Totally Over My Head

[Slafav]

Haha! Thanks for throwing me in to the mix! I think that at this point the .308 sounds the best as an all around rifle that can be fun to shoot long range. I know that there are better calibers that can compare in price once you start reloading, and odds are if I get in to long range shooting I will start to reload as well. At that point I can look in to the larger, or harder to find, calibers and it wouldn't bother me at all to have several rifles, eventually.

After shooting the rifles that I did, my favorite of my possible picks was the .308 and that is the caliber I will be going with. Thank you guys for all your help and suggestions. Who makes good stocks and scope rings? The stock isn't as important right now, as it will be a long while before I would look in to getting a new one, but the scope rings are a necessity and I might as well start off with a good pair of them.

 

[X3MHunter]

...Who makes good stocks and scope rings? The stock isn't as important right now, as it will be a long while before I would look in to getting a new one, but the scope rings are a necessity and I might as well start off with a good pair of them.

Congratulations on your caliber pick! As far as rings go, I think you may just have opened another can of worms, but alot of it depends on the scope that you are going to get.

But for the main part, I would suggest a 20 MOA base, picatiny style and a good set of rings that attach to a picatiny rail. This set up will get you reliably out to 1000 with most scopes.

If you want, I have a 10X42 Super Sniper scope, a Ken Ferrel 20MOA base, and a set of TPS low height 30mm rings and a set of LaRue Tactical quick release 30mm rings. You can borrow any combination of these or all of them in the meantime until you figure out what you want.

As far as stocks go, there are tons of options, specially if you get a Remington 700. It all depends what style you want to go with. Hunting, Tactical, etc. But when you get to that point, you can go to one of the F-Class shoots we have in New Braunfels every month and take a look at the different stocks guys are using, also I can get my buddy Mark Pharr from Tumbleweeds Custom Rifles to bring some of the stocks he has laying around his shop, that will give you a good idea of what's available and what it feels like, and then you can make your decision based on that.

-X3M

 

[Slafav]

Is there a site or info for the shoot somewhere?

 

[bwaites]

Congratulations on your caliber pick! As far as rings go, I think you may just have opened another can of worms, but alot of it depends on the scope that you are going to get.

But for the main part, I would suggest a 20 MOA base, picatiny style and a good set of rings that attach to a picatiny rail. This set up will get you reliably out to 1000 with most scopes.

If you want, I have a 10X42 Super Sniper scope, a Ken Ferrel 20MOA base, and a set of TPS low height 30mm rings and a set of LaRue Tactical quick release 30mm rings. You can borrow any combination of these or all of them in the meantime until you figure out what you want.

As far as stocks go, there are tons of options, specially if you get a Remington 700. It all depends what style you want to go with. Hunting, Tactical, etc. But when you get to that point, you can go to one of the F-Class shoots we have in New Braunfels every month and take a look at the different stocks guys are using, also I can get my buddy Mark Pharr from Tumbleweeds Custom Rifles to bring some of the stocks he has laying around his shop, that will give you a good idea of what's available and what it feels like, and then you can make your decision based on that.

-X3M

That is a great offer, and one you should definitely consider! Larue rings are at the top of the stack, as are Nightforce and a few others.

Remington builds good rifles, especially for later changes and upgrades. Savage also builds great rifles and probably has the best stock triggers available, though others are closing the gap rapidly.

Bill

 

[trebark]

If money is an issue, you can't beat the Burris Signature Rings and bases.

You can get a set of rings for $25

Burris 1" Signature Universal Dovetail Scope Mount Rings. 420500, 420510, 420511, 420501, 420502, 420512. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings & Bases.

Full set of inserts for $14

Burris Signature ***-Align Offset Insert Kits & Individual Inserts. 626016, 626017, 626018, 626019, 626024. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings & Bases.

and bases for $15

Burris Rifle Scope DD Two & One Piece Bases (Double Dovetail). 410546, 410547, 410589, 410590, 410591, 410592, 410593, 410594, 410520, 410521, 410595, 410596, 410598. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings &

The beauty of the Burris Signature rings are the inserts. You can set it up so that your rifle is canted +10, +20 or +30moa. These are the rings and bases on my 308 and they are rock solid.

