TI Railroader Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 I am not new to firearms, but I don't pretend to be an expert. I have owned and shot guns most of my life. However, I have never seriously looked into long distance shooting until now. I am always been fascinated by long distance precision. I have been reading and searching for good accurate information, such as rifle, caliber, etc. In a lot of what I have read the Remington model 700 is what many people use. I know that the military sniper rifles are based off the Remington model 700, therefore there as to be lots of information and research to read. I want to get started shooting and want to purchase a rifle that has the ability to move out in distance as I get better and better. Is the .308 the right rifle? I live in a small town where there are no ranges close,nor do I know of anyone in my area that is in the sport. I am looking for some guidance from the ground up. Any insight or recommendation would be greatly arreciated. Thank You. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.E.Anglin Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 How far do you consider or able to shoot long range? This will probably start a fight but I don't think .308 is not the best for long range shooting. what is good about it though is the available information and load data for it. so for a newbie it is easier to get in the game with it. But I believe the 6mm-7mm cal are much better for it. unless you want to step up to .338 .408 and so on, but you sart going into the big bucks. and remember dont over budget your rifle and be left buying a cheap scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 www.6mmbr.com ^^about anything you can imagine on precision shooting. tons of detailed articles on various calibers. Articles on stocks, scopes, ammo, etc. forum for asking questions as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CCL Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 All the info you will ever need...enos forum for long range shooters! http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TI Railroader Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 All the info you will ever need...enos forum for long range shooters! http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Thank you very much for the info. I have looked at this site and it is very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M118LR Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Start out with a basic rifle in 308 caliber. There are much better calibers, but for someone who is just starting out 308 is the way to go. A good basic rifle would be a Savage Tactical or a REM 700 Tactical. The SnipersHide is also a good start for information. You can also find good prices on there for sale forum on different rifles. Of course if you have money you can not go wrong with a GA Precision rifle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Religious Shooter Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I would concur. Start with a factory .308, shoot it out (and learn) and then rebarrel. You can decide then on what caliber you want. .308 is nice in that it recoils enough to force you to have good technique. If you don't have good form the .308 will 'f you up. If you start with a .223 you may get used to a poor technique that will be detrimental in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I would not start with a .223 for long range, I agree that .308 is the perfect intermediate. Yes .338, .408, and of course .50bmg really shine at long range, but few of us have the cash for those (maybe w/ the exception of the .338). There is an abundance of mods available for the Remy 700. They're like the 1911 of the LR rifle world. Both Remy and savage offer different factory options such as stocks and barrels, so make sure you get something that will actually LET the rifle shoot well, like a good stock. Savage comes with the HS Precision factory one one of their models (not sure of the exact number and too lazy to go to savagearms.com). They also have an AWESOME trigger. I personally own a Savage 10FP-LE2B (with McMillan A3 stock) and couldn't be happier with the way it shoots and the trigger pull. If you don't mind the little aluminum "safety" in the trigger, it's the best factory one I've tried. My chamber is even spec'd on the match grade side with tighter tolerances. I can FL size all my brass and still shoot sub .5MOA EASY. That's out to about 700yds. At 1k, my box stock rifle (with reloads of course) will hit a pie plate 10/10. That's about 1MOA. I'm happy with that and the rifle might do better if I was a better shooter. That said, and my bias being on the Savage side, you can't go wrong with Remy. Although support/mods for Savage is a rapidly growing market, the availability of parts for custom remy 700's can't be beat. If you wanted to go straight to the top, get a GAP with either their action or a Surgeon action and you'll never have to do anything else to the rifle EVER. Perhaps the most important aspect of accurate LR shooting is reloading good quality ammunition and using a good match grade bullet. Varget and Sierra Matchkings seem to dominate the market, but there are plenty of people out there who have good luck with many of the IMR powders and Hornady A-Max or Berger bullets. I have been a member of Snipers Hide for a long time and learned SO much info on those forums...it is true (like someone else said above) that they are the brian enos for long range precision. As far as scopes, get a good one: nightforce, US Optics, S&B, Premier, or Sightron. Vortex and Super Sniper make some great bargain glass that should not be overlooked especially for your first rifle. If you go straight to a GAP, just get a high end scope and don't look back. Like i said, you'll NEVER need or want to change anything. Welcome to yet another addiction of shooting.... PM me if you need any more info on Savage or Matchking/Varget combo as that's what I run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Smith Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I would also suggest Sniper Central as a resource. Not as busy as "The Hide" but some good practical advice. Depending on what kind of shooting you want to do, a Remington 700 SPS is a good place to start. There's a ton of aftermarket parts and the rifle is easy to find. As far as caliber, it's hard to go wrong with .308 as a starting point. Match grade ammo is easy to find it's easy to reload. Later, if you want to move up, you can always find a buyer for the .308 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wap wap Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Start with a 22 for hells sake and shoot to 200-300 yds. Use subsonic and really learn what the winds are doing. Bullet drop is physics, in any caliber, 308,or 338 wind drift is voodoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I am not new to firearms, ......