General firearms discussion

Hey guys,

Are there any rifle guru's out there? Im really interested in taking up long distance shooting as a sport/hobby. My family has a farm and so I can shoot pretty much when ever I have free time.

Im currently looking at the Remington Mod 700 .308 SPS tactical 22-24inch barrel as I've read it is a decent beginner and can still reach those extra long shots ie 800m+

I am pretty much set on the .308 caliber but am open to suggestions.

Thank you

R 700 is a great start. If you had listed another rifle the Remington would have been my first suggestion.

270 Winchester...

I've shot with the 3006 aswel as the 308. 308 is my first choice.

Ball wrote: 270 Winchester...

.270 is too light. 30-06 .308 .300 h&h.. 308 first

If you want to do those shots, I would suggest the 6.5x284 Ackley Improved rifle. Can be built from Howa 1500 or Rem 700 actions (or Weatherby Vanguard, it is basically same action as Howa).

Balistically you would have awesome Sectional Density as well as Balistic Coefficient in excess of 0.4, which is very good.

Average speed is approx in excess of 3000fps. If you want to shoot a heavier bullet, get n rifle twist if 1:10 or faster.

If you do find that this is to light, you can try for the 375 Ruger from Howa. With a 200gr Monometal bullet I achieve 3100fps. Great speed, SD and BC is awesome and still have knockdown power in excess of 1km.

Let me know what your thoughts are, and we can discuss further

CHAPEL wrote:
.270 is too light. 30-06 .308 .300 h&h.. 308 first

:dry: .270 has a higher velocity then the .308

@ Novice, dont play, get a .338 lapua for long range

Novice...

I own a Remington Model 7 .308 All weather(stainless barrel with synthetic stock). Over the past ten years I shot Kudu, Gemsbok, Impala, Warthog, Blue Wildebeest, ect. to name a few. Nice distances, but not too far. I find it to be a very nice all round rifle plus you can carry it for miles due to its weight.

For hunting a .308 is fantastic, but he is looking at long range sport/hobby.

Oupa wrote: For hunting a .308 is fantastic, but he is looking at long range sport/hobby.

Oupa, maybe I should start reading everything....LOL....my bad !

For long distance a .308 is not the best choice, rather something more like .270 or 3006.

No ways .308 3006 are perfect.. and double up for great hunting rifles. 308 is a standard competition calibre thats been tried and tested. At range the heavier round is also less effected by elements, then the discussion becomes about bullets though.

In all respect guys, using 308 and 3006 for long range was the preference 30 years ago.

If you want real long range, 338 Lapua, 50 BMG or 6.5x284. I am active shooter in long range, bisley shots prefer the 6.5x284 due to low recoil, easily discernible vapour trail and due to the long bullet (which increases BC significantly) the wind has not that much effect. That would be my first choice.

Couldn't agree more. still prefer .338 its fantastic.

Ya im not going to argue against 338.. it slipped my mind initially. I dont agree with 270 though. The british load the l115a3 in 338 lapua but I think its changing and its phenomenal. Ya im not very current. I havent done long range rifle shooting in 5 years but even then 308 was a popular choice. But ya 338 is brilliant.

if you like long range, you will love the .338 no doubt, but i personally prefer the 270, it does require a bit more skill to hit really long range shots though with he .270

Agreed. However, if you want to push the 270 balistically compared to what the other rifles do with minimal effort, you will burn the throat away within 1000 shots. Not worth it IMHO

Another rifle to try would be the 6mm Dasher.

Push a 75gr Vmax at 3500fps. Excellent rifle for long shots, friend of mine has confirmed kill of Springbok at 585m (GPS measure).

If you put in a 1:7 twist you can go up to 90-110gr bullets with G1 BC of 0.45, which is excellent and will shoot very long range

Fuuuuuuck, SV ! If this was a rifle website you would surely have been a moderator....you know your shit !

Yep didnt now there was so much involved ...R1 in the army is my experiance :lol:

Mike, the R1 was a monster hey. Loved it.

I agree SV knows his shit, keep going boet, enjoying the info.

Shiat! haha thanks for all the info guys,

@SV I appreciate the help man, this is going to be my first rifle and from what i've just read about the .338 Lapua it seems like the perfect long range rifle but a bit out of my bracket, my budget is max'd out at 15k for now incl a decent scope.

Can you suggest another gun maybe not as powerful as the .338 that i can go to my farm and just line up shot hours on end with out needing to wear shoulder pads? :lol:
and at the moment I wont be able to afford a gun and then spend extra $$ on doing it up, i just want something that will be decent at long range shots and enjoyable to shoot as well.

the reason I originally decided on the .308 Rem 700 becasue apparently with a 24" barrel and a 1/10 twist you can achieve the right bullet velocities to reach those distances. I also plan to go hunting ocassionally as well so I dont want to rule that out completely.

Thanks again guys

Novice! wrote: Shiat! haha thanks for all the info guys,

@SV I appreciate the help man, this is going to be my first rifle and from what i've just read about the .338 Lapua it seems like the perfect long range rifle but a bit out of my bracket, my budget is max'd out at 15k for now incl a decent scope.

Can you suggest another gun maybe not as powerful as the .338 that i can go to my farm and just line up shot hours on end with out needing to wear shoulder pads? :lol:
and at the moment I wont be able to afford a gun and then spend extra $$ on doing it up, i just want something that will be decent at long range shots and enjoyable to shoot as well.

the reason I originally decided on the .308 Rem 700 becasue apparently with a 24" barrel and a 1/10 twist you can achieve the right bullet velocities to reach those distances. I also plan to go hunting ocassionally as well so I dont want to rule that out completely.

Thanks again guys

.303? Wont be too taxing on your shoulders and price range is decent, .308 is also in a good price range

My dad has a 303 and it is a lot of fun to shoot but I would like to get a different calibre just because hey Ball!

50 cal :evil: :evil: