My son wants to get into long range shooting.

[Hoss50]

Ruger American or Howa 1500 and put it in a MDT fieldstock. You can buy the Howa 1500 barreled action from Brownells for $500 or less. Add the stock and a decent scope and you could have a reasonable rig for pretty cheap.

I just did that with a Howa 1500 in 6.5x55. I had very basic handloads out at 500 yards last Friday smacking the steel in about a 1MOA group.

Ruger might even shoot better. If he really wants to invest better right off get a Tikka CTR or similar and get after it.

This is my budget steel smasher mentioned above. Vortex 6x24x50 I snagged from another rifle.

 

[Straight Shooter]

We are looking at the Ruger and Tikka.

 

[M1A1ABRAMS]

Tikka for the win. Sako another fine rifle. Tract Toric is another fine scope for the money. Eagleman has designed a scope with them. You would be all set for his class.

 

[VLD Pilot]

He is partly bald and can't grow a manbun, but he wants a 6.5 creedmoor. I am looking at a Howa 1500. Anyone know about their quality or have one?

Try Rogain before Creedmoor.

 

[Mike D Texas]

We are looking at the Ruger and Tikka.

The tikka is a far better rifle.

 

[med358-boise]

What does he and you consider long range? 600? 1000? 1 mile? It matters. At 600 you can watch youtube, use Hornady 4DOF and get really close. At 1000, you need better equipment and consistent loads plus some training. At a mile you must have some serious education.

This is a really great point! It directly translates into equipment choices and cost. One consideration is how often will he be shooting at 1000 yards - once a year? once a quarter? once a month? once a week?

 

[LouisianaHunter]

The tikka is a far better rifle.

I've had my eye on the T3 super varmint . So far I have resisted the urge .

 

[xsn10s]

I have a Weatherby Obsidian, which uses the Howa 1500, in .223 and a Howa Superlite 7-08. They both shoot just fine and imo a better value than a Ruger America. A Tikka has long been touted as a better rifle, but the price reflects it. I also have a new Remarms in 7mm RM ADL which I put into a KRG Bravo, it shoots easily under 1/2 moa. None of those three are even broken in yet and haven't gone through a decent load workup.

 

[DLJ6]

I have a Ruger American Pred. In 6 creed that is a tack driver and easy to load for. That being said my tikkas and sako S20 would be what I would reach for if there was meat or money on the line.

 

[Rick Richard]

Don't forget the ugly ole SAVGE brand. They might not be pretty, but the chances of getting a shooter is better than most other factory….stuff.

 

[Barbourcreek]

Rifles I would look into the tikka or bagara .

 

[Okie Whitetail Hunter]

I am a big fan of the Browning Xbolt rifles. However the aftermarket support for them is limited.

 

[R. Cram]

I bought a ruger precision rifle to use in Highpower 8 or 9 years ago and they make a great rifle, I just set back it's 4th barrel so around 8 or 9 thousand rounds are through it, the adjustable for length of pull and cheek height stock is extremely important for me when I shoot prone I am a stock crawler and without the length of pull adjustment I am way too close to the scope for the other positions, as I have said many times to people starting out in Highpower start with a pretty good factory barrel and by the time you shoot that out your skill level will probably increase enough that an expensive barrel will benefit you.

 

[Jim’s Hunt]

Is he wanting to shoot F-Class,NRL Hunter or PRS style? 0r just to burn ammo and have fun? It's a deep rabbit hole and an expensive one to dig.