# Best Long Range Rifle



## Dekashika (Oct 23, 2007)

Just curious what some of your thoughts are regarding the best caliber/rifle for long-range shooting. I am looking for something that is flat shooting, and accurate out to 600-800 yards. Currently, my larger caliber guns are a 7mm mag, 270, and 30-06. The are all great hunting guns that have served me well. 

I do not plan on hunting/shooting at animals out to 600-800 yards, so lets not let the discussion go there. But rather, would like to shoot long range targets. What guns are you long-range shooters using? 

Thanks


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

I just posted this on a similar thread, but a lot of people are really happy with the Savage Tactical line of rifles and their accuracy and price. http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/models/

Believe it or not, the .308 Winchester is the common choice of military and LE for 600-800 yards. 168 to 175 HPBT Match ammo is normally used. While not as flat shooting as your 7 Mag or .270, drop is dialed in when coupled with accurate rangefinding. You can also go with the .300 Win Mag, which is available in the some of the same rifles.

Here are a few Savage .308 choices - but FN/Winchester, Remington (PSS), Vanguard and others have tactical rifles as well:

Model: 10 FP









Model: 10 FCP HS Precision









Model: 10 BAS-K









Model: 110 BA
The ultimate long range target big boy in calibers .300 Win Mag and .338 Lapua Mag.


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## hyperduc (Sep 18, 2009)

My favorite reach out and touch someone round is the .338 Lapua, there really aren't many guns that will do what thing can do at 800.


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

We cant forget LONGBOW's shooter... viewtopic.php?f=15&t=24735

I bought a .308 for the same reason that Frisco Pete mentioned. I dont own a Savage so I couldnt really echo the accuracy claims but I am sure they are great.

I also put a Zeiss 6.5-20 Scope with a Z-1000 reticle which was calibrated for (this is from an e-mail from Zeiss Optik) "The Rapid-Z 1000 reticle in the 6.5-20x50 is calibrated for 168 or 175 Grain bullets. The system works by matching the drop of the reticle to the ballistic drop of your particular round by setting the scope to a specific power setting to get them to match."

I am not a pro at shooting distance and am hoping to learn a bit more about it as I shoot my .308, but I did recently take it out to experiment with the BDC reticle and it is quite impressive how it worked. I only had a chance to shoot roughly 300 yards at some soda cans, but it worked wonderfully.

So after telling you all that.... I would suggest the .308 purely because there is a lot out there for that caliber unless you want to buy a scope from these guys http://www.thebestofthewest.net/ but I dont know if they are really as amazing as they claim...


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## awbmab (Aug 9, 2008)

I am considering the 300 RUM or 338 RUM, from what I have read and heard the 338 RUM has less velocity and energy than the lapua, but not by much, call it a poor(or frugal) mans lapua.
check out this article.
http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/ ... sLapua.asp


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## toasty (May 15, 2008)

If this is just a target shooter, why would go to such a large caliber? With those big .308 or .338 calibers you loose your ballistic edge with lower coefficients compared to the .284 and .260 calibers. With 800 yard shots, recoil is a big deal, if you're preparing waiting for that 338 to hit your shoulder you're not going to be concentrating on shooting. There is a good reason most long range target shooters are using bullets in the 6mm-7mm range and there are a lot of custom calibers just for target shooting like the 260 rem or a 7mm Br. That .270 has plenty of capability to shoot targets to 800 yards with a good scope.


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## killdeer (Dec 9, 2009)

I'm glad to see someone talk about the "old calibers". In Nam in '69 and '70 Marine snipers were carrying 700 Rem in .308. Mach ammo (168 gr. at 2400-2600 velocity). Reported kills at well over 1000 yards (meters). In military match shoots both the'06 and 308 were being used. Both are .308 caliber and they were shooting 168 gr. at 2400-2600 velocity.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

> I bought a .308 for the same reason that Frisco Pete mentioned. I dont own a Savage so I couldnt really echo the accuracy claims but I am sure they are great.
> 
> I also put a Zeiss 6.5-20 Scope with a Z-1000 reticle which was calibrated for (this is from an e-mail from Zeiss Optik) "The Rapid-Z 1000 reticle in the 6.5-20x50 is calibrated for 168 or 175 Grain bullets. The system works by matching the drop of the reticle to the ballistic drop of your particular round by setting the scope to a specific power setting to get them to match."


I'll echo both FriscoPete on the Savage and BAX on his scope choice. The .308 is a great starting round for longrange shooting. It's also a great round to stay with. Just know it's limitations if your going to hunt with it. You have a lot of good longrange bullets to pick from too.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

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Just don't get addicted to longrange shooting. It gets expensive. That's one good reason to stay with a Savage in .308.


