Long range shooting

[125coues]

This question has probably been asked years ago on this site, but here goes. Hopefully some of you guys who are into custom rifle building have a good answer to my question? I would like to buy a long range rifle, I do not know enough about all that goes into putting one together ie: what is a good barrel, what is a good trigger, what is a good action. I know there are certain companies who say that they have the perfect rifle for long range shooting. I prefer not to use the names of some of these companies I have researched. They all seem to say they have the perfect gun. Again, I would like to hear from you guys on hear who have built long range shooting guns that shoot out to the 600-800 yard range, what company would you go to to purchase a complete gun and scope combo? I realize these guns can be expensive and you get what you pay for.

[JMP]

There's a guy on here selling a .30-378 for a bargain price. a lot of custom work on it. check it out in the classfieds.

[308Nut]

Wow. You just opened a LARGE can of worms.

 

What do you want out of this 600-800 yard rifle? Paper targets or game? If game, how big is the game in question? Are we talking elk at 800 yards or whitetails at 800 yards?

 

How much weight do you want the rifle to be? How recoil sensitive are you? Do you plan on putting alot of rounds down the barrel each year or do you want to work up 1 load, sight her in and leave her in the safe until hunting season each season.

How much do you want to spend?

 

I will say this much before you answer all these questions. I have burned out 3 barrels of the "hyper" velocity 30 cal versions. My opinion is super hot 30 cals are all hype and not very practical. They look great on paper but have left me and several long range shooters I know very dissapointed every time due to VERY SHORT barrel life.

 

I can help you choose a caliber/rifle smith based on your needs. I know several smiths that are worth their salt. Most specialize in some facet of LR guns but some have a pretty wide range of specialties. Dig deep, be honest and I and several guys at longrangehunting.com can help you. This is what we do. We have spent more time and money than we should ever be alotted on this stuff. We know what works and what doesnt, who builds good rifles and who is all fluff.

 

You should know that a good custom action is an average of about 1000 bucks. A Remington 700 trued up and smoothed up is about 700 bucks. In some cases, it is better to spend the extra 300-500 bucks on a good custom action. I am partial to the Reminton 700's as when they are cleaned up are very good actions with parts and accessories out the ying yang available. A good trigger is about 250 bucks. These can be set as low as 1.5 oz and up to 3#. A good trigger such as Jewell or Timney will make or break a good rifle. As far as barrels, it is largely a personal preference. Lilja, Hart are button pulled barrels and seem to take the heat from hot calibers a bit better than cut rifle barrels. Bartlien, Rock creek are cut rifled. Rock Creek has had alot of issues in the past with steel being too hard or to soft as well as bad tooling marks in the barrels. They may have their act together now I dont know. Another really good yet new company is Brux barrels. Lilja is about the highest ranked barrel maker in the long range comunity. IMHO other makers make a barrel just as good. You will wait about 4-6 months for a Lilja barrel. They are worth the wait. Hart make an awesome barrel that you dont have to wait months for. Christensen barrels while thick yet light, actually trap heat and arent well suited for mutiple shots in a row. McMillan and Manners make (IMHO) the best stocks. They like any other stock, need to be bedded properly to maximize their potential.

 

I look forward to helping you scheme and dream.

[joeybari]

It’s your first time so the best thing for you is to start with a 700 Remington you can go from 270, 270 ultra, 30 06, 308, 300, 300 ultra, and 7 mm so on and so on. Starting with a 700 Remington the sky the limit with that style of gun you can do just about anything to it and there is allot of gun smiths out there that know what they are doing with it. As far as caliber go that up to you. I like a 308 it’s a good all around gun. Good match ammo will get you out there to 800 yards no problem. But it’s up to you

Find out what you really want to do with the gun, what kind of money you’re willing to put into it. And the big one is what kind of time do you have. In order go out to 300 to 800 + yards you need to do a lot of homework.

