Your first long range rifle

[Scorcoran]

I am completely new to this and I am wondering what your first long range rifle was what caliber make model custom or otb
I am getting all my gear ready for my first rifle and I just want to see what different people did for their first rifle and why thank you

 

[Matt_3479]

What are you looking to do with this rifle. Target out to what distance, hunting what size game?

 

[09cs]

Remington 700 AAC-SD 20in. barrel, 1:10 twist, 308

 

[Recreational Shooter WA]

My first target type gun was a Rem 700 with a heavy barrel, but I definitely cut my teeth with a hunting rifle when I was young and couldn't afford anything better.

The best advice I can give is to not get wrapped up in the hype. Everyone has something to sell you, and a lot of it is unneeded. Get a good out of the box rifle like a 700 or Savage and start shooting it. Experience builds confidence.

Also, the online training videos here on Snipershide can be useful and it's only $10 per month.

 

[JimBianchi]

1988 I bought a used left handed savage 110, 30-06 with a 3x9 scope. With factory ammo I could hit an 8in paper plate at 400y. Bought it to hunt big game in AK while stationed there. I got distracted by my part time job as a small town deputy and put less than 50rds down the pipe before I had to leave.

Now I am building a long range AR15. I enjoy the challenge of doing it the hard way. And no more hunting for me. Now I stalk paper from a bench.

 

[BillyGoatMachine]

My very first long range rifle was my Daisy. I had the BB's drop down to head shots on blue jays at 30 yards. Only way to drop 'em was a shot to the head! I could pick off wasps buzzing around the nest at 10-15 feet no problem.

In my adult life it was a Remington 700 LTR in 308.

 

[kyyotestalker]

I caught the Long Range bug with a Remington 700 sps varmint in 204 Ruger! Dropped it in a bobby hart LRT laminate stock, skim bedded it, and topped it with a Vortex Viper 6.5-20x44 Target Dot scope. Built it for sub 300yrd varmints but after reading some ballistic charts and playing with a ballistic calculator on the Hornady web site I got the hair brained idea to try some longer range stuff. Farthest I could find to shoot on my grandmothers place was 500yrds looking across a field and a gully onto a small hill side. I placed 3 one gallon milk jugs full of water on the hill side and set up my rifle on the hood of my uncles old truck. After probably 15 shots in a switching wind I finally clipped the edge of one of the jugs and have been hooked on long range shooting ever since!

 

[diggler1833]

Actually shot some service rifle matches years before I got into wanting to stretch out a rifle on my own. My first was a Savage 10 with 20" barrel in .308. Put a Burris XTR 3-12 in Burris high rings on it because I did not know any better, it was way too high. Then I got a B&C A2 style stock for it with with horrible results (must have been made on "bring your kid into work day"). Cost was ~$500 for the rifle, ~$625 for the scope, ~$100 for the rings and base, ~$220 for the stock, but I sold that after one range outing and went back to the original plastic wonder. Rifle was 3/4 MOA off of the bench with Black Hills 168, but point of impact shift was horrendous as soon as you changed firing positions.

After about a year I sold it and got a 700 SS 5R in .308 with 24" barrel. Put it in three different stocks and bedded all of them. It shot lights out with a dirty barrel (took me a year of shooting it and cleaning it constantly before I figured out why I always shot better towards the end of my range visit). I started reloading for precision with this rifle and it made a big difference in accuracy. However, never leaving well enough alone (wish I had) I decided that I needed to make it a .260. So I had it rebarreled and put it in a 4th stock and bedded it. Was running a Sightron SIII 6-24 on it at the time. Had it all set for some LR target shooting...and then went through a divorce. The only thing I have left from that build is the Sightron. Price varied as it sat from ~$1600 to ~$2800. Rifle shot a bunch of groups under an inch at 200yds as a .308. Never really even got into load development as a .260.

During my 5R adventure I also got an SPS Tactical in .223. It too has sat in four different stocks, and has also worn four different scopes. I was going to rebarrel it eventually to make an M40'ish clone in .223AI. However, the damn thing shoots almost half-MOA on average. It now wears a Bushnell 3-12FFP and sits in a H-S PST093. Not a super fan of either, but it has allowed me to get in well with my better half's family and get all of them interested in shooting at some distance. It is not a 1000 yard rifle, but it is a fun and accurate little thing. It is at my in-laws ranch now being used for pest control ('yotes and armadillos). Right now the cost would be ~$600 rifle, ~$820 scope, ~$200 rings and base, ~$670 stock. Rifle averages just over half-MOA at 100, and just over .6MOA at 200. That is with handloads, rifle was always around MOA with FGMM 69gr.

