Years ago I wanted a rem 700 5r but all the ranges around me are 100 yards with one privat out to 500. So I never got the gun. Instead I went AR crazy.

Now I am interested in a bolt gun as a 1000 yard range opened up less than an hour away

What would you guys recommend with 1.5k budget and a 3k budget. I know there are some bolt guns that cost way more but I feel like 3k should get me something better than my skill level.

So 2 suggestions for 2 price points.

Obviously gun only glass and accessories not included.


Also what ammo to use?

I assume 308 is still good but I dont know much about all the new calibers over the past 10 years.

Although there are innumerable choices, I am very happy with my Tikka rifles.

One discussion:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forum...0601935/m/7470031074

I have also had very good results with Hornady match ammunition.

I usually skim the used market for guns, may or may not be an option.

If choosing a modern, mostly target rifle, I’d give the 6.5 Creedmoor some consideration. I am a fan of the 308, plus maybe you want to share ammo with others.

I don’t own a Creedmoor, since I’m into the Swede. Of course, not gonna find an older gun chambered in the Creedmoor.

https://www.americanrifle.com/...fle-1200?category=15

I have one of these and it's FAR more capable than I am. I'd happily buy again.

To be honest, I don't know how they put it out so cheap; the action and chassis purchased separately cost about as much as the complete rifle.

138 pages and about 8 yrs of comments,

take your time and read thru it,


also look for some posts by Offgrid, Nikonuser and a few others I am sure I am forgetting

Although even someone with as limited skills as I can hit targets at 1000 yards with the proper loads in 308 Winchester, there are other cartridges that make the task easier because their projectiles have flatter trajectories and are affected by the wind less. Some common .30 caliber projectiles are simply not well suited for that range and farther.

The current darling of many long range shooters is the 6.5 Creedmoor, and that includes me. There are others that may be even better, but there are things like barrel life and availability of good factory ammunition to consider as well. Look for reviews of rifles chambered for 6.5 CM and you’ll find many extolling its performance.

The threads and discussions here are also a wealth of excellent, highly expert knowledge.

I'm a total novice but Tikka and Bergara would be first on my list, and Ruger precision rifle. Great gun for the money.

If you want to just shoot paper or steel on a 1000-yard range I'd personally go with 6mm Creedmoor. 6.5 is more versatile if you plan on actually hunting with it, but the 6 is awesome for PRS type shooting or target use. Or 6 dasher or any of the new 6mms that are similar.

i am assuming all you plan to do is punch holes in paper or maybe shoot steel?

I myself prefer .30 cal. But as SF mentioned you will get a lot of conversation about the six's.

You are talking about serious $. $1200 for a rifle and $1800 for a scope is doable.

But you could easily spend $800 for a new rifle and less than $700 for a good optic package and have a very capable set up.

The choices are endless.

I am more traditional and like calibers like .243, 7mm. rm, .280, .30 06, .308, .300, etc.

But I do not do competition on paper.

1000 yds is a hell of a long shot. Even 500yds is. Those distances will take time and $ to be able to make. Serious time and $.
And I am not talking about equip. Those shots can be made with a lot of eq.

Not really sure what you are up to. Maybe a bit more info on what you are planning on doing.

On the high end of your budget G.A. Precision is pretty close to a gold standard. As far as I am concerned.

quote:

Originally posted by Nickelsig229:
I assume 308 is still good but I dont know much about all the new calibers over the past 10 years.
Also what ammo to use?

As a new long distance shooter, I recommend your starting with the best equipment your budget allows. There is no reason to handicap your results from the start. I am focusing on calibers only for now.

If you handload and are competent with loading accurate ammo, the caliber options open up dramatically. Factory loaded ammo still works, however.

You don't want a long action. Much of target shooting is about managing recoil, and this is much harder to do with the bigger chamberings. Eliminate from your list 30-06, 270 Winchester, 7mm Remington Magnum, 300 Winchester Magnum, anything with "WSM", 25-06, and pretty much anything with "magnum" in the name.

