Long Range Weapons Help

reply to post by morf991


I myself might be old fashion but I have 2 enfield .303s, great stopping power, great range, bolt action so it's nice and stable. Plus it's a ten round detatchable mag it's a good tactical advantage to me

IMO if you are going to go with the .308 family of weapons it is best to spend a little extra and buy whatever rifle you choose chambered in 7.62 by 51 mm NATO.

A 7.62 nato rifle can fire .308 ammo but a .308 rifle could catastrophically fail injuring or killing you if you attempt to fire 7.62 nato rounds! This is a very important distinction.

Now personally when I started looking into a bolt action rifle for small to medium game and or sniping I chose a mosin nagant 91/30. The mosin nagant rifle fires 7.62 by 54mm Russian ammo which can be obtained surplus for quite a bit less than NATO 7.62 or .308 ammo. Lest you look up this rilfe and think you are looking at a dinosaur the round is used in the world renowned Dragunov semi automatic sniper rifle and the PKM belt fed machine gun. It is a good solid round that will take deer or other game at long range all day while not emptying your wallet if you want to keep a good store of ammo on hand.

Now if you have a budget that lets you keep the other more expensive rounds on hand in sufficient numbers for your uses I would go for something more expensive. But in my case for under a thousand dollars I got a tack driving rifle a very nice scope and a thousand rounds of ammo for right around a thousand dollars. Which is less than you will spend on JUST THE RIFLE for many 7.62 Nato or .308 weapons.

Even an inexpensive Stevens 200 or Marlin bolt gun will shoot far better than most people are capable of. In a real world situation you'll be unlikly to have a concrete bench at hand, so practice shooting from field positions. The rifle you choose should be one that fits you well, so go to a GOOD, reputable gun shop and handle as many as you can. If your of slight build, Browning rifles might work well for you. See what feels best when you bring it to your shoulder,and go from there. You can spend $2000 if you want and end up very unhappy because the gun is uncomfortable to shoot. When you hear people say that 30-30's,308,.270 and the like kick hard, it's probably because they were shooting an ill fitting rifle.

Calibre choice is secondary. Anything in the .308 range is plenty and there's a lot of good choices out there. If your not a handloader,get something common and easy to find. Chances are you'll never be trying to scrounge ammo in a SHTF situation,so I wouldn't sweat it if you decide to go with something other than .308. If you are careful with your ammo, a few boxes will last you a long time for strictly hunting.

The main thing is, buy a rifle that fits, mount a good(Nikon,Leupold,Burris etc)scope in equally good mounts and rings and practice as much as possible. Try different brands and weights of ammo,as each rifle is unique in what it'll shoot best. Most of all, shoot from field positions once your zeroed. Not only will you learn more usefull real life skills, but you'll take less abuse from recoil than you generally will layong over a bench.Real skill with a rifle is learned over time,and takes considerable effort and practice.This cannot be overstated,so be prepared to spend some money on ammo.

Originally posted by roguetechie
A 7.62 nato rifle can fire .308 ammo but a .308 rifle could catastrophically fail injuring or killing you if you attempt to fire 7.62 nato rounds! This is a very important distinction.

You got the facts backwards and will get someone hurt! Know your facts before giving advice.

"[N]obody makes 7.62mm (NATO) ammo that isn't to the .308 'headspace' dimension spec. So 7.62mm ammo fits nicely into .308 chambers, as a rule." You CAN encounter problems going the other way, however. A commercial .308 Win round can exceed the max rated pressure for the 7.62x51. So, you should avoid putting full-power .308 Win rounds into military surplus rifles that have been designed for 50,000 psi max.
www.gunslot.com...

7.62x51 rifle - do not shoot .308 due to excessive psi.
.308 rifle - fine to shoot 7.62x51 and .308

reply to post by jeh2324


And alway's remember it';s the opposite for the .223/5.56x45!

The Nato 5.56 is hotter than the .223 Remington and may do damage in a off the shelf factory .223.

If you are totally new to guns, honestly grab a .22lr and practice and practice.

Then look at a centerfire. If you really want a centerfire, understand it will cost you, not only for ammo, but you will probably wear out a barrel before you have enough understanding to whack a deer at 500 yrds plus, first shot.

