1000 yard steel fun on a budget - what rifle/cal combo?

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Anybody have any thoughts or experience with the Ruger Hawkeye FTW, especially in the .260 Rem? Now that's a long range rifle isn't it?
 
Go 308 IF you want to become a better shooter. Go creedmoor or 243if you want to score more hits.
As for rifle choice, out of all the choices listed, I would choose anything but the Remington. I would personally choose the American as all of them that I have had were very accurate right out of the box.
As for 260, Remington majorly screwed up a potentially great medium game cartridge by pairing it with the wrong twist rate. The cartridge itself is ballisticly almost identical to the 6.5 Creed but because of the slow twist rate in factory 260 guns, you can't shoot heavy for caliber bullets. That makes the 260 I mostly a varmint caliber.
Now a custom barrel in 260 with a much faster twist would be awesome for a long-range gun.
 
mpd61 said:
Anybody have any thoughts or experience with the Ruger Hawkeye FTW, especially in the .260 Rem? Now that's a long range rifle isn't it?
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Not really. It’s a Ruger M77 MkII Hawkeye - a huge, heavy, CRF claw extractor action. Nothing really “precision” about them.
 
peacebutready said:
The Ruger American series are substantially better than the Axis?
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Imo they are cleaner, and short actions are actually short actions.

Varminterror said:
Not mechanically, but in retained resale value, yes.
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I agree, except on the one point. The axis bolt handles tend to hit low ocular bells on either low mounted scopes, or scopes with big bells.

a quibbling point imo because they do work, but the Axis mags are not as nice as the ruger mags. Now that the short action rugers get AICS mags id give that to the ruger as well.
 
If left in factory form, yes, the AI mag version has a huge leg up. Easy enough to convert anything to a new stock and bottom metal, but at a lot of extra cost. I wouldn’t leave either of them in the factory Tupperware.
 
One followup question, should I consider .300WM or 7mm Rem Mag even though my local dealer does not have ammo marked 'match' for these calibers, but he does have so called premium ammo in .300WM and 7MM mag??

Also, my son now says there is talk of 600 or 700 yd games for his buddies that have .223 or lesser than 1000 yd calibers. It is a run what you brung informal fun shooting so I may try my hand at 600 yds before attempting 1000 yds. but I still want the best bang for the buck whatever I end up with. I have seen a few heavy barrelled 700's and Winchester 70s at local gun shows in .243, 6mm, .264 for about $600
 
For 1,000yrd games, I run a 6mm Creedmoor. Low recoil, low cost, great aerodynamics. A fast twist 243win would do the same thing. The ONLY factory ammo available for 6 Creed is match ammo. A 6.5 creedmoor would be a better choice for a factory ammo shooter.

A 7mm Rem mag or 300 Win mag will cost twice as much to feed, have a ton more recoil, and won’t do anything the 6.5 Creedmoor won’t do except swing the plate more. If you were playing 1600yrd games, then the magnums almost make sense, but there are better options for ELR than either of these. You won’t hit any more targets than the other guys at 1000 with a 7RM or 300WM, but you WILL quit shooting earlier because of excessive recoil, and will spend more doing it. If you don’t need to kill something on the other end, you don’t need to run that much horsepower.

For a 600yrds game, using factory ammo, I’d run the 6.5 Creedmoor if I wanted to win, a 6.5 grendel if I wanted to play, and a 223/5.56 if I just wanted to show up. The 223/5.56 will hold its own, but it takes a very specialized load and a great shooter to be effective against a fast 6 or 6.5mm. The Grendel chambered CZ might be a fun option if an AR doesn’t float your boat. For 1,000yrd game on factory ammo, I’d shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor.
 
Varminterror said:
For 1,000yrd games, I run a 6mm Creedmoor. Low recoil, low cost, great aerodynamics. A fast twist 243win would do the same thing. The ONLY factory ammo available for 6 Creed is match ammo. A 6.5 creedmoor would be a better choice for a factory ammo shooter.

A 7mm Rem mag or 300 Win mag will cost twice as much to feed, have a ton more recoil, and won’t do anything the 6.5 Creedmoor won’t do except swing the plate more. If you were playing 1600yrd games, then the magnums almost make sense, but there are better options for ELR than either of these. You won’t hit any more targets than the other guys at 1000 with a 7RM or 300WM, but you WILL quit shooting earlier because of excessive recoil, and will spend more doing it. If you don’t need to kill something on the other end, you don’t need to run that much horsepower.

For a 600yrds game, using factory ammo, I’d run the 6.5 Creedmoor if I wanted to win, a 6.5 grendel if I wanted to play, and a 223/5.56 if I just wanted to show up. The 223/5.56 will hold its own, but it takes a very specialized load and a great shooter to be effective against a fast 6 or 6.5mm. The Grendel chambered CZ might be a fun option if an AR doesn’t float your boat. For 1,000yrd game on factory ammo, I’d shoot a 6.5 Creedmoor.
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+1 all around

For what you're wanting to do OP, leave the .308s, .223s and Magnums, etc. on the shelf and get a fast twist 6mm or 6.5mm that you can find heavy bullet match ammo for.

I'd add that in the price range you seem to be looking at, I'd recommend topping whatever rifle you get with an SWFA SS Mil/Mil in 10x or 12x. I really don't think an equally reliable scope for turret twisting type shooting can be had for any less. Additionally, SWFA rings are pretty cheap and work well.
 
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+2 to Varminterror's reply to your last question.