308 Winchester is a fine chambering that's worked for a long time, for many applications. Including target shooting. But there are better options out there. Consider the powder capacity of the 308 case as the maximum, then work with smaller calibers. At this time, I'm not aware of anything in .277 bore or .284 bore that noticeably improves on the 308.

So start with a 6.5mm/.264 bore. 260 Remington was the first. Unfortunately, the case design isn't the best for modern heavy bullets, and factory rifles often come with barrels with twists that are too slow. Factory ammo options are getting better. Recoil of the 6.5/.264 rounds are maybe 25% less than a 308.

6.5 Creedmoor is among your best options if you use factory ammo. 6.5CM is the 14-year-overnight-success in target shooting. If you hand load, 6.5x47 Lapua might be a slightly better option.

6mm/.243 bore is a great option. Recoil is maybe 50% of a 308 for the more powerful rounds. The smaller-case 6mm calibers have recoil that's about 1/3 that of a 308. 243 Winchester was likely the first. As with the 260 Remington, case design and barrel twist rates aren't the best for modern match bullets. 6mm Creedmoor is an excellent round, with factory ammo options that are growing rapidly. If you handload, 6x47 Lapua is another option.

If you handload, the smaller capacity 6mm chamberings might be the state of the art for low recoil and high accuracy, for targets within 1000 yards. 6mm BR is just outstanding. With a touch more powder in the boiler room, 6 BRA and 6 Dasher are also outstanding.

A new kid on the block is the .257 caliber, but this requires hand loading. I've seen 25 Creedmoor kick some pretty serious butt in competition. Bullet selection is still small, but the ones that are available seem to be quite good.

Bottom line -- for target shooting, with comparable match-grade ammo, 6mm to 6.5mm calibers beat a 308 hands down in every way. In every way. 308 is getting long in the tooth, and it's time to move on.

****
Ammo -- first determine if you will buy factory or handload. And determine your caliber.

Recoil gets mentioned quite a bit in these threads.
I shoot all the calibers I mentioned and more. Do not consider myself a brute. But have never had an issue shooting them as far as recoil is concerned. But again, I am not trying to punch tiny holes in paper at a 1000yds either.

Point is, recoil is there, but is not always an issue with larger calibers for certain shooters.

One reason recoil gets mentioned so frequently in these discussions is the desire of shooters in certain competitive disciplines to be able to see their own bullet impacts as they occur, and especially when they miss. Although the effect of heavy recoil on the shooter can be a factor during long sessions, it’s usually not the primary consideration when it gets discussed. There are of course several reasons why it may not be possible to see one’s bullet impact, but recoil, especially when shooting at shorter ranges, is one.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Bottom line -- for target shooting, with comparable match-grade ammo, 6mm to 6.5mm calibers beat a 308 hands down in every way. In every way. 308 is getting long in the tooth, and it's time to move on.

From my reading I believe fritz is spot-on. I love my Remington 700 PSS in .308 Win. I don't find the recoil punishing and I've shot under 1/2 MOA at 100 yards with it with plain old Federal Gold Medal Match 168 gr. BTHP. (It likes that best.)

But if I were going to do a new "reach out and touch someone" bolt-action rifle today, I would probably be doing it in 6.5 CM.

Managing recoil is a primary component of keeping sights on target, while the bullet is still in the barrel. Keeping sights on target improves accuracy for all types of firearms -- handguns, shotguns, semi-autos, full-autos, bolt actions, lever actions. Increased recoil -- both in duration for absolute force level -- makes it more challenging for the shooting to keep sights on target.

We can reduce recoil in a number of ways. Heavier gun. Lighter bullets. Lighter powder charge. Muzzle brake. Suppressor.

