Holy Grail of long range rigs? What custom gun/caliber to get

[FEENIX]

Thanks. I do want to work up my own loads and isn't something that I want to pay for. How would I find the Montana 1000 yard club?

Here's a gunsmith (Joe Starnes in Conrad) that not only can build you an LR rifle but he can also shoot. He's a very nice guy and easy to work with too. BTW, the spotter is Jeff (BROZ)

[ame]https://youtu.be/cTDypg4OAFA?t=8[/ame]

Dave Young in Sand Coulee can do the same.

 

[Jeremyc]

If you're interested in a similar set-up, you have a couple of them made in Montana ...

https://nemoarms.com/rifles/

https://youtu.be/KuKqM1U7S5I?t=2

and

Noreen Firearms, Ultra long range rifles, long range target rifles

https://youtu.be/8E0Py2Ba01w?t=38

Here's a gunsmith (Joe Starnes in Conrad) that not only can build you an LR rifle but he can also shoot. He's a very nice guy and easy to work with too. BTW, the spotter is Jeff (BROZ)

https://youtu.be/cTDypg4OAFA?t=8

Dave Young in Sand Coulee can do the same.

I'll have to check it out and maybe get together with him next time I am up that direction.

 

[KYpatriot]

Sorry double tap

 

[KYpatriot]

OP, I dont get the barrel life obsession. You are apparently willng to spend several thousand dollars on a custom rig, and likely well over a thousand or even two thousand for a scope that such a rifle's precision will deserve, and also demand that it deliver the long range ballistic performance for thousand yard accuracy and terminal performance that clean ethical kills demand.

Those performance requirements demand cartridges that are considered "barrel burners." And so what? A new custom barrel is $300-350, and maybe three hundred to chamber. You will invest somewhere between three and five times that amount in ammo alone burning up said barrel, not to mention your inital investment in rifle, scope, reloading gear, laser range finder, etc etc.

There are no free lunches in this game. The more barrel life you have the less performance you have. What you need to do is select the minimum performance level you desire, and you will fnd your decisions get made for you.

If you are long range hunting, then you need to be realistic about your wind calling skills and select a maximum range you consider ethical for a shot. Then determine the minimum energy you need at that range. if we are still talking thousand yard stuff at this point you will be looking at cartridges with a likely maximum of 1500 rounds or so or less , maybe much less, depending on how stringent your requirements are. Yes there are stories of an accurate 300 winmag with 3500 rounds on it, but there is also a guy at every range with a factory savage that shoots quarter inch groups all day long. Lets get real, If barrel life is really important to you, then what you are saying is economy is more important than the realistic minimum performance level you need from the tool you are buying to meet the demand of long range hunting and shooting. Only you can determine how much performance you need, and therfore how little barrel life you can stand.

I consider barrels like oil filters and windshield wipers...they are disposable maintenance items. So when it comes to rifles, I set a performance level I desire, and the barrel life is what it is, that choice is made for me. Have two barrels chambered up at once if you want little to no down time, but choosing a round based on barrel life for long range is like choosing a prius as a tow vehicle for your horse trailer cause it gets good mileage. It dont compute.

I think its awesome you are going to shoot a lot, so id also suggest you get a cheaper, less capable training rifle to learn the wind and hone skills. You dont need great ballistic performance for thst, and in fact the worse it performs the more you will see your wind errors on target. A factory 308 with federal gold medal match ammo makes a great ballistic trainer that will go thousands of rounds with ease. Thst way you save your performance rifle some...but you will still need to shoot it plenty as well.

 

[4xforfun]

Lots and lots of good advice here. if i were spending your money ( ) I would have two guns.

Primary hunting gun..custom repeater action of your choice. A good custom tube ( I have had really good luck with both Krieger and Brux) chambered up in either 300 Win mag, Wby mag, or a 338 Edge/Lapua. All will give you 1500+ rounds of accuracy..maybe much more. As far as stocks...I really like McMillan, but there are other great stockers out there. Find one that you like. Good trigger. And finally...find a QUALITY smith. We all have horror stories or have friends with a crappy one.

Second gun.....try and match it up with your #1 gun. Build a clone in a lighter kicking LR caliber. 6x 47L, 243, 6.5x 47L/creadmore or the like. Make this your practice gun.

