Thread: Calibre, Rifle & Scope Sugestions For Longer Range Hunting

I assume your a new shooter with little experience in the field. If this is correct then please remember that shooting game at long range is not as easy as point and shoot. Once you get out past say 300m there are a whole lot of factors, such as windage, improvised rests, altitude, etc which start to make things a little complicated. Regardless of the rifle/caliber you choose there will be a learning curve which is best done on static targets and not game animals. With that in mind reloading for your chosen caliber would be a good choice with the cost of factory ammo up around $5 a shot. That rifle of Danny's is in my opinion a specialist long range rifle. It would be a good choice for what you are describing as your use. If you went down that path then the help and advice that he is offering you would be worth gold to a new shooter. One other thing I'll chuck in here. Recoil, everyone has there own tolerance, or lack of it when it comes to recoil. A well placed shot with say a 270 or 6.5 creedmoor is going to be far more effective than a badly placed shot from say a 300 win mag because the recoil is too much for you. If you have not had much experience with this then you unfortunately won't know until you try it, But if in doubt go for a slightly lighter caliber which will still do the job. The 270 Winchester for example would be a fantastic choice. As far as rifle choice goes, if you are buying off the shelf it would have to be a Tikka, their hard to beat for value, reliability and off the shelf accuracy. For a scope expect to pay around the 2/2.5 grand for something like a Leupold VX5, Swarovski Z5. The scope is just as important as the rifle for long range shooting.