New from Phoenix

[TJ Perez]

Hey Everyone,

I am new to the forum and I have been really wanting to get into the sport for awhile now and thought I would get serious and just do it and I thought Snipers Hide would be a great place to start.

I dont have any tactical experience but I have been hunting and shooting guns since I was 7 and know a general amount about shooting and watch and read a lot about shooting to gain as much knowledge about shooting and ballistics and techniques.

I currently have....
Savage 111 Long Range Hunter in 300 win mag with a McMillian A3 sporter stock and a Vortex Viper PST
Savage 111 7MM rem mag an older rifle that was given to me as a gift and just through on a Bell and Carlson medalist stock and a vortex pa 6.5-20x44 on it.
AS well as a Sig Sauer M400 enhanced in 5.56 with a Vortex viper PST 2.5-10x44

I am looking to get into the sport at a reasonable price and was thinking either 260 remington or 6.5 creedmoor not sure. I dont have a lot of extra money to just drop due to getting married and having to budget for that.

Thank you,

TJ

 

[fjrgonzalez]

Hi TJ, I am relatively new to the sport and new to the forum but made a similar decision a few months back. I ended up going with the 6.5 Creedmoor. Both rounds are pretty much the same in terms of ballistics. I chose the Creedmoor. As I am not interested in doing hand-loads the 6.5 was the better choice for me as there is more off the shelf match ammo. Given your current collection, you might even want to consider the 6mm Creedmoor as it is ballistically superior to both rounds. I have added a link to SHLowlight's video comparing the Creedmoor to the 260.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8Qf1mIEY7E

 

[Bakwa]

Welcome.
Both 260rem and 6.5CM are great rounds. 260rem will have more factory hunting options while 6.5CM will have more factory match options as well as be more available in general. If you reload though... 260 might just be the better all around. Real differences are marginal. The Tikka CTR comes in both! Hint, hint.

 

[BearNaked]

Welcome TJ. you have already started out in the mix with a highly debated question. either one will do great and it will depend on what you plan on shooting that will justify which one you should go with. if you only want to shoot factory then 6.5 creedmoor is a better option due to the availability of factory ammo and if you reload then 260 is better. just to give you a better look at what you will get between the 2 rounds. i listed out what Prime ammo gets for velocity (Prime is some of the best factory match grade ammo available) and what i get out of my 260.

https://www.primeammo.com/ammunition/6-5-creedmoor/prime-6-5mm-creedmoor-otm-130gr-match-case.html

6.5 - 2851 fps
260 - 3109 fps

as for the rifle itself, the real question is do you want to buy and use a factory rifle or do you want to build one from specific components? all the main players make good off the shelf shooters so take your pick there. you are looking at spending about $350 to several $1000 depending on your definition of budget rifle means. you can also do like i did and shoot a factory to make sure you like and then start changing parts out as time goes on. that way you start with a good rifle and then make it great over time as the funds allow. if you want to stay on a tight budget then this is the way i would go if i was you. i did it this way and now i have a sweet rifle. HINT: make sure that you look into the accessories for the rifle you choose since you will be changing stuff around. remington 700's have the most accessories but other rifles have a bunch as well. just do your homework.

as for building one, you can buy a savage or remy action $350-600(or use the one from the factory rifle you chose above), get a savage pre-fit or remage barrel with precision nut and lug at www.northlandshooterssupply.com, (this is where i got my barrel and accessorries) all together about $400, then pick between a stock $200-1000 or a chasis $500-1000+, optics range from $100-3K+ but a lot of good stuff around the $500 mark and the $1k mark.

this should get you started or at least some ideas as to what you are looking at. just remember that what ever you build, you are going to have to feed so ammo prices come into play. good luck and enjoy the hide.