I would not want to shoot one of my magnum rifles in any type of competition; they are strictly hunting rifles. If given the opportunity for informal competition from 600-1000 yards, I'd pull my .243AI or one of my .260 Remingtons. Absolutely no need for magnum recoil to ring steel at that distance. 6.5 Creedmoor is still likely the "best bang for the buck" with factory loaded ammo.

I also agree with Gtscotty's suggestion re: SWFA. I prefer the MOA Quad to their Mil Quad, but either will work very well.
 
Varminterror said:
Not really. It’s a Ruger M77 MkII Hawkeye - a huge, heavy, CRF claw extractor action. Nothing really “precision” about them.
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"Precision" is your choice of wording. I was just wondering if a laminated stock, medium-heavy, 24" barreled, bolt rifle in .260 could be a long range gun.:uhoh:
 
mpd61 said:
"Precision" is your choice of wording. I was just wondering if a laminated stock, medium-heavy, 24" barreled, bolt rifle in .260 could be a long range gun.
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Long range or precision, either way, reaching out and hitting something...

For the money, putting my undying love for the M77 MkII actions aside, there are much, much better options. I’d expect it to be a .8-1.5moa rifle with the right ammo, but I’d expect better of any Savage 10/12, Ruger American, or 700 in the price class.
 
socalbeachbum said:
One followup question, should I consider .300WM or 7mm Rem Mag even though my local dealer does not have ammo marked 'match' for these calibers, but he does have so called premium ammo in .300WM and 7MM mag??

Also, my son now says there is talk of 600 or 700 yd games for his buddies that have .223 or lesser than 1000 yd calibers. It is a run what you brung informal fun shooting so I may try my hand at 600 yds before attempting 1000 yds. but I still want the best bang for the buck whatever I end up with. I have seen a few heavy barrelled 700's and Winchester 70s at local gun shows in .243, 6mm, .264 for about $600
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When I first got into long rang shooting I thought a 300 wm was the thing to use. It don’t take long to realize a magnum is not much of fun to shoot! They eat a lot of material and give me a headache if i shoot more than 20-30 rounds. You can get almost exact ballistics with a 6.5 cm.
 
Legionnaire said:
6.5 Creedmoor is your cartridge. I don't own one. I shoot .308, .260 and .243AI, and have a .260AI waiting to be broken in. But I'd still recommend the 6.5 Creedmoor as the best budget entry round for 1,000 yards. I don't think .308 will be much cheaper, as you'll need a 175 grain bullet from a 26-inch barrel to really make it sing, and the inexpensive .308 ammo is generally loaded with a 150-168 grain bullet. The 6.5 CM will get there much more easily, and with less recoil.

As for rifle, I'd probably go with a Ruger American Predator. I would not buy a packaged scope; rather, I'd save up for better glass with a 30mm tube. And down the road a bit, I'd plan to replace the stock and the trigger, but you don't need to do that immediately.

I don't know what your budget is, but I'd give serious consideration to a Bergara B-14 HMR in .6.5 CM. Buy once, cry once.
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Gotta go with this. I have owned 3 Creedmoors and the American Predator was the the most accurate with several different loads. If I was going to get semi-serious and could afford to splurge, the Bergara HMR would get the nod. However you are looking at almost twice the price over the Ruger and decent glass will cost as much as the rifle.

The Predator was fine out to 500yards with a 4X12 Voctex. Need more glass after 500.
 
LoonWulf said:
I agree, except on the one point. The axis bolt handles tend to hit low ocular bells on either low mounted scopes, or scopes with big bells.

a quibbling point imo because they do work, but the Axis mags are not as nice as the ruger mags. Now that the short action rugers get AICS mags id give that to the ruger as well.
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The Ruger American has a 70 degree bolt, IIRC.

The regular production Ruger American rifles in short action have AICS mags now? The R. American had issues with their mags in the past.


Captcurt said:
The Predator was fine out to 500yards with a 4X12 Voctex. Need more glass after 500.
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12X wasn't enough past 500 yards?
 
someone suggested to me that for every 100 feet of distance a nice rule of thumb is 1x for each 100 feet. 100 yds = 3x, 1000 yds = 30x, etc., not sure if that is overkill, but.......
 
socalbeachbum said:
someone suggested to me that for every 100 feet of distance a nice rule of thumb is 1x for each 100 feet. 100 yds = 3x, 1000 yds = 30x, etc., not sure if that is overkill, but.......
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I shoot a 15" plate at 1000 yds with a 14x , I don't have trouble seeing it. No doubt more power is good, but 14x works for me on my 308.
 
mpd61 said:
Exactly my point! LOL!
It's called sarcasm, I can't stand this hyperbole about the 6.5 Skidmoor...........I have two (2) 6.5x55's and NOBODY can convince me this new kid named Creedmoor can do anything better than the original mauser.
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Except feed from standard .308 mag semi auto... Lol , just messing with you.

I see you are in California... do you have limitations on what bullets the ammo can use ?
If you do... then I would certainly go 6.5CM.. and hope your rifle likes a specific bullet.

I would buy a 6.5CM... my experience has been very good with them at up to 1300yds.
Much less wind drift, and that alone increases my hit ratio.
 
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no, in California, no laws I know of relating to bullets, it has more to do with who your local ammo sources are. We can actually import ammo but it has to ship to our dealer of choice now, then that dealer makes the face to face transfer to buyer.
 
Ahh yeah your right, somehow I was thinking we we're talking about the preds....dunno how I missed it when you said regular
 
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