Need Help Buying Long Range Rifle

[winnracing]

Hello, Im new so let me know what Im doing wrong...!!!
But, Im looking to buy a rifle & scope that will take down deer, wild hog & maybe a turkey !
But the rifle I need, and scope... I need to be able to hit my target from between 400 & 600 yards.
Ive looked at a few .308 but really would like other options on a caliber of rifle as well as a scope.
I hope to have this rifle & scope in my hands in the next 30 to 60 days, so let me know what you think would be my best purchase for both items I need.

Thanks :1zhelp:

 

[M. Sage]

.308 will work fine for what you want except...

Is it legal to hunt turkey with a rifle? It's not very practical, you won't wind up with much left... Most people hunt turkeys with tightly-choked shotguns (and shoot for the head) for a reason.

 

[andre3k]

Are you looking to hunt at 400 - 600 yards?

Or are you looking to target shoot at 400 - 600 yards?

 

[winnracing]

Are you looking to hunt at 400 - 600 yards?

Or are you looking to target shoot at 400 - 600 yards?

Our hunting blind is set up around 500 yards from where deer cross, but sometimes they cross closer, & sometimes at 600 yards away.
But I have another rifle in case something comes within 125 yards
I think if I go with a rifle that will hit at 600 yards would be the best...

Thanks

 

[winnracing]

.308 will work fine for what you want except...

Is it legal to hunt turkey with a rifle? It's not very practical, you won't wind up with much left... Most people hunt turkeys with tightly-choked shotguns (and shoot for the head) for a reason.

Well, if you shoot turky in the head with a 22-250, then to be on the safe side pop them afterwords with a 12Ga, its legal...???

 

[M. Sage]

Well, if you shoot turky in the head with a 22-250, then to be on the safe side pop them afterwords with a 12Ga, its legal...???

No, I'm honestly ignorant on that point. I know that some states don't allow things like that, but have no idea about Texas, being new here.

 

[Texas1911]

Buy a Remington 700 5R and mount a Leupold VX-III 20+x scope on it. That's about as cost effective as it gets.

 

[yam13f]

Buy a Remington 700 5R and mount a Leupold VX-III 20+x scope on it. That's about as cost effective as it gets.

x2

 

[2bnag]

You didn't mention how much you expect (or are willing to spend) to pay for good accuracy out to 600 yards or more. If you are on a budget, a long action Savage in 7mm Ren mag is very accurate, and has the potential range you need.
An Armalite AR-30 in .338 Lapua is a little more money, but has more range (1600 yards with a 300 grain bullet) and knockdown power than anything else in the same price range. And there are all sorts of things in between the two.

 

[Hoji]

Our hunting blind is set up around 500 yards from where deer cross, but sometimes they cross closer, & sometimes at 600 yards away.
But I have another rifle in case something comes within 125 yards
I think if I go with a rifle that will hit at 600 yards would be the best...

Thanks

To get a rifle that will humanely take game at over 1/4 of a mile away you are going to be spending thousands. I hunt a lot and could not even begin to give advice.{ everything I shoot is under 300 yards,95% is under 225, the exception being pigs, those I will attempt at 300.}

Find somewhere you can regularly practice at 500+ before you even think of going in the woods and sending rounds down. You have to do some serious elevation adjustments for that kind of yardage and if you screw it up, you will have a heavy projectile coming down somewhere at terminal velocities.

Good luck.

 

[winnracing]

You didn't mention how much you expect (or are willing to spend) to pay for good accuracy out to 600 yards or more. If you are on a budget, a long action Savage in 7mm Ren mag is very accurate, and has the potential range you need.
An Armalite AR-30 in .338 Lapua is a little more money, but has more range (1600 yards with a 300 grain bullet) and knockdown power than anything else in the same price range. And there are all sorts of things in between the two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Im thinking the price will run into 4 grand with rifle & scope, this is why I wanted other options on my best purchase, thats a LOT of money, so someone that has been there & done that advice could save me money I figure...! Thanks

 

[winnracing]

Yepper, I have 680 acres of land to sight a rifle like this in, with a large mountain behind the target practice area we sight firearms in at.
Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is have a bullet hit something or someone Im not shooting at...!
The area where our blind is at sets on the top of a mountain 80 foot above where Ive seen lots of deer pass by 400 to 600 yards away, so I'll need to sight in for the 80+ foot drop.
But if I do miss my target, it will no doubt hit the ground not far away being up this high, I hope...!
This is why I really want a long range rifle like this, we have a hunters dream location, and the blind we have, is a custom built hunting blind better then some hotel 6 Ive seen...! so we just set out on the balcony/patio & wait...
Ive pretty much gave up golf due to this location...!!!

