Posted: 1/7/2008 11:04:53 AM EDT
| I'm looking for a good long range gun that can pull double duty as a hunting gun or other. What caliber would be useful after a shtf scenario that can do this? I'd like to get something that'll get me out to 500 yds. or better. |
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pick and choose. a 50 cal will work at super long range. a .22 will work at 500 yards if you are good at lobbing the ammo. anything in the .300 size will do just fine as a double for distance and accuracy. 300 win mag, 30-06, .308 just use an Ar-15 with a 30 round mag. you can see where you are hitting with each shot, then start blasting away till you hit what you are aiming at |
ACK, you beat me to it...  Really cant beat the setup in my opinion.. Zar |
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Here is my take on it... Seems to me you can't really go wrong with a 308. Plenty of ammo post-SHTF in local stores, and good for ALMOST anything in North America hunting wise. I can only comment on Remington 700 because thats what I have, and its a solid platform. Have heard good things about Savage too (bolt actions). Semi auto 308 you have the M1A or FAL (among others of course), I like my M1A, but my friends all LOVE their FAL's. Down side is expense....semi autos are expensive. The bolt actions are cheaper, but you have to put good glass on top....thats where the expense starts to come in. 308 can easily reach out past 500 yards with factory ammo, and its cheap to reload if you are into that. Cheaper idea that I just thought of... Wally World has the Remington 700 on sale right now for $300. Camo stock, rifle sights, 270 Win.. The 270 is a good caliber for North American game from what I have read, but I have never used it. You also have the option with this set up to customize it (rebarrel, restock if necessary). Hope this helps! |
| Just thought I would add that those nice heavy barrel varmit/sniper rifles look and shoot great (I have two) but my next rifle is going to be a lighter weigh. I really light the 243 or 308 in the Tikka rifles by Sako( tikka is one of there other brands), I saw one in Gander mountain and it felt great. |
| 20" LR308 and you wont have to carry an AR15 for up close. You can cover everything from CQB to 800+ yards if the optic is up to the task. I've run mine out to 900 so far and have got to the point where headshots on a standard size silhouette at 600 is not difficult. Sure a bolt gun will be cheaper and have an accuracy edge but the trade off is that a bolt gun sucks for up close and fast work or multiple targets. Alternately the M1A or FAL will do nicely but lack the accuracy of the AR platform. |
+3. This is exactly what I would recommend also. Add to it a good sling and bipod. If you really get into shooting it, after you have enough FGMM brass, you can start making your own loads, and really dial it in. |
| A long time ago I dabbled in this extreme long range shooting – The Viet Nam war was just about to wind down – The M-16 was the flavor of the month with the 308 just about to come out on top at that time – I was stationed in Japan and they were getting ready to close the Tachikawa PX down and move some of the stuff to Yokota Air Base – This is just some background before I get into what some of us were shooting at that time. Anyway they were selling .264 ammo – 140 and 100 grain bullets for .26 cents a box and they had several hundred boxes – I bought the bullets before I had the gun - 96 boxes of 100 grain and 163 boxes of 140 grain – The 30-06 bullets were expensive at around 43 cents a box – they had quite a selection from 120 or so grain to 180 grain – all Remington bullets – Well you know the rest of the story – I spent about my whole pay check on bullets that month – They also had a bdl Remington .264 for 69 bucks – I bought that – already had a bdl bolt action 06 – leupold gold ring scopes were going for about 19 bucks – bought 4 of them – they had the redfield widefield scopes 3x9 with the little rangefinder built in for a whopping 14 bucks bought 3 of them – one was a 4x12 that ya had to adjust the parallax – The range was easy to get to at Yokota and the army had one close to the housing area Grant heights that I lived at and it was accessible – Well the 264 without a limbsaver recoil pad absolutely hurt to shoot it – but it would punch holes in a dime at 500 yards – well almost – I had already looked at ballistics and the oomph a bullet had at 500 yards – the 140 grain 264 won hands down until you got to the 300 win bullets which just barely beat it until the pretty .30 cal 168 grain bullet came into play – the guns I had all had 26 inch barrels and were bolt action – of course I had an m-16 and there were several ak-47’s to play around with – the ak at 500 yards was a POS – the 06 with the 180 grain bullet was really good – the m-14’s that had not been accurized were not quite as good as the 06 – but it was a semi or auto main battle rifle – for sniping at around the 5 or 600 yard range the 264 won all matches – until the accurized m14’s came onto the range – well that brought out another problem – you had to be able to shoot it and there were very few AF and Army people at the range who were good at that distance – 600 yards plus was another all together problem – the rifles would shoot that far accurately but the shooters left something to be desired – everyone could keep the rounds on a target at 1000 yards but who in hell knew where the bullet would hit – those 36 inch targets were really small looking thru a peep sight or scope at about ¾ of a mile away – so it is according what ya wanna do with that high powered gun, close quarter battle – M-16 wins hands down - long range sniping.264, 06 or 308 scoped gun with hand loaded bullets –the military snipers all have hand loaded bullets for their specific gun - I do hand load with an early rcbs rock chukker single stage – all kinds of factors come into play when ya talking about 500 yard guns – the 308 and 06 bullet are and will be available for quite a while and I recommend stocking up on the loaded bullet and the reloading materials to make lots more – the 264 when it came out was kind of an