NH Phantom
NES Member
What are your choices for a long range rifle (600 yds)
looking to get one or build one.
looking to get one or build one.
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Long range rifle choices.
- Thread starter NH Phantom
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it all depends upon if you are into killing paper, or something that actually moves/walks/runs at those 600+.
before all others will jump in screaming that 600 is not even a long range.
also depends very much if you reload, as any non-6.5CM calibers will run you quite high.
and if you are into specific sport/competition, then the choice is really driven by the rules of such competition.
for typical caliber choices, just look at the dropdown there:
MPA BA PMR Pro Rifle II - MasterPiece Arms, Inc.
Masterpiece Arms builds World Class Rifles. We start with our industry leading Chassis System, utilize the Best Actions and Triggers produced, and a 416R SS Handlapped Barrels provide some the best shooting, most accurate rifles in existence. Designed, Built and Enhanced by Long Range Shooters...
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NH Phantom
NES Member
shooting steel. I know a lot of people will say 600 is not long range but that's what I'm looking at. I do reload so thats a plus.
At 600 you have a lot of choices.
An AR .223 with faster twist rate for heavier bullets will get the job done.
A bolt rifle will do a slightly better job. Then you have choice of what caliber in the bolt rifle
308 will work fine and have really long barrel life (6k+ rounds) but has more recoil. The 308 will go out farther than 600 yardsand at 700 I saw no difference to 6.5 creedmore. At 800-1000 yards The 308 will still get hits, I just found it easier to get hits with 6.5 creedmore
The 6.5 would be a great choice. Lower recoil than .308. It still has enough energy to make seeing impacts ( or misses on berm) easy enough to see. Reasonable barrel life 3000+
The 6mm class of cartridges - faster and flatter but I don’t think you wii see benefit at 600 yards. Most 6mm (creedmore 243) have shorter barrel life (1500 rounds). I haven’t followed all the new 6mm cartridges the PRS guys are using, some may have better barrel life). Even less recoil
.223 Rem. With a fast twist barrel (1:8) and heavier bullets (69 or higher) you will definitely have accuracy and reach to go 600. Cheaper cost to reload. Hits on steel easy enough to see, but misses that him berm you may need dry dusty weather to see. A damp wet berm hard to see impacts
As far as seeing result of shot through your scope, I found weight of rifle even more important than good muzzle brake. A 12-13 pound rifle was iffy. When I put my 6.5 in a chassis and added weights to fore arm to balance the total weight about 19 pounds, I pretty much see them all
An AR .223 with faster twist rate for heavier bullets will get the job done.
A bolt rifle will do a slightly better job. Then you have choice of what caliber in the bolt rifle
308 will work fine and have really long barrel life (6k+ rounds) but has more recoil. The 308 will go out farther than 600 yardsand at 700 I saw no difference to 6.5 creedmore. At 800-1000 yards The 308 will still get hits, I just found it easier to get hits with 6.5 creedmore
The 6.5 would be a great choice. Lower recoil than .308. It still has enough energy to make seeing impacts ( or misses on berm) easy enough to see. Reasonable barrel life 3000+
The 6mm class of cartridges - faster and flatter but I don’t think you wii see benefit at 600 yards. Most 6mm (creedmore 243) have shorter barrel life (1500 rounds). I haven’t followed all the new 6mm cartridges the PRS guys are using, some may have better barrel life). Even less recoil
.223 Rem. With a fast twist barrel (1:8) and heavier bullets (69 or higher) you will definitely have accuracy and reach to go 600. Cheaper cost to reload. Hits on steel easy enough to see, but misses that him berm you may need dry dusty weather to see. A damp wet berm hard to see impacts
As far as seeing result of shot through your scope, I found weight of rifle even more important than good muzzle brake. A 12-13 pound rifle was iffy. When I put my 6.5 in a chassis and added weights to fore arm to balance the total weight about 19 pounds, I pretty much see them all
As northny mentioned, you have a lot of choices at that range. What type of rifles do you like? Do you already shoot AR's?
Paul73 already posted a link to MPA, one of the top PRS rifle builders. Your most accurate choice will be a solid PRS platform in one of the 6mm calibers like 6 GT (gay tiger)
![[laugh]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/012.gif "Laugh [laugh]")
.A typical service rifle AR with a 4.5X scope will do well. There are many of us who shoot service rifle out to 600 yards.
As you mentioned build as a possibility, another option would be an AR build in a better long range caliber such as 6mm ARC. With my pet load I'm getting ~1/2 MOA groups, no worse than 0.6 MOA on a cold bore.
