Newcomer looking for advice

[Wisconsin_Boy]

Hi i recently became interested in long range hunting....im not sure what caliber or even what gun to get i would really like something with an Ar-15 base and a cailber capable of taking fox,coyote,antelope,and whitetail..so maybe 223,260or308?....i saw that DPMS offered all these....any adivice you can give helps..Thanks

 

[ROBSTER]

Welcome aboard and thanks for serving. there are a lot of great people and help here.the 308 would work.I have a FNAR that I use and when I do my partI shoot under .750 at 100 yards.
robster

 

[Wisconsin_Boy]

Thank you for the advice...do you have the 16"or20" barrell..what do you have on it for a optics?

 

[SBruce]

Carl Emmite at Accuracy Systems Inc. makes some highly accurate AR's. Some of them he gaurantees to shoot 1/2 MOA three shot groops with select factory ammo. In my .223, that ammo was Federal Premium 69 grn BTHP match. The test target that was sent with my rifle had three bullets in one hole at 100 yds. I haven't yet had the chance to shoot any of that ammo in the gun though.

I did have a couple pretty good groups with Black Hill 60 grn. V-Max. Some groups were 5 shots under 1/2", others had one or two flyers that opened the groups to 3/4 inch.

I am assuming that he could build a similar rifle in 308 with the same accuracy gaurantee.

 

[FEENIX]

Welcome to LRH and enjoy! Thank you also for your service to our country.

First of, you must define what you consider long range? There are guys here that shoots gophers at 1000 yards ...

YouTube - 1000 gopher.wmv

... and others well pass a mile ... others even do it with open sights.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/long-range-sure-59344/


I am no where near most LR hunters and shooters here but I am working hard at it and am willing to put in the time and effort. It doesn't happen over night, so practice, practice, practice.

Of your choices, since you mention hunting WT, IMHO I'd stick to .308 and .260. I am leaning towards the .308 for it's versatility and choices of bullets.

Good luck!

Ed

 

[Wisconsin_Boy]

Thank you for the post..well long range for me is prolly less than 600...

 

[SBruce]

Thank you for the post..well long range for me is prolly less than 600...

That's probably a good realistic goal for starting.

1st thing is get a good accurate rifle. Usually, a standard rifle that only shoots 1.5 inch groups at 100 yds is going to shoot at least 10 to 12 inch groups at 600 yds (by time you figure wind drift variances and other things) The vital zone on a deer or antelope really isn't alot bigger than that. Also, you need to figure in on some variables; like field shooting positions aren't usually going to give you the same consistency in shot placement as you would get from a bench or bipod.
You may not get consistent readings from your rangefinder(hint.......get one), the wind may be blowing really hard one shot, and hardly blowing the next, variable, variables, variables.....
In other words, the more accurate the rifle; the smaller your groups will be at 600 yds..........at least before the variables come into play. A gun that shoots 1/2" groups at 100 gives you alot more room for error at 600.

Good optics (not grandpa's 4X or 6X weaver) are also very important in my opinion. We can only shoot as good as we can see. Yes, I know some people shoot very good with iron sights, but it takes alot of practice. I think scopes in the 10 to 16 power range are great for shooting out to 600. Parallax adjustment is also quite important in my opinion.

Accurate Rifle and Ammo, Quality Optics, Range Finder...........that should get you started. After that, it's practice and learn, practice and learn, practice and learn.

Good luck and Thank You.

 

[ROBSTER]

I have a 20 inch heavy barrel and i`m currently using a tasco varmint scope.
robster

 

[Wisconsin_Boy]

That's probably a good realistic goal for starting.

1st thing is get a good accurate rifle. Usually, a standard rifle that only shoots 1.5 inch groups at 100 yds is going to shoot at least 10 to 12 inch groups at 600 yds (by time you figure wind drift variances and other things) The vital zone on a deer or antelope really isn't alot bigger than that. Also, you need to figure in on some variables; like field shooting positions aren't usually going to give you the same consistency in shot placement as you would get from a bench or bipod.
You may not get consistent readings from your rangefinder(hint.......get one), the wind may be blowing really hard one shot, and hardly blowing the next, variable, variables, variables.....
In other words, the more accurate the rifle; the smaller your groups will be at 600 yds..........at least before the variables come into play. A gun that shoots 1/2" groups at 100 gives you alot more room for error at 600.

Good optics (not grandpa's 4X or 6X weaver) are also very important in my opinion. We can only shoot as good as we can see. Yes, I know some people shoot very good with iron sights, but it takes alot of practice. I think scopes in the 10 to 16 power range are great for shooting out to 600. Parallax adjustment is also quite important in my opinion.

Accurate Rifle and Ammo, Quality Optics, Range Finder...........that should get you started. After that, it's practice and learn, practice and learn, practice and learn.

Good luck and Thank You.

Thank you for the info...

 

[Chas1]

+1 on the 308. More than enough for the game you mentioned at 600 and then some. Wide variety of ammo and choice of rifles, very economical too. Thank you for your service, I appreciate it. Take care.