Which is most accurate out-of-box?

[Zep]

I have a Cooper and love it. The politics thing has been old news for years, Mr. Cooper is no longer with the company. When I was having my rifle built I talked to them quite a bit on the telephone, very nice people. They go out of their way to help you. I don't think you are going to have to drop 4500 for a Cooper.

McMillan, top of the line. Sent some emails back and forth with Kelly McMillan regarding a 243 for eastern woodchucks, he was very helpful. I am sure I will own a McMillan one day. I have a friend who has an older McMillan, very nice shooter, a confidence building rifle. Pretty much a no-brainer here as well.

I am sure there are other fine choices as well but i would sleep well at night spending my money at either company.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Go with a Cooper. Dan is gone and Cooper makes a fine rifle.

A couple of other options if you're not necessarily looking for fancy would be Len's Long Range Rifles and Snowy Mountain Rifles, a sponsor here.


http://www.snowymtnrifles.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Snowy-Mountain-Rifle-Company/207792315912074

 

[grovey]

I agree with the cooper. Get some alpha glass on it, and youll be getting close to 4500.00

 

[Trickymissfit]

I thought they solved that nasty little problem by forcing him to sell 4-5 years ago. If true, I feel OK in my support of a company that forces their founder out for supporting the "hope and change" of a gun grabber. Word on the street is he ended up being completely bought out.

Please excuse the anti-gun slant of this article, but you get the point . . .

Rifle maker bounces boss who supports Obama - USATODAY.com

I never knew that about Mr Cooper! I always knew Bill Ruger and his boys were Slime-0-Crats that talked like a two headed snake.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

I can do the Rand Paul thing, not too sure about Thaddeus Nugent. I know his brother Rick btw and I've been to deer camp with the Nugents. lets just say that Ted is a bit radical, even for me.

I never heard that about Cooper before. I'd like to see a link or reference to that...

Before I'd vote Ted, I'd just stay home or vote Libertarian. I know a little about him.
gary

 

[Michael Eichele]

The caliber doesn't have the 'wow' factor but the FN SPR A3G is unbelievably accurate. They have a 1/2 MOA guarantee for 10,000 rounds. I've not heard of any that shoot 1/2 MOA, they're in more cases than not much more accurate. Out of the box for under 3k. Bedded by GAP, ops inc rail, chrome lined barrel. Mine came with a .210" test target but often does better than that. Many groups are in the 1s. Most are in the 2s and 3s. My best ever was .24 at 300 yards.

 

[LouBoyd]

The most accurate long range rifle will always be the one in the hands of a skilled shooter who knows how to dope wind in the conditions and terrain where the shooting is being done. The cartridge does matter, but it's less important than shooter skill. Even less important than that is the make and model of rifle given the rifles can achieve the same velocity with the same bullets and aren't complete junk.

While I'm a 7mm STW fan I don't know of any factory rifle which allows the shooting of low drag VLD bullets. The SAAMI case length is 2.850" and the cartridge OAL is 3.65. There are only a few factory bolt actions which will fit even the SAAMI OAL and that only gives 0.8" ogive space which is not sufficient for shooting heavy VLDs like the Berger 180s. There are fairly simple options to extend the magazine of some rifles (Wyatts for the Rem 700 for example) but that's no longer an "out of the box" rifle.

In my opinion "out of the box is" is the same as "inferior long range performance". The major manufacturers limit their rifles to shoot SAAMI spec ammo. The limitations come from magazine length, throat depth, and twist rate. Barrel length limits usable velocity. All of those are easily adjusted in a semi-custom rifle.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

The most accurate long range rifle will always be the one in the hands of a skilled shooter who knows how to dope wind in the conditions and terrain where the shooting is being done. The cartridge does matter, but it's less important than shooter skill. Even less important than that is the make and model of rifle given the rifles can achieve the same velocity with the same bullets and aren't complete junk.

While I'm a 7mm STW fan I don't know of any factory rifle which allows the shooting of low drag VLD bullets. The SAAMI case length is 2.850" and the cartridge OAL is 3.65. There are only a few factory bolt actions which will fit even the SAAMI OAL and that only gives 0.8" ogive space which is not sufficient for shooting heavy VLDs like the Berger 180s. There are fairly simple options to extend the magazine of some rifles (Wyatts for the Rem 700 for example) but that's no longer an "out of the box" rifle.

In my opinion "out of the box is" is the same as "inferior long range performance". The major manufacturers limit their rifles to shoot SAAMI spec ammo. The limitations come from magazine length, throat depth, and twist rate. Barrel length limits usable velocity. All of those are easily adjusted in a semi-custom rifle.

Good points, however if the OP is looking at Coopers, they aren't necessarily a true "out of the box" rifle although you can get them off the shelf. If he does get a Cooper it will likely be ordered, especially in the cartridges listed. When ordering a Cooper you can have twist and some other things customized. Or for a LR rifle He could order one from Len or a rifle maker such as Snowy Mountain Rifles.