Recommendation for someone just starting out

[mister_cynical]

Hi all,

I’m interested in target and precision shooting and could really use some recommendations on what kind of rifle would be suitable for me to get started in the discipline. That said, I would really like invest in gear that can grow with me – or at the very least, that I won’t be looking to unload in a year or two.

So far I've been looking mostly at bolt action rifles, and caliber-wise I’ve all over the place. In terms of price, I’ve set 1,500 as my ceiling. That has often led me to the Tikka T3x and Remington Model 700 series. But even within only those two series there are a ton of options! That said, I am open to anything. (I have my restricted PAL too if there’s something in that realm that I should be looking out for.)

Advice on what to avoid and look out for is also really appreciated!

Thanks much!

 

[8 ball]

Nothing wrong with a Rem 700 or Tikka T3! Pick a caliber that works for you (308 or 6.5 creedmoor would be my picks) and start putting rounds down range!

 

[oneadam12]

Is $1,500 for rifle/scope or just rifle? I would encourage you to consider a Savage 10 series as well, and put the rest of your money into the best piece of glass you can afford while you learn the ropes.

 

[TheIHGuy]

Thompson Center has been putting out some nice accurate rifles the last few years. The new compass comes in 6.5 Creedmoor for right around $500 with sub MOA guarantee. Gives you a good budget to get a nice scope on it.

 

[maynard]

If your interest is in long range or precision shooting, before dropping any money on a rifle and other equipment, contact your Provincial Rifle Association. In your case http://www.ontariorifleassociation.ca

Although the season will not start until April-May, wait until you can get out to one of the ranges and talk to the shooters there. You may find out that what some people here suggest for rifles
just won't cut it. Some calibers will put you into the open class, which really isn't the place to start.

 

[Mystic Precision]

First thing is to figure what precision and target shooting means to you. Do you have a shooting sport in mind or just want to be accurate while shooting at a range?

Maynard has given a great lead to learn more about the many sports offered in ON. Each sport will have its set of rules and "better mousetraps". If you want to compete, best to know what will work before buying.

As a rule, if competing, you should consider building vs buying. There are several parts that simply aren't good enough in the average factory rifle. Can you do this project on your budget? Depending on the sport you want to do... yes, if $1500 is for the rifle and optics are extra.

Beyond the rifle, you will need to reload so budget to set up and make your own ammo. Depending on the sport, you may also need more specialised support gear and rests... and on, and on.

So consider narrowing down what your end game should be and there is plenty of info to offer.

Good luck and welcome to the sport.

Jerry

 

[mister_cynical]

Thanks much for all the info everybody.

The optics would be in addition to my base budget. That said, I will definitely take a look at Savage and Thompson.

Maynard, thanks much for pointing me toward The Ontario Rifle Association - that's my next stop after writing this up.

Mystic, while competition is something I am certainly interested in down the road, simply being accurate at range is what I am most immediately interested in. I hadn't really considered building vs. buying, but buying is probably where I'm at right now. Building certainly appeals to me, but I figure that's a bridge I'll cross when I get familiar enough with my likes/dislikes in a rifle. Your advice on "narrowing down [my] end game" is exactly what I was looking for!

Again, thanks very much everyone!

 

[Mystic Precision]

There are a number of great looking factory rifles but they all share the same ill's... the unknowns of a factory barrel

If all you want is sub MOA, go for it... pick the rifle that suits your fancy. Enjoy some range time and then spend more to start correcting all the things you don't like. By the time the dust settles, you have likely spent the cost of the factory rifle purchase again.



Here is where I would start today.... $400'ish.. a bit of TLC, reloads, sub MOA... factory trigger can be tuned to be a very nice pull. Factory barrels aren't bad and sub MOA seems to be the norm. Action is wonderful and lots of great features to grow into. As much as I love and have used Savage 10's/Stevens 200, new gen stuff doesn't appeal as much.

No it doesn't look cool at all... but the entire package does work.



Decide the factory hunter stock is not to you liking (don't blame you), add a Boyds. Several shapes and styles. They work, look good, well priced. Don't worry about the DBM and associated costs.



Really want a precision rifle on a budget.. .Voila, add a match prefit barrel and the Rem 783 will keep up with any custom actioned rifle. Again, don't bother with the DBM.





Adjusted loads for this rifle for winter shooting.

And you are still under your $1500 budget....

YMMV.

Jerry

PS... we were shooting out to 1450yds and hitting sub MOA rocks

 

[Clocked92]

Remington 700 and the Tikka T3 are decent places to start. Remington 700's (not the 783) have an advantage that no other bolt action has and that's the extensive aftermarket support for it. You can buy a 700 and pretty much change out anything and everything you want as you grow with it. The tikka aftermarket is slowly catching up.

Another option I'd look at would be a Weatherby Vanguard/Howa 1500. They are the same rifle basically.

If I were you I'd pick a common short action caliber (223 Rem, 243 Win, even 6.5 Creedmoor nowadays). These will allow you to shoot quite a bit and have lots of availability for factory ammo until you get set up to reload. The benefits to a short action caliber and even more so the 223, is they are cheaper to shoot and recoil is quite low so you can shoot lots without the pain in the shoulder or wallet. They will also help you develop better shooting habits when you aren't worried about flinching from the big calibers.

