Thread: Cheap long range rifle

Hey guys
Just wanted to share the wee project I "made" about a year ago. I think alot of younger guys(like me) might find this helpful. I dont have much money and wanted to make cheap rig that I could shoot out to 700-800yards(maximun to a 1000) to shoot paper and feral goats. My plan was to do this under $1000 including gun,scope and dies.

First I decided on the caliber. I chose the good ol .308 win. The reason I chose this is because its cheap,easy to load for,popular,heaps of data around and its proven over years of use to be effictive. Also the .308 has low recoil(in a heavy gun and barrel life is good.
I know that there are hundreds of other calibers that have better balistic performance but I just decided to stick the old basics and learn to shoot before spending up big on gear that I dont really need and with cash that i dont have.

Next the rifle. I decided wieght was not really a issue as I allready have a walk about gun. I was not too worried about having a magizine as I would just be using it for longer range work and will have time to load a single shot no worries(hopefully) My main issue was price.
After abit of thought I settled on an Omark .308 fullbore rifle.
These are also branded as a Sportco44. These are a single shot bolt action made in Australia. These have been used for Fullbore shooting for years and are still used today. very few originals are around as most have had new barrels and stock work done.
After searching tradeMe I found a old Omark with the open sights taken off and drilled for mounts,a 28" barrel and nice wooden stock with a big cheek piece. best part it was $400!! with 200 155gnFMJ to practice with!
Hit the buy now and had it in no time.

My Next big issue was the Scope. This was the hardest part. To get a budget long range scope that is reliable is a big ask. I wanted something in the 5-24 range with a reticle I could use for wind doping.
After alot of hmmmming and harring I settled on a Nikko Stirling 6-24X56 Targetmaster with Extended MilDot. This was a hard choice as these arnt the most reliable or liked scopes out there.
But it cost me $400 so it was the only thing in my budget really that I could find.
I knew I could allways upgrade when I got some extra Cash.

So keeping with my $1000 budget I still had $200 up my sleeve for dies,cases and projectiles. I quicky got some Hornady .308 dies for $90 and then 100 Lapua cases for $125. The Lapua brass is pretty much the same price as anything else here so why not get it.

So my total budget so far was $1015. I was pretty pleased with rig so far(scope wasnt that great) the rig weighd in at about 5kg with scope and my harris bipod fitted(allready had the bipod).


Now onto the fun Part,some shooting and load work.

So I got loading with the 155gn FMJ I got with the gun. these were easy to load and my first sighting in groups were all inside 1/2MOA. Not bad for a $400 30year old rifle.
After abit of work at 100yards I decided I needed a re usuable target so I found some old 10mm plate steel lying around and cut out a 10" square. Attached some legs and it was ready to test. Below is a pic of the master piece.(note the holes punched by the FMJ at 300yards. the .308 still has abit of sting,its 10mm steel!)


After some shooting at 300 and 600yrds I decided I need a new projectile as the wind was playing havic past 300yards.

After some research I settled on the 168gn A-Max. With a BC of .475 it was no record breaker but was miles ahead of the 155gn FMJs. And with the 28" barrel on the Omark I could still keep the velocity up.

Abit of load work and I Now have the 168gn A-Maxes running at 2850fps and they shoot well inside 10mm@100yards(thats under 0.4") not bad I didnt think.
So off to the farm air strip to test at 600yards. I took both the 155gn FMJs and the 168gn A-Maxes to test them both at the same time. I fired 12 rounds of the FMJs using my MilDot as Hold over and only had about 50% sucess as there was a slight breeze blowing back and forth and was hard to read.
I found with the A-Maxes my success went upto 80% plus if I did my bit.
Heres a Vid of testing the Amaxes after the FMJs.
Long range shooting 600yrds - YouTube

I know a few other guys have done a similar thing. pretty pleased with how it worked out. Just have to up grade the scope to a sightron or vortex(any other suggestions?) when I have the cash.
Longest kill to date is 720 yards on a nanny goat. Pretty good fun.

Thanks guys

Good on ya JP. I competed with an an old Omark in the UK and here in Oz. They have a solid action and shoot well, no doubt about it. We used Mil issue 144gr FN rounds that shot well to 600 but were a bit of a lottery beyond that.
Enjoyed the read and vid. The farm isnt in Franz tho eh?.

I'm one of the guys competing in Fullbore using an Omark

Good choice, the action is likely to outlast you and your children !

What powder are you using ?

If your barrel is original, the twist is 1:14, so if anything lighter projectiles will go better at the long ranges. I use Lapua Scenar 155gr, and the HBC 155gr is almost exactly the same BC, slightly different shape. These are target pills, not really the best things for hunting... I'm hitting transsonic zone at around 900 - 1000 yds, going to try 2206H to see if that helps (tx to DAF for running Quickload simulations).

The NS Targetmaster scopes are good value for money. Several of the club rifles of the Petone Rifle Club have those.

Keep your eye out for a Nielsen or similar adapter. It replaces the locking lug part of the barrel, and allows you to screw in a Remington style barrel - lot cheaper and easier than getting someone to machine the inside of a new barrel. It is getting harder and harder to finnd Omark barrels in good condition.

Originally Posted by R93

Good on ya JP. I competed with an an old Omark in the UK and here in Oz. They have a solid action and shoot well, no doubt about it. We used Mil issue 144gr FN rounds that shot well to 600 but were a bit of a lottery beyond that.
Enjoyed the read and vid. The farm isnt in Franz tho eh?.

nar farm is in Marborough. Im originally from south Marlborough only been down the coast fro about 7 months

What do you do in Franz JP? Pilot or Glacier guide?

Originally Posted by R93

What do you do in Franz JP? Pilot or Glacier guide?

Glacier guide at Fox Glacier,but live in Franz.

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...0&src=exrbSrch
These seem good value for money.

Originally Posted by Wildman

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...0&src=exrbSrch
These seem good value for money.

yea it does. have you bought stuff of that site before? its in the US Im assuming?

Originally Posted by JP100

yea it does. have you bought stuff of that site before? its in the US Im assuming?

Yeah defiantly. I have a 3-15x50 Super Slam from them. Good service etc. in my experience.

Originally Posted by Wildman

Yeah defiantly. I have a 3-15x50 Super Slam from them. Good service etc. in my experience.

awesome! do they ship straight to NZ? Costly?

I suspect you beat me to that Omark by about 10 minutes. Great write up. Something I've been thinking about doing but hesitated as the back yard isn't quite long enough.

About $60USD for a scope in my experience. About the same as everywhere else. You may or may not get stung with GST at the border...

Originally Posted by Wildman

About $60USD for a scope in my experience. About the same as everywhere else. You may or may not get stung with GST at the border...

sounds good. yea whats the deal with that? is there any 'rule' they use? or just who happens to be at customs that day?

If the amount of GST on an item is more than $50NZD (based on the value of the item in NZD) they are meant to hold it until you pay the amount due. Sometimes they miss it and you get through but I wouldn't bank on it.

Originally Posted by Wildman

If the amount of GST on an item is more than $50NZD (based on the value of the item in NZD) they are meant to hold it until you pay the amount due. Sometimes they miss it and you get through but I wouldn't bank on it.

ok thanks. I got a vortex scope from the states but got its shipped to a mates US adress then to here. that way they never know haha