I'm just getting comfy with a new 6 Creedmoor bolt action, with only 75-ish rounds down the pipe so far. It's a pleasure to shoot -- noticeably less recoil than my 6.5 Creedmoor and 308 Winchester rifles. From prone, the crosshairs just don't move from the point of aim during recoil. Not at all. When atmospheric conditions are right, I can pick up bullet trace at just 200-300 yards yards away, then watch the graceful arc of the bullet travel to the target.

The last shots I took on Sunday, just as a cold front arrived. Temps dropped from 57 to 41 in a couple of minutes, winds from my left increased from 10-ish to 25-ish mph. Each shot was a swag on wind holds, with a noticeable increase in wind drift with each shot. Federal GMM 105 Berger. 3 inches of vertical at 834 yards. The reticle didn't move, about as good as I can manage recoil.

I'd say a Ruger Precision Rifle or a Bergara in 6.5 with some decent glass and an Atlas bi-pod and spend the rest on ammo.

Fritz covered everything I would have suggested. As a former 308 long range shooter,(I now am in the 6.5CM camp) the 6mm & 6.5mm are the way to go for long distance.
As for the rifle, there are a plethora of choices all limited by your budget. The Ruger or Bergara are great choices that will do anything you need them to.

"Also what ammo to use?"leads me to believe you don't handload, so that cuts your cartridge options way down and eliminates many of the things mentioned.

In many things I can tell you exactly what to get because I have literally tried them all. But not in bolt guns. But I did recently convert over from .308 mostly (Sako TRG and AI based, great for what they are and what I did with them) to 6.5CM. And the two bolt guns that I started with are the Tikka (as has sigfreund) and the Ruger. Both I think are outstanding in their price range for what you get and can recommend. Other options I have no experience for bolt guns.

I will just be trying to outshoot my cousin and college friend. So paper and steel.

I have taken a 30.06 model 70 with 3x9 to the range and I was hitting paper out to 200 yards. It wasn't really fun for me. My eyes aren't the best anymore and the gun isn't really designed around target shooting.

I was hitting out to 300 yards with a 308 AR build with a swampfox 1x10 lvpo. Completely budget build but I love the heck out of it. The bdc isn't set for my rifle though so past 200 was like playing whack a mol.

I managed to hit one shot of way too many shots taken at 500 with my cousins savage 110 308 with some cheapo 6x20 tasco special on Portuguese m80 but we couldn't get on target with the hold over and his scope ran out of adjustments.

I do not reload, I just don't have the time or ambition. I know it's value but I sold all my reloading equipment on the forums 15 years ago. I've read up and watched a ton of videos and it looks like 6.5 cm will be the choice. Readily available and more then enough accuracy from factory loads for me.

As for rifle I keep watching videos and surprisingly enough there aren't as many videos out there as I thought there might be. Sadly, nowadays I rely on youtube to get an idea of what is available to me and its pretty much aics or go fish. I assumed there would be a lot more choices. It could be I don't know their names to even research them.

Anyways, thanks for the input guys, it's 2 more rifles suggested for me to look into.

There are some YouTube reviews that directly compare Tikka with the Bergara such as:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZgwWOT272A

If your research takes you toward the Tikkas, something to be aware of is the fact that the T3x is available in several different versions, and one significant (IMO) difference among them is their magazines. The TAC A1, UPR, CTR, and other(s) use 10-round metal mags that are essentially TRG mags except for the addition of a rubber floor plate (that makes them unusable in TRGs). The other models use a plastic magazine and the two types aren’t interchangeable. Although the plastic mags are perfectly reliable in my experience, I prefer the metal type. The latter are, however, extremely pricey which is a turn-off for some people. On the other hand the two supplied mags are also likely to be plenty most of the time.

More of a hunting weight gun than target, but something different, Mauser M18 in 6.5 Creedmoor.

Eurooptic has good deals on scopes at times too.

https://www.eurooptic.com/Maus...n-Rifle-M18065C.aspx