Those were my first three ventures into putting together a "LR" rifle. The reason why I threw so much info out there for you is to suggest that you don't need to spend a ton to get started. A custom rifle from a good 'smith will always have a better fit and finish, and will almost always outshoot a factory rig. However, I suggest starting cheap and shooting more to see if this is really for you before you pull the trigger on a custom rifle (unless you like $5000+ safe queens that look pretty). In addition, until you get proficient at shooting at range, you don't need an expensive custom. Thousands of dollars of equipment does not replace good fundamentals.

This could go on, and now I'm pretty much rambling...

 

[Onewolf42]

Savage LRP in 260 Rem.

 

[HOGTOOTH5R]

Stay with the Common Calibers if you do not reload yet. The .308 is the Standard and you can decide to go with a Savage or Remington. I would also consider a .243 (6mm) for Better Bullistics. If you're not recoil sensitive and like something with more kick I'd go with a 30-06 Long Range from Remington. There's a review thread on here already that you can take a look. It's great price and will be one Hell of a starter rifle for ya.

 

[Pinkycatcher]

Remington 700 ADL in .243. It shoots about .7 MOA. I shoot it a bit larger than that. The first rifle is all about training. So do what I did, get a $400 rifle, go buy some 85-95 gr bullets, 250 pieces of new brass, some powder and go out and load and shoot. That's what I'm doing, it's working out great. It's not worth it to drop boocoos of money on something just to mess up.

 

[samnev]

TRG 22 308 with 26" barrel and a Nightforce NXS 8-32X56 scope.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

My first "real" long range rifle was a custom I had done by a local smith on a R700. He had a used McMillan A4 on hand which I think I paid him $300 for, and then it got a Krieger barrel DD Ross bottom metal, and USO MST-100. I quickly decided that while the M40A3 I was modeling it from was aesthetically pleasing, it lacked features I wanted. So into a AICS stock it went and the USO was replaced with a Nightforce. At the same time I also RRA Varmint set up for long range. Then I bought my first Remington 5R and for some reason found myself shooting it instead of my custom rifle so I sold it.

After that I played around with a few factory rifles more and decided I needed another custom so I contacted Jered Joplin of Patriot Arms (at that time) based on a magazine article I had seen on one of his newer rifles. This was when GAP, KMW, R&D, and HD Rifles (before they fucked people and closed up) were the big names. Jered built me a hell of a rifle that I should have never sold but I owed the snap on guy money so there it went. I should have also never used the R700 LVSF 223 that I had for the build as its a rare rifle now and one I wish I still had in the safe.

After that I played around more with my 700P and also owned a few dozen second hand custom rifles. Never happy with them I bought an AI AW and hotly after an AWSM. I finally had two rifles that suited me but my rifle ADD soon kicked in and I sold them. Then I built a Badger M2008 and wasn't happy with it so I sold it and bought a AI AE MKI on close out. I loved that rifle, another rifle I shouldn't have sold but I got bit by the Polaris RZR bug and sold it to dump money in that thing thinking I could be happy with my 700P... WRONG... I again messed around with a few customs and other stuff and early last year got back into an AI AX.

So the point of all this rambling is what I would have done differently. Aside from not making the many non gun related financial mistakes I have done, I think it's apparent for the most part what I regret buying and what I regret selling. If I was starting for the first time again back then and knew what I do now I would do one of two things:

1. On the budget side I would buy something like a 700P or 5R, new or used and learn from there. Run it until I can afford the good stuff.

2. Instead of building the custom that was my first true LR rifle aside from the hunting rifles I shot LR with before it I would buy an AI AE for about the same price. Back when I got started AI's were hard to come by and sold used for way more than MSRP since you couldn't get them. I would still hunt for one though if I had the experience I do now.


I still would have had my first Patriot Arms rifle built and I would still have it. I still would have bought the AWSM since I had a place to shoot 2500 yards whenever I wanted but I would have bought the AE over an AW since the upgrades to an AW wouldn't have been worth it to me at the time. Today though assuming I was starting wanting to shoot multiple calibers not just 308 I would buy the AI AT or new AX for ease of caliber swaps. I'm doing just that but it's just being added to the herd, nothing sold or given up to do so.

For calibers I'd still start with a 308 and add whatever other calibers I wanted. 308 is just a good all around round and everybody should have one in their safe. Reloading or not would be the biggest influence in my consideration for other calibers. There's a lot of good ones out there but many you either have to load for or shooting factory ammo will make you go broke.

