Target esque gun for 300 yards and under - thoughts?

[Hopkins]

Just a thought, since you are not dubious about .223 and wind at this point, look at a .222.
The king of .22 caliber accuracy out to 300 yards for decades. It takes a lot to shoot out a .222 barrel so buying a used one isn't quite the crap shoot buying a used 22-250 or 220 Swift is. They are scarce enough to insure easy resale and very easy to reload for.

 

[ilmonster]

I'm in the same situation as you. My range only goes out to about 230 yards and all I'm doing is punching paper and ringing steel. I use a Rem. 700 SPS Tac in .223 with a 20" barrel. Yes the wind will blow things around a bit, but isn't that some of the skill set you want to develop (i.e. reading the wind)? I know I do. In fact, I'm now shooting a .22 rifle out to 200 yards to see the effects of wind and get better at reading and correcting for wind.

I shoot Hornady 75 gr. BTHP Match rounds and at 200 yds. get 1/2 to 3/4 MOA consistantly from my 1:9 twist barrel. .223 is cheap (even match grade ammo) and very available, and if you're into reloading (I'm not, yet!), plenty of good high BC bullets and other components are available.