Thread: Gun nut? Step inside....

So lately I have been thinking about starting to put together a nice long range rifle. Something that can accurately and consistently reach out to 1000 yards. I would like to know what you have shot and liked and why did you like it. The requirements I have are as follows.

#1. I want synthetic stock. I am not looking to get a nice hunting rifle so wood really is not what I am looking for.

#2. I want to stay around the .30 Caliber range. So that means no suggesting the Barrett or Tac 50. Also nothing smaller such as the 22-250 or .270.

#3. I am not a Bazillionare so lets keep the gun prices reasonable. That means sorry but no .338s.


Also any input on optics would be greatly appreciated also.


I have used a Remington 700 VTR in the 7.62xNATO round. And I LOVED that gun. I just wanted to see what all the thoughts were before I start making plans to get one.

In my opinion you need look no further than that Remington 700 family. Make mine .308 (7.62 NATO) Winchester please. 700 WinMag if you want a touch of badass and don't mind the ammo price. Buy new and personalize it. Leupold optics were for a sure bet on a nice piece last time I was current. Been a decade or so since I did any reloading or serious plinking though. My solution to the one rifle only quandry was a PolyTech M14S, but I like heavy, strong, box mag, wood stocked battle rifles.

Originally Posted by Iceman6669

So lately I have been thinking about starting to put together a nice long range rifle. Something that can accurately and consistently reach out to 1000 yards. I would like to know what you have shot and liked and why did you like it. The requirements I have are as follows.

#1. I want synthetic stock. I am not looking to get a nice hunting rifle so wood really is not what I am looking for.

#2. I want to stay around the .30 Caliber range. So that means no suggesting the Barrett or Tac 50. Also nothing smaller such as the 22-250 or .270.

#3. I am not a Bazillionare so lets keep the gun prices reasonable. That means sorry but no .338s.


Also any input on optics would be greatly appreciated also.


I have used a Remington 700 VTR in the 7.62xNATO round. And I LOVED that gun. I just wanted to see what all the thoughts were before I start making plans to get one.

you can stretch the .308 out to 1000 but dont expect to get much farther then that. .300winmag will take you to about 1400-1500. personally i would tend to suggest a smaller caliber with heavy for caliber bullets. something like .243 winchester if you dont reload or .243 norma if you do. shooting the 90-100gr. bullets will let you take either of those calibers out to 1000 and are a little more fun to shoot. 6.5 creedmoor or 6.5X284 norma would be my personal choice for long range plinking. savage chambers all of the above rounds in their long range rifles. a remington or savage would both be good choices but since several remingtons have been mentioned already i didnt repeat anything anyone else has said. whatever optics you get make sure they are FFP and at least 30mm tube. make sure the reticle and the turret adjustment are in the same measurement system. either MOA or Mils but dont mix them.

I'm leaning very heavy on a 700 .308. I've shot those in the past and really like it. I just don't want to go much smaller with the round.

Originally Posted by SgtMarshal

what's wrong with a smaller round?

as long as you are over 6mm and shooting heavy for caliber nothing just personal perference. also probably easier to get decently priced match ammo in .308 then just about any other caliber out there.

^^^ this. There is nothing wrong with it, I just want a bigger round.

Originally Posted by SgtMarshal

there are a couple 30 caliber rounds that haven't been brought up that could do what you want. the 30-378 is the most powerful 30 caliber bullet, but is also quite expensive. the 300 ultra mag is not far behind the 30-378.

do you have any bullets in mind? I like the Berger VLD. Berger makes a hunting bullet, and I think a target bullet.

no reason to go that out of control sounds like the .308 will do everything he wants.

Meant to say 300 WinMag in my prev post. BUT... if 308 fills the bill but barely for you, why not the good old 30-06 round?

Originally Posted by naminator

Prrtty much go .308. Cheap, good for plinking, can kill most largeish game ect. You can stretch a .308 further than 1000 yards but you having a ballistic computer is basically mandatory. Hell I saw a guy with a mosin nagant fire 1000 yards with iron sights (youtube so treat it as my uncles cousins girlfriends brother).

most 308 loads are no longer supersonic beyond 1000 and fall off quickly thats why i say 1000. you can shoot almost anything 1000 yards but most is not gonna be very accurate when it gets there.

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

Meant to say 300 WinMag in my prev post. BUT... if 308 fills the bill but barely for you, why not the good old 30-06 round?

because in factory loadings they are basically the exact same round. yes the 30-06 can be pushed harder if you hand load but i dont believe that is what is going to happen here.

one cartridge that has not been mentioned that would be great for your purposes would be the .270wsm or 7mm WSM

Originally Posted by NebTurboST5

because in factory loadings they are basically the exact same round. yes the 30-06 can be pushed harder if you hand load but i dont believe that is what is going to happen here.

one cartridge that has not been mentioned that would be great for your purposes would be the .270wsm or 7mm WSM

I am aware of the similar ballistics and was thinking of hand-loaded ammo. Match cases, magnum primers in some cases, etc. If I were target shooting at 1,000 yards, I would definitely want to load my own. But I'm poor, and handloading is not for everyone. It would be cool to see just how many times you could "tag out" on one piece of brass.

The other you mentioned- also good if not shooting through wooded areas. It does have to be a nice fast flight to stay flat that far.

I would prolly end up hand loading my own rounds.

Several years ago me and a buddy of mine used to do long range shooting. I was shooter and he would spot for me. He had a 700 VTR in the .308 caliber with some bad ass scope(I dont remember which one). We starting shooting it at 300 yards, then moved out to 500 yards, then out to 700 yards in the end. We always wanted to go out to 1000 yards but were having a hard time finding a good spot to do it, then he got cancer and passed away.

BUT, we kept a good log book of every shot we took. Things like Air Temp, humidity, wind speed, time of day, and even bore temp were recorded as well as how far from center the shot went. We shot literally hundreds of rounds through the gun and recorded the results each time. The thing we found was that after 500 yards, it became VERY hard to hold a tight MOA. So he bought all the stuff to start reloading, and we found the tolerances in "store bought" ammo were not sufficient to reach out that distance very accurately. The powder weight varied too much from round to round. He started loading our own rounds and we kept track of all the info for the rounds as well, and found that self loaded ammo was MUCH more accurate.

So long story short, I will eventually get back into loading my own rounds.

if thats the case the possibilities are pretty endless.

Good thinking. The ought six could give you more room to use heavier bullets if say, the 147 or 150 grain ones are veering downrange like that. Gives you "something to grow on" versus .308. And besides, its retro-cool! A hot 165 gr boat tail is tough to beat.