 

[hunter-4-life]

Dont make the mistake I did and buy a BIG magnum, I went with a model 700 Long Range in 300 RUM. Beautiful gun, shoots good but hurts after awhile. If I could do it all over again it would be a model 700, in a 6.5 CM, 260 Rem etc. I say the 700 because eventually if your enjoying the long range gig, you send it to a smith, have him blueprint, bed and rebarrel, do the trigger it and boom semi-custom rifle. Like mine 700 I just bought a trigger tec off the EE here, its going for a brake eventually and once the barrel is shot out of it, it will be either a 338 Lapua, 28 Nosler or maybe even another 300 RUM. But there is nothing wrong with the savage actions either.

 

[Alpheus]

Also think about what you consider long range. If you only have access to 3-400m, a 223 is an excellent choice. Cheap, plentiful ammo and reloading components, accurate cartridge. Better for learning the wind and for begineers, shoot lots is better then shooting the latest hotrod.

 

[rugbydave]

Lots of good advice in here. I'll echo some and say that you need to determine what you consider long range and how far you'll regularly be able to shoot. Furthermore, I'd suggest you do a rough approximation of how much you plan to shoot. Do you reload? All these factors come into play in determining what is a good caliber to go with. 400 and in, .223 is a great cal for all the reasons that Alpheus mentioned. Past that I'd suggest looking at something in 6.5 Creedmoor unless you very specifically want to shoot in "Tactical Class", then get a .308. It also comes down to how much you think you'll be shooting. If you shoot 50 rounds/week, your 6.5 Creedmoor will be toasted in a year, which isn't a bad thing, just a consideration. Reloading brings your cost of shooting down and ammo quality up, but also increases your initial investment and makes it reasonable to start off with what you'd end up with. Here are my suggestions:

-400 yards and in, go .223, you'll learn tons, it's cheap to run, good barrel life

-for regular access to past 400 yards and high volume shooting of factory ammo (50 rounds/week+) get a .308, you'll learn lots, great barrel life and you can rebarrel to something better when you start reloading

-for regular access to past 400 yards and low volume shooting of factory ammo or if you reload, get a 6.5 Creedmoor, it's a much better performing round. That way your initial investment in dies isn't a waste when you want something that performs better than a .308, unless you then run 2 rifles, haha

 

[JBD]

A semi custom will outshoot a factory gun. Remington probably sticks on a barrel that cost maybe 50$. You can put a high quality barrel on any action and it will shoot better than a 50$ barrel.

Now from my experience I would not recommend it if you are just starting out. If you might notice I have one in the exchange
https://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/1657082-Custom-223

You buy a gun in my case a savage and buy a quality barrel. Then I had to find a skilled gunsmith to chamber the barrel and install it. Shipping is required to get the stuff to me then if the good gunsmith does not live nearby you need to ship it to him and ship it back. Then you buy a decent stock plus shipping decent optic, decent mounts decent everything. Then benchrest dies, lapua brass and the best bullets money can buy. Then you work up a load.

Then you find out that shooting small groups at extended range maybe cool at first but gets old quick so you try competing. The closest competition to me is about 5 hours away and I show up to the provincial championship for f class and they called it off because they did not want to shoot in the rain. Come back next weekend everybody.

I never went back. So perhaps you should buy a factory rifle that you can dump if you find out that precision is not really your thing.

 

[Sakoman .308]

Jerry from Mystic Precision really knows what he is talking about.

 

[lowburb]

After reading Jerry's blog about the Remington 783, I purchased one as my first centrefire. It shot sub MOA 3-shot groups but couldn't do 5. I have ordered a Boyd's At-one stock and a barrel from Jerry. I'm enjoying this journey toward accuracy...

 

[mister_cynical]

Mystic, that post on the Remington 783 is super impressive - and very informative. Thanks much for that!

As far as distance goes, right now none of my local ranges has anything over 300 meters, so that's what I'm limited to. Though I think I'd like to go beyond 300 meters eventually, my first purchase certainly does not need to reach beyond this point. Alpheus, Thanks much for bringing this to my attention.

Hadn't considered wear and tear either. I'll definitely factor that into my choice, though I guess replacing a barrel might be a good opportunity/excuse to upgrade a part.

Thanks again everybody! I've learned a lot just in this one thread!

 

[Evil_Dark]

I would suggest to buy a Ruger RPR in 6.5CM, or a Tikka with a bull barrel on .308WIN or 6.5CM.
Now, depending on what kind of shooting you want to do, you'll pick an optic accordingly. In the long range shooting, you will need an 1000$+ optic as a starting point... Expensive, I know, but it will serve you well.
If doing more 100-200yards shooting like FTR, the optic may be different. Anyway, as Jerry said, you may build yourself your own rifle, which can be very fun, but yu will have to wait for your parts. The result will be an awesome rifle!

Have fun

Dark

 

[Mystic Precision]

Lots more ongoing experimenting and testing on my facebook page... find me at Mystic Precision Inc

Glad the info is helpful... many ways to reach the end result. Enjoy the journey.

For chamberings out to 300yds, 223 is great. 6BR is a gem. If only shooting on a range, single feeding becomes an option and that opens lots of possibilities.

Jerry

 

[rascal1]

Bump thread. Can a guy get away with a sporter/ hunting profile barrel for PRS, distances out to 800-1000 yds? Would like to have a dual purpose rifle for hunting and range with the option to simply change stocks and optics without having to lug a heavy barrel around the bush...

 

[Mystic Precision]

Here are my twins and almost ready to head out to Hanna, AB next week for the Cdn Sharpshooter LR PRS match.

Yes, I am running Rem 783s.... #5 contour barrel but I also have a #4. Swap a lighter scope when hunting. The rifle pictured at not overly heavy and a lot lighter then popular PRS set ups.

Jerry