My primary hunting gun (300 wby) and practice gun (6-47L) have IDENTICLE trajectories out to 1000+. They were both stocked the same (Remington Sendero/varment synthetic) and were identicle to each other...scopes, triggers, etc.... I have since restocked the big gun with a McMillan A-5, but I am not happy with the usefullness for my type of shooting/hunting with the A-5 because of the design of the rear of the stock.

Now, you don't NEED to clone your hunting gun if the expense is going to break you. A good Rem/Savage action, a decent stock/trigger, will save you $$$ over a full blown custom.


Jut my .02 (and a butt load of yours),

Tod

 

[sp6x6]

This site and others have some great rifles show up that are proven and with low round count.Stuff comes up and a premium rifle has to go for some one.Thats how I picked up my plinker 338 NM,its also taken a handfull of game by myself and others in my circle.Its a full blown custom and had 100 down tube when I picked it up

 

[Jeremyc]

OP, I dont get the barrel life obsession. You are apparently willng to spend several thousand dollars on a custom rig, and likely well over a thousand or even two thousand for a scope that such a rifle's precision will deserve, and also demand that it deliver the long range ballistic performance for thousand yard accuracy and terminal performance that clean ethical kills demand.

Those performance requirements demand cartridges that are considered "barrel burners." And so what? A new custom barrel is $300-350, and maybe three hundred to chamber. You will invest somewhere between three and five times that amount in ammo alone burning up said barrel, not to mention your inital investment in rifle, scope, reloading gear, laser range finder, etc etc.

There are no free lunches in this game. The more barrel life you have the less performance you have. What you need to do is select the minimum performance level you desire, and you will fnd your decisions get made for you.

If you are long range hunting, then you need to be realistic about your wind calling skills and select a maximum range you consider ethical for a shot. Then determine the minimum energy you need at that range. if we are still talking thousand yard stuff at this point you will be looking at cartridges with a likely maximum of 1500 rounds or so or less , maybe much less, depending on how stringent your requirements are. Yes there are stories of an accurate 300 winmag with 3500 rounds on it, but there is also a guy at every range with a factory savage that shoots quarter inch groups all day long. Lets get real, If barrel life is really important to you, then what you are saying is economy is more important than the realistic minimum performance level you need from the tool you are buying to meet the demand of long range hunting and shooting. Only you can determine how much performance you need, and therfore how little barrel life you can stand.

I consider barrels like oil filters and windshield wipers...they are disposable maintenance items. So when it comes to rifles, I set a performance level I desire, and the barrel life is what it is, that choice is made for me. Have two barrels chambered up at once if you want little to no down time, but choosing a round based on barrel life for long range is like choosing a prius as a tow vehicle for your horse trailer cause it gets good mileage. It dont compute.

I think its awesome you are going to shoot a lot, so id also suggest you get a cheaper, less capable training rifle to learn the wind and hone skills. You dont need great ballistic performance for thst, and in fact the worse it performs the more you will see your wind errors on target. A factory 308 with federal gold medal match ammo makes a great ballistic trainer that will go thousands of rounds with ease. Thst way you save your performance rifle some...but you will still need to shoot it plenty as well.

Thanks. I was thinking about that last night and also talking with a few smiths about pricing for replacing barrels. I am waiting on hearing back from emails and it will definitely be something that I consider.

Lots and lots of good advice here. if i were spending your money ( ) I would have two guns.

Primary hunting gun..custom repeater action of your choice. A good custom tube ( I have had really good luck with both Krieger and Brux) chambered up in either 300 Win mag, Wby mag, or a 338 Edge/Lapua. All will give you 1500+ rounds of accuracy..maybe much more. As far as stocks...I really like McMillan, but there are other great stockers out there. Find one that you like. Good trigger. And finally...find a QUALITY smith. We all have horror stories or have friends with a crappy one.

Second gun.....try and match it up with your #1 gun. Build a clone in a lighter kicking LR caliber. 6x 47L, 243, 6.5x 47L/creadmore or the like. Make this your practice gun.

