What are your recommendations for long range rifle?

[G29]

First off I am not a hunter and have only owned .22 rifles. I own many handguns in different calibers, so i have a basic understanding of ballistics. I'm looking for a "high value" long range rifle & scope good at distances beyond 500 yards... I would like to keep the entire system close to $1000. I a have looked into the Rem 700 a bit.

Does anyone have suggestions on a Rifle, scope and caliber?

 

[PreMod70]

How far beyond 500 yards? From what I've seen multiply $3 or more by what ever distance you choose.

 

[chaser_2332]

Everyone is looking for value in this day. With that being said what is your overall budget?

 

[G29]

i would like to stay under $1000 for the entire system...i have been looking around and the Rem 700 seems like a good value...

 

[Jenrick]

A couple of questions:

1) Benchrest, practical/tactical shooting (eg. sniper competions), or varmiting?
2) Do you reload?

The answer to #1 will help determine a lot of things, such as caliber, rifle weight/profile, glass type, etc.. #2 will help to narrow down caliber (if you don't reload a lot of calibers are VERY expensive).

If I was just going low price with good performance (not shooting F class, but still wanting to ring the gong at 1K), I'd go with a Remington 700 or a Savage 10/110 in either .308 or .243, and a BSA 6x-24x scope on top. The rifle should easily maintain 1.5-2 MOA with good ammunition, and you can probably expect sub MOA performance from either right out the box. .308 and .243 will both reach out to 1000yds without too much drama, with out breaking the bank if you buy off the shelf. BSA scopes are not designed for the rigors of airborne insertions, or sniper crawls, but they have good clear glass and 24x will easily take you out to 1000yds. Total cost will probably be right around $1200 if you buy new, can do under $1k easy if you shop around some.

-Jenrick

 

[TonyAngel]

G29, you will undoubtedly get many recommendations for either a Savage or a Remington; and they wouldn't be bad recommendations. I'm one of the guys from the Remington camp. I've shot quite a few Savages and they shoot nicely. I just prefer the Remington action.

When you say that you want to shoot beyond 500 yards, what exactly do you mean by that? Are you just planning on banging steel? Precision shooting? Want something that has a "tactical" edge to it?

Now, are you shopping brands or brands and caliber? I shoot a .308, but I do so because I built my rifle to shoot F Class T/R, so I had to go with .308. Well, I could have gone .223, but prefer the .308.

Another thing that you have to consider is the scope. If you want to keep the whole system to under $1000, you're going to have a bit of a challenge.

One option that pops into my head is a Remington SPS Tactical. I've seen them for around $550, if you shop around. For glass, you can get a plain jane Weaver base for around $20, a decent set of rings for around $50 and either a Bushnell fixed 10X ($200) or a Super Sniper fixed 10X ($300). It's a bit over your budget, but I think that anything less will leave you wanting.

The best option to help you stay on budget would be to scour the for sale forums and look for something used. I've sold a few rifles here and at Snipershide.com

As far as the caliber goes, the .308 is popular, but there are many calibers that are superior to it for distance shooting. If you aren't committed to any particular caliber, that may be what you should decide on first.

 

[AEA]

You can spend 1000.00+ on the scope alone!

 

[G29]

It is for tactical use... agian entry level, to get me started...

i have been researching the Remington SPS Tactical in .308...


I am considering a weaver... does anyone know about their quality?

 

[dprice3844444]

http://www.tobystactical.com/2007/11/remington-700-ss-5r-milspec.html

 

[Strykervet]

G29, you will undoubtedly get many recommendations for either a Savage or a Remington; and they wouldn't be bad recommendations. I'm one of the guys from the Remington camp. I've shot quite a few Savages and they shoot nicely. I just prefer the Remington action.

When you say that you want to shoot beyond 500 yards, what exactly do you mean by that? Are you just planning on banging steel? Precision shooting? Want something that has a "tactical" edge to it?

Now, are you shopping brands or brands and caliber? I shoot a .308, but I do so because I built my rifle to shoot F Class T/R, so I had to go with .308. Well, I could have gone .223, but prefer the .308.

Another thing that you have to consider is the scope. If you want to keep the whole system to under $1000, you're going to have a bit of a challenge.

One option that pops into my head is a Remington SPS Tactical. I've seen them for around $550, if you shop around. For glass, you can get a plain jane Weaver base for around $20, a decent set of rings for around $50 and either a Bushnell fixed 10X ($200) or a Super Sniper fixed 10X ($300). It's a bit over your budget, but I think that anything less will leave you wanting.

The best option to help you stay on budget would be to scour the for sale forums and look for something used. I've sold a few rifles here and at Snipershide.com

As far as the caliber goes, the .308 is popular, but there are many calibers that are superior to it for distance shooting. If you aren't committed to any particular caliber, that may be what you should decide on first.

