Saw a couple boxes of Hornady 'Garand' .30'06 loads, 168 Amax at 2700, on the shelf at Sportsman's today. Seems like that might be a decent way to go. They were about $35/box.
I've shot close to 1000 rounds through my "700 yard" rifle in the past year. That's about $1750 bucks worth of rounds @ $35/box. You could buy a nice reloading set-up, all your components, a 10x Uber-Chicken, and still shoot 1000 rounds for that kind of dough.
You better pray to the God of Skinny Punks that this wind doesn't pick up......
bcraig, Make this easy. Start at the starting point before running down the road of which rifle, scope, stock, sling, shooting pad, bipod, etc... you're going to invest in.
Even if you're not going to reload, look in the back of a couple good reloading books on the tables for BC's (ballistic coefficients). Look at the tables which show drops, velocities, and which BC's have the best of both. Now, look to see how many factory offerings have bullets with these excellent BC's. That would be your best starting point. Don't limit yourself to 7MM or .308 BC's, even though studying those alone will take you several evenings if you're really paying attention.
Once you've digested that homework, see which factory ammo not only runs those bullets which lend themselves to the long range shooting you're looking for, but also publish velocities, standard deviations for their loads, and length of barrels these were derived from.
That would be a good starting point for your quest, though it won't be your last if you are serious about this venture.
Good luck with your quest. I'm pretty sure you will find this would be much easier if you reloaded, but you may find a way to accomplish your aims with enough money thrown at factory fodder. As long as every box is exactly the same as the one you deduce your criteria from- not likely.
Bob
Yes I have been looking at Hornady ,Federal Ballistic programs ,comparing different BC and velocities and sight in distances. I have also looked at Several Reloading Manuals I have.
Saw a couple boxes of Hornady 'Garand' .30'06 loads, 168 Amax at 2700, on the shelf at Sportsman's today. Seems like that might be a decent way to go. They were about $35/box.
I've shot close to 1000 rounds through my "700 yard" rifle in the past year. That's about $1750 bucks worth of rounds @ $35/box. You could buy a nice reloading set-up, all your components, a 10x Uber-Chicken, and still shoot 1000 rounds for that kind of dough.
I have an old RCBS Rockchuker press I used to use . Mainly I used it for handgun rounds(mostly 44 Magnum )with Home cast bullets(mainly LBT molds)WFN and paper patched Pure lead bullets for use out of a 10 inch Contender. Mostly figured that since almost all factory loads would put 3 shots at a 100 in an Inch or less out of 25-06,270,30-06 that was good enough for 400 + yard shots so why bother to reload. Heck even a 10 inch 300 Savage barrel that J.D. Jones made for me would do 3 shots into less than an inch with Remington 150 grain factory loads With leupold 4x scope and good rest.
I See that the 30-06 load you mentioned is the same as the 308 load as factory loaded. But some of the Hornady SST Superformance loads really rock ,if the rifle would shoot them well. Of course that load pale to the Hornady Superformance 7mm Rem mag with 3250 fps and a bc of .485 or the 154 with a BC of .525
I havent made up my mind for sure concerning caliber . I will get the Remington 700 in some variant and going to sell a few scopes to get a Mil dot scope of some brand(I have had SWFA and Sightron mentioned to me,so I have to investigate that further. I believe I could use a fixed 10x as a couple of guys have mentioned. Anyway Thanks
Who said, "pick the bullet you want to use, then the case to drive it"? Some smart fella I'm sure.
You gotta pick the weight, construction, diameter, profile (BC), etc for your intended purpose and what you want to accomplish. Then go from there... cartridge, action, twist, stock (for intended purpose), etc. Simple, but it seems that many get married to the cartridge first when it should be the other way around.
Happens quite often with dudes I know locally. Most say, "I want to shoot medium range, and I want a 30-06." Its almost always a 30-06 or 7RM for some reason. I ask, "What boolit?". Awkward pause and blank stare... nothing... no idea. But they gotta have a 30-06!
Craig, go back... you've gotten advice from some very experienced fellas here, some of the most knowledgeable at the 'Fire or anywhere else. And, it seems like you've ticked off all of them!
You said you want to "learn". Well, they were trying to help but you kept saying, "answer my exact question and nothing else!" Not a good way to have people "help" you or "teach" you, is it?
Honestly, you're lucky you got any advice at all. If you're man enough to swallow your pride, shut-up and listen, these dudes will set you straight. And you won't get schit flicked at you unless you say something stoopid, get it?
There has never been a substitute for trigger time and dimpled primers. You could buy all the factory 7mm ammo in your county for less money than Boxer spends in a year on powder alone. That would be a LOT less. I'm not kiddin'. You may not like his style but he has not led anyone astray. Your decisions are yours alone but the advice you've been given is solid.
It was disregarded in all avenues,except for the humor quotient,which is in ALL fairness...offa the [bleep] charts. It is ONLY funny,because you think it isn't. Hang a picture of that POS. I bet she's a real looker and "balances"/"handles" exceptionally well to boot. Laffin'!
Despite your professed "excellence" of the melding,I do enjoy how you cain't get the [bleep] thing sighted in. That some real Dumb [bleep] Don Savage99 schit there! Laffin'!
OEM 1st Gen Ti 7-08,3050fps 120's,Re-15 kiss,308 brass headspaced false shoulder,yada,yada,yada.
3.5-10x Non-A/O and LW's.
MPAJ no less. Just sayin'.
MPAJ'd Buck.
Good talk.
Laffin'!
(Addendum: Because I thought it couldn't get ANY funnier)
It sure as [bleep] did.
That is a Grade AA double throwdown piece of [bleep] schit abortion.