Suggestions for long range rifle

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Guitargod1985

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Im searching for a long range target rifle, but I'm new to this and open to suggestions.

First, let me start off with my criteria:

-Must be chambered for non-intermediate round (i.e.: no .223s; preferably .308, .30-06, or even .270)

-Must be drilled and tapped for scope; iron sights are not required

-Bolt action preferred, but semiauto is an option

-Under or around $1500 for the rifle w/out optics

That's pretty much it for my preferences thus far. There are a few guns I have had my eye on. Any feedback on these would also be greatly appreciated:

-Armalite AR-10 (.308)

-Tikka T3 Tactical (.308 w/ 20" barrel)

-Remington 700 (in .308, not sure which particular model yet)

-Steyr Pro Hunter (.270 with 22" bbl)

This is just a list of rifles I have looked into a bit, it is by no means an exhaustive list. I would like to be able to obtain at least MOA accuracy out of whichever gun I end up getting. I would also like to add a bipod, if not already included, and I want to do a paint job later on.

Also, why does the Tikkat T3 seem to be an arm and a leg more expensive than anything other than maybe a Sako or Accuracy International gun? What's so special about it? Thanks.
 
Would suggest you go with one of the above rifles in .260 Remington, .280 Remington or 7mm/08 since those calibers have been beating the panties off the highly overrated .30 calibers for years now.

:cool:
 
6.5-284 is a pretty popular long range round with the benchrest and F-class shooters. It is a very accurate round and has won a lot of 1000yd matches. Ammo is not as common for this cartridge as it is for the ones you mentioned. But if you're going for long range accuracy, you should be handloading anyway. Is this an option?

If you want to learn more about long range target shooting, look at 6mmBR.com
 
Gg1985,

Suggest the FN SPR in .308. Forget about a .270, as there is a serious lack of high quality, high BC bullets suited for LR target use available in that caliber. While the .30-06 is a good cartridge for LR shooting, there are no currently available factory rifles that I am aware of that are suited for LR target shooting (A custom built rifle in this cartridge will cost you more than you want to spend).

Don
 
What do you consider long range?

And what discipline are you thinking about shooting? F-class? NRA Long Range? In either of those I would look at what the winners are shooting.
 
Savage F/TR in 308, or Savage F-Class in 6.5-284, or Savage F-Class in 6BR. All under $1000, and I believe several of these factory stock rifles placed in the top 5 (F/TR) at the F Class nationals this year.
 
First of all, please pardon my punctuation and spelling as I am on my blackberry.

All good advice so far thamk you. Blackfork I am not sure what type of long range discipline I will be going with. To be honest the only thing I have ever shot in this class was an AR 10 in .308 and my buddy's
.30-06 hunting rifle. I am very new at non intermediate rifle calibers but I was thinking about shooting in the 400 to 1000 yard range, possibly only up to 800 yards or so.

So I gather that the 7mm/08 cartridge is a highly accurate one. I may just go with this. I will be checking out some of the rifles and cartridges that you all have suggested, but feel free to add other suggestions.

Mr white, I currently do not have the option of reloading because my space is at a premium and I just moved back home to attend school. When I get out of college this will definitely be something that I will do.
 
DPMS LR-260! :D

ETA: The THR capitalization filter sucks at determining whether proper usage is being adhered to. Why TF will it not let me capitalize a four letter abbreviated name that is common in the industry, but THR can be capitalized properly?

ETA 2: I went from "Post Quick Reply" to "Advanced" and it let me capitalize properly.

Odd. Sorry to hijack the thread!
 
Mr. White has given you great advice. Talk to some of the Folks who are actually doing the long distance thing every weekend. As you may have noticed here - this rifle forum has a lot of Military Accolytes who worship at the military Golden Calf and are aware of only military calibers. That's OK if that's what you want, but it isn't for everybody.

And the 6.5/.284 Mr. White mentioned is, in fact, hugely popular with the people who really shoot long distances a lot (with their rifles, not their keyboards). Two friends took a 6.5/.284 Pronghorn hunting last Fall and took bucks at 696yds, 707yds and 744 yds. (per the rangefinder). It was their third year of doing that sort of thing. They would spit their iced tea all over themselves if you suggested a.308 or an '06.

:cool:
 
All good advice so far thamk you. Blackfork I am not sure what type of long range discipline I will be going with. To be honest the only thing I have ever shot in this class was an AR 10 in .308 and my buddy's .30-06 hunting rifle. I am very new at non intermediate rifle calibers but I was thinking about shooting in the 400 to 1000 yard range, possibly only up to 800 yards or so.
Click to expand...