What this guy said. A Remington 700 and a Super Sniper scope. Only good choice for under $1000. Might be able to get .300 Winmag if you look around, or even .300WSM. That scope is the only good cheap scope I know of.

 

[jonn5335]

I'd go with a 7mm (.284) caliber bullet beacuse of the high B.C. something like a 284 rem or 7mm rem mag a Tikka T3 is a good $600 rifle and a Nikon buckmaster 6x18 runs about $370 and a good set of ring cost $25-50 that should be good out past 500yrds remember just beacuse you have possibly thousands of dollars into a long range rig that is very capible of hitting at 100yrds does'nt mean you can it always comes down to the shooter

 

[madcratebuilder]

The Savage bolt guns in .308 are very popular with the long range guys in my AO. Doable with the 1K budget. Several are shooting as well as guys with 4-5K invested.

 

[451 Detonics]

The Savage Long Range Precision in 260 Remington would be my choice. They can be bought for around $850 so if you bump you budget a little you can still afford decent glass. It comes in an H.S. Precision stock, detachable box magazine. The 260 Remington has a great reputation for long range.

 

[chaser_2332]

Sps tactical 308, 20 moa rail and bushnell mil/mil 10x scope. Money left to buy ammo and will outshoot you.

Savage, rem, howa all make good rifles and all have a budget line in the long range tactical line pick one in 308. No need in more than that for just beyond 500 yards.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

money

 

[TonyAngel]

G29, the question that you've asked is a pretty common one. While I do try to help with whatever I can offer, for whatever it's worth, I have a hard time formulating just one answer to a question that you would think would have only one answer.

On the one hand, you say that you want a "high value" rig, but on the other you say that you would like to keep it under $1K.

"High value" is sort of relative and you preferring to keep it under $1K suggests that you may be able to go over that, if you have a good reason to. The reason that I'm saying all of this is because a friend of mine just decided to have a rifle built. He is well to do and can afford whatever he wants, although he doesn't just unnecessarily spend money that doesn't need to be spent.

So...off to the builder he goes. He has it in his mind that he wants a McMillan stock and a BAT action. After a lot of going back and forth, the builder explained and convinced my friend that since he isn't going to be doing any real benchrest shooting, he isn't going to notice any difference between what he thought he wanted and just going with a Remington action in an HS Precision stock. My point is that in this instance, "high value" was going with the Remington action and HSP stock, because it will do everything (for my friend's purposes) that the much more expensive parts would have.

Now, please take what I'm going to say from my perspective. I have sworn that I will never buy another off the shelf rifle for as long as I live, unless it's just so cheap that it is worthwhile just for the donor action, especially with Remingtons. My gripes with stock Remingtons aren't with the way they shoot, because they shoot great. My gripes have more to do with things like the horribly loose chamber and long throat, as well as the rough bores. I had one example of an SPS Tactical that had to be de-coppered every 40-60 rounds because it fouled so quickly.

I found that going the semi-custom route has made shooting a much more enjoyable experience in the sense that it just made things easier. The route that I took was to start with a Remington 700 action. Deals can be had on the internet for an ADL model for as little as $300. I then got a Krieger heavy profile barrel that cost around $325. I found an HS Precision pull off stock for $200 and a Shilen trigger for around $100. I finished it off with a $50 bottom metal that I found on ebay. I then gave it all to a gunsmith to put it together for something around $400. So...I have less than $1500 in the rifle. Add a budget $200 Bushnell fixed 10X with a mil/mil setup on it and you'll have a killer long distance rig that will out shoot anything that you can buy off of the shelf.

If you just don't want to spend that much, you could just start with a Stevens 200. Many guys have posted about finding them on sale for under $200. The Stevens is nothing less than a Savage without the accutrigger. Figure a few hundred for a drop in barrel, another $100 for a trigger and pick a stock.

If you shop smart, you can wind up with a rifle that you would have thought would cost a lot more.

What were the realized benefits? First, more velocity. When I had the barrel replaced on my 20" SPS with a Krieger of the same length and had it chambered properly to shoot my chosen ammunition, I gained 100fps without changing anything in my recipe. I get much less brass stretch and when I resize all I'm doing is bumping the shoulder back a couple thousandths. I now very rarely need to clean the bore of my rifle. In fact, I don't clean it until I notice accuracy starting to drop and I don't even start to look for it until I hit about 300 rounds. After market barrels are just plain better too. I hardly have any shift at all with my cold bore shots and as the barrel heats up, the point of impact doesn't wander.

Lastly, the caliber. As many have mentioned, there are many good calibers for shooting long range, especially if you're only punching paper or ringing a gong. I shoot a .308 right now and for two reasons. This first is that I wanted to shoot F/TR with it and the second is that the caliber is very user friendly. It is very easy to load for and find an accurate load. There is no shortage of components. Long barrel life. This was really important to me, because I shoot a LOT.

Good luck.