Need Advice! Building a target rifle setup...

grunt19 said:
I am also left handed and up untill last year I used all right handed rifles untill Rick at ARTS built a Left hand rifle for me and I must say I will never go back since then I have sold all of my right handed rifles and bought lefy handed. Your a lefty your should shoot a lefty rifle. Just my 2 cents
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Yeah that's what I figured, lol. I've tried shooting with a right handed gun and its really awkward. So I'll forget about the righty guns :D
 
It is just what I have done so its not the only way, but I know it has worked for me, I am sure there are people that think my opinion is wrong:)

Its just a thought but in the end do what feels right:)
 
Obtunded said:
First of all, you do not need to go 30-06 or 308 to shoot long distances, in fact these are poor choices for starting out actually.

Secondly, a terminology clarification... "target Rifle" is actually a sport unto itself consisting of 223 or 308 rifles shot with iron sights and using a sling - no bipods.

The rifle is only part of the story: whether you reload or not and the scope you use is a vital component. There is no point spending $1500 on a rifle and putting a P.O.S $500 scope on it. It's like buying a corvette and putting cheap Chinese made Walmart tires on it - worse in fact.

Find a factory 223 you can live with. I don't care what brand, they all shoot the same. One excellent choice is the Browning A-Bolt target in 223. Another is the Remington 700 VLSS thumbhole. These are quality firearms, and in the case of the Remington, it is very upgradable. No need to buy a new stock, and above all it is the safest rifle action out there for changing out barrels and upgrading to custom.

A 223 WILL shoot as accurately (in fact more so because it will not pound the $hit out of you and produce all sorts of very bad shooting habits) as a 308 or 30-06.

You should put your pennies away for a good quality scope. THAT will last you a lifetime. It takes a weatlhy man to buy cheap scopes; cheap scopes are frustrating and detract from your ability to learn from your mistakes.
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Humm interesting, So you wouldnt recommend that I start out with a high caliber? It makes sense the more I think about it, I'm just curious how it performs at longer ranges. It is a small round afterall, but I'm deff open to it.

Which scope would you recommend?

I'm also a fan of the Remington name, I can't find the 700 vlss in lefty tho. If it exists and I'm just not seeing it I'd jump on it in my top 3 list of options.
 
Obtunded said:
My expereince with Tikka is they are some of the most consistently accurate factory rifles. I have owned a few and they were all excellent. The Target Tactical Remington is a dog's breakfast and is far more expensive than the sum of all its parts. I love Remington Actions, but that gun is over-priced. You can build that rifle with a Remington action, the identical stock and a WAY better barrel for less money.

You can make them both better with bedding and trigger adjustments, but they are as good as any factory gun.
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Good point, I didn't know it would cost less to build a better gun than to buy those. The only thing is I'm sorta aiming towards a factory setup since I'm not familiar enough with firearms to be be making modifications.

Paintball is a whole other story tho :D
 
noneck180 said:
Those two rifles as you mentioned are almost at factory modified custom, so for me I would look throught the EE and look for something,, that is a little less money.
Rem VLS,, Tikka Varmint,,Rem VSF, VSSF I or II, XR-100 you have a lot of options, many times all a gun needs is bedding and a tuned trigger.
I like buying a used gun, chances are you will be told what type of accuracy the rifle has,, instead of taking a chance on a New one,, but like Obtunded said,, you need good optics.
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I've never bought a used gun before, I hope it's nothing like buying used paintball guns cuz they're often sold broken or on the verge of doing so. So it's a habit I've adapted, but no doubt its a different story with firearms.

I wouldnt mind picking up a really well taken care of used gun and not opposed at all, as long as it works flawlessly. Only thing is I'm not sure how many lefties are out there looking to get rid of a precision rifle, lol
 
You have too decide caliber, make, model,heavy barrel, sporter barrel,,If it is 223, 308 or what ever you like first,, new can be found aswell for around $1200 for some models like Tikka Varmint
 
Ok so I THINK I have a good idea about what type of rifle I'm looking at, now on to the optics :D


I want a good scope. I'm not opposed to buying used, infact if I can help it I'd perfer to.

What would be the best scope combination of brand, model, and price for a $1,000 rifle.
Also, should I mount a weaver rail?

Thanks for all the help guys!
 
PaintballGuy said:
What would be the best scope combination of brand, model, and price for a $1,000 rifle.
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How much money do you have to spend? :D
I'm going to disagree a bit with Obtunded: it's possible to get a decent scope for as little as $500.00, good enough to get you going and be competitive. Check out the Falcon or Vortex models, and get the most magnification your budget will allow. Later, as your budget allows, you can upgrade.
Start haunting the Optics forum...
 
stevebc said:
How much money do you have to spend? :D
I'm going to disagree a bit with Obtunded: it's possible to get a decent scope for as little as $500.00, good enough to get you going and be competitive. Check out the Falcon or Vortex models, and get the most magnification your budget will allow. Later, as your budget allows, you can upgrade.
Start haunting the Optics forum...
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Looking to spend no more than 700 for a used scope. The only brand I'm familiar with are Leopold and Bushnell. Any others are completely alien to me, lol
 
The gentleman in the picture is shooting an Anshutz smallbore rifle. In the US they shoot smallbore matches were you shoot iron sights for one day (or 2 days) and then anysights (irons or scope) the next day (2 days).

I would suggest looking for a used left handed target that you could scope if iron sights are not your thing. Iron sights and slings take a lot more work to shoot well than shooting a scoped rifle off a bipod. However the smile on someones face the first time they shoot at a target 1000 yards away and they hit it is priceless.
 
Just as a point of interest for those of you scratching your head over the OP's picture of a scoped Annie with a shooter wearing a jacket and sling, this is a standard UIT/ISU prone match under the Free Rifle "Any Sights" category (ISSF Match 2B).

I shoot this exact format here in Ottawa at the RA Centre for the ISSF/LSBA matches using a Winchester 52E International Prone with an Unertl 18x scope, including shooting jacket and sling. For the Free Rifle "Iron Sights" (ISSF Match 2A), which most of you are probably familiar with, it's the same set-up but with peep sights. You can also use peep sights in Match 2B if you desire since anything goes!

You see a few F-Class and Palma shooters getting trigger time at these LSBA events since Connaught can get cold and miserable in Jan/Feb!:D
 
For heavy barreled left handed rifles your best bets are Tikka,Savage and Remington,
.223 and .308 are the most common chamberings but Tikka has more cartrige choises and Remington apperently has a 1-12 twist in .223(not so good for heavy bullets currently popular for lomg range shooting).
 
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