My Future Bench Rifle

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Looks like your going down the path I just completed. Start with the basics, you have a Savage 110 Long action. Get everything squared up if you have a machinist buddy. You picked your caliber and it can get you to 1000yds with work. Find the nicest aftermarket barrel you can afford. I was broke at the time so I got a ER Shaw, of which Im mildly satisfied with. Get good mounts which generally dont break the bank. Scopes will be your problem, your 80$ will work fine to 200 or maybe 300, but wont do you much good past that. Cheap glass is cheap for a reason. No working around that one. And be prepared to roll your own. factory ammo isnt consistent enough for what your looking at-
 
Nevermind it was pointless to post this up, Admins, please delete this post.
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Why?

You asked about using your rifle for benchrest, and people who've been there and done that have offered up their experiences with long range shooting and where your gear and caliber selection may or may not be optimal for your desire to hit a target at 1000 yards.

Perhaps what you should do is attend a local match with your current gear, and let us know how you fare?
 
I asked for this post to be deleted because I didn't step in here to be told my set-up is cheap and not worth a damn. I didn't come and ask people for advice, I posted for show and tell.
 
Look, LJ: you posted your plans on a mostly-public forum, and you got some good advice. You can choose to take it or not, but just because you don't like it, doesn't change the quality of the advice.

There are very real differences between top shelf optics and cheap imports. It is true that inexpensive optics are getting better, but the differences will be magnified the further you shoot- and 1,000 yards definitely qualifies.

Now, if you don't like the responses, just stop reading them.
 
Nevermind it was pointless to post this up
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I wouldn't say it was pointless; we all have wild harebrained ideas every now and then. It's good to get feedback and take what you can out of it.
It's when you can't handle a little constructive criticism that makes the efforts of everyone's posts pointless.
 
And the barrel on it right now is set up for .243, it's not the barrel I inted to use. However I can't get the discoloration to go away.
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You can't get offended if you post on a forum. By posting, you've allowed everyone to give their opinion. You're getting these responses because your idea far-fetched. Nobody is trying to offend or make fun of you. Nobody is trying to tell you that you're cheap. There's nothing wrong with having an $80 scope... A 1000 yard benchrest rifle ISN"T a suitable purpose. Just like there is nothing wrong with the 8mm cartrige...as long as you use it for suitable purposes. A 1000 yard benchrifle isn't a suitable purpose.

The project is essentially like trying to turn a Pontiac Sunfire into a dragster. Is a Sunfire an appropriate platform for dragster....no. Can you sink enough money into the project....sure. Is it going to repeatably produce great results....not likely. Is there anything wrong with a Pontiac Sunfire....no. It's a perfectly fine vehicle....for its intended purpose. Show up to a drag strip and try to race in a Sunfire and you're going to get similar reactions from people who know drag racing.
 
LJ... No one here is telling you that you are cheap and your stuff is "crap". What they are telling you is that your equipment is not going to be appropriate for 1k yard shooting.

Look at it this way. The Army and Marine Corp both dont even spec their M24/40 sniper rifles with an effective range of 1000 yards. And thats with scopes that cost well over 1000 dollars. Good marksmen have pushed this but that shows you what it takes to get there.

My advice would be to save up a little bit and buy a decent scope. You dont need to spend a whole lot of money to get a decent scope. Buy a used Bushnell Elite or something like that. Use that scope and get familiar with your .243. It should get you out to several hundred yards fairly easily. After you can repeatedly make good hits at 5-600 yards then think about re-barreling it for a better cartridge.

There's a big difference from shooting at 300 yards where the bullet drops a dozen inches or so and 1k yards where it drops dozens of feet.
 
i wouldn't say your idea is hairbrained, but there are better ways to get to 1,000 yards.

understanding that budget is an issue, you might just want to keep your barrel and have it cut and recrowned, restock the gun or at least float your barrel, and bed the action. that would cost you less than $150 and improve your accuracy. that would probably get you out to at least 600 yards where you can hone your skills.

can you let us know what your budget is? that might help us lead you to some good bang-for-the-buck options.

i just got into long range shooting a little bit too and put together a rig for less than $1500 that gave me 1.25" groups at 300 yards on the first time out with factory ammo so it doesn't have to cost a fortune to get good (notice i said good, not great) accuracy. unfortunately, accuracy is a function of dollars. it takes good stuff to get good accuracy. it takes lots of money to make (and buy) good stuff.

if you really want to rebarrel for 1000 yards, i'd go with 260 Remington if you reload, .308 if you don't since there are the most choices for factory match ammo with it.

as for optics, yours might work just fine. eventually you'll probably want to upgrade though. a good, clear, repeatable scope that holds zero is crucial.

you have a good base to start with. i'm sure you'll make it work. good luck!
 
Sorry for going off the handle. The stock is already floated and I can hit a target 450 yards just fine. You all are naysayying my scope for being 80 bucks but I bought it from CTD. I looked on Leapers website and it costs 150 or so when I checked a month ago. I might just ditch the idea for this rifle being a 1000 yarder, and just rebarrel for 7.92x57 and modify the magazine to fit the round and make it a tactical rifle that's different from the rest.
 
The scope may be just fine for lots of stuff: it's just not uncommon for distance rifles to wear scopes that cost more than the cost of the base rifle. My recently deceased friend Byron had a PSS (about an $800 rifle) wearing a Nightforce optic and Badger base and rings. The optics setup was worth more than double the cost of the rifle.
 