My primary hunting gun (300 wby) and practice gun (6-47L) have IDENTICLE trajectories out to 1000+. They were both stocked the same (Remington Sendero/varment synthetic) and were identicle to each other...scopes, triggers, etc.... I have since restocked the big gun with a McMillan A-5, but I am not happy with the usefullness for my type of shooting/hunting with the A-5 because of the design of the rear of the stock.

Now, you don't NEED to clone your hunting gun if the expense is going to break you. A good Rem/Savage action, a decent stock/trigger, will save you $$$ over a full blown custom.


Jut my .02 (and a butt load of yours),

Tod

As for the second rifle, iI would want 2 custom rifles the same I think and right now setting up an optic and a rifle is doable as well as getting a good rangefinder. I cannot afford to set up 2 custom rifles. The other option is that I have a semi custom Savage 260 that has a heavy schelin barrel, bell and carlson stock, and shoots great. I also have a savage 300 win mag that I bought and I could build that up very similar to my 260 and have essentially 2 of the exact same rifles. One to practice with and one to hunt with. I can't tell you what I will actually do. I think that if I had one rifle with a good optic (Probably nightforce or maybe vortex razor) on it and a G7 that would be better than having 2 semi custom rifles with ok optics and a vortex range finder. I thank you all for your inputs and am learning and researching a ton of options.

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[Wisner74]

All this talk on here about having two rifles to shoot has just convinced me to not sell my 300 WM Sendero. I currently have an Obermeyer Barrel on order as well as the rest of the parts to build another 300WM for hunting. Think I will keep the Sendero now for my practice rifle

 

[6point5x284]

I did something very similiar recently. Sold a lot of my collection and switched to a more "quality vs quantity" mentality. I kept one light sporter weight rifle around however, and I am sure glad I did. I would recommend the same to you. I went with a nice custom (Rbros) in .300 Win Mag and launch the 215 Hybrids just under 3k. It's a hammer on anything, and shoots very very well. I kept mine as light as I could for a long range hammer at 11# 10oz with a 5-25x56 ATACR enhanced on there. Even that is light for a lot of rigs on here, I still end up taking both that and a lighter sporter weight rifle in the truck on most hunts. If I cut fresh tracks and am bailing off in dark timber, I take the light gun. If I don't and work down a ridge looking cross canyon or work a bowl, etc... I take ODIN (the long range hammer). Good luck, lots of competent smiths in MT like you said. But I would consider keeping one of your lightweight rigs. I missed chances at two bulls in the dark timber this year because I had my long range rig and wasn't carrying it in my hands and it took too long to get ready for a shot. If I would have had my LAW in my hands it would have been a dead bull. I echo keeping with .300 Win Mag, and getting some H1000 and Berger 215 Hybrids! Good luck!

 

[B23]

I am seriously considering liquidating my rifle collection to get one custom gun that will do it all. I live in Montana and hunt antelope, deer, elk, black bear, well... basically everything I can. I am thinking that I can't go wrong with a 300 win mag, but also considering a 300 RUM, 338 Lapua, 338 Norma. Basically the sky is the limit. I do not want a barrel burner and I would rather be a bit on the heavy side vs a bit on the lite side. I don't like elk running and currently use a 300 win mag as my elk gun. Here is what I want:
* Something I can shoot comfortably (at the range) - I'll probably muzzle break it
* Something I can suppress
* Something that is 1000 yard capable
* Reasonably economical to shoot. I try to shoot every other weekend so I don't want to burn the barrel or spend lots of money per shot

I like the idea and ballistics of a 300 Norma mag or the 300 RUM but I think that I will burn out the barrel too quickly. I'd prefer it to be a better shooter than a lighter gun. I don't mind packing a bit of weight at this time of my life.

As for custom gun makers, there are many in Montana so I'd like to keep it in state, but can be convinced otherwise. Some I have been looking at are Snowy Mountain Rifles, Montana Rifle Co, Montana precision rifles, Knapps Custom Guns.

I appreciate all of your opinions.

Thanks,
Jeremy

Have you taken a look at the LRKM from Defensive Edge? Their 338 Terminator (338 Lapua parent case) launches the 300gr Bergers right around 3200 FPS and I believe it's a pretty comfortable shooting platform. Also, it's considerably more compact, even with a 30in barrel, than a conventional rifle. The 338 class of suppressors add a minimum of 10+ inches on the end and a LRKM with a 30in tube + suppressor is only going to be about the length of a conventional rifle.

