Rifle recommendations for someone new to to precision shooting
- Thread starter Ananomalymoose
- Start date
Most of the reaching out to a kilometre is done with a big heavy target rifle, and a lot of hunting is done with a lightweight rifle that you're not going to be cursing after the first several kilometres of hiking. And the number of rounds before your shoulder is done for the day is proportional to weight! But if one rifle has to do it all, my pick would be a T3X UPR in 6.5CM.
Don't forget some quality time with a .22 though.
Don't forget some quality time with a .22 though.
You might be surprised, but I in fact wish you very well.
1) You have a feeling that you need to make a right choice and "not waste" money. I can assure you that "wasting money" comes from buying "good forever" expensive cool gun, even more expensive "good for 1500m" optic and having no money on ammo. Ammo, my friend, will be your problem, ammo will take up your main budget. But unless you shoot a lot of ammo and train the skill all your expensive rifle and optic ammo WILL be wasted. Useless anchor.
2) From what you said, it is clear that you can't even imagine how big the steps are between hitting at 200m to hitting at 600m to hitting at 1000m. So it is necessary to start with basic and to make it easier for you I said "take cheap 223" to start with. You will sell a cheap rifle and cheap scope for less loss than just a tax you will pay on a $3k rig. And 223 will shoot far enough to see the difference in drop and wind so you can learn what that is, but its cheaper than full power rounds and you won't get a flinch after a day on a range.
3) Right now you don't know what rifle you would like. At the end you might like ultralight mountain or PRS or tacticool. Trying to choose any of those right now will most likely be not what you will want in a year. You can take a cheap Tikka or Bergara and put it into a chassis or composite stock or add stuff to it. But you can't make ultralight into a PRS and PRS into a tacticool. There is no point for you with zero experience to imagine what you will really enjoy once you learned the ropes. Maybe you will not like hunting at 600m because its too far and you will need a brush gun at the end of the day. Maybe you won't like shooting from bench or supported and you will need a scout or something like because you are into off hand standing.
We don't know and you don't know. I'm advising you on a solid path to get going, instead of trying to pretend that you can get where right away.
OK you raise some good points that I need to take in to consideration when looking for a rifle. Right now I do believe that the right choice would be to spend the 3k of my budget on two separate rifles. One for practice and one for hunting/LR. As for a scope would it not be a better idea to buy one scope and switch it between the two rifles? Would that not allow me to get better at zeroing and sighting in the scope to different calibers? As for " might like ultralight mountain or PRS or tacticool" I like the look of a KRG bravo style chassis (really any company that makes a stock/chassis that looks like that) That being said I am not set on anything and am open to suggestions. Is a certain stock really needed when I should be more focused on trigger time behind a rifle? (serious question)
I don't mind shooting prone, bench, supported, or standing off hand or supported(standing supported) Should I be looking in to getting a good bipod or just use a sand bag for now?
I would get a Tikka in either 6.5 Creedmoor or perhaps 6.5PRC.
Tikka is the best value proposition. Put it in something like a KRG Bravo - that chassis you can really dress it up or down, there's a lot of accessories available for it and it really punches above its weight class.
When you burn out the factory barrel (which they generally shoot very well, albeit a bit slow), there's a growing number of people making shouldered prefits for Tikka's. Plenty of chassis's and stocks available if you don't like/want the KRG. Aftermarket trigger options, etc.
It's hard to go wrong with a Tikka.
Tikka is the best value proposition. Put it in something like a KRG Bravo - that chassis you can really dress it up or down, there's a lot of accessories available for it and it really punches above its weight class.
When you burn out the factory barrel (which they generally shoot very well, albeit a bit slow), there's a growing number of people making shouldered prefits for Tikka's. Plenty of chassis's and stocks available if you don't like/want the KRG. Aftermarket trigger options, etc.
It's hard to go wrong with a Tikka.
- Location
- Blaster land, Okanagan BC
I ended up with similar rimfire/.30cal rifles because I bought my .22 first and really like the ergonomics of a short heavy barrel with a bit more of a target stock vs. a slim profile and sporter stock. 20” heavy barrels are what works for me and the weight difference is negligible, My first couple years hunting was with a sported no.4 Enfield and at around 10lbs without ammo I had zero problems carrying it around the bush.
