Where to start?????

[BirdsandBucks]

Im new to the forum but have always had an interest in long range shooting. My dad used to shoot alot of Bench before I was around, and his love of shooting has grown on me since I was a pup. Well now that Im older and fresh out of college I've been having the itch to reach out there a little further then most. I've shot ground hogs for many years but never really tried to reach out there and see what I could do, also I've never had a rifle I felt that could do the job. My question for all of you is where did you start out? What rifle caliber and or mods did you make to your configuration?

 

[dogdinger]

welcome to the forum Birdsandbucks.....lots of very good info here to mine.

My advise to you is to start with whatever you have . my longrange shooting started with a factory remington in 2506cal. You can start with whatever caliber hunting rifle you have and just do some tweaking/accurizing with things like bedding, trigger adjustment, etc and handloaded ammo. most factory rifles these days are capable of sub moa accuracy with very little work. Before you know it you will be hooked.....AJ

 

[royinidaho]

What dogdinger said.....

 

[BirdsandBucks]

I apologize because there is a "starting out" forum and this probably should've been posted in there but most to all of my long range shooting will be done on varmints. Im really just trying to figure out a caliber to use. Id like to stick with something in the 6mm area but wouldn't mind a 6.5 7-08 or 300 wsm. My old man already has a Rem 700 in 300 wsm but i dont see him letting me take it for my first lrh rifle. Im not real concerned about pelt damage or anything like that because seems the last time can remember ground hog hides werent paying a whole lot. The only real bad thing is that here in Ohio we can only use a shotgun/bow for deer although we do get quite a few damage permits each year for deer. So it would need to be something that could provide suffiecient knockdown power at those ranges. Thanks for everything

 

[Oliveralan]

Firstly, welcome!

What has already been said is real good advice, use what you have to start with. If you don't have a rifle or want a new one, a 6mm, 6.5mm, 7mm, or 30cal are all good choices. You dont really need a 7mm or 30cal for varmints, but for crop damage deer or such, the bullet selection in both is great. I started with a remington m700 .308win and that was an awsome gun, still is, but now it's a custom

For a starter gun, make sure it has good barrel life, because the number one most important thing is to PRACTICE. A 6mm BR, 6 Dasher or .243win would be good 6mm's, a .260 remington would also be good. 6mm BR or the 6 Dasher are hard if not impossible to find in a non custom gun (savage MAY make a 6 BR, not sure) but .243 win would be a good choice. For 6.5mm I would go with the .260 remington, better barrel life than .243win and same ballistics, but bullets cost a bit more (more cost per shot).

Check out 6mmbr.com and look at the cartridge guides on the left side menu, tons of info on all the calibers i mentions and more.

For 30cal, i would go with a .308win and be done with it. Great barrel life, easy to tune if you handload, and just all around good. Either Michael Eichelle or myself can help you out with loads and get it shooting like a 300 WSM. This will work for almost everything you could care to hunt, and awsome bullet selection. Can also always get a box of factory ammo if something happens to your handloads, if you loose your ammo with a 6mm BR, youe done for the day.

7mm's i would say arent exactly ideal for what your saying, a 180 Berger is a bada$$ bullet with a BC of .659, but they have less barrel life than the 30 cals, and really you dont need that kind of gun to start with. A .243 win or .260 rem will let you shoot varmints in the next county.

Hope this helped, if you need any info or just wana chat, im in highschool myself so share sort of the same point of view, and have the same kind of "i want this but i dont have money, how can i get close without breaking the bank?" problems. Just shoot me a pm.

Enjoy the site,
Oliver

 

[buzz10]

Where you at in Ohio BirdsandBucks?

Buzz

 

[BirdsandBucks]

Northwest corner right around Defiance how bout yourself???

 

[trebark]

You've received some good advice already. Oliveralan is right-on with the 243 or 260 recommendation. Both will shoot varmints as far as you can see them and with good reloads a 260 will kill deer at 800. He's also a little biased towards the 308 as his is bada$$.

Like everybody said, start with what you can get your hands on. Typically that's a factory rifle of some sort. Here's some examples of 'accurizing' you can do with a factory rifle....

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/nephews-transformed-rifle-53634/

Similarly...

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-308-1k-rifle-evolution-continues-43510/

Then when you're ready to go with a custom barrel....

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f53/my-280-updated-32771/

 

[BirdsandBucks]

I really wanna thank all you guys for the info its making it alot easier on me. its probably gonna end up being a different story for my wallet, but if the old lady can have horses I can have this! hahaha

 

[trebark]

I really wanna thank all you guys for the info its making it alot easier on me. its probably gonna end up being a different story for my wallet, but if the old lady can have horses I can have this! hahaha

Always glad to help and to know your decision making process is easier.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Help from this site won't be easier on your wallet though. For instance, you will eventually be wondering about optics for your new rifle. Many (including me) will recommend Leupolk MK4 and NightForce. The low-end in these scopes is $1200

 

[buzz10]

I'm in north central Ohio. The Mansfield area.

 

[Markbrx]

BirdsandBucks,

If you are looking for a new gun, look at the Savage. A 6BR or 243 would be the picks. If you don't reload the 243 would be the way to go.

If your are wanting to get into long range, you will need to get into it soon. The better long range bullets are hard to find in factory loads.

My pick would be the 6BR 8tw barrel, in the Savage Long range precision varminter. With the Savage you can buy custom chambered barrels and change cal in mins. With that target action you can go from a 17 fireball to a 300 mag or bigger.

Mark Schronce

 

[JamieD]

Agree with the above. The .243 and .260 for long range chucks are great choices. I own both. My dads .243 has the longest shot in our Video "All Hogs Go to Heaven II" at 1180 yards. My furtherest was 1040 and 1140 with a .260. Both using A-max's from Hornady. Good luck and hope it helps.

JamieD
Wolf Precision
All Hogs Go to Heaven