Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting Need Long range s/a Varmint thumper help

I am branching out into some long range hunting for crows, chucks, and coyotes. My ranges will be legit shots out to 800 yards with most between 400-600. The gun will be built on a short action 308 bolt face so that is where it must start.

I need help coming up with a caliber and scope. My thoughts were maybe a 6.5 Creedmore, 250 Savage AI, or maybe even a straight 308. As for glass I need something that won't cost more than my house payment and be simple and tough.

Give me some ideas.

hmmm.....fun challenge! you cant go wrong with a .308, but id go with a 1:12 twist barrel to stabilize longer bullets and get the most out of the longer, higher BC bullets. the added advantage is that you are able to easily get .308 where the others are a bit harder to come by. also, .308 is a great round for adaptation and is easy on cases, so reloading is a snap. id like my barrel to be between 24 and 26 inches in order to get the most velocity. 20 is ok but if you are wanted to really wring out the distance, go a little longer.

good glass is the hard part. there are several contenders here, but really it comes down to both your eyes and your wallet. ive made great shots on a (very) cheap BSA "tacticool" scope out to about 800, but I think I got a fluke of a scope too. if you are able, leupold is your first choice if you can get it in the right price. but don't discount burris fullfield II, or bausch and lomb / bushnell elite. the bushnell elites are awesome scopes that wont break the bank. the other big names are likely to be more than your house payment.

I would not go with any nikon, becaue their QC has been a little spotty of late.

on that note, if not building one, look towards a savage. remington is ok but their last few years have had hits and misses, be warned you may want to upgrade your barrel. which for a remmy is a pain. if you ARE building one, savage or stevens is a good start, but you should make great shots right out of the box for one of those. CZ makes a great target model as well, with a double set trigger and a great stock.

your other option, if you REALLY want to have some fun building, is a really tight twist .22-250; 1:8 or so, and you can throw very heavy bullets out to good range with that....it's what ive done with an old mauser m1896, and it shoots stupidly awesome groups at range with a 1:10 barrel and a good, upgraded trigger.

good luck!

Sounds like the perfect place for a 243 AI! I love mine and I think anybody who is looking to shoot LR dogs would appreciate the round very much.

Remington 700 Varmint 243.
Mcmillan or Manners stock.
SWFA SS scope.
105 Amax.

A Remington Varmint SPS in 243 is where I'd be. Might even Ack it as Tanner mentioned; If I sent it off to be improved I'd shorten the barrel to 22-23 inches also.

For a scope, a Leup with Turrets would be a good place to start.

Oh and I'd buy a train load of the 105 Amax.

Dang praire_goat beat me to it...

And +1 to his scope choice.

This is almost exactly what PG described, but mine was in .308.

The blueprint is solid as a nut and would do really well, I believe. I'd absolutely opt for the 243 Varmint.

Seems I remember somebody telling me once that the Rem 700 SPS Varmint in .243 can be made to shoot the 105AM pretty well. They kill stuff, too.

This! The only possible improvement I can see is go with a 1-8" barrel instead of the factory one and AI the sucker as Tanner suggested.

That's the description of something I put together with an A3 stock and SS 10X. Once the dope has been laid out it's almost like cheating.

Forgive the thread hijack, but for the. 243AI guys.... how much over the regular .243 Win are you getting?

As far as velocity goes, I think of it like this: 243 Ackley = 6mm Remington.

Yup

Ah gotcha!

The main benefit is no trimming...

The exact reason I have a .223ai
No trimming is nice, and I am never one to complain about getting a tad more speed. I just wasn't sure how much the bump would yield in the .243

I just got a .243 that I have had for years up running again. I bought it several years ago, and put about 40 rounds through it and put it away to play with other goodies. I sort of rediscovered it in the safe the other day, and started thinking about going AI just for the hell of it.

Caliber...6mm...cartridge....6 Dasher....

Why not a 6mm rem ?

What is the skinny on the scope if I might ask?

I've been very happy with the Vortex Viper PST for the money. The couple that I have owned and played with work, hold zero, track perfectly true, RTZ, and are pretty tough and durable.