 

[Raider Power]

My first center fire rife was a Remington BDL in .22-250 and it was somewhat of a jack of all trades for me for a while. It is what I started getting into long range shooting with when I started shooting prairie dogs. It's not a purpose built precision rig by any stretch of the imagination, but it shoots under moa and has done everything that could reasonably be expected of it and then some.

I've since bought a few more purpose built long range platforms, but that .22-250 goes pretty everywhere with me. If I need to hit something in the field, that's still one of the first rifles I reach for.

If you're still looking for gear, I would start simple and spend more money on ammo. The more you shoot, the more you'll know what you want to change about your current setup and WHY. The why is what's important to me when I'm changing something.

 

[KingE]

Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC-SD 308 20" barrel, still my only rifle two years on but shoots great (.7) with off the shelf SMK 175g. Have paper to 250y and steel to 1000y and rifle is fully capable. Looking to either a 5R 308 or a 300WM for my next rifle.

 

[Scorcoran]

thank you for all who responded I appreciate the time you took to respond

 

[jbell]

My first "long range" rifle (not nearly my first precision rifle) was:

Kelbly's Grizzly II repeater action
Jewell trigger
Hart 26" Med Palma 6.5X284
Lone Wolf stock
Kelbly base and rings
Sightron SII 36X 1/8moa dot
built by Kelbly's

It was a hammer for 1200ish rounds...
I owned this one many many years ago

 

[bailagent100]

I'm just starting year 2 in the long range/precision rifle game. Not new to firearms by any means but after watching & spotting for several friends on the 1000 yard, public range we have access too, I finally got bit hard enough by the bug.

As I shoot left handed due to cross dominate eyes, I bought a new Savage 10 FLCP-K in .308, with the Accu-trigger and Accu-stock. I put a SWFA SS 5-20x50 scope on it, a Harris bipod up front and a Black Hawk cheek pad on the stock.

Z71 made a couple Rat-mags for me and I've put a few other little add-ons on the scope. Just things a guy does to make something his own, ya know?

I really enjoy shooting this rifle and appreciate its 'profile' as assembled. Just this last week, I completely scoured the threads here pertaining to rifle chassis. Had myself sold on one made here in Colorado. Then woke up this morning and decided I want more range time with my rifle, just as it is. Gonna take that thousand dollars I would have spent on a chassis and buy more ammo and very likely another long range class at the Whittington Center, as its only 3 hours drive time away for me.

I'll likely have a chassis on a rifle some day but for now my money is better spent shooting and learning. Sometimes I hate being so practical but its how I 'roll' and I thank my father (r.i.p) for getting me started with firearms and everything else he taught me, all those years ago.

 

[bkw1911]

Gap 260. 26" Bartlein rem varmint on a 700 with a mcm a5. jewell trigger. Only thing I would've changed was getting it threaded for a brake. Other than that it did everything I needed

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

 

[alemonkey]

Remington 700 AAC-SD in .308
Bell & Carlson Light Tactical stock
Vortex Viper PST 4-16.

If I ever burn out the barrel (or have extra cash laying around) I plan to rebarrel it to .260 Remington.

 

[ArmyJerry]

M163 Vulcan, electronic trigger, gyroscopic radar guided M61 sight, various types of shells, HE, SD, Ball, Tracer, Incendiary, next was a Rem 700 308, the Vulcan was more fun.

 

[anthonylapoint]

Savage 10 with hart 6mm barrel. I put it in a b&c stock. Why:because the savage action is $350 and the floating bolt head means its nasty accurate without being touched. It shot 1/4" groups everyday and when I did my best 1/8" groups. Cost like $850 total. Can't beat that.

 

[quickdraw17]

Remington 700 in 308 with a HS Precision Stock and Leupold Mark 4. Had a smith true the action and cut the barrel to 18" and thread it, as well as install a Badger DBM and bolt knob when I finally got the money together. While I have some more expensive toys now, it's still my first choice to take to the range since I've spent so much time with it.

 

[Niles Coyote]

Remington's 223 tactical started the itch but my first true LR was this http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...846-308-remington-tactical-work-progress.html

 

[roggom]

SPS Varmint 308, it has shape shifted over last 3 or so years, from stock plastic, to a Bobby Hart Lammy/ Nikon , Remmy Walnut/ Redfield (chopped BBL to 22"), B&C M40/ Vortex HS-t, XLR Chassis/ Weaver EDMR, HS precision LTR, now back to the original plastic (bedded)/ Leupold Vari-x III LR/t M3.

Couple thousand rounds down the pipe it still puts lead on steel.

