I am looking to buy a rifle that I can shoot a mile. Do I need to spend thousands of dollars for rifle and scope, or is there something in a more reasonable price range? Maybe under $1000?
I am just tired of wasting ammo trying to shoot things my Eddystone could hit if I had a scope for it.
18" at a mile? That's mighty hard to do even with a .50bmg. It can be done, but I doubt you're gonna want to lay out that kinda coin. You're talking .50bmg or .416barrett calibers, very expensive rifle, very expensive optics, and very expensive ammo. And lots of practice. Not to mention a place to do this at, firing large caliber bullets that distance isn't something you can do just anywhere. Probably close to $10k. You better have a very fat bankroll, and a very good reason. Unless you've got The History Channel bankrolling your hobby to film a show around you.
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I child-proofed my house, but they still keep getting in!
There is a guy that says he can build them for half that.
The "good reason" is that this is the USA and I choose to.
"that distance isn't something you can do just anywhere"
"And lots of practice."
"Unless you've got The History Channel bankrolling your hobby"
Thanks for your suggestions but no thanks to your condescending attitude.
Find out how good you are at 100yds and work your way up.There is no way on earth you will shoot MOA at 1000yds without investing some serious money,let alone almost twice that far.Even the ammo is going to be very expensive.(first thing is,get serious.500yds is still a long ways.) sam.
There's quite a few folks can't do 18" at a quarter of a mile, then again there are some folks who may be able to do it with an old Eddystone 30-06 (Though I don't know any at the moment) Unfortunately once you start shooting further than 600-1000 yards you start getting into serious money calibres and optics.
Good luck and let us know what you finally come up with.
If you're getting into the hobby of long range shooting you are going to spend a lot of money if you want to get good at it. A 338 packs a lot of punch so you're going to get a pretty sore shoulder when practicing. The cost to feed it is going to set you back a lot also. My advice if you're going to get into long range shooting is buy a bolt action .22 with a nice scope and practice with that. You can learn the basics and you can shoot all day for $20.00 and still have feeling in your arms when you're done. Another site probably more suited for long range is SniperHide.com They have a whole section on starting out in long range shooting. SniperCentral.com has a entry level package for a $1,000
Hey hey, I got an Eddystone at an auction a little over a month ago for 175, put 40 bucks in parts on it, and a 150 dollar Mueller scope. I was able to shoot it almost 600 yards, 588 according to the range finder my group was about 42 inches we were shooting at a 4x4 sheet of particle board and the group was edge to edge but everything was on the board once zeroed in. We had a gusty cross wind spiking at about 25 miles per hour according to our primitive wind sock method of measurement. We have a ton of land and 600 yards was about the longest shot we could manufacture on it because of hills and such. We had to shoot across the lake from sitting in our truck bed to elevate our position so we would strike the berm with misses.
It took us almost 40 rounds to get on paper at that range (basicly slowly moving the the targets back to new ranges 100 yards at a time). with a Muzzle Wear of 2. The bruise on my chest is still somewhat visible lol. I am not a very good shooter as most people on the forum know but I say I found the max range of that gun in its current condition.
By contrast my M1a shot about about 13 inch groups at that range on a less windy day and cost much more and is in much better shape. I guess it doesn't mater how much you spend if the shooter is a bit shakey.
I think the M1a can do much better than it performed in my hands.
If you can find a place that will let you shoot a mile that would be awesome. As far as 1k goes, I imagine that is probably the low end of what you pay for optics at that range not including the gun.
justgoto.... you come for our opinions and then gripe when you get just that? If you know more than us, then why ask us? For a one mile gun, you are going to have to spend a good bit and practice a lot. Just having the gun isn't going to cut it.
What is with people on this sight being so negative?
If you don't know of any rifle or scope that can do this, move on. Sheesh!
Folks here aren't being negative just realistic.
You ask and these folks are giving you various information; you being rude to them in return isn't necessary and shows your immature mental attitude. Perhaps you should just take your ball and go home.
__________________ If ya don't know where I've been and ya don't know where I'm going, your opinions of me don't count.
Those guys in those videos are shooting custom rigs. If you are looking to get into long range shooting, work your way up, even 1000 yds is a LONG ways. But even to hit what you aim at 1000 yds takes $ if you want any consistency and to hit your target first time at 1 mile takes $$.
I would start with either a used Rem 700 action and get it blueprinted and the bolt face trued or get a new Savage match action. Match that with a Lilja, Krieger, or Shilen barrel and a H-S Precision or McMillan stock. Almost forgot the Jewell trigger. Or get a Remtington 700P, replace the trigger and bed the action. All of these options will put you over $1000 and should be able to shoot 1.5 MOA at 1000 yds.
As for scope, that will run you at least another $600, if you want something with any quality. Get something that has at least 60 MOA internal adjustment and get 20 MOA canted scope bases and good rings.
The 338 edge is a good round from what I have heard, being a 300 RUM necked up to 338. It has a little more juice than the 338 RUM, but you will have to reload all your ammo. The .308 win will shoot that far, but you would be lobbing them in. The 300 Win Mag and 300 RUM would be the next step up followed by the big 338's and then followed by stuff that costs $5 per round. Get into reloading your own ammo and shoot high BC bullets the Berger VLDs or the SMK.
