Long range rifles?

[mattobertin]

I am sure that this is not the first time this subject has been posted on this site but I would really like to have some of your input on what the best long range caliber for hunting deer is and what you would choose if you were buying a new rifle. I was thinking of something like a 270 WSM. Also what brand rifle, I want something light and good quality. And last but not least, what type and power scope for long range? I would say my top spending cap would be $2000 or less for both scope and rifle. I have been looking a little and really liked the Tikka because of how light it is and the price is fair too. Thanks in advance!!!

[Coues Sniper]

Matt, I built a longrange gun last year because of a buck i missed a chance at because he was 600 yards out. After a ton of research i went with a 300 RUM from Christensen Arms. It's awesome but a little pricey. And their prices have gone up since i bought mine. IMO you can get a custom job at about half the cost that will shoot just as good, but won't be as light. I put a Leupold VXL 4.5-14x56mm scope on it with turrets and really like it. I can shoot out to 1000 yards very effectively. Some people like a higher power scope, but i like having the 4.5 low end for close shots or if i jump something, and haven't found the 14 power to be a problem for long shots at all. The 6-20 power would be a great choice as well. For real long range stuff i think the 270 is a little small, even for Coues, after about 550 yards or so. If you want i could send you a name of a guy in Sierra Vista that does AWESOME customs that are reasonably priced and drive tacks.

 

Kevin

[firstcoueswas80]

I shoot a 270 wsm built on a mauser 98 action, put together by Bettin Custom Guns. It has a 23" Shilen barrel, bold trigger and is topped with a Zeiss 4.5-14x50 with turrets.

 

 

I dont have any pictures right now of the rig, but it sure can shoot... as long as it is on paper! usually when anything with horns steps infront of the conducter, he blows it!

[longshooter]

Matt I would recomend getting that number from coues sniper. That guy can build a awesome gun..

 

I would go with a 300 ultra for a long range rifle.

Also don't overlook the Kimber montana rifle

[firstcoueswas80]

A kimber montana is a good rifle, but i dont think it would be a good rifle for long range, super light, pencil thin barrel ( by the way for the people who tell me to bring factual evidence, I have a super light, pencil barrel gun, so im speaking from experience). it wont take up any of the "shake" of the gun, because it is so light and they are usually short barreled so you loose some velocity.

[fatfootdoc]

casey forgot to add that his gun has a propensity for hitting large male deer in their craniums I have a tikka t3 lite in 300 wsm and it is a sweet shooting rifle, I use my 257 weatherby as my primary coues rifle though. ag

[mattobertin]

Matt, I built a longrange gun last year because of a buck i missed a chance at because he was 600 yards out. After a ton of research i went with a 300 RUM from Christensen Arms. It's awesome but a little pricey. And their prices have gone up since i bought mine. IMO you can get a custom job at about half the cost that will shoot just as good, but won't be as light. I put a Leupold VXL 4.5-14x56mm scope on it with turrets and really like it. I can shoot out to 1000 yards very effectively. Some people like a higher power scope, but i like having the 4.5 low end for close shots or if i jump something, and haven't found the 14 power to be a problem for long shots at all. The 6-20 power would be a great choice as well. For real long range stuff i think the 270 is a little small, even for Coues, after about 550 yards or so. If you want i could send you a name of a guy in Sierra Vista that does AWESOME customs that are reasonably priced and drive tacks.

 

Kevin

I would definately like the guys number and thanks for the offer! What did your rifle cost to build? Sounds like exactly what I am looking for. I am trying to get a price together so I can figure out what strings need to be pulled to get this set-up for next rifle season and not be too much of a shock to the ole billfold!

[SunDevil]

I guess you need to clarify a little about what you mean by long range. are you talking 500 yards or 1,000. if you are talking 500 for coues the 257 weatherby would be a great round. if you are talking 1,000 then you need to be thinking about a 300 ultra mag, weatherby mag or 30-378. of course the 308 is still the unbeaten round for competition shooting.

 

for a rifle you probably can not go wrong (for the price) with any of the rem 700 rifles.

 

I just got a rem 700 XCR in 300 wsm and got a 2.5 inch group at 400 yards 2 weeks ago when I was at the range. and that was with factory ammo. other quality rifles (in my opinion) are the Kimbers and Sakos.

 

for a scope, leupold, zeiss, nikon. target turrets or bdcs will work either way. I use a nikon bdc.

 

probably the most important thing is to spend time at the range. you need to find the ammo that shoots best in your rifle and know where your hitting. then it is just practice, practice and then practice some more.

 

I also have a christensen rifle in 7mm rem mag and have found that with that carbon barrel I can shoot pretty much anything in it and get a good group.

 

let us know what you decide on and good luck.

[Lance]

As important or even more important as the rifle for long range is the scope you put on it!!!!

 

The best scope you can afford with dial up turrets!!!!! Veriable scope with higher than 10 power!!!!

 

Put a bi-pod on it!

 

Make sure you have the best range finder you can afford as well!!! Shooting accurately at long range begains first with a range finder!!!

 

Get a gun you can afford to shoot hundreds of rounds out of. I shoot a 7mm RUM and it is an awesome gun, I get 3700fps out of my 26" barrel. And the 140 gain slug at that speed will kill a Coues at a thousand yards by hitting it in the hoof! But my point is, is that now the amo is sooo expensive that I cant afford to shoot and practice with it enough to know how to sight it at a thousand yards. So get something you can afford to shoot allot!