Here's the thread on that- 6mm ARC Thread
Yet another option would be something like a Bergara B14 that would do the job at 600.
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- If you reload, you have more choices. There are plenty of great calibers to try.
- If you want a rifle to build your skills, look for a caliber with light bullets. 22GT is a great cartridge: 308 case with a 22 caliber bullet. 308 case is important as it will allow you to buy an action with a standard bolt face. If you decide to change calibers, all it takes is another barrel. Pretty darn convenient, isn't it?
- If you want a rifle that you can use for other things, like hunting, a 6.5 caliber is more appropriate. 6.5 Grendel is a great cartridge that can bring down a buck and reach for 1000. Another benefit of 6.5 Grendel is Howa Mini action. This action is inexpensive, yet super precise. A barreled action can be had for ~$300 from Brownells. Couple it with an MDT Oryx chassis and you will have a superb rifle.
- You could go for a standard 308 caliber. It is relatively inexpensive and easy to get ammo for but consider the recoil. Shooting a 308 bolt gun gets tiring after 2-3 hours.
Good bargain sales at the moment from Pee-S-A
Throw on a Monstrum Panzer 1-10 LPVO and call it a day.
Throw on a Monstrum Panzer 1-10 LPVO and call it a day.
To me, steel, screems you want semi auto. And you want something kinda common since steel you use a lot more ammo than paper.
6.5 Creedmoor is generally king of common calibers for this & semi auto. Downside is it's gonna be heavy as a semi auto.
.308 or 5.56 of course, all more than adequate. 5.56 allows the smaller frame, not as heavy.
Assembling an AR10/SR25 (whatever you want to call it) or AR15 is a nice way to go - you can choose good parts in the form you want (ie one area being barrel quality, length, twist and muzzle device - trigger is another, and list goes on).
I like Aero receivers, particularly for this type of thing.
6.5 Creedmoor is generally king of common calibers for this & semi auto. Downside is it's gonna be heavy as a semi auto.
.308 or 5.56 of course, all more than adequate. 5.56 allows the smaller frame, not as heavy.
Assembling an AR10/SR25 (whatever you want to call it) or AR15 is a nice way to go - you can choose good parts in the form you want (ie one area being barrel quality, length, twist and muzzle device - trigger is another, and list goes on).
I like Aero receivers, particularly for this type of thing.
Rockrivr1
NES Member
Don’t limit yourself to something out to 600 yards. Get something that can really reach out in case the opportunity ever arises.
I’m very happy with a rifle that was built for me by Masterpiece Arms in 6.5CM. Solid sweet rifle. Yea you pay for it but to me it was worth it.
This what I went with.
I’m very happy with a rifle that was built for me by Masterpiece Arms in 6.5CM. Solid sweet rifle. Yea you pay for it but to me it was worth it.
This what I went with.
MPA BA PMR Pro Rifle II - MasterPiece Arms, Inc.
Masterpiece Arms builds World Class Rifles. We start with our industry leading Chassis System, utilize the Best Actions and Triggers produced, and a 416R SS Handlapped Barrels provide some the best shooting, most accurate rifles in existence. Designed, Built and Enhanced by Long Range Shooters...
masterpiecearms.com
Dench
NES Member
Don’t limit yourself to something out to 600 yards. Get something that can really reach out in case the opportunity ever arises.
I’m very happy with a rifle that was built for me by Masterpiece Arms in 6.5CM. Solid sweet rifle. Yea you pay for it but to me it was worth it.
This what I went with.
MPA BA PMR Pro Rifle II - MasterPiece Arms, Inc.
Masterpiece Arms builds World Class Rifles. We start with our industry leading Chassis System, utilize the Best Actions and Triggers produced, and a 416R SS Handlapped Barrels provide some the best shooting, most accurate rifles in existence. Designed, Built and Enhanced by Long Range Shooters...masterpiecearms.com
Where they going to shoot it past 600 though? Those ranges are very rare in New England.
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I always forget which one of those three is terrible at feeding from a magazine. One of them is terrible if you want to use a magazine.
600 is not "long range" . By NRA standards long range begins at 800 yds. So to answer your 600 yd "midrange" question is what exactly are you looking to do ? Shooting paper for max precision ? Shooting gongs ? PRS competitions ? For a great do all rifle you can't do much better out of the box than the Ruger Precision in 6.5 Manbunn.
same rifle that i got, only in manbun.Don’t limit yourself to something out to 600 yards. Get something that can really reach out in case the opportunity ever arises.
