Off the shelf help

500 yards is really not difficult at all with a bit of practice. I do not know what game you may want to hunt but there are many cartridges today that can work within your given parameters and work for species up to elk. I personally would go with something that is easy to shoot well with tolerable recoil. Something ammo is readily available and affordable. 308, 7mm-08, 6.5 CM, 270 Win, 30-06 or something along these lines that he can afford to shoot and practice with. I have a Nightforce SHV 5-20-56 that has been a good scope and is also made in smaller sizes. My two Sightrons also work well and track really well and won't break the bank.
Tikka's theses days are a solid bet to shoot well straight out of the box.
 
I would suggest going with a well established chambering over any of the 'new' ones. So 7RemMag over 7PRC, etc. My reasoning is that given he's not hand-loading that he'll have less trouble finding ammunition in one of the traditional chambers than he will for one of the newer chambers. The store that sells nails, rakes and ammo is much more likely to have a traditional caliber than they are to have something new.

My initial thought was 7RM, but med358-boise makes a solid case for .308Win.

Since he's not likely to become a rifleman, this is a tool. It's going to get used like any other tool. I'd pick the rifle based on this and knowledge of how good he takes care of his tools.
 
More info would be great. Home much money are you talking? Does he really want to get into it or is this just something to get away from the wife so to speak? I mean if you going to get a turret for him eventually, why not hit the easy button and get something in 308? There are untold options in ammunition, it's not overly expensive, and recoil is minimal. If he really enjoys it the barrel life on a 308 is very long. I mean a good choice of rifles in this caliber is the Ruger precision rifle. Throw a 2.5x10x44 vortex HS on it and you have a pretty dang good rifle for the money.
 
The easy button is to have him get a 6mm Creedmoor. Scope of your choice but a Maven RS 1.2 or a Trijicon tenmile are reliable, and will get it done forever even if he upgrades the rifle. Practice a lot with factory Hornady ELD-m 108s. He can order some semi custom ammo with 115 Dtacs with the nosering from Unknown Munitions or someone similar and hunt just about anything up to 500 yards. Recoil for a new shooter or even an experienced one tends to diminish the experience. Work on staying in the scope and spotting shots. Plan for a suppressor, it increases the fun level. Fun is important to make sure there is plenty of range time.
 
ofdscooby said:
I have a friend that wants an off the shelf gun that will shoot out to 500ish with box ammo. All my rifles have been put together by gunsmiths and I reload so I'm not sure what to tell him. I did a small amount of research looking at stuff with in his price point and right now leaning toward a Weatherby 307 in 7PRC with a Night Force SHV and eventually having him purchase a turret once I get everything dialed in. Thoughts or suggestions welcomed. Mind you he has no ballistics knowledge and I don't think I will be able to make him much of a rifleman so trying to keep it basic.
Click to expand...
You didn't mention what he would be hunting so let's go with something that is relatively inexpensive but will meet the requirement of your friend. Out of the box firearms are not always up to being able to shoot accurately out to 500 yards. You didn't mention a budget, but since your friend is an out of the box person, out of the box rifles that I have and know will shoot sub moa from the get go are Tikka T3x and Winchester XPR rifles. Since wanting to shoot factory ammo I would suggest .308, 270 or 30-06 which are available everywhere. If I was looking for a rifle that is good up to and including Elk and small bears it would be the 308 or 270, leaning to the 270. Factory Ammo wise Sig Sauer, Federal and Nosler are my preferred for accuracy, however most name brand 308 or 270 ammo will hold around 1moa or less using the above mentioned rifles. As for a scope. In order to keep the cost down but still have a quality scope I would recommend a Vortex Diamondback Tactical 4 - 24 x 50 mounted on a 20 moa rail. After all, if you are going to shoot out to 500 yards you have to be able to see out to 500 yards. Personally, I would splurge (and I do) for a bubble level. A slight cant at 100 yards is not overly disastrous, but at 500 the bullet will go into the next county.

This will put your friend into an accurate rifle setup, where factory ammo is readily available everywhere, and depending on the choices, put them on the range between $1000 and $1200 with everything, "out of the box," and readily available.

I personally own the rifles, calibers and scopes recommended and all will shoot sub moa with quality ammo.
 
ofdscooby said:
I have a friend that wants an off the shelf gun that will shoot out to 500ish with box ammo. All my rifles have been put together by gunsmiths and I reload so I'm not sure what to tell him. I did a small amount of research looking at stuff with in his price point and right now leaning toward a Weatherby 307 in 7PRC with a Night Force SHV and eventually having him purchase a turret once I get everything dialed in. Thoughts or suggestions welcomed. Mind you he has no ballistics knowledge and I don't think I will be able to make him much of a rifleman so trying to keep it basic.
Click to expand...
It is my opinion that if someone is purchasing a factory rifle they would be a fool not to make it a tikka. I don't own one but have shot one, extremely nice rifle (7-08), it likes anything you feed it.
 
I don't know his killzone at 500, but IMO, the gun is least of the challenge. It's the ammo that limits you.
Good luck finding factory ammo in any real quantity that shoots good enough, single shot cold bore, in a particular gun.
Hard enough to do with developed reloads
 
ofdscooby said:
I have a friend that wants an off the shelf gun that will shoot out to 500ish with box ammo. All my rifles have been put together by gunsmiths and I reload so I'm not sure what to tell him. I did a small amount of research looking at stuff with in his price point and right now leaning toward a Weatherby 307 in 7PRC with a Night Force SHV and eventually having him purchase a turret once I get everything dialed in. Thoughts or suggestions welcomed. Mind you he has no ballistics knowledge and I don't think I will be able to make him much of a rifleman so trying to keep it basic.
Click to expand...
You know your friend better than anyone of us, esp., knowing his lack of ballistic knowledge, using factory ammo, and keeping it basic, how did you derive with 7 PRC chambering recommendation?
 

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