*cut* Start with a 22 for hells sake and shoot to 200-300 yds. Use subsonic and really learn what the winds are doing. Bullet drop is physics, in any caliber, 308,or 338 wind drift is voodoo. While the .22 suggestion is ALWAYS a good idea and will teach you more about wind and bullet drop than you probably want to know, if you're ready to make the jump to a big-bore rifle for long range, go for it! If you don't have a good trigger pull or cheek weld down, wap wap is right, start with a .22 Only you can be totally honest with yourself about your skill level, but don't buy a .22 with a grudge then quit shooting....keep your interest up! Buy both if you have the cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wap wap Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 The entire supposition starts with how much money and time you got, not a pull down list that you can select items and click on. Each long range type of shooting has its own goodie list However in each catagory there is usually a pretty good factory set up. Is that your question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wap wap Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Additional items learned from 22 shooting http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1328297#Post1328297 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBros Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 It is hard to go wrong starting out with a 308. You will learn to read conditions better than with a more forgiving caliber. They are easy to load for and components are relatively cheap. I would probably start with something like and SPS tactical. The Rem 700 platform will give you many options for upgrades, and someday when you want a custom build, you already have the action. Here is a recent one out of the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Very nice! Who built that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBros Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 I did. Our company is R Bros Rifles. We are starting to dabble a little in the pistol builds arena now, but our primary focus is precision rifle and long range hunting rifles. Hopefully this isn't advertising and I don't get in trouble. Was just trying to give the guy an idea of whats out there is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Not advertising, just answering my question....don't see how anyone can get mad at that. Very nice build from the looks of it! What is on the barrel just at the end of the forestock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBros Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 That is a PVS-22 Night Optics attachment. I install them at the same 20moa cant as the scope rail to ensure everything continues to line up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Sweet! I bet it shoots nice, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RBros Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 It does shoot pretty well. Here was the break in today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I think you have to decide what you want to do with the rifle. 1,000 yd Benchrest, Palma matches, tactical matches, hunting (prairie dogs or elk?), or just a range toy. Then decide how much you want to spend. If you aren't sure about these things try to find a match near you and go observe, talk to the shooters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 It does shoot pretty well. Here was the break in today. That is a freakin' SWEET group! And you're actually not giving yourself enough credit because you can measure that group center to center vs. just the edge of the holes. Sub .5MOA is something to be proud of! Now shoot it at 600yds and make sure it's holding that MOA. I've had loads that shot .20-.30 MOA 5-shot groups at 100 all day but when I took them to 600yds, they opened up to 1+ MOA. If it holds that MOA out at 600+, you've found your load! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I am always , well almost always going to look at things different. I don't think you should buy a rifle yet -Yet- First do you have any buddies that share your interest? = If you don't have someone to share interest and information you may not stick with the shooting. The friends you already have may have some Hunting lease that you could buy into so that you would have a place to shoot on. Or you could share land lease existence. Or they may know ware a place to shoot is. Friends will have spotting scopes and other accessories that will help you get a start. The friends may also have some gear that you could try first and decide what you like. and the 22 rim fire is a great idea that was already mentioned , it will give you less expensive trigger time and a chance to learn the wind and elevation changes 'scaled down' in distance and cost. Your going to buy a 22 rim fire any way so if you don't have an accurate one start with that If you have a 600 yard gun and no place to shoot it Get at least 4 good books before you buy ( get some recommendations) I wanted to learn the Camp Perry style match shooting and Glen Zediker's books are good - I have a few others on Bench rest Learn first - you will get an Idea of what you may want to shoot, Spend $ on books first After you have an idea what kind of shooting you may want to do ( set up a budget with 60% dedicated to a good scope. The scope should be better than the rifle! . almost all of us get it back-wards Hitting targets that are hard to see is very cool especialy when you have to aim up wind 2 feet to side to hit it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik S. Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Also, read every thread you can on Sniper's Hide and 6mmbr.com as well as their articles. That is perhaps the BEST advice I can give and it's only 1 sentence. Don't do the "theory" so long that you lose interest either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
askomiko Posted February 20, 2011 Share Posted February 20, 2011 (edited) Everyone should have at least one 308. If you feel you need more oomph, just add more guns! (The same applies also for a .22. ) Edited February 20, 2011 by askomiko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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