Long Range Rifle Shooting on a budget ...

[NEMTHunter]

I think of the saying "You can sometimes pay a high price and get poor quality but you can almost never pay a low price and get high quality." The scope is the one variable that the shooter has little control over. Everything else, with the exception of the quality of the barrel can be tweaked and tuned. I think, in my experience, top notch optics and accurate repeatable tracking do come at a price.

I know what you are trying to say. Some guys will say 500 is a lot for a scope others claim that's not enough to get a scope that will let you see the intended target good enough (in this case this is a Hunting form and this needs to be kept in mind) and have repeatable tracking. There are quite a few scopes that offer all a LR hunter needs to take game at Long Range. Then there are guys that just have the mindset that if it cost a lot it must be good and will make me into a LR hunter or shooter. IMHO these types are handicapped before they even start. So they by expensive and cant figure out why they cant hit. I spent the money I should be good to go. IMHO WE the shooter are the biggest wildcard in the mix.

Just figure anything over 500 yards (to some this is LONG RANGE LOL)with a max of 1200 yards (just to get a range started and how many LR hunters take game over 1200) is Long range hunting. We are not talking ELR hunting. But then again ELR is they say dependent on the gun. There are so many variables in this sport that we can not stamp it with a cookie cutter and say this is how it is. We need to remember for one guy LR hunting is 500 yards and to another its 1200 yards. And for both cases BIG bucks does not need to be spent to do the job and do it well.


As a side not and something to think about. A guy can spend less then 1000 bucks on a NEW Gun, scope, sling, bipod and the ammo to start shooting and have a gun that can with repeatably make 1200 yard shots on target and game with no problems. The biggest factor here would be the shooter.

 

[NEMTHunter]

On thing that was not included in the price was a good rangefinder a pair of binoculars or the ballistic software with the ability to read wind. All this is needed to do LR hunting right. Binos maybe not so much but I find them very helpful. Even though my scope does better @ LR then they could ever do.

 

[Timnterra]

There is something fun about putting together a budget rig and beating the guys who spend thousands on theirs thinking that the more they spend the better they will shoot. Don't get me wrong I have spent a small fortune on high end custom rifles and great optics. But the gun in my safe I'm most excited to shoot, when the weather clears up, is the cheap savage 6.5 creedmoor that I've thrown together of used parts from various classified sites. It has a used bell and Carlson stock, factory accu-trigger, factory take-off barrel, blemished PTG bottom metal, Warne eBay 20moa base, used TPS rings and a used SWFA 10-42 and a used Harris bipod. I've spent a total of $940 on it with a Magpul aics mag and box of Hornady ammo. I'm sure I'll have no problem shooting out to a 1000 and beyond. Two years ago I bought one of the Cabelas special savage 12fv for $240 and put a bushnell 10-42 on it and was hitting 8" steel at 850 yds with the 7rd out of the barrel for a total investment of $450 ammo included. I took a new shooter out gave him some instruction and amazed him with what you could do for so little money. He was so excited that I just gave him the set up, and passed along the shooting infection to another family. Now his wife hunts and his kids will too. That would not have been possible if I'd taken him out to shoot some $8,000 custom rig. He would have gone home defeated thinking he could never do what I had done.

 

[Nickie.01]

Consider picking a calibre without too much recoil, a large availability of factory loadings, and bulk ammunition at reasonable cost. There is no substitute for practice and if the ammunition or components are expensive the cost of the rifle itself is less important. I am a firm believer in good glass, but buy used if possible.
If you can join a club with good members may be the single best tip. I used to be allowed to try different members guns, then someone gave me a heck of a good deal because they were switching calibre. There were lots of members that could shoot my rifle better than I could, but they helped and coached me. Now I'm one of the guys that will let you shoot any of my guns (with a little supervision for safety). I reload and let new members use the equipment (closely supervised) so they can match a load to their rifle, and keep costs in check. I enjoy the company and get out more too. It makes me practice more and better, and I enjoy see our new members and juniors enjoying themselves while continuing our sport so I have a club to belong to.

 

[Lasiter]

It's not the rigs that are expensive.
Bullets, brass, powder, and even primers. I went through 2200 primers last year. Ack!
That's why I don't think about it lest I'm moved to get this addiction under control lol

The secret (?) to this is price shop, buy in bulk, then never think about the cost as you enjoy your supply. I learned this in three weeks of Gunsite shotgun classes, buying 12GA Federal buck & slugs, 1000 at a time.