As far as Scopes well LOL

1 MONEY

2 money

3 money

Coues deer and long range paper shooting I think most hunter will tell you Leopold, Zeiss, Nikon, Trijicon, Kahles and NIGHTFORCE

Those are the upper middle scopes as far as money goes except nightforce very expensive.

There are a couple of scopes out there that are not as expensive but are very good. One comes to mind called a Super Sniper from SWIFT my friend has one and ill tell you the truth I like it. He paid about $300

Good luck

 

[Red Rabbit]

308Nut,

I think you have it covered.

 

RR

[TAM]

As already mentioned there are a lot of high quality gunsmiths across the country that make some fantastic rifles.

 

I had a gunsmith named Todd Bettin out of Iowa build me a custom 300 RUM that I just got back in January. I couldn't be happier with the results. 1/4 inch groups at 100 yards all day long. He's a nice guy and very easy to talk to. Here's a link to his site. http://bettincustomguns.com/

 

You should probably get on the phone with a gunsmith or two and discuss with them what you are trying to accomplish and what your budget is. They should be able to identify what your needs and wants are and build a rifle that will accomplish that. They're going to ask you questions about stuff that you never even thought there were options for.

 

Good luck!

 

 

 

[joeybari]

if you live in phoenix jake is the man at Dons sport shop

480-946-5313

[Coues Sniper]

308Nut,

I think you have it covered.

 

RR

+1

I'd look at Krieger barrels as well, but let your smith help you with the pro's and con's of each barrel type, action, etc. Those guys on longrangehunting are legit. And as a side note, a good smith can put together a build that will shoot as good or better as any "Custom Rifle Company" and do it for much less with much more personal attention.

[WHT_MTNMAN]

308Nut,

I think you have it covered.

 

RR

+1

I'd look at Krieger barrels as well, but let your smith help you with the pro's and con's of each barrel type, action, etc. Those guys on longrangehunting are legit. And as a side note, a good smith can put together a build that will shoot as good or better as any "Custom Rifle Company" and do it for much less with much more personal attention.

 

+1 I just got a custom rifle put together that is less than half the price of a complete "custom".

Look at Schneider barrels, little backed up because of the military contract, but if you know the right people. I got mine in 2 weeks or something like that, my stock took longer.

 

[azgutpile]

308Nut,

I think you have it covered.

 

RR

+1

I'd look at Krieger barrels as well, but let your smith help you with the pro's and con's of each barrel type, action, etc. Those guys on longrangehunting are legit. And as a side note, a good smith can put together a build that will shoot as good or better as any "Custom Rifle Company" and do it for much less with much more personal attention.

 

+1 I just got a custom rifle put together that is less than half the price of a complete "custom".

Look at Schneider barrels, little backed up because of the military contract, but if you know the right people. I got mine in 2 weeks or something like that, my stock took longer.

 

I just received my barrel from Schneider, It took me about 4 weeks to get it and he was on vacation for at least 2 of the weeks. I think thats a great turn around.

[30-378shtr]

got mine up for sale in the classifieds. Priced to sell.

[308Nut]

308Nut,

I think you have it covered.

 

RR

+1

I'd look at Krieger barrels as well, but let your smith help you with the pro's and con's of each barrel type, action, etc. Those guys on longrangehunting are legit. And as a side note, a good smith can put together a build that will shoot as good or better as any "Custom Rifle Company" and do it for much less with much more personal attention.

 

Kriegers are decent. I also agree that a "custom smith" versus a custom rifle "company" is the way to go.

 

BTW, Todd Betin was mentioned, his is one that is worth his salt. So is George Liechty in Utah. Homer Strickland at Accuracy Arms in TX is an old BR shooter/precision rifle smith.

 

[125coues]

Thanks for all the replies.

