beginners rifle questions

[Jason Wells]

Hello all! New to the site and have a few questions.

I have been wanting to get into long range shooting for many years and am pretty close to doing it now. I have been hunting and shooting since I was a kid but am not super knowledgeable about the inner workings of rifles, especially target/ custom rifles. So I am pretty sure I am going with a factory rifle and really like Remington. My local shop has a 700 target tactical in 308 for around 1500$, and I would plan to spend about that much again in scope, rings, bases, etc. The guy that runs the shop also mentioned Remingtons custom shop and something like the XM3, for ballpark the same money.

I was wondering if anyone out there has any experience with either of these rifles, the XM3 is guaranteed to shot sub-MOA out to 1000yds, that is probably all I would ever want in a rifle, at least for the foreseeable future.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Cascade Precision]

Re: beginners rifle questions

Start here.

Next go here

That ^^^ said, shoot as many guns as possible. Be realistic with your expectations. Listen to advice given here.

Enjoy!

 

[Jason Wells]

Re: beginners rifle questions

ogreshooter, thanks for the help, I appreciate the no BS approach, money and time are to hard to come by to piss it away!

 

[teknikallysekure]

Re: beginners rifle questions

There are a lot of good vendors on this website that will get you a rifle for significantly less that likely matches the quality of that rifle. You can have them shipped to a local FFL and just go pick it up.

You can make upgrades to the rifle as you learn what is worth the money and what isn't reading here, but the important thing is to get shooting.

 

[hyoslvr]

Re: beginners rifle questions

Sub MOA out to a 1000yds?? Buy that basterd it's the most accurate rifle Ive ever seen!!

 

[Jason Wells]

Re: beginners rifle questions

Any more thoughts anyone? For a first rifle- despite limited knowledge should I go with a custom or semi-custom rifle from one of the builders on this site, or go with a "stock" rifle from Remington?

 

[Mike]

Re: beginners rifle questions

If you're unsure or money is tight, I P700, M70 Stealth, or one of another "entry level" rifles will be fine for you. Spend your money on good glass and lots of ammo and practice.

If your budget allows a little more for the rifle there are always good, used options a-plenty here on the Hide.

 

[W54/XM-388]

Re: beginners rifle questions

Here are a few ideas I would suggest:

Your initial stated budget was around $3000 total give or take a bit

I'd suggest you follow Mike's advise above and get one of the entry / midrange rifles, and dump the rest of the money into a really good scope and lots of good target ammo and tons of practice. Then once you have a lot of time behind the trigger and get a feel for what you feel would fit you better, you can either upgrade the existing rifle, or keep it as a spare and get one you really want & move the scope to the new rifle.

I'd probably suggest you look to split the budget more towards less for the first rifle and more for the scope as a really good scope will last you through several rifle changes.


If you have a pretty good amount of funds (as in 3k-4k for the rifle and 2k to 3k for the scope) to sink into it and want to have the best from the get go, Pick up a new or used in very good condition Accuracy International AE Mark II, or a TRG-22 or a GAP rifle, then put a good scope on it either new or used in good conditition, such as a Schmidt & Bender, US Optics, hensoldt or Nightforce.

(My personal pick ould be an AI AE MK II with a S&B 5-25x56 scope, a Tab sling and the Atlas V8 bipod with the AI spigot mount)