Should I buy a rifle ?

G

geekay79

Private
Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 1, 2012
11
0
44
Arizona
#1
Well, I want to buy a rifle and am new to it. I did the basic reading, but I havent read it all and honestly I dont think I will ever read it all. I have a couple of 223 rifles which I shoot once in a while. I just have this stupid urge to get into long range shooting. It looks fun and I would like to try it. Mind you, at this point, I havent shot outside of a 100 yards at best. I figured if I buy one now, heck least I will have it when i decide to give it a whirl and should probably get it before I ever have a kid and all that ! So having said that, if I wanted a rifle in 338 lapua, and say I wanna spend around 5k on the rifle and I can get the scope once I get the rifle what would you get ?

Also a friend says to hold off on the rifle and keep reading and order a suppresor first since that takes forever ! Would you all recommend otherwise ? Or what would you say ? Pls dont give me the 'y'all know what I mean' special if y'all know what I mean :)

Thank you all in advance , have a good day
Regards
`g
 
#2
Talk about jumping right in the deep end. 338 is way overkill for someone who has never shot outside 100. You might start researching what distance you will actually be shooting and select a caliber that matches.
 
#4
Also make sure you are going to shoot in a competitive area that allows suppressors , also the suppressor needs to match the caliber if I remember correctly ! Threaded barrel ect. personally would recommend doing a lot more research before anything !
 
#5
underwood760 said:
Also make sure you are going to shoot in a competitive area that allows suppressors , also the suppressor needs to match the caliber if I remember correctly ! Threaded barrel ect. personally would recommend doing a lot more research before anything !
Click to expand...

Yes if you plan to use a can out of state be sure to check the laws. If you live in Az as your profile states you are in a can friendly state. I have plenty of cans here but I don't plan to use them out of state.
 
#6
Before buying a 5k+ setup, Id suggest getting some quality trigger time on your 223 rifles at longer ranges (upgrade if you want). My bet is your current rifles will outshoot you for much less than a custom build. If you decide you still want go big time you will be ahead of the game (everyone needs a good 223). If you flame out, you are not left with thousands of dollars of gear you wont use. A can would be a last piece I would invest in, if you really enjoy shooting you will have plenty of time to upgrade. My 2 cents...
 
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#8
Question: do you hand load ?? If not a .338 Lapua costs a FORTUNE to feed ( is expensive to load for too). If you've got 5k, get a 6.5 creedmor from GAP and shoot Copper Creek or Hornady stuff. If the Hormady ammo is back to where it was in 2012, it can't be beat as far as accuracy. Plus, in Arizona , you'll be able to shoot 1500-1600 yards easy. Just my thoughts...
 
#9
Thank you all for the words of advice.

[MENTION=89282]Donr13[/MENTION] I am from AZ so yayy ! (I really like the state, what can i say!) Hello Donr13, yes I did go off on the deep end eh! Ah well... I just figured it would be nice to have.. which reminds me that is how I wound up with some of my lenses ! I use em rarely but boy it sure makes me grin ear to ear each time I do ! Maybe I should listen to my mother and learn moderation! She would be so proud !

I dont ever plan to shoot competitively (did I spell that right?) but I would like to learn to shoot well [MENTION=98231]underwood760[/MENTION], thank you for your kind suggestions. I should look more into it.

[MENTION=63637]siscoe308[/MENTION], I have a Larue and Knights but you are right, I honestly need more trigger time. I should look into getting some classes first perhaps before I jump into this venture. This way I'm not stuck with $$$ gear I am not using.

[MENTION=21660]Chiller[/MENTION], thank you for your suggestion. I reckon the weather in montana is way better than the 110 heat we have here today ! I will most def look into it should I go that route and if you don't mind, would you be open to it, if I were to message you with any questions I have on what you suggested ?

Thank you all again, I do appreciate all your input and thank you for being kind enough to take the time.

