Originally Posted by Ridge Runner

ok, my impression was ya wanted a rifle that was capable from the get-go, so since you seem to just want a rifle to shoot that shoots decent, get a howa or savage and practice, practice practice. pulling the trigger isn't the hard part, its setting parralex in the scope and doping wind that is tough. however when you are ready to stretch it out, you need an accurate rifle that weighs around 10-11 pounds.
a 1" group at 100 yards will at the very best be 10" at 1000, or 5" at 500, but a 1/4" group at 100 will be 2.5" at best at 1000 and 1.25" at 500.
thats without any shooter error and thats not possible. thats why I stated get a good grasp on ballistics, that in itself will give you a legup when you extend the range.
RR