 

[Jeremyc]

I did something very similiar recently. Sold a lot of my collection and switched to a more "quality vs quantity" mentality. I kept one light sporter weight rifle around however, and I am sure glad I did. I would recommend the same to you. I went with a nice custom (Rbros) in .300 Win Mag and launch the 215 Hybrids just under 3k. It's a hammer on anything, and shoots very very well. I kept mine as light as I could for a long range hammer at 11# 10oz with a 5-25x56 ATACR enhanced on there. Even that is light for a lot of rigs on here, I still end up taking both that and a lighter sporter weight rifle in the truck on most hunts. If I cut fresh tracks and am bailing off in dark timber, I take the light gun. If I don't and work down a ridge looking cross canyon or work a bowl, etc... I take ODIN (the long range hammer). Good luck, lots of competent smiths in MT like you said. But I would consider keeping one of your lightweight rigs. I missed chances at two bulls in the dark timber this year because I had my long range rig and wasn't carrying it in my hands and it took too long to get ready for a shot. If I would have had my LAW in my hands it would have been a dead bull. I echo keeping with .300 Win Mag, and getting some H1000 and Berger 215 Hybrids! Good luck!

Do you regret having less quantity and higher quality? I have a lightweight tikka t3 in 300 win mag that I used to kill 2 elk this year. It is great, but I can't shoot it at the range. too lightweight. It is just a big step to take and having very little to no experience with custom rifles, I am not sure that I am ready for that plunge

Have you taken a look at the LRKM from Defensive Edge? Their 338 Terminator (338 Lapua parent case) launches the 300gr Bergers right around 3200 FPS and I believe it's a pretty comfortable shooting platform. Also, it's considerably more compact, even with a 30in barrel, than a conventional rifle. The 338 class of suppressors add a minimum of 10+ inches on the end and a LRKM with a 30in tube + suppressor is only going to be about the length of a conventional rifle.

After doing more research and thinking about it more, I want a more traditional bolt gun for my first custom rifle. I'll definitely keep it in mind for future platforms.

 

[Bravo 4]

This is what you want:

https://www.barrett.net/firearms/m107a1

Everything else is just a rifle.

You are right, everything else is just a rifle...a rifle that probably doesn't weight over 28 pounds, you don't need to carry spare parts for because its notorious for "breakdowns",
and is actually capable of hitting a minute of man sized target over 1000 yards with some consistency.
After many years of humping one of these everywhere from deserts to mountains, I can tell you that if you have +/- $9000 for a rifle I would direct you elsewhere. Like Kirby, Kiwi Greg, or Joel Russo. Just because we are issued Barrett's doesn't mean they are worth a crap!

 

[LazzInc]

couple of decent 1000 yard groups out of the Lazzeroni rifle ,,, 7.82 Warbird caliber ,,,

 

[6point5x284]

Do you regret having less quantity and higher quality? I have a lightweight tikka t3 in 300 win mag that I used to kill 2 elk this year. It is great, but I can't shoot it at the range. too lightweight. It is just a big step to take and having very little to no experience with custom rifles, I am not sure that I am ready for that plunge

No I don't regret it. I still have several "normal" rifles and some AR's, so I didn't get rid of everything. But, after shooting my custom rifle, I never shoot my "normal" rifles now with the exception of my lightweight sporter for timber, backpack hunts, etc... and that's usually just to confirm zero and for packing/hunting. I too have a Tikka T3 in .300 Win Mag as my main light gun until my Legendary Arms Works 7 Rem Mag load development is finished, and then I will sell the Tikka as well as my 6.5x284 and several optics to build another custom in 6.5 CM for a PRS match gun.

If I had a nice custom long range rig, and a lightweight sporter and an AR or two, I don't think I'd need anything else with the exception of a prairie dog rig for my MT trips. Our prairie dog camp rivals even the most epic elk camps... I just use a Rem 700P in .223 for my main bolt dog gun with an AR and .17HMR as my close range dog guns. It does the job just fine.

Key word is NEED. I still want lots of things that go bang!