 

[winnracing]

Buy a Remington 700 5R and mount a Leupold VX-III 20+x scope on it. That's about as cost effective as it gets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Alan, your the first to give me a rifle & scope, I'll be looking into your recommended choices.... But like I said before, the 308 seems to be the firearm to go with...
Appreciate ya... .

 

[SIG_Fiend]

Yepper, I have 680 acres of land to sight a rifle like this in, with a large mountain behind the target practice area we sight firearms in at.
Trust me, the last thing I wanna do is have a bullet hit something or someone Im not shooting at...!
The area where our blind is at sets on the top of a mountain 80 foot above where Ive seen lots of deer pass by 400 to 600 yards away, so I'll need to sight in for the 80+ foot drop.
But if I do miss my target, it will no doubt hit the ground not far away being up this high, I hope...!
This is why I really want a long range rifle like this, we have a hunters dream location, and the blind we have, is a custom built hunting blind better then some hotel 6 Ive seen...! so we just set out on the balcony/patio & wait...
Ive pretty much gave up golf due to this location...!!!

Sounds like an excellent location.

 

[Hoji]

I guess my only question is why do you want to take a pretty good chance of wounding a deer at 500+ when even the spookiest of whitetails can be lured to under 200 with almost no effort at all.

300 is a good braggable shot and you are far more likely to drop your prey dead in its tracks, as opposed to having the wind shift and gut shooting and tracking it for miles only to have to put another round in it to finish it off.

Varmint shooting at long range is a little different{ coyotes, prarie dogs, etc} as they tend to be smaller and any hit tends to be lethal.

Think about feeders or food plots for WTD a little closer to your stand{ or move your stand/blind a little closer to where the deer cross.

 

[winnracing]

Well, I guess Im just lazy...! the hunting blind we built took around a year to build, it has electric, water & a septic tank, with a 12"X20" baloney/patio area where we can set and wait for whatever wild life crosses our path !
And its elevated 12ft off the ground...
So this is not a hunting blind we could move very easy.
We do have feeders & a water pond in view, but the water pond is around 500 yards away.
But if I cant find a weapon that will hit a target at 500 feet, I can always get off my lazy a** and walk down closer...!
We have around 15 grand in this hunting blind, so to invest 3 or 4 grand in a rifle & scope is a small price to pay...!
Maybe its that Lazy Boy Recliner I drug up there to set and watch for that Big Buck, maybe not...???
Anyhoo, I have the rifle picked out, now I just need to do some homework on that special scope I need...

Thanks....................................................................

 

[Hoji]

One thing I did not ask is where is this area? Is it in Texas? if so, you can set up a feeder to throw corn or protien feed and have a much higher success rate. If you are in a state that does not allow feeders, then a food plot might be the solution.

If your shots are 500 feet and not 500 yards, and decent .308 will suffice.

 

[40Arpent]

...a 12"X20" baloney/patio area

You'd think that if you spent $15k on a blind, you'd be able to afford something better than baloney to eat.

 

[gladi8r]

Well, I guess Im just lazy...! the hunting blind we built took around a year to build, it has electric, water & a septic tank, with a 12"X20" baloney/patio area where we can set and wait for whatever wild life crosses our path !
And its elevated 12ft off the ground...
So this is not a hunting blind we could move very easy.
We do have feeders & a water pond in view, but the water pond is around 500 yards away.
But if I cant find a weapon that will hit a target at 500 feet, I can always get off my lazy a** and walk down closer...!
We have around 15 grand in this hunting blind, so to invest 3 or 4 grand in a rifle & scope is a small price to pay...!
Maybe its that Lazy Boy Recliner I drug up there to set and watch for that Big Buck, maybe not...???
Anyhoo, I have the rifle picked out, now I just need to do some homework on that special scope I need...

Thanks....................................................................

Thats huntin right there

 

[winnracing]

You'd think that if you spent $15k on a blind, you'd be able to afford something better than baloney to eat.

hehe... its a balcony not baloney...
and there was 5 people involved paying for this hunting bling, so the 15K was for material only...!
But a buddy of ours did make some killer deer balcony, I mean deer baloney and we did enjoy some on our Balcony/patio !!!
Also, I/we have not plans on eating our balcony...............................