Long Range Shooters?

[luvmy40]

Anyone do any long range work?

Here's my situation. I mentioned that I wanted some better glass for my .243 (a Mauser action my dad had made in the '70s) and my Wife(gotta love her!) ordered me a Millet LRS1 6-25x56 scope. Massive overkill but It got me thinking.

Is the .243 a good long range gun(300yds is the farthest I've punch holes with it)? Then I started thinking about the the Rem700, 300WM that ATCTimmy is selling...

I'm getting some conflicting info from the LGS'. One guy says he shoots his .308 out to 1200yds and that 300WM is not flat enough for real long range work. Another says that .308 isn't flat enough and that 7mm08 is the way to go and yet another says that anything less that 7mm Mag is useless.

Then I check out a couple "sniper" forums and see the same contradictions and find that .338 Lapua is the only thing less than 50BMG that is worthy.

So, any real world experience? In reality, my opportunities to shoot further than 600yds will be very rare and even the 600 yd shoots will be far between. But, if I end up buying a new long gun, I want to get something that has the ability to reach out there if I get the opportunity.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[buckeye .45]

Well, the standard Army and Marine sniper rifles (I forget the Army bolt action, but their DMR the M-21 is a .308, the Marine M-40A3 is .308), are in .308. The M240B shoots 7.62x51 NATO, and is good for over 1000 yards. I'd say that that piece of information should answer your question for you.

I shot 600 yards with my M-16A4 chambered in 5.56x45 NATO more than once.

[Mike1956]

How far out are you wanting to go? I have a 20moa ramp on my .308 Remington 700, and even at that, I am out of elevation adjustment at 1000 yards with a 6x18 Leupold. My best 168 grain match round has about 400" of drop at that range. The drop is considerable, and fairly tough to compensate accurately with the mildot beyond that. 155s stay up a little longer, but lose a little on bc. My .300 Winmag stays stable longer, but is absolutely no fun to shoulder after about fifteen rounds.

[luvmy40]

Buckey .45,
That was my thinking on the .308. "If it's good enough for the Marine snipers" it's more than I'll probably ever need.

Mike,
I'd love to start shooting out past 1000yds. In reality, I won't have the opportunity to practice at that range very often(possible never) so 600yds is my achievable limit at this time.

I'll probably stick with the 243 for now and pick up a Howa in .308 when I find a 24" model locally. One LGS has their 20" Ranchland combo at a very nice price of $359.00 but I cant see any reason to go with a 20" barrel when I am looking for distance .

[glockman10mm]

Just about any centerfire from the 223/5.56 on up is good for 500 yards. What you should ask yourself is what is your desired affect on impact at distance. I used the M40 in the service, but in my civillian life, I have no need for a real sniper rifle, but shooting distance is still fun. My personal choice these days is a 270 Winchester. Its flatter shooting than the 308, but it is only found in sported weight hunting rifles.

It really depends on what you want to do with it. Military calibers are good choices, however, there are alot of other cartridges that out distance them. An example is the 5.56 compared to the 220 Swift or 22-250.

[gunthorp]

There really isn't a flat shooting caliber past 400-500 yards. They all start dropping like a rock, and you have to lob them in after doping the wind. I sight in so that the post under the bottom mil dot will index +/- the longest range shots. That means I have to hold under, using the higher dots, for closer work. For example, my 22 is on at 50 feet, again at 90 yards, and the post is at about 200 yards, Dang thing drops about 4 feet. My AR10 308 is sighted at 200 yards, and the post is at about 500 yards. My 338WM is sighted at 500 yards and the post is at about 1000.

Your 243 will work great at long range without beating you up. Caliber will depend on what you want the bullet to do when it gets there. At long range, I would choose 22's-25's on prairie dogs, 308 for anti-personnel, 338 for large game, and 50BMG for light vehicles. The Bismark had 24" guns that could cover a football field with VW weight projectiles at 20-30 miles away.

[Ring]

wow... bad info after more bad info...

1st.. a 243 with the right twist "1-8" is a good 1200 to 1400yard gun and will out shoot a 308 in wind using 105gr,107,115gr, a 1-8 twist will shoot 87gr out to 1k
2nd.. "There really isn't a flat shooting caliber past 400-500 yards." my 260 will disagree with that with almost 1/2 the drop at 1k over a 308... my drop at 1k is 22moa... my drop at 1 mile "yes, i shoot 1 mile steel Thunder Valley Precision » Specialized long range shooting facility " is 80moa a 168gr 308 is 120+moa at a mile.
3rd, that scope is not a over kill for long range, its just right... depending on target size... i shoot ground hogs mostly, and made kills out to 1/2 mile with a 60gr 223. for that use 16x will suck past 600y, 20x+ will take you WELL past 1k
4th, "That was my thinking on the .308. "If it's good enough for the Marine snipers" it's more than I'll probably ever need." just because the .mil uses anything, dont make it good... look at the guns that win all the 1000y shoots.. they are all 6mm or 6.5mm guns.


you are in ohio, i would look at making a trip to Thunder Valley Precision » Specialized long range shooting facility ... info on dates here
Thunder Valley Precision - Ohio 2012 Schedule - Sniper's Hide Forums

[Dsully]

A .308 will get you out to 600 yards easy. I have a Remington 700 sps tactical .308 with a 20" barrel. Here's a video of me shooting a 16"x16" steel plate at 510 yards. I'm shooting SMK 175 gr factory ammo

500 yards rem700 - YouTube

[suntzu]

I shoot .308 Savage FP w/Macmillan stock out to 600-1000. Savage has come a long way and it out performs my 700.