In terms of stocks, earlier posts are right...you need to determine the style of shooting you will be doing and match the stock to the task. In general though, you can't go wrong with HS Precision, Bell & Carlson, Joel Russo.

 

[novaman64]

Another affordable great mount are the Dead Nutz Game reaper mounts, you can get them in a 20moa or regular as well.

 

[bwaites]

If money is an issue, you can't beat the Burris Signature Rings and bases.

You can get a set of rings for $25

Burris 1" Signature Universal Dovetail Scope Mount Rings. 420500, 420510, 420511, 420501, 420502, 420512. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings & Bases.

Full set of inserts for $14

Burris Signature ***-Align Offset Insert Kits & Individual Inserts. 626016, 626017, 626018, 626019, 626024. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings & Bases.

and bases for $15

Burris Rifle Scope DD Two & One Piece Bases (Double Dovetail). 410546, 410547, 410589, 410590, 410591, 410592, 410593, 410594, 410520, 410521, 410595, 410596, 410598. Burris Riflescope Mounts, Rings &

The beauty of the Burris Signature rings are the inserts. You can set it up so that your rifle is canted +10, +20 or +30moa. These are the rings and bases on my 308 and they are rock solid.

In terms of stocks, earlier posts are right...you need to determine the style of shooting you will be doing and match the stock to the task. In general though, you can't go wrong with HS Precision, Bell & Carlson, Joel Russo.

I've had a friend whose Burris Sig rings failed on his .338 RUM, but haven't heard of problems on .308's.

HS Precision is on my "Never Buy" list because of their use of Lon Horiuchi as an endorser. (He was the sniper who shot Vicki Weaver while she was unarmed and holding a child.)

Bill

 

[X3MHunter]

Is there a site or info for the shoot somewhere?

Here's the site, you can go to the calendar and see when they are having the next F-Class shoot.
CTSA - Home Page - Central Texas Silueta Association

Here's August's events:
Aug. 1—F Class Rifle Match
Aug. 2—NRA Rifle Silhouette—Small Bore and High Power Rifle
Aug. 8-9—IHMSA Pistol Silhouette—SB, FP and Big Bore; NRA Long Range Cowboy Rifle Silhouette
August 15—Black Powder Cartridge Rifle Silhouette
August 16—STMTC High Power Match
Aug. 23—NRA Hunters Pistol, Small Bore Hunters Pistol & Cowboy Lever Action Silhouette, Small Bore and Pistol Cartridges only.


-X3M

 

[trebark]

I've had a friend whose Burris Sig rings failed on his .338 RUM, but haven't heard of problems on .308's.

Bill

My experience is the opposite of yours. I have a friend with a 338Edge. His Burris Sig Rings are rock solid.

Regardless of my friends experience, I would opt for a heavier/stronger ring/base combination on a heavy recoiling rifle.

so I guess I'm agreeing with you Bill. Burris Signature Rings and bases on 'standard' cartridges and heavier/stronger rings on the magnums/heavy recoil cartridges.

 

[bwaites]

My experience is the opposite of yours. I have a friend with a 338Edge. His Burris Sig Rings are rock solid.

Regardless of my friends experience, I would opt for a heavier/stronger ring/base combination on a heavy recoiling rifle.

so I guess I'm agreeing with you Bill. Burris Signature Rings and bases on 'standard' cartridges and heavier/stronger rings on the magnums/heavy recoil cartridges.

My friends were too, for about 100 rounds, then he noticed that all of a sudden everything was 3-4 inches high at 200. OOPS! Serious slippage. He torqued them back to spec, then taped so he could see movement, and within 20 rounds he had about 1/64 of movement, and by 50 rounds was back 3-4" high again. Needless to say, they are on a 22-250 now, and the .338 rings have been upgraded significantly.

I wonder if the scope finish plays any part?