Good day
~g
 
#10
[MENTION=95401]aimsmall[/MENTION] - Sorry I didn't see your reply. I do not hand load (yet ?) Thank you for your suggestion, it is not something I had considered to be honest and is very good advice. I will look into the 6.5 Creedmor too, thank you again.
 
#11
Another way, since you don't know if you will like it, is a Remington 700 or Savage in .308. You can get factory match ammo that will allow you to shoot out to 1000 yards and a bit further.

A LOT less invested in it, and easier to sell if you don't want to keep going.

And not a bad starting point if you stick with it.
 
#12
If any of your .223 rifles are capable of precision I would use them a bunch first. Stretch them out to 500-600 yards and see if you enjoy it. Maybe get a quality scope (even a SWFA SS fixed power 12x). If you're having a blast, I'd look into something in the 6.5mm family (6.5CM or .260 Rem, probably). A .338 Lapua will be a waste of your money, though maybe I should encourage you so I can buy it 6 months from now at a "used-once, comes with two boxes of ammo and 20 empty cases" discount.
 
#14
I could swear I wrote posts thanking everyone for their thoughts and the time they took to reply but it hasn't shown, so let me say it again. Thank you everyone for replying and helping me decide. I appreciate you all taking the time and the effort and it is very kind of you (all) . I will get a better scope and shoot my 223 some more and see how i fare at longer distances and see if I enjoy it before coming back and revisiting the question.
Good day
~g
 
Last edited:
#15
Nope, 338L is not a good plan right now.

If possible try to find out what twist rate your 223 barrels have. If you happen to have a 1 in 9 twist or faster you can shoot heavier bullets which have a higher ballistic coefficient (BC) making them better for longer distances.

The SWFA's are great scopes for the money.
 
#16
I LOVE my 6.5 creedmor but a .223 is FUN. My buddy had a Remington 700 5r with the Bell&Carlson M40 stock. It was RIDICULOUS accurate. I actually took it out to 925 yards with a 69 grain Scenar. AWESOME rifle and then dumbass sold it.
It would group 3" groups at 600 yards. I would have bought it from him in a heart beat if he would ga e told me he was selling it.
 
#17
geekay79 said:
Well, I want to buy a rifle and am new to it. I did the basic reading, but I havent read it all and honestly I dont think I will ever read it all. I have a couple of 223 rifles which I shoot once in a while. I just have this stupid urge to get into long range shooting. It looks fun and I would like to try it. Mind you, at this point, I havent shot outside of a 100 yards at best. I figured if I buy one now, heck least I will have it when i decide to give it a whirl and should probably get it before I ever have a kid and all that ! So having said that, if I wanted a rifle in 338 lapua, and say I wanna spend around 5k on the rifle and I can get the scope once I get the rifle what would you get ?

Also a friend says to hold off on the rifle and keep reading and order a suppresor first since that takes forever ! Would you all recommend otherwise ? Or what would you say ? Pls dont give me the 'y'all know what I mean' special if y'all know what I mean :)

Thank you all in advance , have a good day
Regards
`g
Click to expand...