To me, this screams '03A3 and '03A4, both of which are .30-06, the later being the scoped sniper version which lacks irons. Or an M40 which is .308/7.62mm and based on the Rem700 action.
 
I have a remmington 700 pss that drives tacks at 200 yards in 308. It is easily good out to 400 yards. But, the action has been blueprinted, stock glass bedded, the barrel trued up, and has a jewel trigger. This thing weighs a ton and wouldn't be my first choice to take to the field.

I don't think you can go wrong with an upper-end 700. The BDL series looks interesting, but don't think they have it in 308, possibly 6BR though.

For that price range, you can get a cooper in 308. That's where I'd start. Custom action and all the 'tricks' are done already. I haven't personnaly shot one, but they do guarantee 1/2 moa with hand-loads. A cooper is my next purchase.

I've seen Savages get killer groups at the range. Dollar for Dollar probably the best and most acurate around. They have an interesting way of configuring the bolt and barrel so it will be square. Plus it's much easier to change barrels with their arrangement.

I'm assuming your using this as a hunting rifle. If for benchrest, please ignore...

Knowing what your going to use it for would help a lot. If your punching holes in paper at 1000 yards, then the 308 will do. You want to take something good sized down at 1000, start looking at a higher caliber. For 1000 yards, I use BMG, but that's very expensive.

For me:
0-75: 22lr or 12 guage
100-200: 223
100-400: 308
300-1000: BMG
 
hey guys, im kinda new to this website. Any way, i was wondering about the .308 (remington 770 or FNH series). I want to break 880 yards for target shooting but i was wondering what kind of optics(mildot?/what magnifacation) and also what the kick was like on a .308.
 
Zak,

What a great series of articles! I just learned more in fifteen minutes that I have learned in the last three years of doing reserach on my own.

Thank you.
 
what do yall think about the FNH PSR series chambered in a .308. Anybody know what one of those would cost with a good optics?
 
Guitar here are my findings as I too have been looking for serious paper-punching equipment;

CATEGORY I (3-position & Money is no Object)
100-300m competition; 6mm BR in a spacegun configuration
400-900m competition; 6.5mm in a spacegun configuration
1000m competition; 6.5mm in a spacegun configuration

CETEGORY II (3-position & Money is not unlimited)
100-300m competition; .223/.243 in a semi-customized bolt configuration
400-800m competition; .308 in a semi-customized configuration
1000m; .308 would work but is not reliably supersonic past 900m. .270 better choice.

Category III (non-position shooting)
Same as above but all bolt actions. 1000m+ .338 Lapua Mag.

Obviously if your doing service rifle competition you wouldnt move out of those calibers and rifles. Also if you were doing benchrest you would want a very heavy bolt action rifle of ungodly proportions to a field rifle. If money was an object and you were doing some far-out-plinking you would want to look into Remington X shop or have one built from a 700 with a decent barrel/bedding/trigger/crowning/etc.

I personally have been looking into Armalite and DPMS in .308. DPMS does offer a .243 configuration as well which is interesting (I am sticking with .308 for AR-style rifle personally).

Hope this helps!

:)
 
Unless you are into reloading, I'd go with a caliber like .308 for either an AR-10 or Remington 700.

The 6.5mm series of cartidges are excellent but most of them require you reload.
 
I'd opt for the Savage.

To be honest, I've never seen a Savage that didn't outshoot more expensive rifles. I sold a $700 heavy barrel, laminated stock and very accurate .223 for a Savage .223 that is blazing accurate and used the other half of the money on ammo. My deer rifle is a Savage .308.

Even if they were to cost twice as much, Savage would still be the most accurate rifle in its price range.
 
The PSR is new this year, and I have yet to see pricing. The PSR appears to be an SPR or PBR XP in a hunter style stock. For a dedicated LR rifle, I think I'd opt for the SPR. If you figure the PBR XP runs about $1k and the SPR about $1500, the PSR probably falls somewhere in between.

The Savage is indeed a good value for the money, but it doesn't compete on the high end, and there are nowhere near the after market options that there are with the Remington compatibles.

How many Savage rifles do you see at LR matches?
 
BTW, if you are going to 'go long', i.e. 1000 yards, I can pretty much guarantee you'll end up hand loading.
 
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