budget vs quality vs looks

J

jon1985

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Carleton Place, Ontario
I am in the research phase of buying a long range shooter. I will be shooting it initially at 200, but by the end of june I should have access to 600+ and hopefully 900 by the end of the summer. I have the property, but it is currently farm rows so there are tree lines to cut, and back stops to make.

I think I have settled on 6.5 creedmoor over .308. The problem I am having is there doesn't seem to be many rifles under $1300 with a heavy barrel in 6.5cm. The rifles I have found are the Savage BA10 Stealth and the RPR and the Ruger Predetor (sort of a hybrid barrel between hunting and heavy barrel). The problem is, I was hoping to keep the budget under $2400 but if I spend $1500 +/- on the rifle that doesn't leave much for glass, especially considering the RPR enhanced is $1700.

Is there a rifle with a heavy barrel in 6.5 that Im missing? Would I be better of putting a heavy barrel on a different 6.5 action?

EDIT: I currently reload .223 and 9mm so will buy dies for 6.5 when I purchase the rifle.

Thoughts?
 
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Would getting.308 over 6.5 be an option at all?, get a savage 10TR 700$, and get best 1400$ glass possible?
From what i read .308 willgetyou to 900, and could always rebarell for 6.5 down the road.
Myself was also having this debate lately, i opted to cheap out on rifle and spend big bucks on glass/unimount.
 
MartyK2500 said:
Would getting.308 over 6.5 be an option at all?, get a savage 10TR 700$, and get best 1400$ glass possible?
From what i read .308 willgetyou to 900, and could always rebarell for 6.5 down the road.
Myself was also having this debate lately, i opted to cheap out on rifle and spend big bucks on glass/unimount.
Click to expand...

That is the argument Ive been having in my head since I started looking into this...308 vs 6.5....
 
I compete with a 308 to 1000yds... I just got my Rem 783 in 6.5 CM set up.

Eeenie meenie.

If cost is an issue with the rifle, consider a base using a Savage or Rem 783, spin on a quality match barrel and bed into the factory stock. Spend the extra bucks in better optics and reloading supplies.

So you could start with a Savage 10TR and play with the 308. Get bored or curious, spin on a match prefit in 6.5 CM (or any of a dozen chamberings) and enjoy.. simple to swap and you can play to your hearts delight

I am really liking the 6.5 CM for ease of set up and tuning BUT a full on FTR rig is not going to give up much ballistics to a 6.5 CM at 1000yds.

If you want mag feeding, less muss and fuss, the 6.5 CM is what I would suggest.

If you want to hot rod and single feed, it is going to be a real close fight.

Jerry
 
Jon, also with the 10TR, you can install an MDT aftermarket stock on it.
I ordered this one.

https://mdttac.ca/ess.html

So if starting by plain jane 10TR, with all the rest of money on optic, there are ways of making it better down the road when budget frees up.
My 10TR, cost 720$ all in. Sold factory 10 round mag that came with it for 120$. Single feeding it while MDT stock arrives. I will then sell accustock, which will make for a 500$ barelled action.
Still new to rifle and rifle reloading, and have had sub-moa results so far, did not even started load development yet!

We never know i might get tempted to ask Jerry for a 6.5CM barrel sometime, but i feel i should burn my factory .308 barrel to learn the basics.
 
I can't agree more with Jerry and MartyK2500. The 10TR is a superb bang for the buck, and will give you all you need up to 900 yards, especially if you reload.

I agree that the Ruger RPR is a better Platform, but the 500$ saved with the 10TR will give you $ for a better optic or more ammo to practice, and the grouping/precision will be the same. Don't forget that Savage action gives you the opportunity to swap barrel/caliber relatively easily, so the 6.5CM wont be so costly. You will learn a lot with the 308, as the money can't buy experience, expecially for long range application.

The choice is up to you!
Here's what i've got with my 10TR the last weekend (sorry i'm proud of it, my first competition ever):
1ere%20place_02_zpsgxcpd9oh.jpg


Dark
 
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Evil_Dark congrats on the win.

Im starting to waver on the 6.5 simply due to available rifles. I will try and get out to handle some of the rifles mentioned to see how they feel and sit back and wait for something to pop up on the EE.
 
I'm impatiently waiting for my Tikka CTR in 6.5 to show up. I have dies, brass, bullets, factory ammo. I keep looking at other rifles, but for my needs so far I don't see anything as I do not want a chassis for hunting.
 
Right now .308, am paying 57$/100 bullets (hornady match bthp 178gr)
The 10TR has a 1:10 rifling and will benefit from heavy bullets

B&C stocks are not cheap to buy new, would you consider MDT ESS? Have a look at it pretty sharp
 
Ive looked at the ESS, it works out to $900 plus tax and shipping. The B&C stock I was looking at it $729 plus tax and shipping. If I was going to spend $900 on the stock, Cadex has some in that range, not sure if one is better then another.
 
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