I see, like usual perhaps, lots of advice given regarding the type of rifle you should get. Nothing wrong with that but I think YOUR question requires a different starting point for an answer. I would begin with the end in mind. What is it that you are interested in? Are you more of a finesse guy interested in ultimate LR accuracy, or more of the tactical guy shooting from different locations/situations, or perhaps you are interested in quantity shooting without much consideration to relative accuracy. (I list those because I have shooting buddies in each category). Then think about what would be your preferred target (it can be a combination of things here); paper target for 600-1000 yards (closer?) steel at distances in excess of 1k (or closer), hunting??? Each of these considerations would be best suited for a different rifles/calibers/platforms. Again, depending on what YOU like, there are many routes to pursue; hence the benchrest, tactical, hunting/varminter etc. I too, was in a similar predicament when I decided to "fall in love" with long range shooting. I had a cheap factory Remington 770 in 243 and shot a bunch of factory ammo @100 yards. Then I decided my goal was ultimate accuracy at 1000 yards. I started going on a tear reading (READING QUALITY INFORMATION/DATA IS YOUR BEST FRIEND) all that I could (there are excellent resources available) and realized I would have to start reloading and identify what caliber I should procure. One thing I truly debated upon was the type of recoil I want in my rifle (again this is correlated to the main application for your rifle). I settled for a 6 mm BR and within a few month a build my own rifle (at this point I only had 6 months of shooting experience thus still a novice) which costed me under $1500 ( I put a Competition NF X 55 magnification on it and I was @$3200). This rifle is an excellent shooter and also there is the pride of doing it myself. For what I do reloading is a must. Just some thoughts to consider.
Also, not even attempting to tell you what YOU should do, I believe a 338 at this time is a bit much. You could have a wonderful rifle, a great scope, all the reloading paraphernalia, powder, bullets and primers acquired for under $5k. As far as the suppressor goes you got some sound advice from people who responded. I would wait on that until I have decided what is the destination of my journey if you wish, I got my rifle, and I 'played' with it for a while.

Best,
 
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#18
All great suggestions,

the 223 will take you out pretty far, but if you really want to enjoy some of the benefits of modern bullets technology find a rifle in 243, 260, 7-08 or even 308. Not that a 223 cant hit way out there, but the higher bc bullets(especially 6 and 6.5) will do much better in the wind.

Close range 223 can end up like shooting pistols. Sprayin and prayin, and mag dumping. Long range is more like golf, time executed precision shots, taking into account all the environmental conditions (range, wind, altitude, temp), in an attempt to put one bullet onto one target the first time.
 
#20
Another Az resident here, welcome to the Hide. I was in almost the same position as you 10+ years ago with the exception I had shot at much longer ranges and had shot many matches with the M1 Garand and subsequently the M1A. That aside I agree with those who recommend starting with a caliber other than the 338 Lapua. If you don't think the 308 is in your future there are other choices in the 260 range and perhaps the 300 Winchester if you desire a 30 caliber weapon. My recommendation would be a TRG 22 in the caliber of you choice. I'd stretch a little more possibly to $6K so you can get a better scope. $5K + the TRG would probably mean a Vortex Viper PST FFP were as $6k might get you into a NightForce NXS. However the are some very good deals on LNIB TRG's with high end scopes in the Rifles For Sale threads on this site.
When I started out I chose the TRG 22 in 308 with a NightForce NXS 8-32X56 scope.
 
#21
You might want to consider getting a used scope here off the optics for sale section. Lower price but for optics like the NIGHTFORCE NXS, Bushnell ERS and XRS , SWFA 5x20 ffp HD, Mark IV LRT , they are so damned tough and top notch that they are still pretty much the same as when they came out of the factory.
Can't say the same for the rifles. IMHO , you've got a bunch of guys in Arizona that seem very willing to help you in your decision making. Maybe you could meet them at the range and see what they are shooting. It'd be a great opportunity to LEARN and also check out their rigs. Even if you aren't able to meet up with the guys from this thread.... Still ... Go the the range. Ask around and LISTEN. I'll bet you my right ear you'll find your self behind a nice rifle shooting 600 or 1,000 yards. More than that I'll bet you you'll be behind SEVERAL nice rifles. People are should be very willing to help you out. If not, shame on them. But like I said , just go to the range... Things will fall into place. Just my 2 cents. :)
 
