RE: Best Long Distance Rifle
The guys who shoot matches at 1000 yards use big caliber, big case, custom guns mostly. Stuff like 300 mags and up. I have a place where I can shoot 700yds, and we ocassionally play at that range, and the heavier bullets are easier to track. Its a time consuming game though, and it soon becomes who can dope the wind the best. Even a 338 bullet will be moved several feet by not much wind at that range. The main reason we dont play on that range much is that it is almost a mile to check targets and return. That eats up alot of time. From what I have seen doing that though, anything 30 cal or bigger works good as long as its a fairly accurate rifle. Something like a well tuned 700 varmint special. The lighter calibers will shoot just as accurately if the wind isnt blowing, but that is seldom the case. I shot a five shot group at 700 once with a 243 that measured less than five inches! That was a fluke, shot just before dark when the wind was laying. On other days, I couldnt shoot a 8 foot group when the wind is blowing(thats how big our target frame is) The wind drift makes it impossible to shoot a 70 gr bullet into any kind of group at long ranges. If the wind would remain constant you could dial in the windage, but that never happens. So, I would say get a varmint barreled rifle of at least 30 caliber and a 4 wheeler to check your targets with. You will need a spotter and a good quality 30x or stronger spotting scope and some 600 yd repair center targets and wait for a calm day. Its a fun experiment, but not something I think I want to do alot of. The wind becomes the whole game pretty quick.
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