Thanks for all the advise.
I looked at the Ruger site, and like the look of the M77 Mark II Target in .308, any comparison to Rem 700 or T3?
For now, the gun will be a hunting rifle, but I just wanted something that I could build in the future to be capable of target shooting, there are no ranges in that distance in the area anyways, it is just something that I would enjoy doing in the distant future.
My dream trip is a grizzly bear hunt in Alaska, however, I realize that there is not a caliber that will do it all, sure a 300 or 7mm would be nice, but there wouldn't be too much left of any whitetail deer (I have seen first hand what happens 300WM), and like the 1000m target shooting, it is a pipe dream for now, just didn't want to close any doors.
I'm not crazy about the 30-06's, seems like a much wider range of available ammo for the .308.
Thanks again for the advise
It sounds to me like you need to organize your priorities. The Alaskan bear rifle it is best addressed by a cartridge larger than .30 caliber, even though the .30/06 has killed the large coastal bears there for generations and most guides prefer to see their clients arrive with a .30/06 they can shoot over a .458 they cannot. The Ruger Alaskan chambered for the .375 Ruger has bear rifle written all over it, and it's terminal performance will out strip any .30 caliber rifle you wish to put it up against. However, this is a handloader's cartridge and due to the light weight of the rifle you should approach full powered loads gradually if you are not yet recoil hardened. All the power in the world won't help you if you can't place it in the kill zone. Performance in the field suggests the various .375 and 9.3 cartridges are closer than the paper ballistics would suggest, and the large case .375s like the .378 Weatherby and the .375 Ultra have an advantage over their smaller cousins only when bullet weight exceeds 300 grs. Yet all of these cartridges have a reputation for being good killers of game from jack rabbit sized antelope with little meat damage thanks to heavy jacketed bullets to the largest and most dangerous land animals on the planet. Few people though attempt to shoot out to 1000 yards with a .375 rifle. The cartridge is capable, but heavy recoil limits ones enthusiasm for regular practice with large round counts, and to get good at long range shooting requires lots of shooting. Then again getting good enough to be competent with a .375 requires a lot of shooting, and learning to tolerate recoil is easier if you begin with a moderate cartridge, say like a .30/06, that can approach the recoil of more powerful rifles when it is loaded with heavy bullets.
The .30/06 is the true do it all cartridge in the North American experience and has been since Stewart Edward White took an early example to Africa and collected every head of game with the 150 gr military bullet loaded to 2700 fps. It trumps the range of factory loads over the .308 and the handloader can increase the gap while spending less money per round than his factory ammo shooter counterpart While both cartridges are tit for tat with bullet weights up to 150 or 165 grs, once you get into 180 gr bullets the '06 begins to pulls out in front, and it will handle bullet weights of 180, 190, 200, 210, 220, up to the 240 grs. The 240 gr Woodleigh, is my bear bullet of choice for the .30/06. This bullet loaded to 2350 in a .30/06 is a hammer. The handloader can make his loads do whatever it is he wants them to do. They can be suitable for plinking and small game hunting, suitable for cast bullet shooting, suitable for match or long range shooting, suitable for hunting ungulates, or suitable for taking large and/or dangerous big game. While my dedicated bear gun is a .375, I never feel unarmed while carrying my .30/06.
For 90% of North American big game hunting the .308 will do nicely. Due to its smaller capacity it is a bit cheaper to load and shoot than the .30/06, typically you need about a pound more powder to load 1000 rounds of .30/06 than you would to load 1000 rounds of .308, while the cost of brass, primers and bullets is equal. If you never need bullets that weigh more than 180 grs you will never recognize or need the advantage the .30/06 has over the .308. Modern bullets and powders available for the .308 provide you with a more powerful rifle in a smaller package than Stweart Edwad White took to African nearly 100 years ago. The availability of monometal bullets like the .308/165 gr TSX reduces the advantage heavier bullets have traditionally had over lighter bullets because a lighter bullet impacting at normal hunting ranges does so at higher velocity, so penetration becomes the equal of the greater mass of the heavier bullet but slower bullet.
If shooting at long range is truly your passion, you should probably begin in a different direction. Getting good at long range shooting can easily become a lifelong obsession requiring the expenditure of thousands of rounds of ammo each year, thus the cost of the rifle becomes secondary to the cost of the ammunition. A target rifle with a fast twist barrel chambered in .223 is the most affordable answer to this question. Mysticplayer has successfully engaged targets with a .223 rifle out to 1 mile! So yes, the .223 can be long range appropriate.