 

[Twisted Jester]

Remington 700 AAC SD .308. I got it on sale for $650. Asked a friend about scopes since I didn't know much about them. He suggested at least 22x so I said what the hell and went with the Nightforce NXS 8-32x56. Buy once, cry once. My only advice is to run, run as fast as you can because once you get bit its over. Remember I warned you. lol

 

[Dieselscout]

I'll play. Savage 10T Cabela's exclusive 24" heavy barrel 1:10 twist with 5R rifiling. Accustock, Accutrigger and EGW 0moa base. $599 OTD.

 

[HOGTOOTH5R]

If you can find one then Tikka T3 Scout CTR 20" Heavy Barrel (Discontinued in USA) Might be able to find a cabelas that has one left in Stock BEST Bang for the Buck and Keeps up with my TRG22.

If you can't find the Above then Remington 700 5R Mil Spec .308 20" Threaded Barrel.

 

[Topstrap]

You didn't mention what purpose this new gun was to be used for, a bit more info would help. I think you should try to find a range that caters to the long range shooters and plan a visit to see what the shooters are using and most times they will be glad to let you check out their equipment and shoot their guns.

This can be an expensive hobby if want to join the equipment race but you can get decent equipment that won't break the bank and be just as competive as the guy with the big dollar stuff. No matter what you use you need to learn to use it to it's full potential.

We like Savages in a 6mm or 6.5mm for our 1000 yard matches, easy to work on, relatively inexpensive, shoot better than most shooters ability but just don't have the cool factor to the equipment snobs. There are others that fall into the same price range that will do equally well.

Get the best you can afford but do the research first to make sure you don't buy based on a sales pitch. Visiting a range and watching a match will get you a lot of good first hand info. Good luck, keep us informed on what you get.

Topstrap

 

[kihnspiracy]

Remington 5R .308 was my first long range rifle.

 

[alman1531]

For someone starting out I would recomend a Remington 700 in .308 with a heavy barrel like the AAC-SD for the following reasons. A Rem 700 is the Honda Civic of the bolt rifle world; you can customize anything on it and upgrade as you want and as funds allow. The .308 because it is the most common round out there and you can find it anywhere if you don't reload. The barrel life is 8k-10k rounds as oposed to the .243 at 2k rounds. After you shoot the barrel out on the .308 you can rechamber to what ever you want and you will have 8-10k rounds of experince under your belt.

 

[Jkling12]

I just went with the R700 in .308. Cheaperthandirt has a link on AR15.com in the for sale section for an extra 100$ off anywhere else I looked including budsgunshop. Its the SPS-v for 500 shipped. I was going to get the AAC but opted for this since I can just spend more on glass and a stock.

 

[6Dasher]

Sako TRG22 .308 26" in 1999, my first rifle. Hakko MP 4-16x56 scope, harris bipod.

Custom F-Class rig BAT 30" 6.5-284 from 2005. Several others since.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

A Rem 700 is the Honda Civic of the bolt rifle world;

Please don't faggotize the rifle by comparing it to a honda in the performance world. Mustang or camaro is a more legitimate comparison because it's actually a decent platform to build on and you're not polishing a turd. A H&R handi rifle is a better comparison to a Honda.

 

[Gruffy]

I am completely new to this and I am wondering what your first long range rifle was what caliber make model custom or otb
I am getting all my gear ready for my first rifle and I just want to see what different people did for their first rifle and why thank you

I am very new to this, too, and just finished building my first custom: http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...ew-forum-new-rifles-not-new-being-stupid.html I started shooting/learned to shoot (am still learning to do my part) on a used remington custom shop 700 with a 40x trigger in .308. I got the long-range bug and went all out on a custom build in 6.5 creedmoor, selling some other rifles I had that I don't shoot to get into it. I got a load of great information off of these forums and really had a blast with the whole process. It was heavy on the wallet, but I wound up with a rifle that is .25 MOA capable and more if I do my part.... and worth every dime. I look at the cost of items as one-offs (action for at least 25k rounds, chassis, rings, etc.) and the barrel as the primary wear component in the system if I take good care of everything else. Snipers hide is a mecca of information, and I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I have been getting into this .

 

[nashlaw]

Winchester Varmint .308.
Shot like ANY custom rifle i have owned or shot. Might have been a fluke, but it was sub half-moa with a variety of loads. Fellow I sold it to had same experience.

