[ErikM88]

I want to get in to long range shooting 800+ yards. I am pretty decent out to 500 with my stock remington 270 but I want something that will reach out and touch a target with ease with minimal modifications. Price is $1000 or less (I just want a beginner gun that I can potentially grow into a better one as I grow in my skills) but I do not want a .50. I think 338 Lapua is the highest I am willing to go as I want it somewhat based on skill as well. Any suggestions?

 

[sr20sean]

Get a remington 700 in .308

You can find an ADL for cheap (300-375)
If you don't already then start handloading
Tons of aftermarket support if you want to change to a chassis system.

 

[meketrefe]

+1 on the 308w is a good starter and easy to reload with lots of recipes but can use varget for most and easy on the budget.
Get a 700 varmint at dicks $450 get a nice B&C aluminum bedede stock for $250 and a nice set of steel rigns an mount and specially a
nice scope. A vortex PST or a weaver tactical are great starters glass great value. both with FFP. Might want to upgrade the trigger
at some point and get a nice Harris bipod with the notched legs.
Keep in mind that the actual rifle is a small part of the budget. Plan for some professional training, reloading your own
which is not mandatory but a good way to keep budget down and get the most out of your system. Then all the gear, you need
and eventually will be upgrading and getting into more sophisticated stuff gradually. The 6.5mm offerings are a great next step to reach
further and flatter but initially the venerable 308w is hard to beat for a do it almost all, do it pretty well type of system.
Search for threads on the subject. there are many good shooters posting nice ideas and tips on this forum.

 

[meketrefe]

BTW... the 700 barrels are good shooters out of the box but if at any point you want to replace the barrel and you are in a budget Pac-nor will cut you a 3 poly barrel that uses a nut with a nicely threaded shank that is compatible with he savage wrench so you can headspace it yourself. Bergara barrels that you can do yourself are also good budget and people shoot well with them but I do not have one. If you want to spend a bit more lothar walter, krieger, obermeyer, and other high end will cut you the same but you have to pay more.
I have been very luck with lothar walter polygonal rifling as well as krieger 5R. I have even used them in the 308wAR and the krieger outshoots the kinghts M110 or any other AR barrel outhere. Not the les baers but about in the same league though.
Barrel Accuracy life seems also pretty good but until then give it a chance to the factory barrel. Some 700s barrels shoot like the house is on fire out of the box.

 

[Ds1]

I'm in the same boat as you Erik, I'm going to go .308. Price of ammo is important for me.

 

[Guest]

I want to get in to long range shooting 800+ yards.......

800-yards is near the practical limit of a .308. Beyond that is considered Extreme Long Range. That is an expensive game to play and is very hard to find a venue in New York.

Start out with a quality .308 and glass then spend your time developing your skills inside the range envelope of that caliber.

Long range shooting is more about thinking than it is about shooting so you'll need to apply yourself and crack the books to get really good at it.

 

[Ds1]

Meke, is this the Vortex you are talking about?

Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 Rifle Scope FFP - Free S&H - PST624F1M, PST624F1A

 

[Holdover]

338 Lapua is around $5 a round. A little pricey to learn on .If ya have the means God bless ya, but I would start with a good target .22 to learn the ballistics and wind and trigger . then move up to the Rem 700 308 after a few months of training on the .22

If your already up to speed , then Id go with 308 before 338

 

[meketrefe]

Meke, is this the Vortex you are talking about?

Vortex Viper PST 6-24x50 Rifle Scope FFP - Free S&H - PST624F1M, PST624F1A

Yes.

 

[sniper101]

I don't think you would need to start shooting a 22 since you already shoot 500 Y with a 270. But I would agree that 800+ takes a little more skill things really change after 600Y and the affective range for the 308 is around 800 meters but you can shoot it much further than that if you can range and call wind. Calling wind is the killer. I shoot 750 to 800 Y on a fairly regular bases and have done so since the service and wind calling still gets me. So I think that a 308 is a good choice check out Savage and think about the possibility of starting to reload if you want to really get into long range shooting.

 

[DannyDifalco]

.308 Rem 700.

