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My friend wants to get into long range shooting. Want suggestions.

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I dont know anything about long range shooting. My friend is a new shooter who wants to buy a rifle and get into long range precision. I talked to him about costs and how difficult it is and he wants to get started.

 

He is eyeing a ruger precision rifle in 6.5. From what I understand it is a quality rifle and would serve well. Are there any other recommendations around the same price point he should know about?

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

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https://www.amazon.com/dp/151865472X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_6gzeCbJ4D8JDD

Might want to recommend that book before he starts buying stuff. Not that reading it will say “buy X rifle,” but it will at least give him some idea of where he might want to go with it.

Even if he does go with the Ruger, it does go over stuff to make sure he sets the rifle up correctly. If you want long range precision... mounting your scope is kind of important.

The author is supposed to do another book, but has been tied up with his other job. I can tell you that he does put more of a favor to .308 over 6.5mm Creedmoor in that book... but has changed his view as 6.5mm Creedmoor has got more settled (opposed to just another hyped cartridge, that dies quickly). There is another round that he is even more stoked over, but definitely not something anyone would recommend (don’t even think it is commercially out yet). His podcast is Going Ballistic, if he is interested.

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Savage and Remington both make similar rifles at a similar price point.  

Don't leave out Tikka.  Their action is super smooth.  The trigger is a simple spring swap and you're in the money for a light, crisp, trigger.    Howa rifles are very good as are the Bergara's.  

As always, Remington has the most aftermarket support.  The Ruger Precision has pre-fit barrels and some triggers as well  Really, there is no wrong move in the rifle world that I can see anymore.  The guns are simply awesome and if your friend gets into reloading he will open up an awesome adventure for himself.  

Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions.  

ETA:  I have the book mentioned above and it is a good read.  Ryan Cleckner seems to be a pretty good guy that is very excited to pass on some of his learning to others.

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I would budget in everything from the rifle, glass, bipod, match grade ammo, spotting scope, rear bag, mat, training, LD range membership/travel, etc.

Glass is probably as important as the rifle.  A good article here: https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/optics/buying-the-perfect-precision-scope

As for 6.5 vs .308, .308 gets pushed around by the wind after so many hundred yards (less so than 6.5).  If you want to "learn" and be challenged, then .308 may be a better round to start out with (or be frustrated with).

I think an RPR with decent Vortex or comparable scope is a great place to start for a beginner.

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22 hours ago, checko said:

 

I dont know anything about long range shooting. My friend is a new shooter who wants to buy a rifle and get into long range precision. I talked to him about costs and how difficult it is and he wants to get started.

 

He is eyeing a ruger precision rifle in 6.5. From what I understand it is a quality rifle and would serve well. Are there any other recommendations around the same price point he should know about?

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

 

 

I was / considering the rpr also.

after talking with @Bully it’s kinda the Glock of précis. But that’s not a bad thing.But there are a plethora of other options out there.

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2 hours ago, Bully said:

Waiting over here for an invite like...:blink:

I am free friday before xmas, after xmas and maybe a day in between.  I will also take off the 2nd week in Jan'19

 

RPR.....buy it, shoot the sh*t out of it, sell it.   then u can buy what u really what after u learn how to shoot.

 

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1 hour ago, CageFighter said:

I am free friday before xmas, after xmas and maybe a day in between.  I will also take off the 2nd week in Jan'19

 

RPR.....buy it, shoot the sh*t out of it, sell it.   then u can buy what u really what after u learn how to shoot.

 

I'll shoot you a text this weekend.

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Ruger RPR is a solid choice. Shoots well out of the box and you get some nice features such as folding stock, ability to accept multiple types of mags, built in 20 MOA rail. It’s roughly based on the AR platform too so handguards and stocks are interchangeable. Prefit match barrels are widely available if you want to upgrade or change calibers, and triggers are coming out as well. The action isn’t as smooth as the high end guns but a little microslik and it’s good to go. 

Scopes- Spend as much as you can afford to. I jumped into a NF ATACR and I’ve been very, very happy with it. Put it in a good mount ( I used Geissele Super Precision) and you are ready to rock.

45323619672_e54eabd9c4_h.jpg

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9 minutes ago, 45Doll said:

Did you guys have to get me thinking about all this? I already blew my 2018 budget.