I bought my .22 for shooting targets with the intention of hunting small game when I started hunting, it has filled both roles perfectly. It has also made me realize I prefer a field stock over a chassis in general, I have both types of stocks for my Howa and it hasn’t sat in the chassis for the last two seasons. I hunted spring bear with it in the chassis the year I bought it and it just wasn’t my thing, if all I was doing was shooting from a bench or prone at longer ranges maybe the chassis would be more to my liking. That said I’m glad I have both options, think about that when you decide on your rifle. It’s nice to have the option to change stocks or change styles of stocks if there’s any sort of aftermarket for the model you end up with.
So now that I hunt with a lighter heavier profile it still feels lighter than my no.4, plus at work I’m lugging around god know how much weight. My chainsaw alone is 12-13lbs without a bar/chain and fuel/oil, you can get used to whatever weight a rifle is if you want to.
Everything you need to know about riflemanship can be learned in 200 metres or less with a .22. Pick up a decent rimfire PRS rig with a reasonable scope and send a few bricks of ammo downrange learning about drop and windage and all. Everyone should start with something like that. Besides, it's fun and inexpensive!
For the big rifle, your needs may be going in two different directions. For hunting, a lightweight synthetic stock and stainless barrel/action (because you'l get rained on!) with a smaller scope for shots inside 200 m is more what you need, while the kilometre rifle will have the biggest scope you can afford and sit in a solid heavy chassis with a match barrel and all. There's a chance that a T3x in 6.5 Creedmoor could be both rifles, but enough is different and you don't want to be resighting scopes all the time that having two near-identical barreled actions makes more sense, and your bolt-handling skills transfer right over.
For the big rifle, your needs may be going in two different directions. For hunting, a lightweight synthetic stock and stainless barrel/action (because you'l get rained on!) with a smaller scope for shots inside 200 m is more what you need, while the kilometre rifle will have the biggest scope you can afford and sit in a solid heavy chassis with a match barrel and all. There's a chance that a T3x in 6.5 Creedmoor could be both rifles, but enough is different and you don't want to be resighting scopes all the time that having two near-identical barreled actions makes more sense, and your bolt-handling skills transfer right over.
- Location
- Kelowna BC
I think this Is a great question. I have ventured down this path and had a lot of fun with a very cost effective set up.
I went with
Tikka T3X CTR in .308
Vortex PST 2 3-15. (with the Quick Release Precission mount from vortex)
Altlas bi-pod
Cheak Risder on the stock.
WIth that set up I was getting 6" groups at 926 Meters.
I was able to hit a pop can at 700 Meters.
I only shot boxed ammo - that I bough in bulk - because I wanted to spend my time shooting - not reloading.
I went with the .308 because of round availability and cost - again, time behind the gun, and bullets down range will be the greatest advantage you have to hitting your targets consistently. .50cents a bullet is a lot easier to swallow then the price of some other rounds.
I really appreciated the 20" barrel of the CTR. There is an ergonomics that comes into play with guns, that I feel are suited to shorter barrels because there is less leverage on the shooter in any position that requires you to actually support your gun with your hands. (especially hunting, where shooting from your stomach is not practical on account of grass/shrubs/trees 99% of the time). Longer barrels may have "technically better ballistics / burn time for the powder" but the 4" longer barrel is fractions of a second more influence on trajectory - but pounds of leverage that work against accuracy and consistency every time I take aim with my gun.
If you want to go with the A1 or a Sako - you truly can not go wrong. The fact of the matter is however, all of these guns possess significantly more capacity than most shooters are able to access.
A CTR at $1,300 with "pop can" accuracy at 700M on boxed Nosler surplus ammo is a remarkable value. Give me $12,000 more to spend on a gun - and I don't expect I will see any improvement beyond what I have enjoyed. IMHO.
I went with
Tikka T3X CTR in .308
Vortex PST 2 3-15. (with the Quick Release Precission mount from vortex)
Altlas bi-pod
Cheak Risder on the stock.
