Long Range Rifle Shooting on a budget ...

[Eagle eyes 17]

Here is an Example : My first " Long Range Rifle " that I could afford was a
'Remington 700 ADL S.S. Combo.' chambered for a '308 Winchester' Cartridge and the reasons for that choice started with the fact that the Rem. 700 would be a good base to build off of and I could get it for under $500 including tax, which was in my budget and it came with a scope, now as we all know the scopes that they put on these Combo's are going to be bottom end scopes, knowing that I had a better scope that I could use from another Rifle.
The other thing that most of us know about is that Remington's 700 Rifles Start out with the ADL then BDL, CDL and a whole array of other's.
But the ADL was a good starter for me because I could make some improvements as I could afford them like , Trigger and Stock
So my focus was to get the Best Rifle that I could afford to get started with, that had the Cartridge that I wanted.

My Starting Budget was going to be between $500 - $750 total
… Rifle …, $450
… Scope ..$250 ( I already had one) its value was about $300. but I got it on Sale
… Ammo ..$ 40
… Targets..$ 10
…..Total … $750.00 …
Actual cost $500 because I already had a Scope

 

[HARPERC]

I have a young fellow at work asking advice. I find a few questions are necessary, often asked more than once.
Is this your first rifle?
What purpose(s) will it need to fill?
How much will you spend? Not comfortably how far will you stretch? Want it bad enough to sell plasma? Work an extra shift? Pick up a second job? If your not going to hunt or compete will a quality rim fire satisfy? Long Range Rimfire is a real thing. Will a better quality fixed power be useable? Enough X's to spot bullet holes saves a spotter. Haunt the Pawn Shops, a shame, but they have the best selection here, handle many looking to fit, and feel off the rack. Don't buy planning to fix inherent flaws, if it won't work as is kick it to the curb, don't throw good money after bad, look for turn key set ups.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I disagree, don't ever add up how much you've spent...ever. Lol
The simplest way to get into lr is buy a rifle designed for lr. Free floated heavy barrel as the main prerequisite.
I have a mark 4 sitting on a 22 right now, I also disagree about the scope, but it's not cost, it's just quality tracking I'm after.

Yep, and the SWFA SS and Vortex HS-T scopes are under $700, and track perfectly, are built like tanks, and have great glass for the money, they just don't have all the bells & whistles of the higher-priced scopes. It's hard to deny them their rightful place as some of the best budget-minded LR optics.

 

[ophious]

buy once cry once. Affordable and Long Range Shooting don't go together.

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

buy once cry once. Affordable and Long Range Shooting don't go together.

I would have to definitely disagree with you. Not only is it possible, it's become extremely popular.

 

[NEMTHunter]

buy once cry once. Affordable and Long Range Shooting don't go together.

Whats your definition of not affordable and Long range shooting?

There is a thing people like to say. you get what you pay for. That is not always the case.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I would have to definitely disagree with you. Not only is it possible, it's become extremely popular.

Yep, why else would would these companies keep pushing high-end tech from just a few years ago into very affordable scopes. Hell, a Vortex Diamondback Tactical has glass that's on par with a Leupold VX-3, but it also has repeatable target turrets and lots of travel.

 

[Canhunter35]

I have a young fellow at work asking advice. I find a few questions are necessary, often asked more than once.
Is this your first rifle?
What purpose(s) will it need to fill?
How much will you spend? Not comfortably how far will you stretch? Want it bad enough to sell plasma? Work an extra shift? Pick up a second job? If your not going to hunt or compete will a quality rim fire satisfy? Long Range Rimfire is a real thing. Will a better quality fixed power be useable? Enough X's to spot bullet holes saves a spotter. Haunt the Pawn Shops, a shame, but they have the best selection here, handle many looking to fit, and feel off the rack. Don't buy planning to fix inherent flaws, if it won't work as is kick it to the curb, don't throw good money after bad, look for turn key set ups.

your last sentence should be emphasized, look for turn key set ups, used and new if budget is a major consideration. All the little improvements add up.
Good post btw

 

[Canhunter35]

Yep, and the SWFA SS and Vortex HS-T scopes are under $700, and track perfectly, are built like tanks, and have great glass for the money, they just don't have all the bells & whistles of the higher-priced scopes. It's hard to deny them their rightful place as some of the best budget-minded LR optics.

Sightron stac also. Mines on my 308, I've taken it to 1200, tracks spot on. It might even be less than the others. That scope is hard to beat value

 

[Idaho Lefty]

To the OP,..
You left off, TWO very accurate, Factory Rifle's from, your list,..
The New Browning's and the Tikka T3 and T3X's with, the right "adjustments" and Loads ! Be sure to pick a Cartridge that, does the "job" YOU need, one WITHOUT too much Recoil, so you can, PRACTICE, a lot ! "Validate" those Loads on, a good Scope's turret. Learn how, to "read" WIND and KNOW, your's and your Rifles, "limitations" ! Be careful of, WHAT you read & see on, the Internet ! LOOK for duplication of comments, to figure out what's, TRUE or, not ! Yep, I agree that, there's NO need, to spend a "fortune" on, an accurate Rifle. Good Luck !

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

The nice thing about just getting into Long Range Shooting is that its very popular right now so the Firearms Companies are offering a wide range of options for everyone from beginners to those that have been doing it for awhile.
As far as a good place to get some great Long Range shooting Info. I have read and watched a lot of videos from Ryan Cleckner , and he has put out a great book on it.
If you get a chance look him up on YouTube, He's a great source for learning about Long Range Shooting as well as many of the Basic shooting skills needed to be accurate at any Range.
.

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

To give you a visual idea of my first Budget Long Range Rifle below I've added a
picture of what I started with : ' Remington 700 ADL Synthetic S.S. Combo. '

It was a great starter Rifle for me, a good budget build to get me started with a Long Range Rifle. This is just one of many great starter rifles that are available around $500

 

[FIGJAM]

I pretty much agree except for the first number two! Get a Good scope right off!
Lower priced optics usually don't preform like you want and you never get close to your money back! You just end up buying 2 scopes when one would have been enough!

Maybe - you can pick up a used vortex hs-t for $400 which tracks and performs awesome. It might not have the glass that a $2000 scope has, but to start out with there are a lot of less expensive reliable scopes.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Maybe - you can pick up a used vortex hs-t for $400 which tracks and performs awesome. It might not have the glass that a $2000 scope has, but to start out with there are a lot of less expensive reliable scopes.

However, the HS-T does have the glass of a $1,000 scope....... Same glass, body, and turrets as the PST.

Only thing it doesn't have is FFP and illuminated reticle. Which is not worth the additional $350 difference, IMO.