odd ball just like the 6.8 now is an odd ball but it is getting a lot of attention – and I still have some of those Remington 264 bullets and the 06 bullets – I just reloaded the shot ones until I found some tack drivers at 500 yards – I aint a great shooter at 1000 yards even after 40 years of practice – but I can hit a dude walking away at 1000 yards in the upper body with the 06 the m-14 and the 264 - for close quarter battle now my choice is a 12 guage , the box magazine one that holds 8 shells or an m-16 – I would like to have the new military 12 gauge 20 rounder – but that may be a while – the reason I put a lot of emphasis on the 06 is it has been around a long long time and the garand uses it and there are so many bullets you can reload it with from 100 grain to 220 grain and the loads are in all the manuals - so I guess its back to take your pick - my long range gun is the 06 because it doesnt kick as much as the 300 or 264 - my m16 is not a long range gun and i dont use it deer hunting - i use the 06 or 264 with the appropriate round for deer and for alaska hunting the 300 is the only gun i would use - reason for that is charging grizzlies are hard to knock down - |
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I'm all for picking up a nice used Remington 700 in a pawn shop in 7mm Rem. Mag., 270 Winchester, 30-06 or 300 Win. Mag. Spend a little bit of time glass bedding it and feed it quality ammo, you'll be set. Picked up a used 700BDL in 300 Win. Mag. in a pawn shop a couple years back for $299. Glass bedded the stock (doesn't look pretty, but it works). Have a old Leupold 3-9x40 on top. With Federal Gold Medal Match shooting the 190gr SMK I've gotten to where I can put three rounds into a cloverleaf at 100-yards. Just an old meat gun.  |
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I've always been a 30-06 guy, but I recently picked up a FAL and I think I may have to add a heavy barrel .308 bolt gun to the battery... My 30-06 Winchester is no tack driver, but it's a good hunter. I would like to put something together a little more accurate. it will either be a HB .308 Remmy or Savage.... I've also been paying attention to used .300 Win mags around. I wouldn't mind picking one of those up now that I handload... I would think it would make a nice 500 yard gun... |
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I got lucky a few years back and bought a Remington 700ADL synthetic in .30-06 from Walmart for right around $300. Threw a third hand Leupold 3x9 on it and with the first few loads I wasnt too impressed then I tried some 165g NBT loads from Federal and the thing loves them. When I manage to do my part it will put five rounds into 3/4 of an inch but once it starts warming up the groups open up. |
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You need to ask yourself some questions and spend some time thinking on them. First, how many 500 yard shots do you expect to take? What ranges will you do the most shooting at? Secondly, what sorts of game will you shoot when you hunt with it? Thirdly, after you've answered those two questions is there any reason to buy a magnum caliber, a wildcat, or anything exotic? Is it anything a 30-06 or .308 can't do properly? We've got visibility out to 300+ yards in a few places on our farm. This season my two shots on deer were at 40 and 50 yards. I took both with single shots from an iron-sighted 1903A3 shooting 150gr softpoints. In both cases the exit wounds were massive. One deer staggered a few yards and fell, but the second fell where he stood without taking a single step. I'll probably be downloading some 30-06 loads for next season to reduce destructiveness. I'm certainly glad I didn't take either shot with a more powerful round. |
This round is really intriguing because it has great long range performance, and it can used in an AR platform. The problem is that the ammo is hard to come by, you would probably want to "roll your own" if you had this caliber. If you choose a caliber other than the common hunting rounds (.243, .270, .308, .30-06), and don't reload, your ammo costs will be considerably higher. I have a .308 10FP with a TPS base and rings. Hopefully next month, I will have a Super Sniper scope to go on it. The Savages are nice because they shoot well out of the box, are inexpensive, and you don't have to be a gunsmith to change the barrel. |
I've got to try one... SWEET GUN. Gives a tricked out Remy700 a good run for its money at a MUCH cheaper cost! The accutrigger is great too!
With the mildot master and some practice long shots become second nature.  Saves money for ammo too. If you are just getting into long distance shooting it is the way to go and the accutrigger teaches good finger discipline. If you really want to get crazy there are plenty of after market parts for it as well, although out of the box it is a great shooter. |
Equipment is great, It has to be up to the task, But so do you! 308 win is hard to beat, a quality heavey barrel model will do. Buy real good optics, and practice out to 500 yrds. |
| Given that you asked, I would say .308 in a good quality rifle. The ones I have will do the job but I never think it will be needed. Your SHTF thoughts would be more of staying un-engaged than making 500 yd. plus shots. Give me 500 yards and they will never know I was around to begin with. But being that my land is in the NC foothills, I can't see 500 yards. |
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You live in Colorado. Game to hunt Pronghorn Whitetail deer Mule Deer Black Bear Elk while 308 can do all of the above, it isn't the best. I would go with a 300 Winchester mag. If recoil is a concern, a close second would be a 30-06 as it will handle heavier bullets a bit better than the .308 will. Used Rem 700 with a Leupold VX2 scope in Leupold rings and bases. |
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Thanks for all the replies guys. I've decided to go with a .308 or 30-06, which ever I can get a good deal on first. Does anyone have any experience with the Winchester 70 Coyote model? Will it do what I'm looking for? Or should I stick to my plans of finding a Remington 700 or Savage 10? |