Newbie here on the forum with a question.

[vahena]

I am new to this forum, so I would like to say hello to everyone here. I am 63 yrs young and retired construction superintendent of 45 yrs in the trade.
I have taken up archery and shooting after a 30 yr. layoff due to family,job and such.
shooting of any kind has been about the discipline of body, mind and equipment and to put one arrow or bullit in the same hole everytime, not that I can do that but that is what I strive for. Anyway just alittle about me.
My question is I want to shoot long range and I have a Mauser 3000L in 7mm rem mag, it has a 26" barrel, adjustable trigger to 2 lbs and was built in 1975. The rifle is in excellent condition thru out, rifling, bluing, stock etc. Will this do what I want it to do?And get me started in the right direction for LR target shooting only.
In time with more knowledge and talking with other shooters at the range I would like to build one at some point,and also reload but until I gain this know how in long range shooting, I would like to use the Mauser 3000L 7mm rem mag.
I bought this rifle mainly because of its beauty, also It is a left hand in which I am and I thought the 7mm rem mag was a middle of the ground cartridge, as I also have a bushmaster in 223. that I enjoy.
Looking forward to the wisdom on the site to get me on the right trackand start having some fun, thanking everyone in advance.

 

[WildRose]

I am new to this forum, so I would like to say hello to everyone here. I am 63 yrs young and retired construction superintendent of 45 yrs in the trade.
I have taken up archery and shooting after a 30 yr. layoff due to family,job and such.
shooting of any kind has been about the discipline of body, mind and equipment and to put one arrow or bullit in the same hole everytime, not that I can do that but that is what I strive for. Anyway just alittle about me.
My question is I want to shoot long range and I have a Mauser 3000L in 7mm rem mag, it has a 26" barrel, adjustable trigger to 2 lbs and was built in 1975. The rifle is in excellent condition thru out, rifling, bluing, stock etc. Will this do what I want it to do?And get me started in the right direction for LR target shooting only.
In time with more knowledge and talking with other shooters at the range I would like to build one at some point,and also reload but until I gain this know how in long range shooting, I would like to use the Mauser 3000L 7mm rem mag.
I bought this rifle mainly because of its beauty, also It is a left hand in which I am and I thought the 7mm rem mag was a middle of the ground cartridge, as I also have a bushmaster in 223. that I enjoy.
Looking forward to the wisdom on the site to get me on the right trackand start having some fun, thanking everyone in advance.

Well world wide there is no action more popular than the Mauser. The one hitch in this whole thing is the age of the rifle. One of the main reasons we have so many sub MOA rifles that can be bought is because of advancements in machining technology. A lot of those truly beautiful works of firearms art just won't be capable of the same kind of accuracy that we get today out of even off the shelf firearms.

The next problem is twist rate. Most older models are going to have a slower twist rate than is necessary for the heavy for caliber modern VLD and hunting VLD type bullets so you need to stick to the mid wieght 7mm.

As for the 7mm Rem it's a great caliber to do just about anything out to 600-800yds.

I'd say buy some ammo in several different flavors sticking to 140-160gr's and see what it shoots best with. Settle on one of them and buy up a hundred or so rounds from the same lot.

Practice with this ammo and save your brass and when you run out you'll have some good once fired fireformed brass specific to your rifle to reload.

Personally before even shooting it I'd take it to a good gunsmith and have it floated and bedded. You'll have to eventually to get any precision out of it anyhow and it'll save you wasting a lot of time and money on ammo.

As with any older used firearm it would be wise to have it inspected by a good gunsmith anyhow before shooting it. The Gunsmith can also measure and tell you exactly what the twist rate of the barrel is and what weight class bullets should work the best in it.

Welcome and have fun.

 

[roninflag]

Vahena- welcome. for long range target shooting- weight, and barrel quality are important. look at a gun like a savage f-class . go to benchrest.com and 6mmbr.com . the further you depart from what they shoot in f-class the less capable your rifle will be. stock, barrel, action, tirgger, scope. 99.99% of target shooters reload their own ammo.

 

[vahena]

Thank you Wildrose for the reply,
Wow I didn't expect that, but that is why I asked the forum, I dont want to spend time and money on something that in the end will not fill the bill.
I will continue to shoot the Mauser and have fun with it,but maybe its time to purchase a new rifle to get the job done at hand.

Ok, now that we have determine the above. I dont want to dump 4500.00 on a custom rifle, but rather purchase something I can grow with and make improvement as I progress, and I would like to do most of the work on the rifle myself because that to me is half the fun. On the other hand if I could find a great buy I would consider that as an option. The biggest problem I face is that I am left handed and that makes everything a little more limited in my choices of maker and caliber.

Any suggestion will be appreciated, as my adventure begins.

 

[Dosh]

Vahena, welcome, most manufacturers have a premium on lefty rifles. For us lefties that is a consideration when budgeting for a new rifle. Also some stock makers (Boyd's) make a lefty stock for right handed actions. All other components are the same except for some scope levels that can't be reversed. Good luck

 

[roninflag]

i shoot remington action witha krieger barrel for targets. the savage f-class or lrp , lrp-v. i would think for target they would work fr lefty. send a pm in a little . ron

 

[vahena]

I want to thank everyone who has replied.
There seems to be a lot of research on my part ahead of me, as there are so many options.

