Long Distance Target Shooting Rifle

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Tmilburn

member
Joined
Mar 4, 2011
Messages
50
Location
Palm Coast, FL
I am looking for a bolt action rifle that can shoot groups at about 2-300 yards pretty accurately that wont break the bank (or the ammo budget). I already have a Bushy AR that im using for up to 100 yards. I was thinking about doing a .223 possibly. So I could use the power of bulk buying to keep ammo costs down, as well as possibly starting to reload if I had 2 guns of the same caliber. Any ideas for a good gun or possibly a better caliber. I also know that if I go with a .223 I would possibly have to change bullet weight in order to make it accurate at that distance. Any Suggestions would be appreciated.
 
Any of the top line bolt action rifles in .223 with a good scope will do quite well.
My personal recomendation would be a Remington 700 followed by a Savage 12 series.
But also look at the CZ's and Tika's as well.

You will want a variable scope up to around 20 or 24 power for the best results.
 
Savage in 6 BR. Difficult to beat in terms of accuracy. 300 meters isnt really long distance, but that is a different debate.

Shooting a .22 LR at 300 is a very long distance. :)
 
Thanks man, I was looking at the savages online I know they are accurate. I had a .300 win mag that was a tac driver but unfortunately with the cost of ammo it had to go. That and it was mainly for hunting and not much fun to shoot at the range. I have seen good things about the CZ's too though. I see this being an expensive project but a pretty fun one in the long run.
 
Seriously one of the Savages in 6 BR and please start reloading. Ammo prices that way fall off a cliff.
Very accurate, and you can swap barrels in a jiffy. Want to shoot .308 its a ten minute swap. .260 Rem? Ten minutes. ...
I have a 110 and LRPV that I love and about half a dozen barrels..
 
Possibly the savage 6.8 with a different barrell. The 6.8 ammo seems to be a bit pricey to shoot factory loads for too awful long. The cheapest i could find the 6.8 br ammo on line for was 25-30 dollars a box. That was part of my problem with my .300 was ammo price. But I guess if i start reloading that wont be as much of a factor.
 
A .223 varmint rifle is a very good purchase for accurate shooting. However, many bolt action rifles chambered in .223 come equipped with 1:12 twists, and you will have difficulty stabilizing bullets over 55-60gr in weight. If you want to shoot the real accurate bullets, such as the 69gr, 75gr and 77gr bullets, it would do you well to locate a 1:7 or 1:8 twist barrel.
With ammunition, you have to consider the quality of ammunition as a factor of accuracy. XM193 and M855 are not very accurate when you compare them to Mk262Mod1.

A .308 might be a better option for more long range capability, especially when you introduce external variables like wind.

Whatever you decide, definitely listen to what the others have said and start reloading. It'll make your life a lot easier. I save a ton of money by reloading my 7.62x51 brass.
 
If 300 yards is the max range that you will shoot, the .223 may well be enough for you. If you get a rifle with a 1:9 twist or faster, you'll be able to shoot the heavier bullets too.

How accurate are you trying to get? If you are looking to really push your skills and the abilities of your rifle, I doubt that you'll get what you want from any "bulk" bullet.

Personally, I just sold my .223 bolt gun and bought another .308. The rounds buck the wind better and I just wind up with more hits on the target with the .308 than I do with the .223 at longer ranges.
 
Thanks guys I didnt think about the fact that it is hard to get the kind of accuracy im looking for out of bulk ammo. I guess that is why I need to work on my reloading setup before I buy my next project rifle. I am looking at 1000-1500 for a gun, another 350-700 for a nice scope, and on top of that high end factory ammo that is 20-30 dollars/box of 20. I think I would be better suited to buy my reloading kit first and learn about that then buy a nice rifle then I wont have to worry as much about high ammo prices.
 
You can enjoy shooting paper with excellent results using a Leupold 3x9x40. They are extremely crisp optics. I reload so my choice of cartridge is primarily the 7mm rem. mag. at about $9 for a box of decent quality bullets. I also shoot the .270 win., as it is nearly as flat shooting as the 7 mags.. I have Savages, Remingtons and Ruger for my high powered rifles, and all perform surprisingly better than most would think. You don't need to invest a fortune to enjoy shooting out to those distances. A Leupold 3x9x40 will do the trick for both hunting and paper punching on a production rifle. My rifle's will group at 200 yds. as good as a custom M98 my buddy shoots, which he has thousands invested into. Myself and my Son's have taken clean shots on our small Arizona whitetail deer with the above set up's out to as far as 689 yds..
Enjoy yourself and shoot the cartridge your most comfortable with. Keep it real, and you'll be able to get plenty of bang for your buck!
 
The range I was a member of in Seattle had factory rifle benchrest matches every month, with no rifle modifications but bedding/barrel floating, and lightening the trigger pull in the factory housing with no additional levers. So basically out of the box. Scopes were limited to 20X, and the only single shots allowed were falling blocks, etc. The shooting was at 200 and 300 yards. After the dust settled most guys were shooting Remington .223's in one form or another. Since Savage has improved their quality they may be doing well if the matches are still being held.

If you want the best accuracy and not having to rely on what some factory decides you need start reloading too. The startup can be a bit spendy, but the price of ammunition is going through the roof and not likely to come down. Figure the price of 5 or 10 boxes of factory ammo for equipment to start, then buy components and learn how to reload. it's really the only way to go.

BTW guys showed up with everything from .222's (not enough steam) to .300 Win Mags (too much recoil and not enough accuracy from a factory rifle), and the .223's kicked tail. Some .22-250's were tried, but after being whup up on by .223's their shooters either got .223's or never came back.