I’m very happy with a rifle that was built for me by Masterpiece Arms in 6.5CM. Solid sweet rifle. Yea you pay for it but to me it was worth it.
This what I went with.
MPA BA PMR Pro Rifle II - MasterPiece Arms, Inc.
Masterpiece Arms builds World Class Rifles. We start with our industry leading Chassis System, utilize the Best Actions and Triggers produced, and a 416R SS Handlapped Barrels provide some the best shooting, most accurate rifles in existence. Designed, Built and Enhanced by Long Range Shooters...masterpiecearms.com
great platform, and heavy as hell. those things are amazing, very precise, very refined, and absolutely impractical.
but really amazing at what they are made for - making 1/3moa groups. a bergara 14 type of the rifle is actually surprisingly practical, as you can actually carry that around with no issues, and it is still going to be 3/4moa, or maybe even 1/2 moa, if you are lucky.
an AR10 is absolutely most practical, in either .308 or 6.5cm - with 18 or 20" barrels. will most likely be 1moa with a good barrel and trigger.
as i got pretty much all of the above, and if i would go after a 12" plate at the 600 - any of AR10s i got would hit that ok. a 6" plate would be a challenge where a bolt rifle will do better.
so all of that is really highly subjective.
peterk123
NES Member
My vote is 6.5 creedmor. I believe it was originally developed for precision shooting. And it's deadly on deer too. Cheap to reload. I highly recommend staball 6.5 for a powder. Getting great results with it and it meters well.
600 yards will be easy with it and I bet you can put a hole in a piece of paper at a 1000 yard as well.
600 yards will be easy with it and I bet you can put a hole in a piece of paper at a 1000 yard as well.
NH Phantom
NES Member
600 yd range @ pelham
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Anything south of the pike?
Don’t limit yourself to something out to 600 yards. Get something that can really reach out in case the opportunity ever arises.
I’m very happy with a rifle that was built for me by Masterpiece Arms in 6.5CM. Solid sweet rifle. Yea you pay for it but to me it was worth it.
This what I went with.
MPA BA PMR Pro Rifle II - MasterPiece Arms, Inc.
Masterpiece Arms builds World Class Rifles. We start with our industry leading Chassis System, utilize the Best Actions and Triggers produced, and a 416R SS Handlapped Barrels provide some the best shooting, most accurate rifles in existence. Designed, Built and Enhanced by Long Range Shooters...masterpiecearms.com
The CDG action MPA rifles are so sweet, it's amazing they offer the builds for the prices they do. Best deal out there.
BTSDOG
NES Member
Im runnin an AR with Krieger .223, 26 in. With a 1/7.7 twist. Seating a 80g SMK .010 off the lands. Pushin it with 24.2g of RL15. They're going around high 2700's to mid 2800. Still playin with it tryin to get comfortable in prone position at 300 yds.......
Get a REM 700, a Bergara HMR, or a Tikka CTR, drop them in a chassis (MDT or KRG), get a good base, good rings and good glass. Maybe a triggertech or timney trigger for the REM, and be done with it. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
After 40 years as NRA member I dropped them after Wayne. I’m not willing for the NRA to be arbitrator of anything.
A lot of shooters will never take their rifles past 100 yards. Another smaller group go to 200 , and even fewer go to 300 (if they even have access.)
To all the shooters who have not yet shot farther than 200-300 yards, 600 yards is plenty long. I remember when I considered 300 yards long. I remember my first several times shooting prone with my AR at 600 and it was absolutely long
Now I will agree that after getting experienced shooting at 600, it won’t seem as long a distance. But anyone who shoots 600 yards in my book is a long range shooter and has my respect. Hell I’m still impressed by the people I have met than can shoot well at 300 , particularly if they aren’t shooting off the bench
I will also concede that as you get to 800 and beyond, things get more challenging ( from my experience particularly with 308) so it may deserve another description. But I reject the idea that long range starts at 800 yards
Rockrivr1
NES Member
From what Ive been reading lately the Rem 700 action has been having a lot of issues with it latest production rifles. Not sure if they’ve work that out yet.
Those were the late pre-bankruptcy models. I have one of those, and must have lucked out. Shoots straight (.8-1MOA). But I have changed the trigger and got rid of that godawful hogue stock. The post bankruptcy models are fine, and in today’s market, they are solidly in the “affordable “ department. Although, if you go with a HMR Bergara, you’ll certainly get a smoother action and a stock that doesn’t need changing, for under a grand.