Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Competitive Shooting best target load to use

I am new to this and have been getting some great info from you guys. I have been asking about target rifle questions and have been figuring on getting it in .308 (whichever rifle i decide on) because of most likely hunting with it, eventually.

but if i were to just use it to target shoot and hopefully compete in leagues/events around here, and on Long Island 200 yds is the max distance around here. What is the best round/load to use???

Say I were to take hunting out of it, just shooting 100 and 200 yards targets. what round and grain bullet is best?

thanks

155 and 168 are never bad choices for 200 yards and less.

If it were me, and if I reloaded, and 200 was max I'd look hard into a 125ish flat base though. I think Berger may make something along those lines, Flat base are ACCURATE, and 125 gives you not much in the recoil deparrtment.

But as we have mentioned, you damn sure better go see WHAT you can compete in, as you may buy a rifle thats ILLEGAL IE they won't let you compete with.

Its all about knowing WHAT you want before you buy IMHO.

Wife and I went to a couple of highpower matches BEFORE we ever bought. Then were lucky enough that shooters are nice, and offered if we'd come back, to try this gun or that etc.. and for a few matches we did until we decided to buy Springfield M1A rifle for me and an AR for her. And then since there were no heavy AR bullets at that time, she lost bad at 600 yards using 69s, someone gave her an M14 for a few months, and ammo... and boom our second springfield was on the way...

Had we bought a bolt gun, it likely would have been a brand not best, and then not suitable at all for service rifle, but even with match rifle there would have been a LOT of things wrong with just buying a bolt gun off the shelf.... stock, stripper clips, barrel twist etc.... ability to mount sights instead of scope and I can go on and on.

Again, figure what you are going to do FIRST, then move to gun. After gun worry about ammo.

great point, i will contact my local clubs to find out what your compete in.

IF there is a class open to any caliber, what is the best, most consistent round to use. I hear some shoot flatter then others and i assume some are better at 100 to 200 yards and others are good/better at 300+..
what round is best out of a bolt actions at 100 and 200 yards?

Scroll down to the rifle section. NRA competitive rifle programs. Give your location and what you want to do.

New Jersey has some good shoots as well.

http://competitions.nra.org/directory-contact-information.aspx

Good advice as stated before on this thread and his other thread.

OK, here's my take based on info posted.

100/200 yard shooting--- . I shot highpower silhouette for years with guys shooting deer rifles because they could not afford better equipment that outshot the designated silhouette guns and that's shooting standing out to 500 meters.====== buy an accurate hunting rifle

Jarhead88 does not reload so ammo at this point so factory ammo is his only option.===== buy an accurate hunting rifle and enjoy formal or informal target shooting. Not many limiting factors on a hunting rifle shooter and he is on Long Island, NY.

J88 has little/zero experience in formal target shooting and he stated that he would like to go hunting at some point and a designated target gun ain't much fun to lug around in the woods.====== Buy a hunting rifle and he can enjoy target shooting with it.

Limited funds and being stuck with a designated target gun that has to be fed $$$$$$ target ammo.===== Buy a hunting gun.

I see him starting out with a hunting rifle that he can target shoot with .

Denny.

hahahha point well taken... so what hunting rifle do you suggest? and I guess I shouldn't go with the varmint rifles as most are heavy barrels correct? Dicks has that rem 700 ADL SS. does that look like a good rifle? what does stainless steel do for me besides no rust, anything? or on the rem website there is a SPS wood tech that looked nice.
Ok, so what caliber? is my original .308 a good choice?
What about stocks, do I go with synthetic or wood?
thanks for all the help

308 is fine. Buy a used 700BDL in excellent condition and you will have a gun for life. Easy to find. Be patient.

Savage is a strong number two choice but there's about umpteen billion aftermarket parts & accessories out there for the 700.

Kinda like building a Harley.

It all boils down to your comfort zone and what you want to do.

Denny.

Used Rem 700 ADL might be even cheaper, no need for the BDL part for uses.

And you are right, that might well be the best way to go. Shoot decently, have ok triggers.

Don't worry about bullet drop, you are worried about wind. I use my 308 to take game out to just over 700 yards so far. I cna range the distance and dial that in, what you want is something a bit more resistant to wind.

308 is as solid as they come for all around use IMHO.

I did look at the 700ADL... is the stock the same? it felt different then the SPS. like cheaper

I would like to buy something new though

Same ... Cheap stocks. Metal is the same. I use an sps varmint in a stocky's stock as my WTF rifle (white trash F-class rifle). Shoots well, but F-class isn't what I'm drawn too. I plan on competing this year, so we'll see what happens.

Still think you should shoot that AR in different events (even if its not legal). Most organizations will let you shoot to learn, you won't be in the prize pool.

[quote=avagadro]Same ... Cheap stocks. Metal is the same. I use an sps varmint in a stocky's stock as my WTF rifle (white trash F-class rifle). Shoots well, but F-class isn't what I'm drawn too. I plan on competing this year, so we'll see what happens.

Still think you should shoot that AR in different events (even if its not legal). Most organizations will let you shoot to learn, you won't be in the prize pool.[/quote

OK, so the action, trigger, barrel are all the same just a cheap stock? which is fine i guess, then I can just replace the stock with an aftermarket when i save up... that's what i will go with then.

would you go with the 700 ADL SS or the 700 varmint that dicks has? and is the stainless steel barrel any better?
if it's mainly for target shooting am i better off with the varmint because of the heavy barrel?

I wouldn't sweat the SS vs CM. If just punching paper off of bags or bipod the varmint model is good and will provide much enjoyment.

very cool... would you go with the Remington or savage... both look good.

I went with the M700 because there were no heavy Savages in .308 local. I've always had good luck with the M700, but know of too many good shooting savages not to buy one.

Bottom line is all rifle purchases can be (or are) a crap shoot, you pay your money, you roll your dice and take a chance.

Only other reason to go savage is you COULD rebarrel on your own if you ever wanted/needed too.

Doing a 700 requires more tools typically than most of us have access to or can afford.

Buy a 700 with a wood stock, skip the expense of an aftermarket stock and put the $$$$$$$ you saved into a good bedding job if the barrel shoots.

Denny.

Thats what I was after when I said used ADL, with the old wood stocks. Great triggers, good barrels and very workable wood stocks...The old ADLs were great guns generally.

I've been hammering about getting an older 700 but I think he's got his mind set on a new gun. He will be $$$$$ ahead and happier in the long run buying a quality used gun instead of buying from a shoe salesman at Dick's or Gander Mountain.

Denny.