be like?
Like most people, I don't have a 1,000 yard range immediately nearby to go and test myself, the nearest one being
Tac Pro Shooting Center about 80 or 90 miles from where I live, so I don't truly know what my rifle will do at that distance, or for that matter, what these aging eyes of mine will do. But at 100 yards, if I'm on my game, I get 3/8" - 1/2" groups out of it with regular consistency, and the .308 round is adequate to most North American game, including elk, if you place your shot well and use the right bullets.
Keep in mind that, if you want to do 1,000 yard shooting, you're going to have to add accessories like a 20 MOA tapered scope base to help your scope reach out that far. However, with a rig like the two I've described above, you can expect to shoot reliably out to 600 yards, which is a lot further than you would think it is, and beyond which it would be ethical to shoot at an animal anyway. And, you can shoot out to 1,000 yards if you pony up for some extra equipment, and a whole LOT of range time. And, as Guntech pointed out with his excellent picture at the bottom of page one of this thread of what 1,000 yards actually looks like, it's intimidating as hell, and a very long distance indeed.
I guess I'm a long winded old poot.