Reading the thread, entire, there is good input here. A chambering in .308Win.is as good as any, and while some may well say "...bigger is better..." one hellofa lot of after action battlefield stats and debriefs show that .308Win is still a killer in the battlespace, with one shot recorded in '03 by USArmypersonnel at 1200 yards, a single shot kill. Does this necessarily mean that you can do that all the time? NO! And so, I think that successful long range shooting with "ANY" chambering requires great skill. "Anecdotal", talked with a USMC colonel [he was in Iraq and had a brigade] who basically reinforced a lot of my thinking; the vast majority of single shot kills were made 600yards and under [high percentage hits] at Ramadi and Fallujah. He could not state in exactitude but the majority of those kills were .308Win. Start with .308Win. learn to read wind; above all learn to read wind; if you can't read wind then it really doesn't matter what chambering you have, you won't make it. If you want to go "bigger", you can later. Learn to "roll your own"; you simply cannot match the consistency of any ammunition you can buy against the loads that you can make with simple basic hand reloading tools at the bench, assuming good safe bench practice and attention to detail; the latest Berger and Sierra manuals are definitive and loaded with good information. Get Litz's book "Applied Ballistics for Long-Range Shooting"; read it front to back and then again; pay attention to Chptr9. 'Getting Control of Sights' and Chptr. 5 'Wind Deflection'. Read '5' until you puke and then read it again. For "Glass" ,you are going to have to spend on hellofa lot more money than you might be willing to spend if you don't purchase the SWFA SS series of scopes. I've mounted a SS16X42 [fixed power] on an 'F' Class that I took to Texas and got my L/R certification at a range down there. Built my own "M40A" and glassed it with a SWFA SS12X42 [fixed power]. The SWFA SS series come both in MOA or MilMil; there are arguable opinions on each and both are really good, not just good for the money values, but very good, very well made scopes with big fat turret drums that are responsive and crisp. They are 'purpose built' sniper scopes at a reasonably affordable price. You can go up the scale and buy the SWFA SS variables [and they ain't exatly given'em,away] and you can lay out major money, if laying out major money is an objective. For some it is very important to see and be seen "with only the very best". I'm not shilling for SWFA-SS scopes here I'm just telling you what is in my experience a good scope based on their recommendation to me by members on this website. Are USO, N/F, S/B, and Leupold good scopes? damn right they are!! They are very good scopes for very serious riflemen; the question you have to ask yourself is: "...How serious am I????...." What is Long Range?, don't want to hear any crap about tight groups at "100000000000 yards in the electronic rumorsphere" here. In the wood lots of New England a 200 yard shot is a "Long Range" shot, and you damned well better be on it, because you're only going to get one. Settle on .308Win. to get a good start; learn it and beware of "Experts". Everybody's got an opinion; some are good and well informed and some really stink. Put in two combat tours in VietNam, and there might have been not more than a ?regiment? [total number] of snipers and damned if I didn't meet all 50,000 of'em back in New England and Florida 30 years later. Good luck on your start up and have a ball. ---Anchor's Aweigh/SemperFi, Chief Bull---