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

Sorry but winning costs! Does Andy Dalton make as much as Tom Brady?
Can a weekend racer beat the Pettys or the Wood Bros.?
At some point skill needs a budget equal to it! When I competed at Sporting Clays
I didn't feel like I was progressing like I wanted so I hired a coach. I went from just competing to cashing checks? Every little thing adds up! And it all costs money!

Here we are talking about getting setup for Long Range Shooting on a budget ,. Not about competing against shooters with custom built expensive setups.

 

[ducky]

I'll post later.

 

[cactus02]

Check out used benchrest rifles in the forums Accurate shooter.com and shooters corner.com What a benchrest shooter considers shot out will be way more accurate than a beginning shooter, and some can be had at very reasonable prices.

 

[KyCarl]

Sorry I'm a type A? If they keep score I want to win I can't help it.
Head over Heels in anything I get into Some OCD but it helps reloading!

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

One is definitely not correct. Some very good advice I was given many years ago was "Be willing to spend at least as much on your glass as you are on your rifle".



Cheap glass on the best of rifles still won't produce good results and you end up buying sometimes three or four cheep scopes for the same rifle before biting the bullet and buying decent glass. That's a whole lot of money to throw away before getting where you need to be in the first place.

I'd say that advice still holds true today even up to the 2,000-3000.00 price range.

When buying on a budget the first thing to consider is how much you can afford to pay for the most important part of your setup and that is the Rifle, when I first started out the Rifle I purchased came with a Scope so I was able to get started right away on my 100yd accuracy, breaking in the Rifle and the feel of my Rifle.
But of course if you have the money your going to take a totally different approach.

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

True, but I was just pointing out the hypocrisy of a lot of these bloggers that are trying to push a "more expensive is always better" narrative.

I have a great Long Range Rifle setup now and I still have not paid anywhere near as much as even one of those scopes would cost and yet I'm very content with the type of Long Range Shooting that I am able to achieve.
But I also can admire the quality and workmanship put into a high value Rifle/Scope that I see when I go to a Gun Show.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Nikons don't get a lot of love for some reason - their monarch line is awesome. Better glass than anything else in their class. They have the no fault VIP warranty like vortex. They take a beating and hold zero better than most and track really well. I put the 4-16x42 on my son's creed and the 6-24x50 on his 223. Picked them up used for $250 and $300. Both have the BDC reticles - they are tough to beat when looking for something with a 1" tube.

Nikon gets no love lately because we found out that a couple years ago they started monetarily supporting anti-gun groups.

 

[jarnold37]

Not everyone out there has thousands of dollars to spend on getting themselves a good Long Range Shooting Rifle Setup.
Here are some suggestions :
1. Have an idea of how much you can afford to spend on your initial setup ... Rifle, Scope , Ammunition, a rest, bags or bi-pod to start with, you can always add to it as you go.
Don't spend more for your scope than you will for your Rifle . You can always upgrade your scope later.
2. Choose a Range that you can reasonably achieve at first then move out as you get better.
3. Choose a Caliber that will suit your needs.
4. Compare prices, warranties and available accessories from the different Rifle Companies.
5. When choosing a Rifle compare the features that you get for the price your paying.
6. When you're looking at Rifles stay in your price range, . some of the more affordable Rifles out there are made by very reputable Firearms Companies that have been around for a while ... Remington, .Ruger and Savage to name a few.
7. Long Range Shooting should be challenging and fun. Don't try to base your experience on what someone else says they can do ... enjoy reaching your own goals.

In my case as I look back in time I see two things that no one has mentioned. 1.Enthusiasm 2. Experience. If enthusiasm is low and just wanting a rifle to shoot but don't "get carried away" then common sense will dictate the amount one might spend on long range hunting. This person usually sees no need for a $2k scope. Even with high enthusiasm most will start with reasonably priced equipment for many reasons. With myself the affordable aspect had little bearing, as I just saved longer for quality components. But this didn't really kick in until Experience was mixed with Enthusiasm. Now I wish I would not have purchased some of the "bargains" and just put that money to start with for top quality equipment. I found that used cheap equipment is very hard to sell. At most long range matches you will notice the best of equipment because of 1.Enthusiasm 2. Experience

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

Over the years my collection of Firearms has become quite a variety and many of them are the results of upgrading as I was able to. For instance I have a 30-06 that has one of my early Scopes on it and it's perfect just the way it is. Ive never had a problem utilizing equipment that I started out with and in one instance I was able to help a friend to get started using one of my earlier Rifle setups with no lack of Enthusiasm followed with countless hours of Experience.