lookiign for a long range handi

[buckslayer]

i'm looking for a handi-rifle to PRACTICE long rang shooting for FUTURE hunting AFTER i can stay inside 6'' at 400 yds(my max range for HUNTING DEER). i want the stainless handi and think the the .270 would be best. the hornady light mag ammo loaded w/ the btsp(boat tailed soft point). the btsp still has 1680 ft/lbs and 2500 fps. do you think the .270 would be good enough for long range??? i would top it w/ a bushnell elite 4200 2.5-10x50 or a 4200 4-16x40. what one would one would do best? thanks for any info
later buckslayer :wink:

[Ditchdigger]

For my long range shooting at 300 yds. I use a rifle that will group .7" at 100 yds.   400 yds would call for .5" at 100. My 500 yd. gun groups .3 anytime and .2" sometimes.  The 400 yd. shot at game would under perfect conditions group 2" but throw in a little case of jitters,wind,and not quite perfect rest and you've got a 6"  to 12" group. The chance's of you getting a .5" barrel on a Handi with factory ammo is about 5 to 10%. if you're lucky. A 1" gun would be about 25% and a 1.5" would be about 75%.  Just my 2 cent's worth.  Digger

[mitchell]

buckslayer if you going to do that then what you really need to do is stay with your 280rem and take up reloading your gona need good ammo and lots of it . or one other option is ,if you don't want to reload, go buy a 308 survivor (the one with the bull barrel) and buy some match loads for it . either of those options with a good high power glass (just my humble opinion) will give you plenty of gun to learn on.

you also might want to get a 1022 or something like that and play with it out about 75 yards or so you get your forum down, thats what my shooting instructors told me to do (one was a good bench rest and varmint guy, the other a marine sniper in vietnam) play around with them until you get that one whole group or knock over and army man every time . one other thing thats good about the 1022 idea is you can get a whole lot of good ammo for very little which means more time shooting instead of more time wanting to shoot caz you don't got the money to buy ammo.

[Ditchdigger]

If you've got a 280 it will probably be faster than the 270 with the light mag. The light mag stuff is usually slower than the adv. velocity.  150 gr. corlokts average 2975fps. in my 280 26" barrel. I'm not sure but I think the 270 has a 22" tube on it.  As far as scopes go, I use the $129 Bushnell Banner 6X18x50 on my 223 and it works very well in low light. Digger

[Sourdough]

First Question!  What are you going to be hunting with this long range gun?  I use my 30-06 Handi for wolves at 400 yards, would not want anything lighter.  I use a 165gr boat-tail, or the 125gr Speer TNT.

[handirifle]

First Question! What are you going to be hunting with this long range gun? I use my 30-06 Handi for wolves at 400 yards, would not want anything lighter. I use a 165gr boat-tail, or the 125gr Speer TNT.

I hope this lines up correctly.

Cartridge Type Bullet          Muzzle   100      200     300    400        500
Premier AccuTip 130 ABT        2702   2335   2009  1721    1467    1243
Remington Express 125 PSP    2736   2145   1662   1269   953       706

But this compares the 30-06 125gr BTSP (bottom) with the 270 130gr BTSP  As you can see the 270 fares quite a bit better with the lighter bullets than the '06 when you're talking 400-500yds.

(EDIT) these are ENERGY figures not velocity.  The 270 still has 500fps over the '06 at 500yds.

The 165 gr '06 does slightly better than the 270 but not much.  Point is there are many rounds suitable that are "lighter" than the '06, at least as far as a wolf goes.

[Ditchdigger]

Most of the 125 gr. loads for a 30 06 range around 3200 fps. My 150 gr. handloads with 60 grs. of IMR 4350 will do 3005 fps. Both of the loads mentioned seem very low.  Digger

[handirifle]

DD
Those loads were directly from remingtons ballistics charts of their factory ammo.

I have no doubt your handloads could be hotter.  All I can figure is that these may be reduced recoil loads.

[Sourdough]

Ya know, I used to try and decypher all the ballistics information.  Now I shoot what experience has taught me works.  Only two things matter.  1. Hitting the target, no matter what the range.  2. Proper performance of the bullet after hitting the target.  

I own and shoot guns for almost every standard cartridge made, and a few that arn't.  But when I go out in the winter where the shots can be from 10 to 500 yards, and nothing bigger than a Caribou, I carry an 06.  Usually my Handi.