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sroc112

Choosing a long range cartridge

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Hi all - Would be totally new to long range/precision shooting but I want to get my feet wet so that I have something new and fun to do when I look to go shooting. I am very uneducated on much of this topic and right now I would appreciate some help/insight into the different cartridges/calibers available for this type of shooting and the pros/cons/benefits behind them. In order for me to start drilling down and narrowing my options on a rifle, I first want to find out which cartridge I would like to shoot the most. Does anyone have any links or just some own personal experience that I can reference so I can become more knowledgeable on the cartridges?

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There will be others far more knowledgeable than me chime in but you would be best served providing more details if you can.

What is long range for you? 300 yards? 500 yards? 1000 yards?  Do you have a range available to you for your chosen distance?

Do you have any idea of budget? This will go up geometrically with the distance you want to shoot. .223 can be good for a few hundred yards, .308 will reach out to 800+ before it goes subsonic, 6.5 Creedmore or .338 Lapua Magnum will go farther but cost you more too.

Also with increased distance you will need to spend more on your sight.

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In echoing some of the other posters, it will all depend on several things: 

What is "long range" to you?  If 200 yard benchrest is your idea of distance, it will be a dramatically different set of viable options than, say the guy in Idaho, that has 1500 yards available 20 minutes from his home.  You first need to figure out how far you realistically are wanting and able to shoot on a consistent basis.

What is your budget?  Are you looking to grab a Ruger Precision Rifle with Vortex glass (awesome combo by the way) or do you want to dip your toe in to the custom world?  Both guns do roughly the same thing, the expel a cartridge out of a barrel, the custom has more style and operates more smoothly.

How do you feel about recoil?  If you're planning to run a brake of some type, recoil can be mitigated to a large degree.  I'm not much of a brake guy and don't love recoil so I tend to look at cartridges that will perform to the distances I need with minimal recoil.  If you're not averse to it, then the world is your oyster.  

Do you have glass?  If so, that's awesome.  If not just know that it's almost impossible to spend too much on glass.  

Do you/will you reload?  This is a big one as without it, you will never be able to realize the full potential of any cartridge.  Factory loadings are really solid.  Federal Gold Medal Match will definitely shoot well from a variety of rifles typically.  A few years ago a guy won the NJ State FTR championship using factory ammo (He got lucky and it shot really well from his rifle. He now reloads and shoots even better).  However learning to reload, even for just the one cartridge, will teach you more about your rifle than many other things.  And, you can truly optimize the load to do what you want with the rifle in any situation.  

Take a look at Tibosaurus Rex on YouTube.  He has a series that will take you deeper in to long range shooting than you can imagine.  

FWIW, if you look at any of the PRS guys, they are typically shooting the latest and greatest.  Many of the cartridges are almost exclusively for handloaders, however what you NEED to be looking at is the bullets being used.  Most of them are shooting 6.5's (although less and less), 6's and 22's.  The new 22 offerings are amazing and will shoot inside the 6.5's at anything less than 800 yards with almost equal wind and drop corrections.  That said, the 6's are an amazing bunch of cartridges.  
Currently I shoot a:
223Remington.  I was shooting it at 600 in matches but the drive got to me so I will be simply shooting it and having fun.
6mmBR Norma.  An amazing cartridge and really fun to shoot.  In better hands than mine a mildly improved version of this cartridge shot 5@ 1.1" at 1000 yards .  
22BR Norma/Lapua.  I will be building this this summer.  It's a necked down 6BR shooting 22's faster/farther.  

Good luck in your search.  Drop me a PM if you have any questions that you think I can help with.  
 

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2 hours ago, Bully said:


6mmBR Norma.  An amazing cartridge and really fun to shoot.  In better hands than mine a mildly improved version of this cartridge shot 5@ 1.1" at 1000 yards .  
22BR Norma/Lapua.  I will be building this this summer.  It's a necked down 6BR shooting 22's faster/farther. 
 


Don’t those high speed steep shoulder cartridges burn through barrels like crazy?

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34 minutes ago, Shocker said:


Don’t those high speed steep shoulder cartridges burn through barrels like crazy?

The 6, not so much.  The 22, maybe.  Probably 2000ish rounds with the 22.  The 6, 2500-3000.  There are other cartridges that will consume barrels more quickly for sure.  

Barrels are a consumable.  I'm blessed to have the machines and training to re-barrel my own guns.  But if not, and barrel life was something that was holding me back from a particular cartridge, then I simply wouldn't get in to shooting rifles.  It's like buying a Hayabusa vs. a SX650.  They both burn fuel.  The 'Busa at a faster rate.  Tires, the same.  Brakes, yup.  It's simply the price of performance.  
308 barrels last roughly 3500 by comparison. 

Just to be clear, I am not at all recommending those cartridges.  I am merely mentioning what I currently and will be shooting.  Nothing more than that.  

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OP read what Bully has said he's been at it for a while. I had a few precision sticks in 6.5x47L, 300WM, .223 match and 6mmAR.  I exclusively hand load so I wasn't concerned about amo costs, etc.  Given my skills and range availability I cut the two larger cal rifles.   They were both fantastic but were overkill for the reasons above.  I enjoyed the. 223 match so much I just had an upgrade built by T1D that I need to pickup (NICS IS SO SLOW)  

 

After you make a sensible purchase for your needs you'll have to get quality glass and scopes are no cheap proposition either.  So consider your budget in its entirety.  

Good luck and enjoy whichever way you chose to go.  

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