600 yard gun help!!

[hardly]

have been shooting 500 yards on a private range with 22-250 and 223 for several years and am ready to take the next step.  a nearby gun club has monthly 600 yard competitions and i want give it a try.  this gives me a great excuse to get a new gun.  a 6br would be nice, the new savage model 12 f class is afordable but reloading componets are expensive and not always easy to find around here.  that being said i am leaning toward a .308 and have a short list of guns.  They are in order of preference,  tikka varmint, remington vsf, remington 700p, remington vsf or maybe one of the savage heavy barrel models. comments and suggestions are welcome.

[hardly]

never mind, bought a Remington 5R

[sonofafish]

where are you shooting this match at?

[hardly]

Memphis Sport Shooting Assc. north of Memphis near Arlington.

[sonofafish]

I like the rem.vssf in .308, cant go wrong. I shoot a 600yd. clay bird match with it do well with it. That is why I asked where you where shooting.

[hardly]

i have a vssf in 22-250 nice gun

[twmule]

i have a 308 custom bench gun built on a mauser action by the late great bill hadley of glasgow ky

[Anonym]

This might be a little late, but why would you need a larger caliber to shoot 600 yards compared to 500?  I shot for years with our state military team shooting rat grade M-16's (5.56/.223) out to 600 yards without any problems.  Military matches would shoot 62 grain bullets, but if we were hitting NRA matches, we'd shoot an 80 grain (I think) bullet for less wind play.  If your rifle is of decent quality, you should be able to hold MOA at that distance with a .223 just fine.  Keep in mind that this is with standard iron sights on these rifles (peep/post).

Anything beyond that, we shot 7.62/.308 and could effectively shoot them out to 1,000 yards with telescopic sights.  A good spotter could hold you under MOA at that distance without any problems.  This is with the Remington 700-based sniper rifle format.

Try the .223 out at that range.  You might be pleasantly surprised!

[SharonAnne]

Anonym, shooting a new distance is a legitimate REASON, not excuse, to buy a new firearm. Finding a good reason to buy a new firearms is ALWAYS A GOOD THING.

[sixgun_symphony]

 Consider getting an M1 Garand for the CMP matches.

[RMulhern]

Six hundred yards is a 'gimme'....even with aperture sights! I have never cared for the 5.56MM aka .223 round...but it makes a good 'turtle on the log' cartridge! Yeah...I know that the MTU at Benning uses that cartridge because at present it's the Service Rifle round and probably that's why I hate it so much! The IDIOT that caused our military to be 'ham-strung' with it for a Service cartridge should be gored with a hollow horn!! In a 1-7" ROT shooting 80 gr. SMK bullets it does OK....but it's still not my cup of tea!

The .308 Win of course is a great cartridge! It's the official cartridge of the US Palma Team and over the years shooting Palma matches I shot some really good scores using it. In a 1-13" ROT barrel it shoots the 155 gr. Sierra Palma bullet fantastically well and performs 'top-notch' out to 1000 yards.

The most accurate cartridge I've ever fired however is the 6.5x47Lapua! Shooting Lapua brass there's no neck-turning or orther BS required; just stick in a BR-4 primer, seat a 123 gr. SMK and it will shoot fist-sized groups at 1200 yards! How do I know?? Because I have a rifle in that caliber and have done it on a regular basis!! Rifle is on a Rem 700 action with a 1-8.5" ROT Kreiger barrel. The as posted photo shows a 1000 yd. 18 round group I fired recently with this rifle/cartridge in a fairly good breezy but steady condition. I fired two sighter rounds which impacted at the 9 o/clock position of the inner 10 ring plate. The remaining 16..with the exception of one round that I let leak out toward the left side would have made all Xs! The target is the NRA LR Creedmoor target used in Palma competition with an inner plate measuring 20" diameter. Overall bull size is 44".

[darkgael]

Nice shooting, RM! And that was prone with iron sights...is that correct?
The 6.5s are getting a lot more Highpower play as time goes on.
Pete

[RMulhern]

No! That was prone....with a scope! I haven't drilled and tapped this rifle for aperture sights as yet!

[SharonAnne]

RMulhern, the US Palma team chooses the .308 for one reason, it is the ONLY cartridge allowed for Palma.