.308 @ 500 - 1000 yards

C

chryslertech88

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hey hows it going. I'm interested in buying a .308 that can shoot anywhere from 500 - 1000 yards. my questions are 1. what make .308 should i buy? 2. how long the barrel w/ twist rate 3. after i buy the gun would i have to make any improvments like changing the barrel, and stock? and 4. what type of bullet and how many grains should i use, ( not really planning on reloading) any tips would be great thanks. i'm doing this for target matches btw
 
308 target rifle

savage model 12 precision target rifle comes in 308 cal .30 " barrel ,benchrest stock ,dual port &target trigger . quickest way to get set up and shooting . if you are going to shoot 600 or 1000yd bench rest this would be a good choice .
 
savage model 12 precision target rifle comes in 308 cal .30 " barrel ,benchrest stock ,dual port &target trigger . quickest way to get set up and shooting . if you are going to shoot 600 or 1000yd bench rest this would be a good choice .
My problem with this answer comes from including the words *bench rest*.

I've shot 1,000 yard benchrest for about 13 years now. Occasionally, someone shows up at a match with a .308, because it is what they have. They don't win. Not even in the just-for-fun Factory classes.

Shooting a .308 Winchester in a 1,000 yard match makes sense if you already have one, you are going to a match to see what it is all about, and you figure you might as well shoot.

It does not make sense to go and buy a .308 for the purpose of shooting in a 1,000 yard match.

It may -- or may not -- make sense for other shooting disciplines that shoot at 1,000 yards. Since I only compete in benchrest, I'll reserve my remarks to that sport.

One of the problems we have on BR Central is that people who know little about benchrest answer questions. Sometimes this happens because people interested in the sport ask "newbie" questions. Nothing wrong with that, but quite often, they are the same questions, over & over. The people with experience sometimes stop replying to the same old question, and people with little knowledge fill in the gap.

Back to the original question (& the other post asking about how to augment a Savage .308).

Number one. Go to a match in the discipline you are interested in, be that Benchrest, F-Class, Highpower prone, Tactical, whatever. Talk to people at the match. See what they are doing, get their opinions.

Number two. Do this before making choices and esp. before laying out money.
 
Charles

Well said. I'm one of those who has tired of replying to the same questions over and over again. I see that you are still hanging in there.:cool:

I also see that the original poster has started a new thread with the same question. I guess he didn't like your answer. I thought it was spot on, as they say in OZ.

Ray
 
Carl

That's probably a realistic claim. Maybe Asa can chime in but with the new 155 grain SMK you can probably keep velocities at a reasonable level to 1000 yards and beyond. But, 1 MOA is still 10 inches no matter how you figure it - not something that you or I would find acceptable. But, we're spoiled.;)

Ray
 
Well, they don't say "regardless of the wind." If anybody has a 1,000 yard tunnel, I imagine you could get a .308 to shoot better than 1 MOA out to a 1,000 yards.

* * *

I remember one guy who came to Hawks Ridge & shot a .308 using 168-grain Sierra International Match bullets. Every shot was keyholed. I do believe the group was close to 1 MOA, though, at least, if you could figure out how to measure it.

You don't have to stay supersonic to group well at 1,000 yards. My rule of thumb is nothing good happens to a bullet passing through the transonic region. That's quite different than saying some bad will happen. Sometimes it doesn't.

The problem with the .308 Winchester, even with good bullets and a good barrel, is that someone will have at least as good a barrel and use at least as good bullets, at a significantly higher velocity, and will clean your clock. If you have a one-in-a-million barrel, you might win with a .308. You might also win the lottery.

For a newcommer, the .308 will drive you into questioning just what is wrong. Is it the bullets? The barrel? The load? Your skills? All of the above? Far better to use a customary & proven chambering for the first rifle.
 
The problem with the .308 Winchester, even with good bullets and a good barrel, is that someone will have at least as good a barrel and use at least as good bullets, at a significantly higher velocity, and will clean your clock.
In such a case, the SHOOTER usually matters far more. There are match reports (from highpower) where .308 shooters beat fellow competitors firing higher velocity calibers. Rare? Yes. Still, there are enough instances of this occuring where it can't be dismissed as a fluke.


Ray,

An 18-1/2" barreled .308 isn't what I'd choose to shoot 1000 yards with. On the other hand, an 18+ lb rifle (about what a decked-out M40A3 weighs) isn't what I'd choose to carry in the field either.
 
308

hi guys rifler here in response to 308 for bench yeah you are undergunned at 1000yd. but i believe at 600yd. it will work fine . the gentlemens question as i read it is not which cal. do think i ought to use but what he is going to use. that is 308 win. and can i make it better . my question to you guys is this what have you used for the past 13years at 1000yd ? tech has not said he will shoot 1000yd. comp. he states 500yd. to 1000yd. does not sound like he is settled on any disipline yet, except that he would like to try it with a 308 . the rifler
 
not reloading

chryslertech88 said he was "not really planning on reloading". Bad thinking for anyone interested in B/benchrest shooting.
 
The problem with the .308 Winchester, even with good bullets and a good barrel, is that someone will have at least as good a barrel and use at least as good bullets, at a significantly higher velocity, and will clean your clock. If you have a one-in-a-million barrel, you might win with a .308. You might also win the lottery.
http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63488
http://www.benchrest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63485

Looks like someone won the lottery... :D
 
Looks like someone won the lottery...
Where *somebody* = Jerry Tierney.

As I remember, when Gary Anderson went to his first benchrest match, he borrowed a rifle and set a new record.

Looking at those two pieces of data, you could conclude that the *best* strategy for 1,000 yard competition is not only to shoot .308, but to borrow it.

Some of us more pedestrian types might draw a different conclusion: World-class shooters do things the rest of us can't.

The report said Tierney used his Palma rifle. Wonder if he used iron sights?

* * *

Part of me wants to reverse my stand in this thread. I really would like it if all new shooters -- or for that matter, older ones -- would go and purchase a Savage in .308 Winchester to use in 1,000 yard benchrest competition.
 
ok now

hey hows it going. I'm interested in buying a .308 that can shoot anywhere from 500 - 1000 yards. my questions are 1. what make .308 should i buy? 2. how long the barrel w/ twist rate 3. after i buy the gun would i have to make any improvments like changing the barrel, and stock? and 4. what type of bullet and how many grains should i use, ( not really planning on reloading) any tips would be great thanks. i'm doing this for target matches btw

first things first. he states that he is going to use a 308 and not reload. nowhere in his post does it say benchrest it says target matches. that means shooting paper nothing more. now with the info given and not adding anything to his post i would also go with the savage. also i would go with federal 175 match ammo. i would suggest that he goes to a few matches and decides what type of shooting he wants to do before he locks in on the 308. benchrest, f-class, palma, tatical, or shooting in the back pasture. then and only then can he make an informed decission on what to get and as we all know sometimes that decission is also flawed by the i want it attitude.
 
If you want a factory gun.....

Go with the rem 700 5r and shoot 175 sierra matchkings. You'll be fine if you do your part behind the trigger.

I have one i customized on gunbroker right now if you want to take a look.
 
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