[atctimmy]

Rich the .308 is good. I have one and I like it. For really long range stuff the 300 Win Mag is better but it also uses more powder and has more recoil. The two rifles shoot the same bullets (.308 diameter) but the 300 Win Mag has more case capacity and shoots hotter/flatter.

If you don't mind the recoil the 300 Win Mag would be better but recoil sensitivity is highly subjective. Only you know what your shoulder can handle. My shoulder handles the 300 Win Mag just fine but the 338 mags (Win Mag and Lapua) start to hurt me.

No matter what caliber you use it still comes down to the shooter.

I will say that the 700 I'm selling is very nice and it's really a good deal. The 700 is THE gun when it comes to long range accuracy and the Sendero model has all the bells and whistles. Here is a link to Remington's web page. (note mine is all blue, not stainless)

Centerfire Rifle - Model 700 Sendero SF II - Remington Centerfire Rifles <----notice the MSRP!


ETA: I'll even throw in 50 pieces of new brass. : )

[luvmy40]

Ring,
Thanks for the links!
I didn't mean that the LRS1 was overkill for real long range work. I just never really considered the .243 or .223 as as a long reach guns. The little bit of varmint shooting that I do with the .243 has all been under 300yds. I did get a nice doe in WV at just over 300 a dozen years or so ago.

The .243 has a 21 inch barrel but I don't know what the twist rate is. My dad doesn't remember and it is not marked that I can find. I'll have to get it scoped.

wow... bad info after more bad info...

1st.. a 243 with the right twist "1-8" is a good 1200 to 1400yard gun and will out shoot a 308 in wind using 105gr,107,115gr, a 1-8 twist will shoot 87gr out to 1k
2nd.. "There really isn't a flat shooting caliber past 400-500 yards." my 260 will disagree with that with almost 1/2 the drop at 1k over a 308... my drop at 1k is 22moa... my drop at 1 mile "yes, i shoot 1 mile steel Thunder Valley Precision » Specialized long range shooting facility " is 80moa a 168gr 308 is 120+moa at a mile.
3rd, that scope is not a over kill for long range, its just right... depending on target size... i shoot ground hogs mostly, and made kills out to 1/2 mile with a 60gr 223. for that use 16x will suck past 600y, 20x+ will take you WELL past 1k
4th, "That was my thinking on the .308. "If it's good enough for the Marine snipers" it's more than I'll probably ever need." just because the .mil uses anything, dont make it good... look at the guns that win all the 1000y shoots.. they are all 6mm or 6.5mm guns.


you are in ohio, i would look at making a trip to Thunder Valley Precision » Specialized long range shooting facility ... info on dates here
Thunder Valley Precision - Ohio 2012 Schedule - Sniper's Hide Forums

[luvmy40]

Tim,
I am drooling over that Remy! I'm going to have a hard time convincing my Wife that I need another rifle, but I'm working on it!

I've never shot the 300win mag before and my experience with the .308 is limited to a couple trips with a buddy's Springer M1A.

[multistage]

The 300 Winchester is a fine cartridge. As with anything, it will take some dedication to harness it. It is snappy, but it will not take long to see through the recoil. My preferred cartridge is the 300 H&H. An outstanding rifle.

[atctimmy]

Tim,
I am drooling over that Remy! I'm going to have a hard time convincing my Wife that I need another rifle, but I'm working on it!

I've never shot the 300win mag before and my experience with the .308 is limited to a couple trips with a buddy's Springer M1A.

I'm super busy in Jan with work and travel. Perhaps in Feb or March when you have time you can take it for a test drive.


ETA: Unless you want it sooner : )

[suntzu]

Rich the .308 is good. I have one and I like it. For really long range stuff the 300 Win Mag is better but it also uses more powder and has more recoil. The two rifles shoot the same bullets (.308 diameter) but the 300 Win Mag has more case capacity and shoots hotter/flatter.


I will say that the 700 I'm selling is very nice and it's really a good deal. The 700 is THE gun when it comes to long range accuracy and the Sendero model has all the bells and whistles. Here is a link to Remington's web page. (note mine is all blue, not stainless)

Centerfire Rifle - Model 700 Sendero SF II - Remington Centerfire Rifles <----notice the MSRP!


ETA: I'll even throw in 50 pieces of new brass. : )

Not anymore!!!!! Read reviews on the savage 10FP or 12 series and talk to folks that shot LR competitions. I own both 700 and Savage 10FP w/MacMillan stock. like the Savage better. And I used the M24 in the army. Savage has come a long way. But either one you chose will be great.