Long range shooting.....what do I need?

[RobertN]

Two of my favorites are a Savage 99 in 300 Savage, and Rem 700 heavy barrel in 308...

The 22-250 is a very fine cartridge. It's parent 250-3000 is still a fine one too.

Sound like you've done your research, can't argue with facts . I stand corrected! I do know though the 22250 was developed from the 250 savage.

 

[MossRoad]

I never saw that show, but have heard the reference when I was a kid. :thumbsup:

 

[N80]

Thanks again guys. Still just dabbling with the idea. Do not want another gun or caliber so will have to work with what I've got (.308, .270., 30-06). I have a 7mm-08 but it is a small Rem Model 7 with a small barrel. (And recoil does not bother me....a folded towel makes a great 'sissy bag' and no flinching!) This could migrate into shooting big game at some point but right now I just want to get competent. No plans to compete. No plans shooting out past 500 as where I live there would be very few opportunities or even places to do so. Its just another one of those things I want to know how to do.

I think a better scope will be my first purchase.

 

[vtsnowedin]

Thanks again guys. Still just dabbling with the idea. Do not want another gun or caliber so will have to work with what I've got (.308, .270., 30-06). I have a 7mm-08 but it is a small Rem Model 7 with a small barrel. (And recoil does not bother me....a folded towel makes a great 'sissy bag' and no flinching!) This could migrate into shooting big game at some point but right now I just want to get competent. No plans to compete. No plans shooting out past 500 as where I live there would be very few opportunities or even places to do so. Its just another one of those things I want to know how to do.

I think a better scope will be my first purchase.

That Leopold 6X is not to be sneezed at. For 300 yard shooting I'd spend some practice time with the set up you have and see what you can do with it. Even though the cross hairs cover the exact center of the target you can "Quarter the Bull" keeping the same amount of the eight inch circle in each quadrant of the sight picture as close to the same as possible. You might be pleasantly surprised at how well you can do with what you have got.

 

[N80]

I'll definitely give it a try. I have the same scope on the .308 that I shot at 300 yards this weekend and it seemed okay. I was just aiming at a spot on a large packing box so I have not tried it at that distance on an actual target. The area I was aiming at on the box was probably 5-6" square and it was fine for that. The gun is sighted in 1" high at 100 yards but the group was 20" below that!!!.......but again, this was with some old reloads marked as practice rounds so who knows what I was actually shooting.

As mentioned, I had one 'flier' that would have made a 7" group. The other 4 were in a 5" group. So I think I can definitely practice with the Leopold 6x. It has the fine duplex crosshair and is super sharp optically.

I still think I would like to get higher power variable with turret knobs that can be turned by hand rather than a coin, etc. I've always liked good optics but not sure I'm ready to drop $1000 on a high end, high power variable. But I might be willing to spend $400-500. Unless it is junk it should keep its resale value.

 

[RobertN]

Ture. Have you seen what the old Unertl and Lyman's are going for?!

Unless it is junk it should keep its resale value.

 

[RobertN]

This is what I would like... for long range shooting...

Texas Brigade Armory

 

[N80]

This is what I would like... for long range shooting...

Texas Brigade Armory

Cool:thumbsup:

 

[Beltzington]

Start with a scope.
Target or tactical shooting have very different requirements. Target, known range, plenty of time, etc. Tactical the opposite.
Old school military tactical rifles had 10x fixed scopes with mil-dots for quick ranging and wind adjustments. Modern day are variable from 5x to 30x with front focus reticules (FFR) being the rage for ranging.
Expect to spend $1K+ for a modern tactical long range scope. Read-up. Tactical turrets allow for quick and repeatable range and windage adjustments, Target turrets not so much but a good target scope can be had for <$500.
Your rifle is a good starting point. The military has used .308, 300WM and 50cal for long range shooting for years. Time proven and tested but the .270 is a fine flat shooting cartridge.
Many good sites for this topic have already been listed. Good Luck, allot of data to sort through.

PS - the .270 drops several FEET in a thousand yards, make sure the scope and mounts you select can compensate. 30mm tube allows for much more adjustment in elevation although an elevated scope base can compensate for a scopes limitations.

 

[N80]

Just got off the phone with a friend of mine. He is a professional shotgun shooter for Benelli and instructor and is internationally ranked in FITASC (a form of sporting clays). Anyway, he has done all sorts of professional and collegiate shooting but has just recently taken up long range shooting. He shoots a Sako .308 (given to him by Benelli).

So I asked him some of the same questions I have asked here and he pretty much agreed with you guys. He also was not real keen on the .270 for 500+ yard shooting. Primarily he said it is hard to find factory ammo for long range target shooting and that reloading would be a must. But he also said something about the ballistic coefficient of the .270 not being ideal....not sure what he meant and he may have been referring to .270 hunting bullets. He also mentioned the advantages of metal targets.

I had called to specifically ask him about scopes and since he has known me all his life he knows I'm a tightwad and he recommended a fix 10x mil dot scope by SWFA. He says the quality is good and the cost is $299 which is not bad. Not sure how the optical quality will compare to my old Zeiss and newer Leopolds but at the price it seems worth it. I'm a bit hesitant to buy a fixed power 10x because it would be useless for anything else....in other words I would not be able to hunt with it.

Anyway, I think we might go to my cabin Sunday afternoon and shoot some of my guns and some of his as well so I might learn a few things then. When he gets into something, he gets into it deep so the main thing I'm probably going to learn is that I can't afford to get into long range shooting!

However, he did mention something that sounds fun and maybe a little cheaper which is long range .22 shooting. He shoots at 250-300 yards and says pretty much everything you learn shooting 22s at that range translates pretty well to shooting .308 at 1000 yards. I've got a sweet Remington 513s that would be a blast to shoot long range with.