Budget long range plinking

Upr comes in 20 or 24. And it’s personal preference. Shorter barrel is a bit slower but more comfortable to carry around. You have to decide how the rifle will be used. I once carried a 26” barrelled beast and that’s when you find out how good a 20” barrel is.
If strictly target then 24, if you will carry it around then 20, but that is just my preference through my experience. Best advice I can give any one is make more money and buy more guns,lol.
 
Ruger American Hunter shoots far above its price point.
1. Magpul hunter stock
2. Adjustable trigger
3. Heavy threaded barrel (0.850")
4. Ruger Precision brake.
5. Takes AICS mags
6. Lots of aftermarket.
7. Can be had for as low as $1,000
 
Lots of good advice here. My $0.02 is don't worry too much about the first gun. You will shoot the barrel out and spend 2-3X the cost of the rifle in reloads before most reasonable rifles are limiting you. Buy good glass because it sticks with you. If you are serious you will end up at a custom build anyway. For me- I'd stick to the tried and true Rem 700 with a nice trigger or a Savage target action in something economical- .308 or 6.5CM would be great (the 6.5CM barrel life will be a lot shorter- the .308 will last a long time). At this point the cartridge isn't going to be limiting you. You need a faster twist barrel to use heavier bullets (which for >600 yards is preferred)- and .223 isn't ideal if you are heading out past 1000 without getting pretty serious. Once you put a thousand or two down the pipe and figure out what you want either put a barrel on it or just go full custom. I'd save the money on the rifle up front and spend it on ammo, reloading kit, a chrony and trigger time- especially at more moderate distances.

Longer barrels are needed to develop the muzzle velocity. FTR shooters hang +26" pipes to meet weight limits, but a 30"-32" barrel isn't out of place. To gain anything from this you need to tune up your loads.

Last piece of advice is listen to what Mystic Jerry says.
 
I bought a Tikka T3X Stainless Varmint (in .260 Rem) for long range plinking and short range paper punching. I have been very happy with it. I found the factory stock perfectly adequate and used it for several years, no complaints. Even though it has a relatively high stock comb, I added some stick-on velcro and a foam pad for added height for the cheek weld, which was cheap to do. I have now upgraded the stock now to an MDT XRS chassis and Arca rail system for various attachments (bipods, tripods), and to be able to use 10-round AICS mags in it for hopefully one day shooting in PRS matches. As others have mentioned the KRG Bravo chassis is also an excellent choice with many accessory mounting options.

The Tikka T3X factory stock has two M5 threaded screw holes in the forearm, (one of which has a swivel stud). I used these for mounting an Anschutz (UIT) rail, so I could use it with a Mystic Precision MPOD without an adapter. (I have a photo of this posted on a CGN thread somewhere). Also, Atlas makes the AFAR rail kit which is a Picatinny rail piece that slides into an Anschutz rail, so I could easily attach my Atlas quick release Picatinny clamp bipod to it and have some fore-aft adjustment. I could have also used those same two holes for mounting an Arca rail. In other words there is alot you can do with the original factory Tikka stock, and not blow the budget. The chassis upgrade can wait if the budget is limiting.

In what ever rifle you chose, I think choosing a heavy varmint barrel is a must. It absorbs the heat much better than a light sporter barrel. For years before I got the Tikka, I shot my Sako Finnlight (.270 Win), which is a superbly light barrel for hunting. Cold bore shot and the next few shots would consistently be very accurate. But then that thin sporter barrel would heat up very fast and the rounds would start stringing and group size would degrade rapidly. Alot of my shooting time with the sporter was spent doing nothing waiting for the barrel to cool down.

All barrels will eventually heat up mightily with high round counts on a hot day. But with a varmint barrel I find there there is more time to shoot and less time to wait for cooling, and even when hot the barrel is more forgiving and resists stringing rounds.
 
Honestly, go with a Tikka, they are usually just hammers right from the factory and they typically have some pretty tight tolerances and you can get a shouldered prefit without needing to send your gun off. Aftermarket parts and support is pretty readily available so you cant go wrong.
 
No love for Savage? They can sometimes be found for cheap new or used. I was considering Tikka for a long time, but eventually found a 10 FCP-SR for 600$ new so went that route. MDT chassis made a world of difference in ergonomics. Barrel change mostly for added weight. If you are ready to put 1000$+ in a Tikka, but plan to change everything anyway, might as well buy a custom barreled action and call it a day.
 
Do your apprenticeship with a good .22 and a few thousand rounds of ammo before starting to spend serious money pushing 6.5 Creedmoor downrange. Get used to how you have to hold over to find a target at 100 or 200 metres after zeroing at 50. Find out what a crosswind does to accuracy. Lots of skills you pick up at lower expense that transfer to the big rig. And .22 plinking is fun!
 
You should take a look at what Jerry was doing with those $160 Scorpios.
Nothing is funner than hitting plate at 400m with a 22.
Same skills, less fuss.
Price and availability of ammo doesn't hurt either.
 
s.martin said:
Hey. I'm looking at 6.5creed. Will be able to shoot 600 yards regularly. And sometimes past 1000yds. Like I said I'm only starting out with precision long range. 2000-2500 dollar budget for rifle only.
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As many have mentioned, the Tikka CTR is a great turnkey option. The Tikka Varmint is also excellent, but requires swapping in some AICS mag compatible bottom metal, at least for my uses. Although less so in the 6.5CM since Tikka introduced the M+ magazines.

For the ranges you're shooting, I'd also consider the above rifles chambered for 223. A 1-8 223 shooting 75/77s is surprisingly effective, a good learning tool, and even more budget friendly to shoot than the CM.
 
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