I'd say the 308 for a general do it all round, but if you are a hunter, go with a 24" or shorter barrel.
Like the other say, if you really want to make hits on bigger game at 500yrds+, especially 700-800yrds + you will want something a bit flatter, like the 7mm Rem Mag (although the 7mm bullets haven;t the best bc's) or the win mag.

After proving to yourself you can make 700 yrd first shot hits with the 30 cal's, then grab a 338 Lapua, as weapons like these really can;t be n the hands of people who can;t drive them. They go a long long way and hold a heap of energy when they get there. A ricochet from a 338 can still go miles.

22LR is great for inexpensive practise and understanding the effect of wind and gravity and lessons learnt there will help heaps when shooting bigger guns at longer distances.

I have seem guy;s with their big cal's go to the range, fire 30 rounds and not hit a thing.
Don;t seem like fun to me.

Gotta agree with the people saying to get a .22 first, then move up. And A mosin nagant is still an excelent gun, and relatively inexpensive. If you put a solid scope on it and get it dialed in, then you should be able to hit that 500 yard + target, of course that can be said for most good guns, but for the price the mosin nagant is unmatched. The m1 garand is also supposed to be a good weapon, I know people who love to use it.

Originally posted by apacheman
Why such long range?

You should be practicing your stalking skills so you can make the shot from 100 yards and be absolutely sure of the kill.

About the only thing I'd take a shot at at such a long range would be an enemy human. I wouldn't want to have to drag the carcass any further than necessary.

I agree.

600 - 900 yards is a looooooooong way out there. There is very few scenario's where you have to shoot that far.

Originally posted by mwood

Originally posted by apacheman
Why such long range?

You should be practicing your stalking skills so you can make the shot from 100 yards and be absolutely sure of the kill.

About the only thing I'd take a shot at at such a long range would be an enemy human. I wouldn't want to have to drag the carcass any further than necessary.

I agree.

600 - 900 yards is a looooooooong way out there. There is very few scenario's where you have to shoot that far.

Indeed, I can't possibly think of any hunting prey other than a human that would require a standoff range of 500+ meters to engage. Besides, unless you had an ATV/horse why the hell would you want to walk that far to harvest the meat? Lot of effort...

I attended Sniper School in 1986 and we used the M21 which was basically an M14 with a match grade barrel and an ARt2 scope. I was frankly (relative to my peers) a really poor shot and barely passed the course in that regard but scored very well on the stalks - being a good shot is a plus but if you can stalk close enough it becomes less of a factor.

As for the caliber 308/7.62 is more than sufficient for humans and larger game with proper shot placement. Getting all the sexy .50 cal weapons puts you on lists and such plus they are overpriced for the payoff unless you want the AP rounds for an engine block or something.

My team in Afghanistan had an M82 and we conducted a few sniper missions; the longest shot we wanted to take was 1k; my weapons Sergeant was the shooter and he was good but didn’t want to take a chance of missing the target. I was the team leader and hardly ever shot at anything/one I carried the SOCOM M1A and it was a wonderful weapon for close/mid range use.

reply to post by mwood


Gotta agrea, I can see mabey a 200 to 300 yard shot for food (still a good treck though) and mabey 500 yards being the efficient range most can deal with in a combat situation, after all spotters start becoming a nescesity after a certain point.

Originally posted by morf991
Looking for some advise for a long range rifle.

I have been searching and researching a few. But I would like the experts advise.

-should have at least 500 yard range on a point target.
-One am considering is a .308 Winchester any knowledge on this weapon?

Any advise is appreciated

Thanks

edit on 8-3-2011 by morf991 because: (no reason given)

edit on 8-3-2011 by morf991 because: (no reason given)

If you want an easy 1000 yard shot go with a 300wm or a 338
The 308 can do it but it will test your skills. I shoot a Remington 700 chambered in 308 out to 1000 yards but it took more money than i wanted to invest in the rifle.

Go with a Savage or Remington 700. Both excellent rifles for long range hunting.
And don’t forget the scope. If you want the cheap route get the biggest buck masters BDC you can find. Runs about $400 and it has a setting of 1000 yards.