This got long, too long - didn't read version at end.
First let me start off by saying thank you! This community has been a wealth of information that has guided through me not just firearm purchases, but all the accessories that go along with them and the training involved.
While I originally sneered at the idea of shooting .22lr as a training platform, as I thought of it as a kiddy round, I can honestly say that shooting .22lr at 100m, and last week at 200m, has given me a lot to learn from.
I was originally inquiring here as to which caliber I should get as my first precision rifle. One of the caveats to my situation was that I am limited to 100m at all of my nearby ranges. BUT I recently made friends with a coworker that took me to a private range that his family are all members of. Not only did the facility go out to 500m, but they had steel targets up at 100m incriments!
So now that I can shoot beyond 100m regularly, I am looking to push my distance out a bit. I settled on the original idea of getting a .22lr because shooting at 100m would prove to be at a threshold where the round is challenging, but still effective, and I want to do something similar for training at 500m. For this I am considering .223, but am obviously open to suggestions.
While at the range I shot his brother's .223 Remington 700 that I believe was sporting a 24" barrel, and I really enjoyed it. It was rather windy that day, and even with the same POA the POI would shift enough to give you a miss using the .223, whereas when we were firing his 300WM, wind had no noticeable effect. This leads me to believe .223 could be a good choice for shooting at 500m in a way that still will punish me for my mistakes enough to be engaging, but not frustrating.
So far it has been suggested I look at some CZs and Savages in .223, possibly a Tikka T3 LIte. I am trying to keep this rifle in the $700-800 range without optics, but for the right rig I would be willing to spend upwards of $1100.
In perusing the web I found a Savage F/TR in .223 sporting a 30" barrel with a 1/7 twist rate that has piqued my interest due to its (supposed) ability to shoot 90gr .223 rounds at great distance. Is this vast overkill? Would I be wasting resources by going $400 over budget on a rifle capable of 1000yds when I can only shoot 500m for the forseeable future?
I should also mention this coworker has an amazing reloading setup I am sure I could sit in for an hour here and there and pump out some of my own rounds. Reloading is a hobby I want to add to my list, and I will eventually have my own setup, I just dont have the facilities or capital for it right now.
TLDR:
The distance I have available to shoot just opened up from 100m to 500m. I am looking to upgrade from my Savage MKII FV-SR .22lr trainer to a centerfire rifle more capable at 500m, while not loosing too much of the difficulty of practicing. Would you recommend .223, or another cartridge? What rifles would you recommend?
First let me start off by saying thank you! This community has been a wealth of information that has guided through me not just firearm purchases, but all the accessories that go along with them and the training involved.
While I originally sneered at the idea of shooting .22lr as a training platform, as I thought of it as a kiddy round, I can honestly say that shooting .22lr at 100m, and last week at 200m, has given me a lot to learn from.
I was originally inquiring here as to which caliber I should get as my first precision rifle. One of the caveats to my situation was that I am limited to 100m at all of my nearby ranges. BUT I recently made friends with a coworker that took me to a private range that his family are all members of. Not only did the facility go out to 500m, but they had steel targets up at 100m incriments!
So now that I can shoot beyond 100m regularly, I am looking to push my distance out a bit. I settled on the original idea of getting a .22lr because shooting at 100m would prove to be at a threshold where the round is challenging, but still effective, and I want to do something similar for training at 500m. For this I am considering .223, but am obviously open to suggestions.
While at the range I shot his brother's .223 Remington 700 that I believe was sporting a 24" barrel, and I really enjoyed it. It was rather windy that day, and even with the same POA the POI would shift enough to give you a miss using the .223, whereas when we were firing his 300WM, wind had no noticeable effect. This leads me to believe .223 could be a good choice for shooting at 500m in a way that still will punish me for my mistakes enough to be engaging, but not frustrating.
So far it has been suggested I look at some CZs and Savages in .223, possibly a Tikka T3 LIte. I am trying to keep this rifle in the $700-800 range without optics, but for the right rig I would be willing to spend upwards of $1100.
In perusing the web I found a Savage F/TR in .223 sporting a 30" barrel with a 1/7 twist rate that has piqued my interest due to its (supposed) ability to shoot 90gr .223 rounds at great distance. Is this vast overkill? Would I be wasting resources by going $400 over budget on a rifle capable of 1000yds when I can only shoot 500m for the forseeable future?
I should also mention this coworker has an amazing reloading setup I am sure I could sit in for an hour here and there and pump out some of my own rounds. Reloading is a hobby I want to add to my list, and I will eventually have my own setup, I just dont have the facilities or capital for it right now.
TLDR:
The distance I have available to shoot just opened up from 100m to 500m. I am looking to upgrade from my Savage MKII FV-SR .22lr trainer to a centerfire rifle more capable at 500m, while not loosing too much of the difficulty of practicing. Would you recommend .223, or another cartridge? What rifles would you recommend?