 

[Ds1]

Eek, thats an expensive scope! (relative to the usual scopes I buy, I know its average for you long range guys)

 

[ErikM88]

I don't think you would need to start shooting a 22 since you already shoot 500 Y with a 270. But I would agree that 800+ takes a little more skill things really change after 600Y and the affective range for the 308 is around 800 meters but you can shoot it much further than that if you can range and call wind. Calling wind is the killer. I shoot 750 to 800 Y on a fairly regular bases and have done so since the service and wind calling still gets me. So I think that a 308 is a good choice check out Savage and think about the possibility of starting to reload if you want to really get into long range shooting.

Do you have any more information on calling wind? I know there is a lot to it at those distances but I want to learn really bad. I have the motive just need to be pointed in the right direction not only for rifle but also for the learning aspect.

 

[sniper101]

There is so much info out there the internet is a awesome resorce for info. Books are another the one that stands out the most that I found the most usefull (not that I own them all) is The Ultimate Sniper By Major 9Ret) John L. Plaster. I think you can order one for 30-50 bucks maybe. This book gives you info on everything you need to know about long range shooting. It is meant for military or Law enforcement but workd great for long long guys looking to learn more. (such as your self) You can read and listen to everything but unless you get out there and try it, it wont do you a bit of good. You need to shoot when its windy,cold,rainy (not my fav) hot and dry. The only way I think to truely improve and learn is to MISS and to understand WHY you missed. Almost anyone can with a well zeroed rifle can hit a target at 900Y with no wind and 70 degrees and sunny. A well trianed shooter can do that with a 15MPH full value wind in a rain storm.
If you need anything else or have any more ? just hit me up. Good luck Pal.

This the cover of the book

 

[ricklovin93]

Why not go cheap and just buy a ww1/ww2 surplus rifle, the iron sights on most of them are good at hitting human size targets out far

 

[meketrefe]

Why not go cheap and just buy a ww1/ww2 surplus rifle, the iron sights on most of them are good at hitting human size targets out far

Great concept but I think the OP is looking for a minimum level of consistency and repeatability.
In other words ringing the steel maybe 18 times out of 20 vs 2 out of 20.

 

[ErikM88]

I am looking at the Remington Model 700 SPS Long Range in .308. Any thoughts on this rifle?

 

[DannyDifalco]

I am looking at the Remington Model 700 SPS Long Range in .308. Any thoughts on this rifle?

Great rifle but the 26in barrel is overkill for a .308 I feel. You will sustain about 100fps as opposed to a 20in like the sps tactical.

 

[meketrefe]

Great rifle but the 26in barrel is overkill for a .308 I feel. You will sustain about 100fps as opposed to a 20in like the sps tactical.

It depends on the load. For some 155gr lighter loads I agree at 20" you are almost pretty much done burning the load but for the heavies you can actually squeeze some precious FPS, and again depending on the purpose. Even palma type of loads use longer barrels but you have to decide if a little margin is going to compensate for the extra length and weight for your purpose. Also the weight is not necessarily always a bad thing.
Also the 20 inchers can be more accurate with a wider range of loads. All other things being equal a shorter barrel is a more accurate one.
It doesn't mean that a longer cannot be as accurate but the tune of the barrel is going to interfere more.
In all shooting this is a world of trade offs of some sort. I like the portability and accuracy out of the box of the 20 inchers police type of systems but
I can see the benefits of a bit extra lenght. Not so much in NYS where finding a place to shoot 800 yards and beyond is not easily found.
For me means almost 2hr drive each way to shoot 800 to 1100 yards so sadly I cannot do it that often but everyone has different circumstances.

 

[sniper101]

I think that would make a good long range gun. I dont think that a 26" barrel is over kill for the 308 there are like meketrefe said goods and not so goods for both. I my self like a longer barrel had a 700P with a 26" I have a savage mod 12 with a 26" and my custom 338 EDGE has a 28" tube althow that is a mag and needs the extra length. The extra FPS that you will get out of a longer barrel will help you a long range They can't hurt. And as far as weight goes if you are going to be lugging the rifle around all day long than yes the extra 1 maybe to 2 LBS would be an issue. But to me that extra weight is welcome for recoil control. Bullet weight was also mentioned, a heavier bullet is usually longer which means a higher BC and a higher BC means better flight (not better shots that depends on the shooter of course) Even the M24 sniper rifle system that I carried in the service has a 24" barrel. Most of the LE rifles will have shorter barrels because they operate in urban places lots of tight pots and things like that. That said the military sniper is becoming more like that also. But you dont see the people setting world record long range kill shots with 20" barrels.