Shot firearms my whole life and I'm finally looking to make the PRS jump

Underaverage

Maximum Effort
Full Member
Minuteman
Mar 14, 2020
236
80
Winchester, VA
Hi everyone,

I'm from the Northern VA area (North of the armpit of NoVA; where there is still rural settings and I can shoot outside without people losing their minds).

This is my first post on Sniper's Hide and I just wanted to introduce myself and disclose that I'm brand spanking new to the PRS world. A buddy of mine has introduced me to the world of precision shooting and I can say that I definitely want to make the jump and get a rifle and setup of my own and start learning the ropes.

My long range experience prior to right now was using bolt-action rifles for hunting purposes. I never really shot more than 300 yards and would always just guesstimate my holds through a standard 1.5-8x rifle scope with a plain crosshair reticle. This past weekend my buddy took me out and showed me the ropes with his 6.5 CM Bergara setup that he has and I was absolutely floored by the amount of math and calculation that went into shooting past 300 yards. I was also floored with how precise he could shoot using his data to dial his scope and make the shot. He made shooting 700 yards look easy.

I guess the real point of this post is just to seek some sage advice from some of the veterans of the PRS world. I own zero equipment for long range shooting, so suggestions on routes to take to get myself a rifle setup as well as any necessary gear would be much appreciated. I don't want to make ill-informed purchases and come to regret it later on.

I should also mention that I am a high school teacher, so the dollar signs need to stay as small as possible since I don't get paid very much (I know that's not very helpful; I've heard that making the initial jump into the PRS world is expensive no matter how you slice it).

Thanks in advance for any advice and help!
 
Welcome.

my advice is show up to a match or two just to watch. Get to know the local shooters and they will get you fixed up.

I’m willing to bet you find someone that will loan you everything you need to shoot a match if your provide your own ammo. That way you can see what you like and what you don’t.

if your shooting factory ammo I suggest either a 6 creed (the hot rod) or the 6.5 creed. The 6 creed is a very popular PRS caliber.

The ORS community is helpful and friendly. Just show up and they will get your sorted out. BEWARE your about to cost yourself $5-$10k...
 
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Welcome.

my advice is show up to a match or two just to watch. Get to know the local shooters and they will get you fixed up.

I’m willing to bet you find someone that will loan you everything you need to shoot a match if your provide your own ammo. That way you can see what you like and what you don’t.

if your shooting factory ammo I suggest either a 6 creed (the hot rod) or the 6.5 creed. The 6 creed is a very popular PRS caliber.

The ORS community is helpful and friendly. Just show up and they will get your sorted out. BEWARE your about to cost yourself $5-$10k...

My hope is to really do my research and get set up with exactly what I want/need out of a rifle the first time so that I don't have to end up spending that much money out of the gate. Hoping to keep everything around $2k for full setup. I'm not in a huge hurry either so I'll be patient and wait for opportunities to come up on here. And I definitely like the advice of showing up to local matches. I live close to Peacemaker National Training Center (they host a lot of big name guys shooting big time matches of all types) so I will definitely head there and see about doing some networking.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Take your budget and double it.

can you do it for$2k? Possible but I don’t think you’ll get reliable performance.

If you donate me the extra $2k I'll double my budget no problem :sneaky: the issue is that I'm a high school teacher in public education. In West Virginia no less (we rank like 48th in the country in how low our salaries are...). I'm on a 2k budget because that's literally all I can afford. I can possibly make it $3k if the government sends out these Coronavirus relief aid checks tho :LOL:
 
So when the bug bites: scratch it! Jump in with the $2k and just get going. I doubt that you will stick with what you start with anyway. You will likely buy and sell your way up the ladder. Any hobby worth doing is going to be “priceless” no matter how you shake it out. I have a $400 Savage bolt gun with a heavy barrel that shoots .25” groups all day long. It’s better than I am. Team that up with a scope with reasonable clarity and some steel rings and go play. My guess is you can find a buyer for whatever you get now and want to sell later. Then you can work on the $4-5k rifle and the $3k scope, ?. I’m not the prs match guy, but I do compete in some long distance comps 8-9 times a year and enjoy the heck out of it. Just go shoot!
 
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I shot my first local match a couple weeks ago. Other than rifle, optic and ammo i didnt really have anything else but guys there were more than willing to share equipment with me and help with recommendations on what to bring to my next shoot.
 
I just wanted to bump and update this thread with my development thus far. Today I purchased a beautiful Bergara HMR barreled action off of the same buddy who is mentioned in the OP of this thread. It actually has the fluted HMR Pro bolt in it, and the barreled action was shipped off to LRI and was blued and trued by them. It's chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor and has a 24" Bergara barrel on it. I have personally witnessed my buddy shooting this rifle out to 700 yards getting sub 1/2 MOA ballistics. He let me have the barreled action for $700 and threw in a hellfire muzzle break for $130.

To say that I'm thrilled with the deal that I got is an understatement. Now that I have the business end of my rifle, I'm in need of a chassis to drop it into and a solid piece of glass to put on top of it. Suggestions are welcome from everyone.

However, I will say that the KRG Bravo chassis in Sako Green has my full attention (if you have one and want rid of it, PLEASE reach out). I'm open to suggestions on glass but the EOTech Vudu scopes look pretty intriguing to me. Again, suggestions on glass are much appreciated!
 
I would look at the Bushnell LRTS 4.5-18x44 that Cameralandny has on sale. CALL them to get the best price (~$750 last I heard). That scope will be nearly impossible to beat for the price and shouldn’t leave you wanting for quite a while.

The KRG bravo is great choice, buy with confidence.
 
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Perfect! Sounds like your off to a good start. The krg is quite popular and hear is excellent! Grayboe makes a pretty nice relatively cheaper stock as well compared to some of the other guys.

it looks like you’ll be shooting factory ammo. A suggestion is to get set up reloading. It can be pricey too but it’s part of the whole precision experience and works out better in the end. Fine tuning a load to shoot for your rifle is like a second hobby and it’s extremely satisfying knowing your making the rifle shoot to the best of your abilities.

bushnell, athlon and vortex is probably where I’d start for a more budget optic. I’m partial to vortex but I know athlon is doing great as well!!
 
There are tons of nice and affordable chassis out there. Look into XLR, KRG, MDT, and Oryx just to name a few. It’s all about the features you’re wanting and the ones you’re willing to sacrifice. And most importantly, budget.
 
As far as optics go, I have to recommend a nice Gen 2 Vortex Viper PST. Figure out if you’re going to shoot MOA or MRAD. I believe MRAD is more popular in the PRS series. But I’m an MOA guy. But definitely spring for a nice FFP scope off the bat, instead of an SFP