Your 2018 budget? Well, that means in 2 weeks you'll have a brand new annual budget to start spending. Woo-hoo! Stop complaining, Doll... start shopping. ;)

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20 minutes ago, Mrs. Peel said:

Your 2018 budget? Well, that means in 2 weeks you'll have a brand new annual budget to start spending. Woo-hoo! Stop complaining, Doll... start shopping. ;)

Because after spending a lot of yesterday on the Remington, Ruger, Tikka and other PRS related websites it's clear I could blow my entire 2019 budget in January!

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OK, I'm not a long range PRS guy (yet), and might never truly be. But I seriously want to pick up a bolt action in .308 that's good for practical or defensive purposes out to maybe 300 yards. (No 6.5 Creedmoor; don't want another different caliber.) 

Is a 20" 5R barrel considered adequate for that? There are multiple choices in that length. I saw the 700 Magpul has a 22" and wondered if that would any significant difference. Maneuverability is not relevant for my purposes. Opinions welcome.

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9 hours ago, 45Doll said:

OK, I'm not a long range PRS guy (yet), and might never truly be. But I seriously want to pick up a bolt action in .308 that's good for practical or defensive purposes out to maybe 300 yards. (No 6.5 Creedmoor; don't want another different caliber.) 

Is a 20" 5R barrel considered adequate for that? There are multiple choices in that length. I saw the 700 Magpul has a 22" and wondered if that would any significant difference. Maneuverability is not relevant for my purposes. Opinions welcome.

16" would be long enough at that range. 

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9 hours ago, 45Doll said:

OK, I'm not a long range PRS guy (yet), and might never truly be. But I seriously want to pick up a bolt action in .308 that's good for practical or defensive purposes out to maybe 300 yards. (No 6.5 Creedmoor; don't want another different caliber.) 

Is a 20" 5R barrel considered adequate for that? There are multiple choices in that length. I saw the 700 Magpul has a 22" and wondered if that would any significant difference. Maneuverability is not relevant for my purposes. Opinions welcome.

 

16 minutes ago, shooter28 said:

16" would be long enough at that range. 

Yup.

16" can go 750, maybe 1k with the right load.

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9 hours ago, 45Doll said:

OK, I'm not a long range PRS guy (yet), and might never truly be. But I seriously want to pick up a bolt action in .308 that's good for practical or defensive purposes out to maybe 300 yards. (No 6.5 Creedmoor; don't want another different caliber.) 

Is a 20" 5R barrel considered adequate for that? There are multiple choices in that length. I saw the 700 Magpul has a 22" and wondered if that would any significant difference. Maneuverability is not relevant for my purposes. Opinions welcome.

When you refer to practical & defensive, that seems more like a Rutger Scout 308 type..

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I know it's 1 of 1 for reviews, but I'm really fucking impressed at that, especially for the price tag.  Might have to talk to Steve about getting me one.  for the TL;DR crowd... sub MOA all day long when he did his part, and on some of those groups it looked like sub-half-MOA if you took out the occasional "flyer".

To me that looks like a whole lotta gun for not a lotta scratch.

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Tell your friend to look away. Don’t get started. The sickness will start immediately and quickly progress. You will thank me later.

On a more constructive note, get an RPR in 6.5 creedmoor with a vortex scope and start out there. If he loves it and wants to upgrade then he can sell that setup pretty quickly without too much invested. If he doesn’t like it then he could probably sell it pretty quickly. The more you like it, the more you want to learn about things like reloading, wind calls, and building good fundamental skills. 

Whether he gets a solid factory rifle like the RPR or a full custom rig from a reputable gunsmith I bet he wont be able to shoot the difference in the price spent in the beginning. The custom rig may feel better, have a nicer trigger and a smoother action. The accuracy difference may be less then 1/2” at 100 yards regardless. Is it worth the extra money ? Depends. Some guys will justify their choice either way. Both are just opinions. 

When I started out with this hobby I was fortunate enough to get two full custom rigs at attractive prices on the used market. People would rave about these rifles and how they were so worthy of the high price tags. I shot them both for about a year and I didnt do well with them. No magical one hole groups at 100 yards for me. Years later I realized that the rifles were perfect and it was me who sucked. In the beginning when you are learning, you will probably suck a bit. As long as your having fun then it doesn’t matter much but at some point learn about what your doing wrong and right and correct whats needed. 

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