The gun range I’m a member at is starting to have long range competitions, 600 yard, 600 yard bench guns, m1 200 yards, ect. What would be a good bolt gun 700$ or less to start shooting up to 600 yards? And what caliber? I am saying 700$ so that I have money to get a good scope and stay right around $1000 for the set up. Also what power scope would be good for 600 yards?
I am kind of thinking a Remington 700 but since I am new to this type of shooting I am looking for any advice in this area.
Well if 600 yards is your goal its hard to beat the 308 win for ammo cost and high end factory loadings.
I would look at FN, Savage and Rem. If your diligent and you shop around you could get the Savage longrange hunter in 308 or one of there F class models for the price you quoted.
Jon
I saw buds has a 700 SPS in 308 for $550. i will definitely look into FN and Savage
would the 30-06 be a caliber worth looking into for this?
If you can handle rough recoil for many shots at the range.
Are you looking at modern rifles or more classic wood/steel?
If you want to roll up classic and modern isn’t really the issue than have you considered an 8mm Mauser? K98? Swiss 1931, '03 Springfield might be other good options.
Remington 700 is a good one, especially if pure precision/performance is the way to go, though I’d reconsider 30’06 in that regard if thats your priority. Anther caliber to consider would be 7mm-08.
IMO, 308 for cost effectiveness - easily a 600y caliber. The 700 for least issues off the bat. FN for a better barrel–hammer forged–but is going to cost more than the 700 baseline. Skip the fancy 700 barreled ones to save money. Then you can spend another $300 in the future on a decent match barrel and have a gunsmith friend install for minimum expense. Anything more than that and you’re wasting money on gun and ammo - unless you like hand loading. Plus you can always rebarrel into a more interesting short caliber (7-08, 6.5 Creed or 338 Fed for more punch) in the future when time and money are available and you get bored of the 30 cals or want an increased twist for more competitive vld .30 bullets, too.
I was thinking something more modern. I would like to get a 98K and a Mosin Nagant but not for this purpose. The 700 is really looking like the way to go. Where are some sites to look at for custom barrels? I’ve found several after market stocks like the Bell Carlson. Is the Bushnell Elite 3200 a good scope, I’ve always been a leupold guy but the cost of a leapold with similar specs to the 3200 is very expensive.
Given the price range you mentioned I don’t think you’re going to be able to get a custom barrel or many aftermarket options to start with. I’d just get an SPS or something similar and then shoot the hell out of it. After you’ve figured out your needs and after you’ve mastered the techniques is when I’d look at a custom barrel/stocks etc.
If the competition is also against a clock, I’d consider something like a Pride-Fowler RR-800-2 scope. All adjustments are made at the reticle so you don’t really have to spin any turrets. It’s not great for under 100 yards but doable, between 100-600 it’s pretty quick once you’ve doped it out.
Thanks for the advise, that sure is a nice scope but that would have to be a later purchase at the price. Just out of curiosity what would you expect as the price range of a custom barrel? I’m looking at the 700 SPS heavy barrel so that should suit me well enough to start out and get my technique down.
You cant go wrong with a Remington 700 or a Savage 10. I have the Savage and it is an excellent rifle. VERY accurate.
Your priorities are misaligned.
You’re FAR better off spending the money on a quality optic than on custom barrels and B&C stocks.
Between the $200 you’d spend on a cheap Bushnell scope, $300 for one of the cheaper B&C stocks and $400+ on a nice barrel, you can easily afford a much nicer optic.
You’ll get better performance out of a $300 rifle and $900 optic than you will on a $900 rifle with a $300 optic. You don’t have to get a $900 optic, you’re just going to be better off. The cheapest optic I’d consider for this use is in the $500-600 range which puts the Pride-Fowler easily within reach. A fixed 10x will allow you to buy more quality for the money as opposed to a variable.
Did I mention training and ammo?
Are these formal competitions, with equipment rules?
If so, have you looked at them to make sure what you want to build will be competitive, or even allowed?
I ask because a lot of 600 yard competitions are run under NRA Mid Range Prone rules which means NO muzzle brakes under ANY circumstances; and NO scopes unless F class rifles are allowed concurrently.
Make sure you understand what you are getting into before you spend the money.
I totally agree, I’m asking about the barrel, stock, and other after market parts for further down the road when I want to upgrade these components. I don’t want to invest in the 700 and optic and in a year or two not be able to upgrade the other parts. Purely exploratory questions.
This is a great site for your questions:
http://www.snipercentral.com/rifles.htm
They have a lot of rifles listed and there is a forum.
Savage M10PC’s are worth looking at.
The .223’s will handle 75’s which can get you to 800-900. Mine is “fast” enough to get to 1K with sane loads BUT I wouldn’t expect every rifle to do this.
You can also get them in .308. Either way they are small, cheap and fill mutiple rolls.
I would NOT expect any short barrel gun to be able to make 1K with decent accuracy and sane pressure loads. Some do, some don’t.
I know you are not talking of going that far but it’s worth keeping in mind.
Accuracy from my Savages is .5MOA or less. Consistent. Mutiple 5 shot groups of course 
**Edit.
I have a 6-20 Vortex Viper on mine and it’s really nice. Cheap and very clear. It’s worth keeping in mind. That power range is quite useful as well.
He will have no issues reaching 1k with a 16" barrel in a 308 and accuracy will not be effected only veloicty. I have friends on another fourm shooting pistols well past 1000 yards and using them for hunting at that distance from barrels shorter than 16".
hitting what? 2MOA? 3? Is that accuracy?
I’ve never seen MOA accuracy from subsonic loads at long range. I don’t know anyone who has. If you can post mutiple 5 shot groups showing you have a gun and load which can do this myself and many others would like to see it. I’m not being funny about it but I always hear this from guys yet none of them can show it.
Now, if you ARE claiming MOA or less, consistent accuracy from subsonic long range loads you have something to teach myself and many others.
AJS, be careful…I questioned him a few weeks ago for the same “nonsense” and he busted my ass with pictures and proof. He’s a solid shooter.
Which is what I want. I have NEVER seen ANY shooter be able to have consistent MOA accuracy at long range with subsonic loads.
Some flukes, some from time to time but NEVER enough to do it on call. If he is that good then he has something to teach us all.
It’s not normal, it’s not usual.
The match and precision guys (you know, the many, many thousands who shoot ONLY for accuracy) can’t do it with. Most of them keep above the transonic region for good reason.
So if he can show consistent accuracy out past 800-1k with subsonic loads we need to know how it’s done as it would certainly make the life of many of us much easier.
Even if he can do this, it does not mean everyone else can. It means a set of conditions people need to try and replicate to get to what he has found and work from there. There are very few projectiles which work well super and subsonic. I understand lapua make some. That’s all I know but I have heard there are others.
Even then, the physics involved mean group splitting and opening up.
At this stage though we don’t know what he is claiming. Many people think 2MOA is “accurate” at 1K. Some think 3 is!
The problem with this is that picking something easy does not teach you. Unless what you are doing is hard or pushes you the ability to learn from it is limited. I have been teaching a girl to shoot recently who is a perfect example. She had no interest in shooting “boring” targets and wanted stuff which was easy to hit. It was “fun” until she started hitting them too much and she got bored. So we “tried” some paper targets. She is addicted, she is challenged and at the moment a solid .5MOA shooter.