I was hoping to get another 7mm, so that reloading would be cost effective but in reading above post they seem to be good for 600 to 800 yds not 1000.
so I need to do some more research and see what everyone is using out there.

I have looked around on the net and found that Savage has a 6.5 creedmore at around $900.00 in left hand that might be a good start, what do you think?

I was hoping to get a Remington in left hand but can only get 7mm or 308 cal. in which I like both but want to be competitive. I have a long way to go and will keep reading, researching and taking advice from this forum wisdom .

Please keep the advice coming and again thanks

 

[WildRose]

Thank you Wildrose for the reply,
Wow I didn't expect that, but that is why I asked the forum, I dont want to spend time and money on something that in the end will not fill the bill.
I will continue to shoot the Mauser and have fun with it,but maybe its time to purchase a new rifle to get the job done at hand.

Ok, now that we have determine the above. I dont want to dump 4500.00 on a custom rifle, but rather purchase something I can grow with and make improvement as I progress, and I would like to do most of the work on the rifle myself because that to me is half the fun. On the other hand if I could find a great buy I would consider that as an option. The biggest problem I face is that I am left handed and that makes everything a little more limited in my choices of maker and caliber.

Any suggestion will be appreciated, as my adventure begins.

My advice is take what you have now and do what I said and see how much potential there is. It may surprise you either way.

If you come to the point of deciding to start over, the first thing I'd recommend is looking at the classified section right here at LRH.

I've bought quite a few items including rifles from our other members and they've all worked out just great for me.

 

[WildRose]

I want to thank everyone who has replied.
There seems to be a lot of research on my part ahead of me, as there are so many options.

I was hoping to get another 7mm, so that reloading would be cost effective but in reading above post they seem to be good for 600 to 800 yds not 1000.
so I need to do some more research and see what everyone is using out there.

I have looked around on the net and found that Savage has a 6.5 creedmore at around $900.00 in left hand that might be a good start, what do you think?

I was hoping to get a Remington in left hand but can only get 7mm or 308 cal. in which I like both but want to be competitive. I have a long way to go and will keep reading, researching and taking advice from this forum wisdom .

Please keep the advice coming and again thanks

Before jumping off too far go do some reading here.

7mm STW - Long Range Hunting Online Magazine

We're always glad to welcome another sucker! gun)

Once you start down the road to the Evil STW it's hard to come back.... .

 

[roninflag]

i can't tell what your budget or objectives are yet. seems like you are still researching. The 7mm is good to 1000 yards for both target and hunting. my son-inlaw won the first match he shot in at 1000 yards with a factory winchester 70 laredo. the winners in Raton 1000 yard use 7mm short with a 180 berger . the bc of the 7mm is great , it really helps with the wind. for hunting you can see plenty of vid clips from "best of the west" taking game at long distance. most of those with a 7mm.

 

[vahena]

Wildrose,
I have read 16 pages of the 7mmmstw and I think I am going to use my mauser for now and have some fun and learn, also some brass.

I am going to look into a decent scope used at this point for long range. My range which is about 3/4 mile from me is only a 300 yd at its longest, about an 1 hr. away they have a 600 yd. So for now life is short, I will start having fun and learn in the process as you suggested, thanks

 

[WildRose]

Wildrose,
I have read 16 pages of the 7mmmstw and I think I am going to use my mauser for now and have some fun and learn, also some brass.

I am going to look into a decent scope used at this point for long range. My range which is about 3/4 mile from me is only a 300 yd at its longest, about an 1 hr. away they have a 600 yd. So for now life is short, I will start having fun and learn in the process as you suggested, thanks

The Mauser is a good stout action and there's boatloads of aftermarket upgrades available. Just take your time finding a smith who can true it for you or just send it to Krieger and have them true it and install you a nice barrel. You can get the whole deal done by them or several other mfg's for about 800.00 or less.

It's inconvenient for a left to shoot a right handed rifle but with a little practice you can become quite proficient with it.

While you're having fun with that one you can start saving your pennies for a nice custom or semi custom lefty at some point in the future.

You can also of course do I do and pick up the pieces and parts over time as you come across good deals and that saves you quite a bit of money in the long run.

 

[roninflag]

I would go ahead and shoot the mauser as is. My understanding is the time and money you spend having work done on it you could purchase a left handed remingotn 700 LA.

 

[vahena]

wildrose and roninflag,

I agreed with both of you, as I am going to shoot the Mauser 7mm as is and enjoy and learn, I have purchased a scope, Nikon Monarch 3, used 6-24x50mm in excellent condition, sun shade etc at a very good price and for now I think that will do just fine. The rifle came with a 2-7x32 Redfield USA old school scope, so I will put that up for sale on ebay I guess.

There is a lot to learn so I am in no rush to buy stuff and find out later that its not what I needed.

At this point I will start looking into reloading as there seems to be as much to learn as shooting long range. And I will need to save up on some brass while enjoying shooting.