Bill

 

[X3MHunter]

I also like the S&K scope mounts and rings. They are light, strong, and look very nice. I use them on my 300 Win. Mag. and have never seen any shift in point of impact.

While these are 0 MOA slant, my 300 WM can get out to 1000 with my Leupold 30mm LR scope without any problems.

-X3M

 

[trebark]

These are great rings on a 300mag, but unless the scope has 100moa of adjustment in it, these would not do for a 308 where the intention is to shoot 1k.

I also like the S&K scope mounts and rings. They are light, strong, and look very nice. I use them on my 300 Win. Mag. and have never seen any shift in point of impact.

While these are 0 MOA slant, my 300 WM can get out to 1000 with my Leupold 30mm LR scope without any problems.

-X3M

 

[X3MHunter]

Super Sniper Scopes have 150 MOA of elevation, that'll get you waaaaaay over there!

www.supersniper.com


-X3M

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Well, since you guys are talking about barrel life, tell me which one of the two: 7 WSM or 300 WSM has better barrel life than the 308. Heck, I'll make it easy on you guys, tell me ANY caliber that has better barrel life than the 308 that can be accurate out to 1000 yards, that is fun and cheap to shoot, that ammo is available anywhere ammo is sold, and that factory match ammo is available for.

Well, looks like we've been going on for a while arguing about what caliber would work the best for Slafav. I think it's time for Slafav to tell us what ge has gathered from all of this and what he thinks about calibers and rifles at this point.

X3M

OK, been a little busy last couple of days which is a good thing.... Soooo... barrel life... There's no debate that the 308 has a great barrel life. That's because it doesn't use a lot of powder which means it doesn't have great velocity which means it's not going to have as much reach down range as a cartridge that does have higher velocities and burns more powdwer and has shorter barrel lifes. Everything is a trade off. The question is were does one's priorities lie? The 300 WSM has very good barrel life and from what I've read up to 4000 plus rounds, based on a report of a BR shooter win a competition with one with 4000 plus rounds down the tube. For most members in this forum, that kind of barrel life would last a lifetime of shooting from one rifle.

BTW Slafav, this is not some attempt to sway your decision. You like the 308 so go for it, use it well and be happy with it. It is a good cartridge. I am just adressing some issues that I think have been over emphasized for whomever may be reading.

OK... next thing that keeps coming up is cost.... The 308 is less expensive to shoot.

Let's look at the costs.

Cost of rifle... same....$1000-$1500
Cost of scope... same....$600-$1500
Cost of good rings and bases... same... $200-$300
Cost of bi-pod... same.... $100
Cost of range finder... same... $600-$1000
Cost of misc other stuff... same....

Cost of factrory ammo....

I'm guessing A premium bullet in a premium load is probably the choice for LRH shooting. So, when checking Midway prices and availablity for apples vs apples, the first thing I looked for was Fed Premium 180 AB's. there was no offering for that bullet/load in the 308 (which would be my first slection for trial in factory a 308 cal cartridge). So, I looked at the Fed Prem 180 Speer Trophy Bonded tip.... 308 - $43.79.... 300 WSM - $49.99. That's about a 12% price difference for about a 30-40% effective range difference. So c'mon guys, save it with the cost savings, OK.

Which brings me to the next cost break down....

Reloading... which is the way any SERIOUS long ranger/BR/F class shooter is going to go...

Reloading equipment and dies, etc. ... $1000 minimum
Bullets... same
Primers... same
Powder... 45 gr vs 65gr of powder which works out very roughly to about $.10 per round difference (compared to performance difference)
Brass... Apples to apples again 100 cases of Norma... 308 - 498.99... 300 WSM - $109.99

Where is the big cost savings???

Now, you can get Lapua in 308 and that is a good thing, and it only costs $79. Thats a nice plus for the 308.

Anyway... overall cost saving when buying a 308... less than 5%, maybe closer to 2%.. unless you include barrel changes... every 4000 for the 300 WSM and every ??? for the 308....

I could go on... but hopefully you get it.... In my book you get more LR bang for the buck with the 300 WSM

Good shooting

-MR