#22
[MENTION=79345]Pinecone[/MENTION] : I hadn't set my heart on the 338 , after reading about the ammo costs and what not I realize a 308 should probably be my my first caliber since I would need to shoot a lot just to get the hang of things [MENTION=66213]SomeOtherGuy[/MENTION] : Thank you for that excellent advice, I will make it a point to get out and shoot my 556 more. [MENTION=15834]steve123[/MENTION] Thankyou for replying. I really appreciate the advice. [MENTION=88655]Cat64[/MENTION] : Thank you for the detailed reply. It is much appreciated. I will seriously revist the type of shooting I'm interested in and reasses my options from there. Thank you for bringing that up. I had honestly not considered it. [MENTION=50667]roggom[/MENTION] : Thank you for the advice. I will make it a point to go out shooting least once a week and see how I fare.
@AZScorpio: I have not thought of this. I always assumed Ben Avery was the only one out there. I obviously have to do my homework. Do you have a range you recommend ? I live in Central Phoenix and dont mind making a drive out. [MENTION=36133]samnev[/MENTION]: Thank you for the reply. Yes a lot of AZ folks seem to be out here, and thats real sweet. To think I even thought of moving to Chicago ! [MENTION=95401]aimsmall[/MENTION]: Thank you for your advice on the scopes. I figured I would come back with a what scope should I get thread once I figured out the rifle part ! Looking at all the reticles and options has been headache inducing ! Thank you again.
 
#23
Cat64 said:
I see, like usual perhaps, lots of advice given regarding the type of rifle you should get. Nothing wrong with that but I think YOUR question requires a different starting point for an answer. I would begin with the end in mind. What is it that you are interested in? Are you more of a finesse guy interested in ultimate LR accuracy, or more of the tactical guy shooting from different locations/situations, or perhaps you are interested in quantity shooting without much consideration to relative accuracy. (I list those because I have shooting buddies in each category). Then think about what would be your preferred target (it can be a combination of things here); paper target for 600-1000 yards (closer?) steel at distances in excess of 1k (or closer), hunting??? Each of these considerations would be best suited for a different rifles/calibers/platforms. Again, depending on what YOU like, there are many routes to pursue; hence the benchrest, tactical, hunting/varminter etc. I too, was in a similar predicament when I decided to "fall in love" with long range shooting. I had a cheap factory Remington 770 in 243 and shot a bunch of factory ammo @100 yards. Then I decided my goal was ultimate accuracy at 1000 yards. I started going on a tear reading (READING QUALITY INFORMATION/DATA IS YOUR BEST FRIEND) all that I could (there are excellent resources available) and realized I would have to start reloading and identify what caliber I should procure. One thing I truly debated upon was the type of recoil I want in my rifle (again this is correlated to the main application for your rifle). I settled for a 6 mm BR and within a few month a build my own rifle (at this point I only had 6 months of shooting experience thus still a novice) which costed me under $1500 ( I put a Competition NF X 55 magnification on it and I was @$3200). This rifle is an excellent shooter and also there is the pride of doing it myself. For what I do reloading is a must. Just some thoughts to consider.
Also, not even attempting to tell you what YOU should do, I believe a 338 at this time is a bit much. You could have a wonderful rifle, a great scope, all the reloading paraphernalia, powder, bullets and primers acquired for under $5k. As far as the suppressor goes you got some sound advice from people who responded. I would wait on that until I have decided what is the destination of my journey if you wish, I got my rifle, and I 'played' with it for a while.

Best,
Click to expand...

Really good advice there Cat. Learn and mature in what you like then make buying decisions. It will definitely save you frustration and money in the short and long run.
 
#24
Don't rule out a 223 bolt-action as a starter. Ammo is reasonable, you're already familiar with the cartridge, barrel life is excellent, and with the 77grn class of bullets, easily effective to 800+ yds. If budget allows and you go custom, as Chiller suggested, you can always re-barrel it to something else later.
 
#25
I would strongly urge you against purchasing a 338LM as a starting rifle into long range. I don't pull out the 338s unless the ranges exceed what my smaller match calibers can reach to, which is around 1400 yards. A good way to dip your tow in the water is to attend a local match, or find a local group of shooters in your area willing to let you tag along and learn the basics before you purchase a rifle.

Smaller calibers with lower recoil and ammo costs will suit a new LR shooters leaning curve much better.
 
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