And again, sorry for going off the handle, it's been nothing but a b#"!$ quitting smoking and my temper has been boiling at the surface. What got me was the fact that no one really realized that I could've made the 8mm work for my purpose, I have a couple friends that would be more than willing to help me develop a loading for the gun and cartridge itself to make it more capable for the task I want it to accomplish. But I didn't clarify that either...
 
Oh, I don't doubt it's possible. It's just that a lot of people who've bought 8mm Mausers did it for the cheap ammunition. But if you're going for distance, you can't use the cheap ammunition, in which case it's cheaper to use another caliber.

If you have more money than sense (something I aspire to, hopefully sooner than later), sure, go be different and free. Hell, load up 9x39mm and find a way to hit targets at 1000 meters with them. But if you feel the need to use Leaper's or BSA for a 1000 yard rifle, you probably don't have the resources to really make a distance 8x57mm.

Just my thoughts,

John
 
I never dogged your whimsical idea at all. I could have, but we have all been there, and this is the high road so we tend to just try to offer good sound advice in a constructive manner. But I was pretty close to right on about your scope being similar to my Center Point in terms of quality. Just thought I would point this out. Your Leapers Scope at Optics Planet I already told you about what I think of your scope and it was no a bad opinion. Go back and re-read it. I will tell you that my new Nikon will blow it away though and it too is not enough scope for 1000 yards! It will get you to 600 on a magnum rifle pretty easily and will teach you how to do it, so that when you can afford a proper tool for the job it will be easier to use it.

Mikey!
 
Better yet... just post this thread in forum devoted to long range shooting. Try the 6MMBR forum. There's a wealth of information over there.
 
LJ-MosinFreak-Buck said:
And again, sorry for going off the handle, it's been nothing but a b#"!$ quitting smoking and my temper has been boiling at the surface. What got me was the fact that no one really realized that I could've made the 8mm work for my purpose, I have a couple friends that would be more than willing to help me develop a loading for the gun and cartridge itself to make it more capable for the task I want it to accomplish. But I didn't clarify that either...
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Its all good man. Using the 8mm for 1k yards would be pretty cool. With some load development I bet it would do alright. Surplus stuff wouldnt have the consistency to pull it off with any sort of accuracy but some good handloads would help out a lot.

Ive been where you are buddy. When I was 18 I had a Ruger #1 7mm mag that I wanted to shoot long range with. So I went to Walmart and bought a 6-18x50mm scope for 170 bucks (cant remember the brand, probably BSA).

The scope was fine for the ranges standard 200 yard line. One day I was able to get over to the 1k yard where the NRA was holding a thing to help site in rifles. I got to check out some targets at 1k yards and they were all fuzzy. Looking through the instructors scope showed me the difference between my scope and one needed for distance shooting. It was a night and day difference.

I still stand by my suggestion to keep shooting the .243 for a while longer and buy the optics before re-barreling the gun. Many of the competition shooters use rounds between 6-7mm for a reason. Use the load development you were gonna do with the 8mm on your .243 and I bet you will be surprised.
 
Do you know the twist rate of the .243 barrel you are using now? Depending on how fast it turns you may be able to do more with it in .243 than you think. 6mm(.243) has a decent selection of long range bullets. Yes while switching to 8mm would be fun you could also run it with proper weighted .243 bullets and not do too bad either. I suggest rather than rebarrel you look at reloading. Reloading and accurate shooting go together. You might be surprised what is in that Savage barrel if you load up decent bullets with the load your rifle likes best. Not as custom but it may be a better option.

About the scope. Don't take it one way or another. It isn't a personal attack. I went through them as well. I also thought they were great when I used them. I have moved to others since then but if it works for you thats all cool. The problem here is that you have a lot of guys who shoot relatively competitively. To compete on a decent size level, in basically anything, takes a lot of money. Those last drops of performance cost a ton of money. Shooting is no different. When you use the term bench rifle a lot of people instantly go into the high dollar mind set that they have experienced and are trying to tell you that the path is one that costs big bucks. I hope the scope works out well for you.

If you head to a website like SWFA you will see that $80 is on the fairly low side of the price range as far as optics go. Real nice scopes are expensive. We all know how it is to spend a good chunk of money on an item. That $80 can mean a lot. I understand that not everyone has a couple thousand to toss around on whatever toy they want. That said, in the long run, you tend to be better off buying the nicest scope you can afford. The things take a lot of abuse, especially on the big boomers that shoot at 1000 yards. Just take it for what it is worth that if you do it again, try to spend as much on the scope as the rifle. I know that sounds weird but once you do you will see the difference and be glad you did so. Just a heads up for the next time around.
 
As of right now, I'm looking into ways of modifying the magazine to be able to take the 8x57mm cartridge. I think I'm just going to get a heavier barrel chambered for 8mm (if I can modify the magazine, because I'd still like to be able to use the magazine with the 8mm) and make it a unique tactical sniper. I think I'll just save up my pennies and get a set up more warmly welcomed by the folks at THR.
 
LJ,

I'm a little curious: why 8mm? I mean, I can understand if you want a hunting rifle, and a caliber that can deliver a heavier bullet. But otherwise...why 8mm?
 
I'm just looking to be different with a round that I already plan on purchasing anyways, (what with my Turkish mauser). You see everyone with .308's, .223, 5.56, what have you, I just want to have a stronger round to do what I want with.
 
I have shot a military rifle, not service rifle, but old, once issued military rifle course at our local range for sometime, until they closed the range.

The 8 mil was the most popular cartridge at these shoots, now, we only shot to 400y but getting an old German or Italian on a 20" gong at 400y is a trick!

The 7.62X54 was one of the best behind our 30-06's. BTW...surplus ammo only was allowed, talk about tears!
 
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