Also get a wind meter, you will experience serious wind drift.
LongRangeHunting.com
visit this page for more info on the long range stuff the forums are good and they also have good articles.
Justgoto, people on the site aren't being negative. It's just that your specifications - 1 MOA at 2,000 yards for under $1,000 - are stringent to the point of being mutually exclusive.
2,000 yards is a long, long way. Just to see the target at that range well enough to find the bullseye means you're talking about some really expensive optics. I think only Leupold and Burriss in America make sights good enough to let you find the bull at that distance. The optics alone will put you over budget.
Then you need a really powerful cartridge, loaded with specially tuned bullets, the kind of thing you turn on a lathe to get them perfectly formed and perfectly balanced. And no, I'm not joking about the lathe. Just to reach that far accurately, your bullets have to be aerodynamically perfect. There aren't many rounds that can reach that far with high accuracy. There's the .416 Barrett the Army is playing with for sniper work, and I read about a .480 (also by Barrett, I think) that gives virtually identical performance to the .50 BMG that they are working on in case the anti's manage to get .50 BMG rifles banned, but that's about it. I know that some of the heavy magnum hunting rifles can reach that far with 'minute of deer' accuracy, but that's not the same thing as the 1 MOA accuracy you're after.
The rifles that can take the cartridges I mentioned aren't cheap, even as single-shots. The least expensive I recall is a stripped-down single shot bolt action .50 BMG that Barrett manufactures; that comes in at around $2,000 without optics. So right away, you're over budget.
And to get that 1 MOA performance out of the single-shot Barrett, you would need at the very least to stress-relieve the barrel. There are companies that will do this, but they are not cheap. Stress-relieving involves heating the barreled receiver up to about 400 degrees F. for an hour or two, and then putting it in a freezer and bringing it down to -200 degrees F. or more overnight, then allowing it to warm back to ambient temperature. This removes all the stresses that remain in the metal as a result of manufacturing and in a philosophical sense, merges the receiver and the barrel. But as I said, this costs. The last figure I saw on it was about $350 per unit.
My opinion? It's possible to produce a custom large-caliber rifle that will reliably hit 1 MOA at 2,000 yards or meters; but it's improbable that said rifle could be made within the price range you mentioned. I feel a more realistic price, once you add in the optics required, is in the vicinity of five to seven thousand dollars for the bottom end, and possibly as much as twelve thousand dollars for the high end.
I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but manufacturing costs are manufacturing costs and bullet performance is bullet performance.
Now, if you want to get a rifle that will give you 1 MOA at 1,000 yards for $1,000, that is doable. Not easily, but it is doable.
I don't know how much they are but Savage has some of the best rifles out there. You might find a rifle to shoot that good but can you? I can't and I have shot in comp. (but 22 rifles and 45 handguns and M-60 MGS. ) I was one of 2 to hit an 800 meter target with the M-60.
I have a Mark V Weatherby in .30-.378 Wby mag. I have played with it out to 1,000 and am still not up to the task. Stripped rifle $1,400.00 Leupold bases and rings $70.00, Leupold 3.5-10X40 MK 4 tactical $1,200.00, Harris bipod $70.00. I roll my own so cost is down but factory ammo over $5.00 per round. I have a custom .45-120 that I have custom 270 grain spitzers up to 3,200 fps. The action was $300.00 custom barrel $600.00, furniture $100.00, Nightforce base and unimount $400.00 Nightforce NXS 5.5-22X56mm $1,500.00. As you can see to be CONSISTANT at long ranges you are going to have to invest in a quality rig and some high end glass. Both my long range guns are well over 2K and I don't regret 1 penny. Don't even get me started on the .308's and .22-250 and 5.56/.223's and what I have invested in them. I am seriously looking at the Barrett in both 50 BMG and .416 and the Shytech (spelling) both with the optics and ranging systems each company offers. I saw a Barret semi auto 50 yesterday on sale for $9,500.00 then you have to add rings and glass. I am by far not the most knowledgable on this forum nor the most experienced but my limited experience and experimentation has taught me a thing or 2 as I am sure it has many on here. It is not condisending or negative to tell someone the truth and give advice based on thier experience. I would think they are doing you a favor as some straight info could have saved me allot of time, money and agrivation over the years. I have always been told if you don't think you will like the answer don't ask the question. Good luck on your long range venture and if you decide to go down that path keep us up to date as you progress and maybe I can pick up a trick or two.
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"Go Ahead. Skin That Smoke Wagon and See What Happens Next".
Of course there is always the Supremely Viable 10/22 which can shoot out to 1 mile in the right hands. I believe that J MacDonald is about the only guy on this forum who could manage that though. (Perhaps also maybe Billy on a good day!)
My super friend Billy can do it all,good day or blowing snow below 0.And when he does he posts actual pictures of targets.So,take that you rascally Scotsman. sam.
Location: a secret lab on the shores of lake titicaca
Posts: 23,063
nevermind my super powers.
i forgot to mention .
for this 1 mile shooting dream of yours.
in addition to 1000's of dollars and 1000's of hours practicing.
you need to be a natural born shooter.
can you control your heartbeat?
me either.....
__________________ "I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to."