 

Lance

[lefty]

i have a remington 700 in th 300 rum, and love it, the only thing i've done to it is a trigger job, and a muzzle break, i got lucky, it shoots factory ammo, half inch @ 100 yds. i topped it with a 6-24 swarovski with the tds. best scope made in my opinion. i took it out, hit 2 inches low @ 785 yards using my bottom crosshair. it's all about the scope, don't get me wrong, you have to have a gun that shoots pretty good, but your scope is what makes those far shots possible.

[firstcoueswas80]

As important or even more important as the rifle for long range is the scope you put on it!!!!

 

The best scope you can afford with dial up turrets!!!!! Veriable scope with higher than 10 power!!!!

 

Put a bi-pod on it!

 

Make sure you have the best range finder you can afford as well!!! Shooting accurately at long range begains first with a range finder!!!

 

Get a gun you can afford to shoot hundreds of rounds out of. I shoot a 7mm RUM and it is an awesome gun, I get 3700fps out of my 26" barrel. And the 140 gain slug at that speed will kill a Coues at a thousand yards by hitting it in the hoof! But my point is, is that now the amo is sooo expensive that I cant afford to shoot and practice with it enough to know how to sight it at a thousand yards. So get something you can afford to shoot allot!

 

Lance

 

 

That 7 RUM is one bad butt round! I push my dads to 3600 FPS with a 140 accubond... With the boone and crockett reticle, he dumped his buck at 531 yards one shot!

 

[coues7]

Not to derail this thread but if I might add something here in the way of "practical" sense. Don't think just because one goes and buys an expensive "long range" gun that all the sudden you can shoot out to 1K. Nothing and I repeat NOTHING is better than range time on a good rifle. You'd be better of to get a decent rifle/optics and then spend the money on the range practicing practicing practicing. As sportsman we owe it to these majestic animals we hunt to not be taking "hail" Mary shots just because we have a "long range" rifle.

 

Scott

[Coues Sniper]

Matt, alot of good information here. And Coues7 brings up a good point about practicing at long ranges too. Especially with field conditions (off a bipod instead of a bench, uphill/downhill, doping the wind, etc) Besides, it's just fun when you can do what you want with a bullet at long ranges like that. I will get you the information for that guy in Sierra Vista tomorrow, i don't have it with me at the house. I've seen a couple 300 RUM's he has done that look great and shoot even better. He can do pretty much whatever you want. I'll give you some more info on my gun as well.

[COOSEFAN]

I'm new to the "long range" type of shooting/hunting but I have been around a few guys who have it down to a science! Two guys in particular spend 2-4 days a week working on and shooting their rifles......and that is year round! One of em' builds custom guns and the other is an engineer that dreams about ballistic coefficients and trajectories in his sleep! Both guys swear by the Remington 700 action and both swear that all you need is either the 7mm mag or the 300 Win mag. They use Jewel triggers, Hart barrels, and McMillan stocks, and a bunch of other trick stuff on their guns. All that practice and use of expensive upgrades allows one of these yahoos to punch 4" groups at 900 yrds! He also uses a rangefinder, the weather service to pick the day and even a Kestrel wind and humidity checking device! They probably would never take a 900 yard shot on an animal, but by practicing at that range, they feel like a 700 yard shot is just a walk in the park if the conditions were right.

 

BTW....these same guys are building a "long range" rifle for me right now! The barrel has been ordered and I recently just picked out the stock and colors from McMillan and it's also been ordered. I gave them a Remington 700 action in the 300 WinMag caliber and I'll be buying the Leupold 6-20X with an added target knob. I went with the Lazzeroni thumbhole stock with a marble finish in 50% tan / 25% black / 25% olive, also the entire gun, scope, hardware, bipod etc. will be going to LTM Refinishing to get Cera-Koted ( i think that's what it was called?) in a matching tan color! She's gonna be a beauty and I can't wait to start throwin' lead through it at the range! It's supposed to take around 5-6 months to build so I will have pic's of it then. Best of luck, JIM>

[mattobertin]

Not to derail this thread but if I might add something here in the way of "practical" sense. Don't think just because one goes and buys an expensive "long range" gun that all the sudden you can shoot out to 1K. Nothing and I repeat NOTHING is better than range time on a good rifle. You'd be better of to get a decent rifle/optics and then spend the money on the range practicing practicing practicing. As sportsman we owe it to these majestic animals we hunt to not be taking "hail" Mary shots just because we have a "long range" rifle.

 

Scott

I agree with you 100% This is something that I will try to get good at and only then would I try to make a long shot. I have been shooting for a long time and am a respectable shot but I consider 500 yards a far shot on an animal, but hey what the heck I figure if I get a better rifle than I have now and learn to shoot it at 1000 yards what harm is that gona do? It will only make me a better shot and hunter. I am a bow hunter mainly so I have been sneaking up on animals for a long time now and am pretty confident that I will be able to get closer than 1000 yards for a shot. Another reason I am going to buy this rifle was last year I made a shot on the last day of the hunt at about 400 yards with my 30-06 shooting 180 grains. (I know not the perfect load) Needless to say the first shot I missed but adjusted for the second shot accordingly (aimed 2' over the back!) and dropped my first coues buck where he stood. So now that I am a coues NUT I figure I will spend the money on a nice set-up that takes more of the guess work out because I DO NOT want to wound a deer and am willing to do anything possible (including spending a buttload of $$$) to make a one shot kill. Also I do plan on getting a rangefinder and have been looking into this quite a bit and am set on the Swaro's or the Leica CRF 1200's. Someone had also mentioned that you are only as good as the scope you have and I am fully aware of that and agree 200%. That is why I am trying to get as much info as possible so I know what to plan on spending and more importantly so I am able to get something and have enough time to set-up and learn to shoot it before next year. THANKS FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP GUYS KEEP EM COMING!