Thread: long range newbie starting out. gear wanted

hi guys after some advice or experience had on cheaper gear for long range shooting. have just picked up a 300 win mag went this way because I want to tip over deer and goats out to 800 but also have a crack at shooting steel to 1000. so what im after is a scope what sort of power and can it be done on a budget say $1000 and what do I look for in a range finder one I can use with my 308 too would be good. will use factory ammo to break the rifle in then will reload so if there are favorite loads to give ago im all ears.

Brace yourself.
Shooting moving (they most likely will move in the time it takes the pill to get there) targets out to those ranges is gonna be pretty mean on the deer/goats etc
I totally understand the long range interest, gong shooting is awesome fun.
There are plenty of gong shooters here and a few decent long range fellahs too.

Give the animals a fair go and kill some steel mate!

WHEN and ONLY when you have mastered the rifle and are acchieving groups of half inch CONSISTANTLY then start to think about shooting past 500 yards...
honest inch will get you out that far IN IDEAL CONDITIONS WITH ALL DUCKS IN ROW .......anything less and you may as well start pissing in the wind.
get the basics sorted .you need to walk before you run.

steel and targets is where I am going to start but animals is where I want to end up, I know its a progression art of shooting but its also experience so its get out there and do it and spend time putting pills down range

Hi country cuts. Welcome to the long range sickness. Unfortunately long range and cheap will never be seen in the same sentence. You will need to aim for a scope more in the $1500-$2000 range like the Vortex Viper PST or Athlon with exposed turrets with a 6-24 power range. Range finders that will work to 1000m will run up to $1000 be very careful of claimed range abilities. It will take some time to get your gear together resist the urge to get gear that will get you to the range but will disappoint in performance.

When you can shot MOA HUNREDS of times out to 400yds then pick on animals out to 400yds.
Standard hunters budget will get you to 300yds.10 times the budget to shoot ACCURATLY to 800yds.

Originally Posted by country cuts

hi guys after some advice or experience had on cheaper gear for long range shooting. have just picked up a 300 win mag went this way because I want to tip over deer and goats out to 800 but also have a crack at shooting steel to 1000. so what im after is a scope what sort of power and can it be done on a budget say $1000 and what do I look for in a range finder one I can use with my 308 too would be good. will use factory ammo to break the rifle in then will reload so if there are favorite loads to give ago im all ears.

Hi mate.

Similarly, this is why I bought a 300wm. I am probably getting on top of it nearly a year in. If I were to make a comparison, long range shooting is akin to archery. You need to have a solid understanding of all your variables, including yourself.

I could pretty much shoot it to 650m out of the box and that is really still my limit on a goat in the wild due to variables I'm not good at judging.

I have several steel plates which I hope to get back into in spring. 1000m on steel is quite straight forward really. Three for three on my first attempt. Have yet to go beyond that.

In terms of my set up, it's a B14 hunter, suppressed, Harris bipod, viper PST gen 2 FFP mil. Matched rings, rail. Stabilised and bedded myself. Handloads are 208eldms which, depending on my shooting on the day, I can group between 0.3 and 0.6 moa. It's a hunting rifle first and foremost, not a long range rig.

My advice would be to get consistent at the mid ranges for a good time before moving out further. This will let you bed in your equipment and yourself.

The PST gen 2 has kept me happy this far as an economical longer range scope.

Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Feral

Hi mate.

Similarly, this is why I bought a 300wm. I am probably getting on top of it nearly a year in. If I were to make a comparison, long range shooting is akin to archery. You need to have a solid understanding of all your variables, including yourself.

I could pretty much shoot it to 650m out of the box and that is really still my limit on a goat in the wild due to variables I'm not good at judging.

I have several steel plates which I hope to get back into in spring. 1000m on steel is quite straight forward really. Three for three on my first attempt. Have yet to go beyond that.

In terms of my set up, it's a B14 hunter, suppressed, Harris bipod, viper PST gen 2 FFP mil. Matched rings, rail. Stabilised and bedded myself. Handloads are 208eldms which, depending on my shooting on the day, I can group between 0.3 and 0.6 moa. It's a hunting rifle first and foremost, not a long range rig.