 

[Scorcoran]

I was just getting a consensus of what every one else did for their first rifle. I see most people are doing 308 Iam a big fan of the pay once idea and i like to buy something that i can grow into maybe take it out to 1800 yards im just gonna punch paper and ping steel my brother is just getting out of the army and he wants me too shoot with him i plan on taking a class before he gets out so he does not yell at me too much but this is my first gun i am gonna go the custom route

 

[Gruffy]

308 isnt a bad pick. There are a lot of good calibers based on that case/bolt face measuremnt so if you ever get into reloading you have a lot of choices to switch to just by rebarreling the rifle. 6.5 creed or similar is just a barrel away with no other changes to your system.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

 

[Barikade]

First rifle was a Remington 700 VS with a 26" heavy barrel and a Leopold vx-2 3-9. I nearly melted the barrel shooting federal 150 grain "hi-shok" softpoints (cheapest ammo I could find) by lining up used shotgun shells on a log at 100 yards. After 4 years I mounted it in a Tube chassis and bought a second hand IOR 3.5-12 and started to handload using 168 grain Amaxs. Fast forward about 5 years and 5 rifles and my most recent project is a Remington 700 in .308....go figure.

 

[yzfr6avid]

Remington 700 AAC-SD in .223 with Bushnell Elite Tactical 6x24 great practice rig and cheap to shoot! I am upgrading the Hogue stock, to Choate with a DMB.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

Mine was a Savage 10FP in 308, with the shitty plastic stock.

Savage and Remington both make fine first rifles. Knowing what I know now, I'd say a Tikka or a Howa is a nicer rifle for less money in the case of the Howa and a bit more for the Tikka.

My advice is to NOT modify and upgrade your first rifle. You'll lose your ass on it. Buy it, shoot the shit out of it and when you're ready for something better, get it. You'll spend a lot of unrecoverable money modding a basic rifle.

 

[HOGTOOTH5R]

Please don't faggotize the rifle by comparing it to a honda in the performance world. Mustang or camaro is a more legitimate comparison because it's actually a decent platform to build on and you're not polishing a turd. A H&R handi rifle is a better comparison to a Honda.

I was thinking more along the lines of Small Block Chevy 350. lol

 

[B.A.C.]

Remington 700 5R 308 Winchester w/24" barrel
Badger bolt knob
Badger 20 MOA base
Bushnell 3-12x44 G2DMR
Harris bipod w/KMW Pod-Loc
Seekins rings (0.82")
Timney 517

 

[alman1531]

Please don't faggotize the rifle by comparing it to a honda in the performance world. Mustang or camaro is a more legitimate comparison because it's actually a decent platform to build on and you're not polishing a turd. A H&R handi rifle is a better comparison to a Honda.

I was only referring to the customization you can do with the rifle, since everybody makes aftermarket Civic parts. No disrespect to the 700 intended.

 

[surffly]

Remington 700 AAC-SD
TPS 20moa rail
SWFA 10x
Harris Bipod

And spend the rest of the money on range time and ammo

 

[SWRichmond]

Lots of good advice here. Lots of good questions for you to answer before you decide what to buy. Going to a match or two and seeing what others are shooting is a great idea, but when one wants to shoot, one wants to SHOOT and not merely watch, so all of us get that.

Assuming the rifle is for target or even competition (as opposed to hunting) use:

Do you reload? Are you an experienced reloader or do you have a friend who is and who can show you the finer points? If no, then stick with something for which good quality ammo is readily available, if there is such a thing as readily available ammo these days.

Understand that, assuming again that you are not a very experienced competitive shooter, that you are on the steep part of the learning curve and probably don't really have any idea what many of your preferences are. Perhaps you don't really even know if you'll like this enough to keep doing it for years. Perhaps you don't have an unlimited budget like some here seem to. Consider these things before you crap a lot of money on the latest go-to gear.

I am an experienced reloader and had some competition experience from two decades ago (highpower). I found a second-hand but new custom barreled action in .300WSM (26" SS Krieger, trued action), bought a second hand AICS for it, a 16X SWFA Super Sniper, a 20MOA mount, and a Harris bipod, bought some Winchester brass, dies, and went off to shoot 800, 900, and 1000 with ammo I had loaded. Ballistics programs work surprisingly well and getting on paper was not an issue.

I sold some other stuff and bought a used 700 SPS Police in .308, added a moderately priced scope, base, etc, intending to use it for practice, and did so. The factory chamber was so long that it would not let me seat VLD bullets long enough to reach the lands. I shot SMKs (which don't mind jumping) for practice, working out position, follow through, etc. SMKs in .308 are not competitive at long range, so serious competition use of this rifle was not an option.

After about a year and a half, now convinced I'd be doing this as long as I could still see, and on the advice of some friends who were experienced F Class and Palma shooters I moved into .308 for competition. I took this practice rifle and had it rebarreled, trued the action, mounted it in a new AICS, mounted a new Sightron, etc. It is now my primary match rifle and I shoot FT/R, Berger 185's, etc.

The point is that you can reuse what you already have and grow into the sport.

Did I mention I'm broke?