Twist on the one rifle question

[LanceK]

As a beginner to the long range game, the quantity of information to take in is somewhat overwhelming. I was thinking that I may be better off to not necessarily look for the "best", but aim for simplicity first.

With that being said, I think I want to get a long range set up that will keep things as simple as possible. One where I can focus on the fundamentals and not my gear. With that in mind what would you recommend for a beginner? Funds are not unlimited and items will have to be acquired over time. The set up will be used for smaller species such as whitetail, and maybe antelope less than 500 yards. I reload so just about any cartridge will do.

So what say you? Rifle, scope, rangefinder, other optics? What about formal training?

 

[FEENIX]

Be prepared to be further overwhelmed ...

My small piece of advice is that there is no short cut to LR and it does not happen overnight. Take the time and enjoy the learning process from the reloading table to the range and eventually hunting afield. Keep it simple and stick to the fundamentals of shooting and develop from there.

Just getting you started ...

 

[HARPERC]

....So what say you? Rifle, scope, rangefinder, other optics? What about formal training?......

If in the mix you can afford formal training, Go and use class equipment, it can give you an idea first hand what you like.

 

[LanceK]

Not trying to shortcut the process. I'm excited to start down a long road of learning. Just trying to eliminate variables that would slow my learning. And have some interesting conversation here along the way.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

What do you have now? When we 1st started we were invited to go shoot with Kirby Allen. Shot his rifles out to 1100y. Learned there that we were capable of executing these shots. We had no idea we even capable. We did not go out and buy any new equipment. Got a piece of cheap steel from the recycle yard and made a stand to hold it. Painted a dot on it and started backing up and dialing our scopes. Found out we were capable of making these shots with our own gear. Then the more we learned the harder this stuff got. We were all hand loaders prior to starting so that part took care of it self.

Long way of saying, don't sell yourself and your current gear short.

 

[Guy M]

500 yards is within the realm of a good rifleman with a good "sporter" rifle and good scope.

You can do this!

 

[LanceK]

I see what you are saying Rocky, I was thinking of using my Tikka 223 as a training gun, and just putting a scope on it that I can dial. I figured 223 would make for cheap practice. For a scope, I'm thinking SWFA 10x42, moa/moa since my mind already thinks yards and not meters. Fixed power to eliminate a variable.

 

[Barrelnut]

I see what you are saying Rocky, I was thinking of using my Tikka 223 as a training gun, and just putting a scope on it that I can dial. I figured 223 would make for cheap practice. For a scope, I'm thinking SWFA 10x42, moa/moa since my mind already thinks yards and not meters. Fixed power to eliminate a variable.

If you are going to use for hunting too. I wouldn't spend the money on a .223 trainer.
For deer and antelope to 500 yards, as Guy above said, a good sporter rifle will work.
But you seem to need a rifle that can bridge the gap between a good long range practice gun and a hunting gun, that is inexpensive to shoot.
Ever hear of the 6.5 Creedmoor? It is what I'd get. It is fairly inexpensive to shoot, it a very accurate target round, good barrel life, and has the powder for deer and antelope at 500. You can't go wrong with it.
Tikka, Savage and Ruger have inexpensive rifles in the cartridge that can get it done. I would look at one of the rifles kinda in the varmint class for the heavier barrel for LR practice.

 

[LanceK]

I already have the .223, and a savage .243. I think if I move up from there, I would go 280ai. But I would think my money would be better spent to upgrade what I have, or maybe add something like a rangefinder to my gear.

 

[Barrelnut]

Sorry, missed the part about already having the .223.

 

[Bravo 4]

Your .243 is capable of being a good 500 yard deer/antelope cartridge. Sure as heck nothing wrong with it for banging steel well beyond that. I bought my daughter a cheap youth .243 a few years back and the first load I tried (2950 FPS with 95 grain CT ballistic silver tips a buddy gave me, along with some dies) shoots consistently .5-.75" @ 100 and carries that out well. She has a 2-7 Leupold w/CDS mounted and I feel sorry for any deer that steps out in front of her on out to 400 yards. At 500 yards, and my altitude of almost nothing, the external ballistics are anemic and as low as I would care to go. But with the smaller deer and antelope you will encounter then you will be fine. For targets none of that matters, you will be well within supersonic velocity. Loaded a little better, you can stretch that .243 on out (hunting and target). Plus the .243 is fairly inexpensive to load. The .223 can be good to practice with as well. We spend 4 days on the range with M4s almost monthly and shoot them out to 500 (or further) one of those days. If we can do it with open sights and a carbine autoloader, surely a scoped bolt gun is capable.

 

[TX Badger]

The advise that I ignored when I started was to buy a custom action. If you can afford it, cry once as they say. I have been building, modifying, playing with Savage actions and actually really like them. But, were I to start from scratch I could cover all bases with one LA and one SA set up with barrel nuts to switch barrels/ cartridges. Truth be told, I don't shoot competitions or climb mountains so I could do everything with on one long action and 2 or 3 barrels.

I'd do the following:
-Manners EH carbon fiber stock so you could make it comfortable to carry with a light contour barrel.
- pick your custom action that accepts savage prefit barrels and uses a nut so you can swap at will.
- Bushnell Elite Tactical 3.5-21 scope, works well from close up, brushy hunting to way out there and won't break the bank.

This way if you don't like the initial cartridge choice you make, you can move on to something new for a few hundred bucks. You can also have a heavier contour, low recoil, longer barrel life cartridge as a trainer and then swap into light contour, magnum cartridge barrel for hunting.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Rangefinder first. You can't hit something at 500 yards if you think it is 400 yards. Buy one you can use for a long time as your other equipment choices start to stretch you further out. You say 500 yards now....that will turn to 700, then 1000 easily for practice. Even if you never hunt that far. Practicing at 1000 makes 500 seem easy.

.280AI is a great step above a .243 Win. Makes 500 yards on elk and black bear very doable. Quite a bit further as well with the right bullets. But they are not nearly as cheap to shoot as a smaller case like .260 Rem, 6.5CM, .243 Win.

Next choice would be a good variable magnification scope. No shame in swapping it between two (or even 3) rifles. Use it on your .223 for lots of practice and varmint hunting. Swap to the .243 Win for deer/pronghorn within 500 yards. Then to a .280AI for elk. Even something like an SWFA 3-15×42 would serve you very well. Much better for hunting at closer ranges than a straight 10x by dropping the magnification to 3x for a wide FOV, but crank it up to 15x for 500 yard shots on bunnies and squirrels to really practice long shots on small targets. Or for a bedded deer at 500 to split hairs.

 

[Bigaldepr]

I see what you are saying Rocky, I was thinking of using my Tikka 223 as a training gun, and just putting a scope on it that I can dial. I figured 223 would make for cheap practice. For a scope, I'm thinking SWFA 10x42, moa/moa since my mind already thinks yards and not meters. Fixed power to eliminate a variable.

I have a Tikka T3 in Rem 22-250 as my training gun. Fun to shoot, very accurate and affordable. It likes Varget with Nosler 40 grn. BT. You will need to keep the bullet weight down if you have the standard 1:14 twist rate. Above 53 grn. things start to get ugly for me.