My advice would be to get consistent at the mid ranges for a good time before moving out further. This will let you bed in your equipment and yourself.

The PST gen 2 has kept me happy this far as an economical longer range scope.

Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk

thanks mate this the stuff im after my rig will be mainly hunting to. seems most of the advice is animal shooting with this kind of rig will be safe/good to 600m

Originally Posted by country cuts

thanks mate this the stuff im after my rig will be mainly hunting to. seems most of the advice is animal shooting with this kind of rig will be safe/good to 600m

"safe/good" depends on how ambivalent you are about causing misery to animals you shoot at.

Originally Posted by country cuts

thanks mate this the stuff im after my rig will be mainly hunting to. seems most of the advice is animal shooting with this kind of rig will be safe/good to 600m

Yes, if it is well set up, you know your ballistics, and you have trained yourself up to be a disciplined decision-maker and a very competent shooter.

Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by 257weatherby

"safe/good" depends on how ambivalent you are about causing misery to animals you shoot at.

shoot to kill is my motto and if your not confident or happy you dont take the shot.

Originally Posted by mimms2

I'll add to the chorus of dissent. You don't sound ready to even try and murder (or more likely horrifically wound) animals at 800.

And how are you going to recover them afterwards??

Learn a bit of stalk-in skills and do it properly. Save the wannabe-sniper for paper and plates.

When you can pop bunnies at 300 every time, then come back to this idea. Until then you have much learning ahead of you.

Good luck finding factory ammo that accurate, and all.

Come back and post when you've fired 1000 rounds and tell us what you've learned.

seems everyone has focused on the one part of this thread the long range killing. ive got the picture 800 is pushing it and im not running out there today to do it, i also know alot of range time has to go in and dope chart etc created what i want to know is what is some resonable priced gear to get there as for the factory loads the gun is new so was going to use them to break in the barrel properly ie 1 shot and clean for 10 2 shots and clean for next 10. im a new long range shooting not new shooter to start with. with my 308 set up i am confidently puting down deer out to 200 and head shooting cattle for work at 100 my 2-7 scope limits me a bit to go further confidently and inside 25m i use a 22wmr. What i am wanting from the thread is people who have done the same thing and what gear did or did not work for them or loads they have found good i have reloading gear and do so with my 308, will quite happily shoot 1000 rounds and report back, but what i am asking is what would you use ie scope and loads etc to get the 1000 rounds started thanks

totally understand your interest and passion for long range, but as others have stated above spend plenty of time on paper or steel to establish your & your equipment limitations and capabilities first.
Then also understand that this may not always translate in the hunting situation due to other variables that come into play.
In terms of equipment - range finders the Bushnell fusion binos ARC 1 mile are very good value for money and very good long range capability. Come up second hand for under $1k. I hear good things about some of the Sig Sauer RF's and not too spendie. Scope 2nd hand best given a budget of $1k - Sightron, Leupy VX6, Zeiss Z4 or HD5, maybe a Vortex but optical quality is a bit hit & miss.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Also. You already had a .308.
That'll do steel at 1k. Have you learned, or better, mastered that yet?

the 308 is a bush pig with a 16 inch barrel and 2-7 scope and is ideal for the short to medium 200 or less hence going to the bigger caliber and set up so that once i have the time and confidence under my belt the rig and i are good to go

Originally Posted by chainsaw

totally understand your interest and passion for long range, but as others have stated above spend plenty of time on paper or steel to establish your & your equipment limitations and capabilities first.
Then also understand that this may not always translate in the hunting situation due to other variables that come into play.
In terms of equipment - range finders the Bushnell fusion binos ARC 1 mile are very good value for money and very good long range capability. Come up second hand for under $1k. I hear good things about some of the Sig Sauer RF's and not too spendie. Scope 2nd hand best given a budget of $1k - Sightron, Leupy VX6, Zeiss Z4 or HD5, maybe a Vortex but optical quality is a bit hit & miss.

thanks will keep my eye out for the above