To answer some of the questions asked, I like shooting a lot of different ranges and angles ie. shooting down/up steep canyons. I like the 7mm caliber alot, I have never shot a 308. I hear and read alot of how good the 308 is. I have had Jake at Dons do work on the gun that I currently shoot. I have a browning A-bolt that shoots really well out to 400 yards, but still I am wanting to extend my range to at least 800 yards. If I was going to build a long range shooter I would like to talk to several of you guys that have done just that. Back to my main question, what custom rifle company would you go to to buy a ready built long range shooter. Or are all of you saying that the custom rifle companies products are ok wink wink, but through all of the trial and error you guys have gone through ,building your own custom rifle is alot better of a product? as far as money i always beleive you get what you pay for.I hope i have answered the questions you have asked.

[308Nut]

The bottom line is that if you want something specifec, you work with a reputable smith. You will get exactly what you want/need. I personally dont trust any package companies out there. Way over priced, and many lack real performance. They may have super high velocity and all that appeals to gun nuts but for real long range practical results many can leave you in want.

 

I get the sense that you know what you want to accomplish but dont know what you want in a rifle other than the end result. We still need to know if your target requirments are paper or flesh, how much you want to spend and how much weight or recoil you can tolerate.

 

I will give it to you straight. If you want to learn how to shoot 800 yards and NOT be frustrated, look at the 308 Win. It is anything but sexy but it is such a user friendly cartridge it is sickening. You want a custom 308 that will shoot lights out? Call GA Precision. You can punch paper at a full 1000 yards+ with the 308 and with the right barrel/load, can ethically harvest some game to 800 yards. The 308 is my "goto" rifle and I hunt mostly in Alaska where the game is big and tempermental. It does just fine for me. Have harvested critters at nearly 800 yards with it.

 

If you want a long range hammer like an 800-1200 yard+ elk rifle, call Shawn Carlock at Defensive Edge in Idaho and talk to him about a 338 Edge. These rifles, this caliber and results are absolutely mind boggling. I have been playing this long range game for 15 years and have never seen the results before that guys (including myself) are getting from this caliber now. Everybody wants a "magic" round. I believe that this is as good as it gets. 2000 pounds of energy at 1000 yards with 308 accuracy and single digit velocity extreme spreads and MUCH better barrel life than the 300 RUM. More energy, less drift and longer life. You cant beat that. I have personally shot a 1.5" group at 700 yards with this caliber. I know 2 other guys who have done the same. This system flat works.

 

Take it from a guy who has spent more money than I should have ever been allowed to on rifles, barrels and shooting supplies. Call GA Precision for a 308 or Defensive Edge for a long range hammer. You can google either for FAST results. Either will shoot lights out at 800 yards. They both have a .5 or better MOA guarantee.

[TAM]

Thanks for all the replies.

To answer some of the questions asked, I like shooting a lot of different ranges and angles ie. shooting down/up steep canyons. I like the 7mm caliber alot, I have never shot a 308. I hear and read alot of how good the 308 is. I have had Jake at Dons do work on the gun that I currently shoot. I have a browning A-bolt that shoots really well out to 400 yards, but still I am wanting to extend my range to at least 800 yards. If I was going to build a long range shooter I would like to talk to several of you guys that have done just that. Back to my main question, what custom rifle company would you go to to buy a ready built long range shooter. Or are all of you saying that the custom rifle companies products are ok wink wink, but through all of the trial and error you guys have gone through ,building your own custom rifle is alot better of a product? as far as money i always beleive you get what you pay for.I hope i have answered the questions you have asked.

 

 

If you are asking about a Christensen Arms rifle, I would say there are a lot of better places to spend your money. I own a custom built by the guys at Christensen Arms and it's somewhat disapointing. Way over hyped in my opinion. It's a nice rifle, and after a ton of time at the loading bench I've finally developed a load that shoots half inch groups. For the same, if not less, money you can have a custom gunsmith build you a rifle from the ground up exactly the way you want it. Not just some cookie cutter rifle with a TV show and lots of hype. A true custom rifle built for you

 

If you really want to buy a rifle from a custom rifle company then in my opinion Gunwerks is probably one of the better ones. But I still think for less money you can have a gunsmith build you a better rifle.