WIth that set up I was getting 6" groups at 926 Meters.
I was able to hit a pop can at 700 Meters.
I only shot boxed ammo - that I bough in bulk - because I wanted to spend my time shooting - not reloading.
I went with the .308 because of round availability and cost - again, time behind the gun, and bullets down range will be the greatest advantage you have to hitting your targets consistently. .50cents a bullet is a lot easier to swallow then the price of some other rounds.
I really appreciated the 20" barrel of the CTR. There is an ergonomics that comes into play with guns, that I feel are suited to shorter barrels because there is less leverage on the shooter in any position that requires you to actually support your gun with your hands. (especially hunting, where shooting from your stomach is not practical on account of grass/shrubs/trees 99% of the time). Longer barrels may have "technically better ballistics / burn time for the powder" but the 4" longer barrel is fractions of a second more influence on trajectory - but pounds of leverage that work against accuracy and consistency every time I take aim with my gun.
If you want to go with the A1 or a Sako - you truly can not go wrong. The fact of the matter is however, all of these guns possess significantly more capacity than most shooters are able to access.
A CTR at $1,300 with "pop can" accuracy at 700M on boxed Nosler surplus ammo is a remarkable value. Give me $12,000 more to spend on a gun - and I don't expect I will see any improvement beyond what I have enjoyed. IMHO.
- Location
- Kelowna BC
I would have to say that I disagree with this logic. Buying 2 separate guns will actually work against your success with both. (unless your buying 2 different types of guns - shotgun + rifle for example)
Here's what I mean. Your success as a shooter has so much to do with not only practice pulling the trigger, but also familiarity with your gun. For your gun to be an effective tool, you need to be connected to it (in different types of shooting positions / weights, re-racking a bullet / moving from shoulder sling-carry to ready shooter position)
If you have 2 different guns - they will feel and balance very differently in real world applications. Its a great concept to have the "right tool for the job" - as in .223 for the range, and .300 for hunting - but what good will your range practice be, when you mount the heavier longer gun to your shoulder to aim at a trophy elk? -other then simply the mechanics of very basic riflemanship - which in my experience is not the same as precision calibre shooting.
I wrote in a previous post about my Tikka CTR and how happy I am with that at long range, and because its a .308 I can hunt with it, and the cost of ammo is also such that I can justify putting hundreds of rounds down range a season.
I have to thank an old hunter for sharing his wisdom when I was thinking about getting into shooting and wanted to move past my dads Remington 30-06 into some of the more exotic calibres like the 6.5 creedmore.
He told me that he still only hunts with the .300 win mag that he bought when he as 20 - because he has spent so much time with it that it is an extension of his body, and when he takes aim at a deer "he just knows" that he will hit it - without ever focusing on the reticle.
I have come to believe that most guns are very capable at any range that is realistic to hunt at. (ethics past 500meters comes into question - not to mention the ability to properly count the points on antlers).
Some guns perform generally better than others - but most the time the shakiness of adrenalin and the fatigue of the arms will be the factor that limits accuracy. Which is why I haven't regretted my decision to get "1" rifle that I shoot - and hunt with. I know this gun... I can anticipate it... I trust it.
What I have decided to do in order to extend flexibility to my set up, is take advantage of the QR mounts on my precision scope (which is heavy) and makes sling-cary awkward at times, and install a QR red-dot site for ease of cary and close range target acquisition (up to about 150M). If the Elk or moose I am hunting is farther than that, I have the 45seconds required to swap to my scope, QR my Bi-pod in place, and set up for a longer range shot if its required.
This has significantly expanded the feeling of versatility to my set up.... yet every cheek-weld feels the same, every trigger pull feels the same, every slide of the bolt feels familiar to me, so all of my attention goes into situational awareness and taking a clean shot.
It is so easy and so fun, to dream about the specifics of each type and style of gun... enjoy that! ... but if the goal is "to be effective at placing shots", then 1-gun that you shoot often is significantly superior to owning a variety of guns that you don't spend much time with.
