What is a good gun for 300 - 600 yard shooing?

Question

As for caliber, im leaning towards .223 or 308 because of the price of cheap ammunition for practice. I cant decide between a rifle such as the AR 15 223 or a model 700 or browning a bolt rifle. I figure I'll be doing more shooting closer towards 300 yards, so im inclined to choose the 223, but any suggestions for the gun? Also, any recommendations on a good scope. I am just getting into long range shooting and regulary shoot skeet, sporting clays, pistol, etc etc. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

First off, do you reload or just use factory ammo. If you want to shoot long-range, then reload if possible. I have been shooting long range for years, both proffessionally(at work, not comp.) and recreationally. My personal baby is a Savage 112 243 Win. bolt, in the BVSS variant. Savages, out of the box with their new ACCU trigger, are exceptional rifles if you want a rifle that is easier on the pocket book. After finding the right reload for this rifle, I have shot a 1 1/4 in. group at 300 yards. The 243 is a pet for me because the load I use will send a 55 gr. Nosler ballistic tip downrange at 4100 fps. Wind shear was suprisingly low. 308's are more ballistically efficient, but drop like a rock. But they still perform out at long range, time and again. 223's will fall like a boulder at long range with a lot of wind shear. I only recommend them for work out to 250 or so. Model 700's, out of the box, have crappy triggers in my opinion. I have one in the Police-Sniper version. It is an awesome shooter, but had to drop a Jewell trigger into it to get this. Scopes..... You get what you pay for here. Although...I have used a BSA contender on a rifle and was well pleased with it. The best in my opinion is a Night Force. Awesome resolution and magnification. Can't say any more than that. Other good ones are: Pentax, Springfield Armory, Leupold, just to name a few. Try and go with a 30mm tube over a 1in. You will get more light transmission with a smaller objective size. I also recommend Warne rings. Hope I could help.

Answer 2

Good luck on 600 yard shooting! You'll need it! A bolt action is much more accurate than semi-automatics, slide actions or lever actions. A .223 is quite sensitive to wind, so I'd get at least a .243 or 6mm. My one rifle arsenal for North American hunting is a Sako "Finnbear Deluxe" in .300 Winchester Magnum. It kicks a bit, but it has good power for most game in the USA or Canada and very flat trajectory for long range shots. There are other .300 Mags, but this one has ammo available more places than most of them. I flew to New Brunswick, Canada with it years ago. I was glad I took it rather than my Weatherbys, for I couldn't find ammo for them, and I wasn't allowed to carry any on the airplane. A .308 will do if you want less rcoil and cost. It's superior to the .223 for your purposes. Of the options you mention, I'd go for the Remington 700 in .308.

Answer 3

If you're looking more toward the "fun" factor it's hard to beat an AR-15...On the other hand if you're looking for a tack driver, competition rifle the Remington 700 VLS is a better choice. 300 yards is about the limit for the .223 as far as a reasonable flat trajectory goes.. If you plan on doing much at 500yd the .308 will do you much better..

IMHO Zeiss and Schmidt & Bender make the finest rifle scopes in the world...But, as far as value for a great scope, you can't beat the Leatherwood ART scope.. http://www.leatherwoodoptics.com

Take a look at rifles/prices at
http://www.gunbroker.com
http://www.gunsamerica.com

Answer 4

For a 300 to 600 yard shot i would recomend the bolt action .308 but another great cheap long range bullet is the .22-250. wind will be a very big variable but they are very accurate. One of the other people said that the .308 is accurate up to 1000 yards, this is true, BUT your ordinary hunting rifle wont do it. What he is thinking of is the Marine M40A1. You cannot buy an original M40A1 but there are several companies the make a mil spec replica of it. its kinda spendy but if you want accuracy there you go.

Answer 5

Just get a heavy barreled .308 caliber rifle that is built on a Remington 700 action. The .308 is perfectly capable of great accuracy to 1000 yards. The a recoil is relatively mild compared to compared to any of the fast .30 caliber magnums which means that you'll probably practice more.

Answer 6

Bolt action rifles are more common for hunting - not really AR types.

What are you planning on hunting? I *believe* that .308 has more stopping power whereas .223 has a flater flight path.

Scopes - I'm afraid you get what you pay for. The best ones are expensive. Look for good name brands (you might check e-bay.)

Good luck.


Okay, I've just checked with my friends who know better. (One is a lawyer who specializes in gun-related cases.) It turns out the answer depends on local regulations. In some states, you are not allowed to hunt with a AK-type rifle - it is considered an assault weapon. On the other extreme, in some places you cannot hunt with 223 cartridges - it is not considered a hunting cartridge. So, you need to contact a local sporting goods/hunt shop so you can find out what is ALLOWED in your area before you try to figure out what you can use ...

Don't you love regulations? Have as much fun as you can without getting into trouble!!!

Answer 7

I think an AR 15 .223 would be a great choice, cheap ammo., rapid fire, and less recoil because i used to use the M16 A2 before the ARMY changed to the M4 and they are extremely accurate but for longer range than 300 yards and more knock down power you could try a .338 center fire rifle.

Answer 8

The 308 for a all type of shooting is superior.The 700 Rem.Varmit.verson for price and out of box accurecy can't be beat.Scopes:the Pentax lightseeker,Leupold VXIII,and Burris signature

Answer 9

I shoot alot of long range and prefer 220 swift in ruger #1
4100 fps to 4300 fps 40 grain tnt..it rocks
heck go for a 50BMG and than lets rock with 1000 yards:}

Answer 10

Of the two, definitely the .308 Winchester.

Leupold makes a good scope.

H