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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Holy Grail of long range rigs? What custom gun/caliber to get
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<blockquote data-quote="KYpatriot" data-source="post: 1144336" data-attributes="member: 48028"><p>OP, I dont get the barrel life obsession. You are apparently willng to spend several thousand dollars on a custom rig, and likely well over a thousand or even two thousand for a scope that such a rifle's precision will deserve, and also demand that it deliver the long range ballistic performance for thousand yard accuracy and terminal performance that clean ethical kills demand. </p><p></p><p>Those performance requirements demand cartridges that are considered "barrel burners." And so what? A new custom barrel is $300-350, and maybe three hundred to chamber. You will invest somewhere between three and five times that amount in ammo alone burning up said barrel, not to mention your inital investment in rifle, scope, reloading gear, laser range finder, etc etc. </p><p></p><p>There are no free lunches in this game. The more barrel life you have the less performance you have. What you need to do is select the minimum performance level you desire, and you will fnd your decisions get made for you. </p><p></p><p>If you are long range hunting, then you need to be realistic about your wind calling skills and select a maximum range you consider ethical for a shot. Then determine the minimum energy you need at that range. if we are still talking thousand yard stuff at this point you will be looking at cartridges with a likely maximum of 1500 rounds or so or less , maybe much less, depending on how stringent your requirements are. Yes there are stories of an accurate 300 winmag with 3500 rounds on it, but there is also a guy at every range with a factory savage that shoots quarter inch groups all day long. Lets get real, If barrel life is really important to you, then what you are saying is economy is more important than the realistic minimum performance level you need from the tool you are buying to meet the demand of long range hunting and shooting. Only you can determine how much performance you need, and therfore how little barrel life you can stand. </p><p></p><p>I consider barrels like oil filters and windshield wipers...they are disposable maintenance items. So when it comes to rifles, I set a performance level I desire, and the barrel life is what it is, that choice is made for me. Have two barrels chambered up at once if you want little to no down time, but choosing a round based on barrel life for long range is like choosing a prius as a tow vehicle for your horse trailer cause it gets good mileage. It dont compute.</p><p></p><p>I think its awesome you are going to shoot a lot, so id also suggest you get a cheaper, less capable training rifle to learn the wind and hone skills. You dont need great ballistic performance for thst, and in fact the worse it performs the more you will see your wind errors on target. A factory 308 with federal gold medal match ammo makes a great ballistic trainer that will go thousands of rounds with ease. Thst way you save your performance rifle some...but you will still need to shoot it plenty as well.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KYpatriot, post: 1144336, member: 48028"] OP, I dont get the barrel life obsession. You are apparently willng to spend several thousand dollars on a custom rig, and likely well over a thousand or even two thousand for a scope that such a rifle's precision will deserve, and also demand that it deliver the long range ballistic performance for thousand yard accuracy and terminal performance that clean ethical kills demand. Those performance requirements demand cartridges that are considered "barrel burners." And so what? A new custom barrel is $300-350, and maybe three hundred to chamber. You will invest somewhere between three and five times that amount in ammo alone burning up said barrel, not to mention your inital investment in rifle, scope, reloading gear, laser range finder, etc etc. There are no free lunches in this game. The more barrel life you have the less performance you have. What you need to do is select the minimum performance level you desire, and you will fnd your decisions get made for you. If you are long range hunting, then you need to be realistic about your wind calling skills and select a maximum range you consider ethical for a shot. Then determine the minimum energy you need at that range. if we are still talking thousand yard stuff at this point you will be looking at cartridges with a likely maximum of 1500 rounds or so or less , maybe much less, depending on how stringent your requirements are. Yes there are stories of an accurate 300 winmag with 3500 rounds on it, but there is also a guy at every range with a factory savage that shoots quarter inch groups all day long. Lets get real, If barrel life is really important to you, then what you are saying is economy is more important than the realistic minimum performance level you need from the tool you are buying to meet the demand of long range hunting and shooting. Only you can determine how much performance you need, and therfore how little barrel life you can stand. I consider barrels like oil filters and windshield wipers...they are disposable maintenance items. So when it comes to rifles, I set a performance level I desire, and the barrel life is what it is, that choice is made for me. Have two barrels chambered up at once if you want little to no down time, but choosing a round based on barrel life for long range is like choosing a prius as a tow vehicle for your horse trailer cause it gets good mileage. It dont compute. I think its awesome you are going to shoot a lot, so id also suggest you get a cheaper, less capable training rifle to learn the wind and hone skills. You dont need great ballistic performance for thst, and in fact the worse it performs the more you will see your wind errors on target. A factory 308 with federal gold medal match ammo makes a great ballistic trainer that will go thousands of rounds with ease. Thst way you save your performance rifle some...but you will still need to shoot it plenty as well. [/QUOTE]
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Holy Grail of long range rigs? What custom gun/caliber to get
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