I am new to long range shooting and I am looking for a rifle to handle 500 - 1000 yard shots. I am interested in the Remington 700 CDL 7mm ultra mag, but open to suggestions for the best caliber and rifle. I know that this will need some work to achieve the accuracy that I am looking for. I am looking to know what parts may need to be upgraded;ie. barrel, trigger, etc. as well as what scope and mounts to use. If there are any gunsmithing issues that need to be addressed, please let me know. I have heard of so many things (bedding the stock/barrel?, muzzle brakes, etc.) and don't know what I will need. How long should I expect a rifle to last and what may wear out? Any help for a rookie would be greatly appreciated.
thats a lot of questions, and a lot of them you'll have to decide from just researching this site.
first things first...get the trigger done, and put a good scope on it, and see how it shoots. Then go from there if you need more work done to achieve your level of expected accuracy...ie...new barrel, trued action and so on.
SO get your gun, get a trigger job and some good glass, and start working up your loads.
there is a TON of info on this site, so use the search button and start studying, alot of your questions will get answered as you do that....have fun..
I was in the same boat last year, interested in long range shooting and hunting. I saved up the extra money and bought a slightly used custom remington from the classified section. I didn't want to take any chances on a factory barrel or chamber. After working up some loads, I knew I made the right decision.
dkweeks,
Welcome to the forum. I'm with lovdasnow on this, plus a muzzel brake.
That Ultramag in a CDL is going to pound your shoulder.
When you are comfortable and confident shooting your Ultramag, step up for a re-barrel, action job, stock etc but get a muzzel brake straight away.
Just about everyone here know's I'm a fan of the more conventional rounds for new shooters, just to make it cheaper for a new shooter to get as much trigger time as possible. For your uses a 308 would be more than adequate for 1000 yards, cheap to shoot, easy to maintain, and the barrel will last virtually forever. Most of my rifles use the wal-mart rule, if I'm on a hunting trip and run out of ammo I can go to walmart and find it there. A great starter gun would be a Rem 700 pss, it can be customized at will later if you want to. Luvdasnow and myself are cut from the same cloth, so his advice carries great weight with me as well.
There is an unbelievable amount of knowledge stored in these pages, you'd be well served to look at as much as you can before asking some questions. Being more specific in your questions will help us better answer them to the best of our ability. For instance, not knowing what you want to shoot at 600- 1000 yards made me guess that you want to punch paper to learn to shoot. If you wanted to take a bull moose at 1000 I would direct you to Kirby Allen Aka Fiftydriver for his input on the 338 monster he's building.
I have learned a great deal in my year here, I can only hope you are as well served with info as I was. Welcome to the board and good luck in your new addiction!
__________________
<font color="red">Beware the fury of a patient man....</font>
Thanks for the help. So far, I have been reading alot of the pages about different rifles and I believe the 700 is a good choice, but I don't see alot about the 7mm ultra mag as far as a highly recommended caliber. I don't know if this is true. I call myself looking at ballistics charts and that is why I am thinking about the 7rum. Is there a reason that people stay away from this caliber? Or am I just not finding the right thread?
I am interested in shooting paper, but the deer that I shoot taste alot better.
I'm with Meister on this one. The 308 will give you plenty of trigger time and there is plenty of factory (match) ammo around if you wnt to compare it to your handloads.
I know its hard to the think of the .308 as a longrange cartridge when so many hunters are using it to shoot whitetails at 150yds but it is an amazing little cartridge. If you just can't bring yourself to use the .308 then I'd suggest a 300WM. It is a proven performer that will last much longer than a 7RUM. There is also nearly an unlimited choice of bullets available for the .308 bore cartridges.
Linear Mode