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## El Matador (Dec 21, 2007)

Most of the long range hunting crowd likes the big .338s with 300 grain bullets. Those are big. In order to effectively shoot one you need a muzzle brake and a heavy (probably custom) rifle. For target shooting you don't need that much power even though it might be fun. 300 ultra mag is a good in between caliber if you want something more affordable and still quite powerful and flat shooting. I'd still want a brake on one. Weatherby makes a magnum in just about every caliber and they all shoot very flat. The .257 or .264 would have moderate recoil in an average weight rifle. Personally I'd go buy a Remington Sendero in 7mm ultra and call it good.


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## Donnerhund GWPs (Sep 12, 2007)

TRR!


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## Frisco Pete (Sep 22, 2007)

> I am looking for something that is flat shooting, and accurate out to 600-800 yards.


Recoil is one of the greatest factors is shooter error. This error is only magnified at long range. When the subconscious starts to anticipate pain - as in a big kick to the shoulder - then a flinch will develop. The worst thing is that most shooters have a hard time seeing that they are flinching. (_Yeah - this means YOU big guy_ :lol: ) Depending on the gun, most casual shooters start to have problems when much more recoil than the .30-06/7mm Mag level is exceeded in a 9 pound rifle. That is why that Savage 110 BA weighs 16 pounds and has a humongous muzzle brake.
In addition, brakes are loud - and this noise can affect some shooters too.
But these are necessary evils if 1000 yards is the goal. With lesser ranges, lesser power will work.

Considering that match AR15s with 80-gr bullets (single-loaded) are winning at 600 yards in Service Rifle competition and the proven, but mild .308 Win is thought of as one of the great rounds out to that distance - I would think carefully before adding much more recoil into the mix for a newer shooter. One good thing is that the heavy barrel target guns add weight that dampens recoil, so a .308 is really mild and a .300 is more like a sporter-weight 7mm Mag at most.
As _Longbow_ mentions, ammo cost is a factor - a cheaper ammo caliber will allow more practice, and practice is really the key here. As you develop, you might move on to the more expensive rounds, but you learned the basics for a lot less money than 30-378 Wby or .338 Lapua, or even .300 WM

Have you tried any of your current hunting rifles out to 600 yards or so to see how they shoot? While certainly not a heavy free-floated barrel target rifle, with accurate hunting ammo they should give you some idea of what is involved in long range shooting. Just don't get the barrel too hot with long shot strings.

No matter what caliber you get, drop is involved, more than you probably imagine. Because this type of shooting is normally done at known-distance targets (unlike hunting) you can zero the rifle/scope for long range and live with the high midrange trajectory. Here is an idea of a .308 Win shooting 3 different bullet weights with varying velocities that is zeroed at 500 yards. Results may not mimic those at our altitude, because the air is less dense here, but are pretty much what you are looking at.
500 YARD ZERO / 3 DIFFERENT BULLETS - Fed/AE 150-gr FMJ / Fed 168-gr GM / Fed 175-gr GM


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## Dekashika (Oct 23, 2007)

Thank you everybody for the information and advice. Some great suggestions here, and some very nice guns some of you are shooting. Thanks again for the help.


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## SFWG (Sep 8, 2007)

If you want to beat your shoulder to death, or lose your hearing buy one of the big mags. If you want to shoot long range and not have the above results, I would build a 6.5-284.


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## flyfisher117 (Jun 29, 2009)

the two long range guns we own are

#1 a Sharps .45-70 black powder for silouhette shooting.

#2 .22-284 now i havent done this but i was looking on a long range forum and there were some guys shooting this caliber and hitting their target at 1000 yards. if it was 100% true then dang thats impressive for a .22 cal


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## wapiti67 (Oct 2, 2007)

Ballistically...I'll throw my Tikka .338 up against any .270, 7mm. or .308 any day


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## Donttreadonme (Sep 11, 2007)

Frisco Pete has given the best advice on Caliber IMO. The .308 is a fantastic round clear out to 1000 yds. Those big rounds have their advantages but the simple fact is you don't need more than the .308. 

If I were you, I would save building a new gun and put the money into a good scope with target turrets (Leupold Mk IV/Nighforce) and have one of the guns you already own worked over by a competent gunsmith. Have them glass or epoxy bed it, properly float the barrel and maybe even true the action/barrel. You already own some great long range calibers, you might as well put them to use on the range so that way, when you have an opportunity to take a longer shot on game, you know what you are doing.


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