First rifle & glass combo

ilmonster

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Minuteman
Aug 5, 2012
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Well, I've been lurking here for a month or so and learning a lot. I am thinking of getting a bolt gun for punching paper. I have a BCM AR as my only other rifle caliber rifle (also have a Rem. 597 HB in .22 LR). I'll only be shooting paper and steel at 50, 75, 100, 200 and 240 yards as my local range only goes out to 240 yds. Based on the knowledge I've gained through reading your posts on this site, I thought of possibly starting my bolt action rifle adventures with a Remington 700P LTR in .223 and a Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40 or possibly a Nikon 223 also in 3-9x40? Does this sound like a reasonable combo? Is this glass long enough (9 power on the high end) for 240 yd. shooting? Thanks, and great site!
 
Re: First rifle glass combo

Personally I would just buy a 700 SPS Varmint as cheap as I could get it. Put a decent 4-16x??mm scope on it and shoot the shit out of it. Eventually you'll know more about the stocks available and will also want to look into action-trueing and rebarrel.
 
Re: First rifle glass combo

Sawman, I was also considering a Rem. 700 SPS Tactical with a 20" barrel (about $300 cheaper than a LTR) as from what I've read the .223 doesn't really benefit for barrels much longer than 20". Looks like the Varmit and Tactical are the same aside from barrel length.
 
Re: First rifle & glass combo

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ilmonster</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well, I've been lurking here for a month or so and learning a lot. I am thinking of getting a bolt gun for punching paper. I have a BCM AR as my only other rifle caliber rifle (also have a Rem. 597 HB in .22 LR). I'll only be shooting paper and steel at 50, 75, 100, 200 and 240 yards as my local range only goes out to 240 yds. Based on the knowledge I've gained through reading your posts on this site, I thought of possibly starting my bolt action rifle adventures with a Remington 700P LTR and a Leupold Mark AR 3-9x40 or possibly a Nikon 223 also in 3-9x40? Does this sound like a reasonable combo? <span style="color: #CC0000">Is this glass long enough (9 power on the high end) for 240 yd. shooting? </span> Thanks, and great site! </div></div>

Depends on what type of shooting you are doing at 200-240 yds. Steel - yes. Precision target matches - no. For the those a lot of people use 20 to 32 power and up.

OFG
 
Re: First rifle & glass combo

The furthest I can hang paper targets is at the 200 yd. line. At 240 yards are some gongs, but no place to hang a paper target. At this point, I'm not sure I'll be competing, but just getting up to speed on shooting at longer ranges (long for me at least!). Thanks for the insight though OFG!
 
Re: First rifle & glass combo

The SPS Tactical is a good rifle. The Hogue stock will probably work for you to start with. I'd go with the .308 over the .223. You won't be sending as many rounds down range as you would with an AR and match grade ammo will cost you about the same.