Newbie questions...

[The Deer Guy]

Alright guys I'm not new to hunting but I am about pretty new to shooting at anything past 250yds. I'd like to purchase/build a new long range deer hunting rifle at a somewhat reasonable price. Wanted to get some feedback from you guys on what caliber and what make/model of rifle to buy (or should I start from scratch and build it?). I'm leaning towards 6.5 creedmoor or 270. Maybe even 270wsm. I've also looked at either a remington 700 or savage 111 long range hunter. Let me know. I figured I'd start with the rifle/caliber and then tackle optics at a later date.

Thanks,
Josh

 

[ilovesprig]

Josh,

Let's take a drive to Fine Firearms.

 

[The Deer Guy]

Josh,

Let's take a drive to Fine Firearms.

I'm in!

 

[TRICER]

Here is a great video Go Hunt did comparing browning factory rifles vs custom $5k deals. The browning Long Range they use is like $1,200 and it performs incredibly well at 1,000 yards. I dont want to step on any of the Long Range builders toes but this would save a lot of you a ton of money.

http://www.browning.com/products/fi...ction/x-bolt-long-range-hunter-stainless.html

http://www.browning.com/products/fi...roduction/x-bolt-hells-canyon-long-range.html

 

[Aeon]

talking to NBK down at FF would be a good start.

 

[TaftHunter]

First off, what max distance are you looking to shoot at game?
What's your reasonable price range?
Do you want to use a brake or no brake?
What total weight for the gun are you wanting?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[The Deer Guy]

Thanks guys for the input!

 

[The Deer Guy]

First off, what max distance are you looking to shoot at game?
What's your reasonable price range?
Do you want to use a brake or no brake?
What total weight for the gun are you wanting?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Taft,
1) Not set on an exact distance but I'd like to get comfortable up 500yds and hopefully eventually further than that.
2) My budget is around the 1000-1500$ range without optics.
3) Don't know what you mean by a brake
4) As lightweight as possible.

 

[TRICER]

Go with a factory rifle. The action alone will cost you $1k for a custom build. The biggest advancement in accuracy in my opinion is optics with Bullet Drop Calculators in them. Work up a good load and get a turret calibrated to that load and you will be off to the races. If you are looking to stay under 750 yards you cant go wrong with a Tikka or Browning X-Bolt in 260 Remington. Get a Leupold VX3 with a CDS and you will be amazed. This gun will be accurate way past 750 yards. And you should be able to get the entire set up done for less than $2k. Plus it will be a light weight hunting rifle.

 

[The Deer Guy]

Go with a factory rifle. The action alone will cost you $1k for a custom build. The biggest advancement in accuracy in my opinion is optics with Bullet Drop Calculators in them. Work up a good load and get a turret calibrated to that load and you will be off to the races. If you are looking to stay under 750 yards you cant go wrong with a Tikka or Browning X-Bolt in 260 Remington. Get a Leupold VX3 with a CDS and you will be amazed. This gun will be accurate way past 750 yards. And you should be able to get the entire set up done for less than $2k. Plus it will be a light weight hunting rifle.

Truduct,
I really like that browning long range hunter. The guys running go hunt are pretty dialed and that video was awesome. Just out of curiosity, why 260? Also I had a friend tell me that in order to shoot accurate at long ranges you need to load your own rounds. What's your take on that??

 

[TRICER]

I load all my own rounds but I am not a "long range" shooter. I can tell you that by hand loading I have a $500 ruger american shooting Quarter size 5 shot groups at 100 yards. Every barrel shoots different and it is fun to try different loads / bullets and get different velocities and accuracy. But hand loading is not necessary buy a few different factory rounds and see which one shoots best out of your gun and then don't switch. Problem is now you are limited because you basically have to start switching over to non lead so your options will be a little more limited when it comes to factory non lead rounds. This will also hinder you because some of the newer stuff like 260 and 6.5 creed are hard to get in non lead factory ammo. The ammo used in that video is all factory loads.

As for 260 I am a big fan of wildcat cartriges I love 243 and 260 is basically its big brother. Little to no recoil very flat shooting and accurate. John got me to switch and it is such a better shooting gun than my big old 30-06. I load a 127g Barnes LRX bullet with superformance and it shoots great. That Browning comes in 6.5 Creed and about 6 other cartridges. If you get it in 7mm, 300Win, or some of the old school been around forever rounds it will be a lot easier to find factory ammo no matter where you are. Everyone sells 30-06, 300win, 7mm etc.

 

[The Deer Guy]

I load all my own rounds but I am not a "long range" shooter. I can tell you that by hand loading I have a $500 ruger american shooting Quarter size 5 shot groups at 100 yards. Every barrel shoots different and it is fun to try different loads / bullets and get different velocities and accuracy. But hand loading is not necessary buy a few different factory rounds and see which one shoots best out of your gun and then don't switch. Problem is now you are limited because you basically have to start switching over to non lead so your options will be a little more limited when it comes to factory non lead rounds. This will also hinder you because some of the newer stuff like 260 and 6.5 creed are hard to get in non lead factory ammo. The ammo used in that video is all factory loads.

As for 260 I am a big fan of wildcat cartriges I love 243 and 260 is basically its big brother. Little to no recoil very flat shooting and accurate. John got me to switch and it is such a better shooting gun than my big old 30-06. I load a 127g Barnes LRX bullet with superformance and it shoots great. That Browning comes in 6.5 Creed and about 6 other cartridges. If you get it in 7mm, 300Win, or some of the old school been around forever rounds it will be a lot easier to find factory ammo no matter where you are. Everyone sells 30-06, 300win, 7mm etc.