When I was shooting a guy shooting a .223 shot a sub inch ten shot group at 300 yards with 52/53 gr bullets and a good load.... :D
 
Nice... yeah .223 and .308 seems to e the most common advice I have gotten and it seems to be that im going to need a factory rifle with a pretty nice scope and a couple hundred dollars in start up costs for reloading....I like the .223 round because of limited recoil and the fact that ammo is cheaper. I liked the .300 win mag but the ammo was just too much for range time shooting. I used it to hunt hog for a couple years and sold it. You guys have given me alot to think about.
 
AR

Instead of buying a new high priced rifle why not invest in a top grade varmint upper and trigger for your AR. If you shop around you'll have money for reloading equipment left.
Could even go with a different caliber , such as 6.5 Grendel.
 
Well, my gun is a carbon reciever and i dont know if it is compatible with any of the other upper recievers as "supposedly" the carbon receivers are not milspec.
 
A high quality barrel in 223/556 (even in 16") is ok for 300y if stopping power isn't a big factor. For something more exotic, I'd consider looking into 6mmAR and getting a good trigger for your lower.

If you're curious if a generic upper will fit, take it to a gunsmith/store and test fit it.

Plenty of good bolt guns out there too...
 
Instead of buying a new high priced rifle why not invest in a top grade varmint upper and trigger for your AR. If you shop around you'll have money for reloading equipment left.
Could even go with a different caliber , such as 6.5 Grendel.
Click to expand...

But for the sake of economy I would not recommend the Grendel.


The rifle you have will do what you want it to with decent ammo and optics.





o
 
I am looking for the same kind of rifle and the CZ 527 Varmint is at the top of my list.

It has a great trigger and a heavy 24" barrel. The twist rate is 1:9, so it will shoot bullets up to 62 (and maybe 69) grains.

Here is a good write up.
http://www.snipercentral.com/cz527.htm
 
I think my first step will be going to a gun shop and checking the fitment of a different upper..... if that work then back to the research board to see what thats gonna cost and what I need other than just the upper. If it doesnt then ill shoot my .223 with some match grade ammo and see if i cant dial it in to be a tac driver at 2-300 yds. Then my final and most expensive move will be to begin my new project and either way you guys have convinced me to start reloading.
 
I have a Savage 12 LRPV. I had it out shooting today. Every time I take it out I get a little better with it. I only have a quarter mile range to shoot on but at times they open up a 600 yard range at the club. I will be making it out to shoot that distance soon I hope.

I got my groups down to 1"-2" at a quarter of a mile today and held it for a while even after the wind picked up (a lot). Someone had a ruler set up at the target area I suppose to check to see how much drop they were getting. I nailed that ruler and knocked it down and it turned sideways toward me. I nailed it again with only the side of the ruler toward me. I had water bottles jumping all over the place and I was putting holes through a board that was only about 2" wide.

This time a year ago I had never shot a rifle that far. The brush and trees are thick here too. It took me a little while to learn but I've only had that rifle out about 10 times and every time I learn a little something new. Today I started learning to read the wind.

I thought about getting a 22-250 but the barrel life made me choose the .223. With heavy bullets a person can get out to 1000 yards with a .223. That's another thing I learned today. My 1:9 twist barrel will spin a 75 gr. bullet just fine. 1:7 is better for long distances though (like 1000 yards).

You shouldn't have any problems with a 1:12 at 300 yards. I will say that a dedicated long range shooter like the Savage 12 will do better than an AR setup for long distance. You can get an AR to shoot well but the stock Savages will do it right out of the box with off the shelf ammo. I'm not saying there aren't other rifles that will do great things but I know my Savage will do it. I've shot 700's and AR's and IMO the Savage is the best choice. There are other rifles I'd like to try like the Tikka's, the T/C's, the CZ's and even the Saiga's. I thought about buying a .223 Saiga today. People say they can be made to shoot very well. But the cheapest way to a great shooting rifle is still a Savage IMO. The LRPV is not a cheap rifle though. I bought mine used and it hadn't been shot more than 10 times at most. I think the guy who had it didn't break the barrel in well or something. It has shot great since I bought it though. I don't know what his problem was. His loss and my gain I guess. But I saw another 12 with a heavy barrel and a single shot today. It was right at $1000 but that price would likely come down quite a bit though.
 
Yeah all seem like great rifles and as I said earlier in the post I sort of have a soft spot for savages because thats what my first .300 win mag hunting rifle was. Only time (and money) will tell what I decide to so. First stop is to go cruise my local gun shw after my foot/ankle injury heals and see what kind of deals I find there.
 
For less money than any new bolt gun buy a new upper with a heavy target barrel. I recently spent $450 on a new upper with a 20" Wilson heavy barrel and am getting 100 yard groups in the .3's. The barrel is guaranteed for .5" accuracy at 200. I'm sure it will do it with good ammo, but it needs a better trigger puller than me. I'm happy with what I'm getting.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

H
  • Locked
What caliber for flat long-distance shooting?
Replies
19
Views
5K
Smoke
S
S
  • Locked
Is it possible for a rifle to be more accurate at distance than 100 yards?
2 3 4 5 6 7
Replies
163
Views
10K
denton
D
S
  • Locked
Shooting platform distance from target question
Replies
3
Views
774
BCRider
BCRider
B
  • Locked
Custom Rifle Project
Replies
10
Views
678
TonyAngel
T
M
  • Locked
Target Rifle
2 3 4
Replies
81
Views
4K
williamthedog
W
Back
Top