Long range?

[cg21]

Dont know much about rifles.. Looking into buying something for long range shooting.. I have 3 different calibers I am considering. Just looking for something to have fun at the range... and maybe pick off zombies from my roof.


Any advice on brand of firearm or which caliber to go with will be greatly appreciated.


7mm
.308
30-06

 

[Mech45]

Savage and Remington factory rifles are your best bet on the lower price end of things. Sako, AI or a custom rifle on the high end. You'll get all sorts of opinions on what caliber, .308 and 30-06 are great for the variety of ammo available. 6.5-47 Lapua and 7mm 08 have better ballistics but much fewer factory ammo choices. The real long range stuff like 6.5-284, and .338 Lapua really get out there but are expensive to shoot. I just sold a TRG-42 in .338 Lapua because it was expensive to shoot and I didn't really have anywhere to make use of it, .338 is a 1500yd plus round. A lot depends on how much you have to spend and what you consider "long range". If you are on a budget a good .223 with heavier bullets (69gr and up) will allow for plenty of inexpensive pratice especially if you have to shoot factory ammo. My personnel favorites are 6mm BR and .308, the 6mm is a custom Remington 40X and the .308 is a TRG-22 and I reload for both of them. Take a look at the Savage target rifles in .223 or .308, 6mm BR if you reload. Do a search and you will find tons of info on this subject HTH

 

[c604]

I would stay with the 308 for simple reason of large amount of ammo and components. I would also stay with remington or one of the controled round feed winchester style actions. That way if you decide to go custom you already have a great action to build on. In 308 you also need to stay with 175 gr for anything over say 700 yards, also dont skimp on optics. You cant hit what you cant see.

 

[42769vette]

Depending on wich 7mm your talking about Id go with the 308. If your talking about the 7-08 that would be my choice.

As far as action, savage or remington will out shoot the guy behind the trigger

 

[cg21]

Maybe I will stick with the .223... What would you say is an effective range on say the mini 14 ruger??? or are there better choices for long range shooting in .223?

 

[42769vette]

Maybe I will stick with the .223... What would you say is an effective range on say the mini 14 ruger??? or are there better choices for long range shooting in .223?

There are defintally better choices that the mini 14.

As far as effective range That depends of what your target it. Yesterday I went shooting and I kept every round pretty much as fast as I can pull the trigger on a torso target at 725ish yards. Had I been aiming at a 8 steel plate I would not have had the same speed, or results.

 

[cg21]

thats what I am looking for preferably a gun in .223..... that can hit torso size at 800yds I know it will take practice and such... but I want it to be capable of that.

 

[philbert001]

800 yards is pushing it for a .223, with a skilled rifle shooter behind the trigger. As you say you don't know much about rifles, I'd say that you are asking too much of a .223!

 

[c604]

You might want to stay with a bolt gun because of the hevier wieght bullets wont fit into ar sized magazines. They are to long, so this makes them a single shot anyway.

 

[cg21]

you guys said there are much better options than a mini 14 in .223.... could you maybe offer up some suggestions?

 

[philbert001]

Savage and Remington factory rifles are your best bet on the lower price end of things. Sako, AI or a custom rifle on the high end.

This

 

[42769vette]

you guys said there are much better options than a mini 14 in .223.... could you maybe offer up some suggestions?

Ar15, or anything bolt action. As mentioned earlier the 223 is definitely not the easiest round for long range. I went shooting yesterday in fairly high winds. My 308 wind call was about 14 inches. My 223 with 69gr bullets was close to 60 inches

 

[turnandshoot4]

Ar15, or anything bolt action. As mentioned earlier the 223 is definitely not the easiest round for long range. I went shooting yesterday in fairly high winds. My 308 wind call was about 14 inches. My 223 with 69gr bullets was close to 60 inches

High winds at your place? Shocking!

 

[IndyGunworks]

High winds at your place? Shocking!

No kidding right, sometimes i think there is a tornado that just parks on his property and doesnt move.

 

[tohm]

An AR platform with a 260 is a solid performer. I would recommend looking into that as an option also. A lot depends on if you are going to compete and distance you will be shooting at. Also if you are or are going to reload.

 

[turnandshoot4]

you guys said there are much better options than a mini 14 in .223.... could you maybe offer up some suggestions?

Let me contribute to the op.

The mini 14 gets 2-3moa. At 800 that is huge.

Bolt guns with QUALITY scopes or any rifle that is 1 moa will work.

 

[1911ly]

Remington 700 series are inexpensive guns. Skip the 308 round. It is way over hyped as a long range round. (I am sure that comment will bring a few flames). Way to under powered with way to much drop.

The 30-06 is a excellent long range round, It served our military well.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

Dont know much about rifles.. Looking into buying something for long range shooting.. I have 3 different calibers I am considering. Just looking for something to have fun at the range... and maybe pick off zombies from my roof.


Any advice on brand of firearm or which caliber to go with will be greatly appreciated.


7mm
.308
30-06

Remington 700 in .308 is the way to go if you want to shoot out to 1,000 yards.

The .223 with the heaviest bullets just doesn't have the power to make it much past 800 yards. I've seen guys hitting 36" steel plates at 800 yards and a few manage hits at 900 yards, but I've never seen anyone hit the plates at 1,000 yards. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I've never seen it

There's also a lot of misinformation here on the .308 rounds.
1911ly says "Skip the 308 round. It is way over hyped as a long range round. (I am sure that comment will bring a few flames). Way to under powered with way to much drop."

I'm not flaming, but here is what a .308 at 1,000 yards is capable of doing:

That's 5 shots out of my 700 in .308 at 1,000 yards. That group, including the one flier measures 5", or 1/2 MOA at 1,000 yards.

c604 says "In 308 you also need to stay with 175 gr for anything over say 700 yards."

That 5" group above was shot with 168 grain A-max bullets.

There are a lot of different opinions from folks who think they know what they are talking about, but if you really want to know what rifles are capable of shooting long range, then you need to go to some of those ranges and see what the folks are shooting. You'll find 6mm, .243 and .308s are the most common caliber at those ranges. There are a lot of other rounds that will do the job. I also have a .338 Lapua that does so well at 1,000 yards that it is almost boring to shoot. The .338 Lapua needs at least 1,500 yards to be interesting.

 

[pgfrmr]

Depends on your budget but anything AR in .223 or .308 would make for good times. In bolt action Remington and Savage would both be great.

 

[42769vette]

Remington 700 series are inexpensive guns. Skip the 308 round. It is way over hyped as a long range round. (I am sure that comment will bring a few flames). Way to under powered with way to much drop.

The 30-06 is a excellent long range round, It served our military well.

The 308 is considered the best at nothing, but good at everything. Every caliber debate out there is give and take. with the 308 vs the 30-0g the 308 gives some velocity, but also doesnt recoil as bad.

There is give and take in every caliber debate because no one caliber is perfect for everything (wich is why all guns are not the same caliber). There is nothing wrong with the 308 for long range. Is it the best? absolutly not, but the 30-06 is not anywhere near the best either