Thanks for the input! I currently shoot a .243 most of the time and I love it but it seems like Its inconsistent past 150-200 yds (partially because it's a cheap gun with cheap optics and most likely mostly me). I also have a .308 browning A-bolt (part of what attracted me towards the x-bolt) but it's a little heavy with wood stocks and my dad uses it most of the time. I've seen a lot of good reviews on 6.5 creed but if the .260 is a flat shooting round that will be accurate at long ranges, with it being a much smaller caliber I may lean towards that.

 

[Nicholas909]

I'm in the same Boat. My next rifle is going to be a long range / hunting rifle also. I've settled on the Bergara B-14 HMR in 6.5CM.

I also use my Ruger American in 7-08mm. With 162gr SSt handloads I'm good out to 600yrds right around 1/2 moa.

My Savage is even more accurate

 

[Fowl Play]

What brand/model gun are you currently shooting now? Have you ever played around with different rounds? Just wondering, cause my rifle will shoot 5" groups at 100 off a lead sled with remington cor-loks, but I put hornady superformance through it and all the rounds suddenly cut each others holes. Honestly, most mid range production rifles now a days can out shoot most hunters. My buddies $300 savage feels like crap, the bolt is sloppy, its made out of plastic, etc. but you put it in the hands of the right shooter/ with a bullet it likes and you'll get deer killing groups at 500. Now if you're looking to go past that, you need to stick with the high end.... your budget will easily put you at top end production rifles. I'm partial to the .270 win myself, but I'm also not an ultra long range hunter (about 500 is the most I was looking to go). Unless you truly are ready to bite the hand loading bullet, you will want to include non-lead production ammunition availability in whatever caliber you choose. Personally I stick with whatever caliber hornady makes a superformance round for, as that is consistently the best shooting cartridge in all my rifles. You should try throwing a few GMX superformance rounds down the barrel of your current .243 and see what happens. Not that I'm against buying new hunting rigs but you might be able to throw all your money towards a killer optic first. Get to 500 with your current rig, then upgrade the rifle later.

 

[TaftHunter]

Taft,
1) Not set on an exact distance but I'd like to get comfortable up 500yds and hopefully eventually further than that.
2) My budget is around the 1000-1500$ range without optics.
3) Don't know what you mean by a brake
4) As lightweight as possible.

At 500 yards I would recommend you use dial up in MOA for your scope, with either a drop chart or an app on your phone where you can put in your data right there.

With just a little more money you could build a custom rifle off a 700 action..

A brake goes at the end of your barrel to reduce recoil. If you are going with a 260 Rem or a 6.5 CM then you don't really need a brake. Magnum cartridges it is almost a must to have a break, especially if you shoot prone.

Kimber makes the lightest... almost too light




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Aeon]

a little dose of reality.

so when you talk about long range we are talking 800+ yards. Mid range is 300 to 800 yards.
1k ft-lb of energy is a kind of a given as the needed power to clean kill a deer. Yes you can do it with less but that is a bit of a standard and not a bad one.

Does flat matter in long range? i am going to say yes and no. No in that to hit a target at long range if you do not have perfect ranging you are going to miss and miss bad with any gun. Flat is nice for mid range shots when you do not have time to range and calculate. think of the 204 ruger and its tiny 32gr bullet going 4k fps. 0 to 300 everything dies in the cross hairs. even the fastest of cartridges will face drop some place around 3 to 400 yards. That is also about when the wind starts to matter a LOT.

Here is where you have to figure out what you want to do with your gun. The 6.5 Creedmore is a great accurate round that has a Huge following in the PRS world. With a 140 gr projectile you are going to get about 2700 fps. That gives you 1k ft-lbs at 680 yards. So max range is 680 yards.

600 yards is a LONG LONG LONG WAYS! and the mild recoil of the 6.5c will help you learn to shoot. so its not a bad choice. just know what you are getting into.

so you get the idea that when you think about getting a gun to shoot far you have to weigh a few variables. If you want to get out to 800+ yards to kill things you need some horse power. The down side of big bad cases is recoil and that is a big down.

If you look at f-class open guns the 284win dominates in the 1000yard game. its about the best balance of recoil in a non braked gun, ballistics and accuracy. That gun is not at all competitive in the 600 yards f-class open. there you will see guns like 6 Bench rest or 6.5x47Lapua

to sum up some things i would say that since you are a new shooter i would get a gun in a mid range chamber like the 6.5c and have a blast with it. learn to shoot and learn to reload your own ammo. Later you can step up to one of the BIG boy long range chambers. NBK would cough here and say 30 Nosler

examples of what a brake can do for you on a gun. This is my 6.5rsaum, it has quite a bit more power than a 6.5c does and as you see in the video its recoil is reduced to almost nothing by the brake.

here is a photo of the brake, its a holland brake and i am very very happy with it.

 

[TaftHunter]

In regards to Aeon's post here a 6.5 creedmoor's recoil, brake-less.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[xjon]

Above video shows a rifle before and after brake install.
In regards to long range hunting/shooting, very important to have in order to keep target in your reticle for shot verification and follow-up shots.

 

[The Deer Guy]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Aeon,
Great input! Thank you. When i threw out the at least 500yds mark i should have been more specific. I wanted to start around 500 yds and work up but I honestly don't intend to shoot a deer over 600. I just like to get them close and most of the country I hunt doesn't even provide for a shot that far. That being said I would like to eventually become accurate as far as possible while target shooting. Also great info on the brake. I grew up just sighting in my rifle at 100 yds and shooting deer without much knowledge of long range shooting. It has proven to be fairly effective over the years, but I can think of countless times when I would have taken longer shots on animals if I had trained for it and had the right gear.