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I shoot competitively quite a lot. I shoot open class bench, stock class bench, and three position metallic silhouette. Will be glad to help you in any way I can. Just a few things to bear in mind, plinking at 300-400 yards is one thing, however once you graduate to 1000 yards and beyond, to be consistently good and competitive, your matches are won and done on the reloading bench.

Consistent ammo is the ticket to success. Powder loads down to the 10th of a grain, and bullet weight just as accurate. Brass trimmed and polished to exact dimensions. It's all very relevant, even matching poder batch numbers to ensure you get the same burn.

Equipment is the second most important thing. For optics, IMHO the March X is hands down the best there is. I use the 8x-80x. I am also a fan of Nightforce optics, neither are cheap but worth the cost to be good.

My Open Class Bench gun is a Shilen Custom, and it shoots like a laser, my preferred long caliber is .338 Lapua, to me nothing is better, especially in timed silhouette competition. You can dial in your 500 yd dope and be good 250-300 yds either side of that easily without re-figuring your dope.


This is the March X looking at 1000 meters taken with my iPhone looking thru the scope. It doesn't get mu better than this. A .25 MOA one click being .125 MOA. Very easily fine tuned. Crystal clear, and fights mirage well.

My Stock Class preference is the Savage 110BA LE, also in .338 Lapua, They come out of the box a nail driver.


AAs I said before the real match is won on the reloading bench, keying on consistency.


I'm a fan or Berger and Barnes Bullets, their tolerances are impeccable.

If you are going to buy box stock ammo, Hornady Custom Match is hard to beat. It's not cheap but it's right. And you get what you pay for. Hornady will custom load anything you want, but you still are taking something someone else has done. A lot of the real enjoyment of shooting happens on the bench.



For NATO Combat Simulation matches I use the DPMS Panther AR-10 .308, that I've tricked out with a Shilen Barrel and Geissele Hi Speed National Match Trigger set, and Magpul furniture.


.308 is a nice intermediate caliber, and works great in NATO matches where you have to shoot NATO calibers. But when you get out around a grand, it's falling off pretty quickly.

From there you just have to burn a lot of brass. Breathing and trigger squeeze is the ticket to being one target all the time. I prefer a light 1.75# trigger. Ed Shilen built me a Wimbleton rifle once that would dial down to 0.5# which is so light, if you shut the bolt to rough it will go off. It had a hydro-shock stock and weighed a ton. Strictly a bench rifle chambered in 7x300 Weatherby Magnum. Extremely flat shooter, but was rough on brass, because of all the necking down. A guy bought it custom dies and all at a match in San Angelo, he wanted it worse than I did.


If you are going to start out box stock, look into the Savage 110 tactical line, they are the best bang for your buck, and USA made, stem to stern. Savage is hard to beat. I'd recommend the .338 Lapua if you are serious about reaching out far, hard to go wrong like that.

300g Bergers OTM hand matched to 0.1g
Lapua Brass, trimmed and polished
92.5g of H1000 pushing 2795 consistently
Winchester LR mag primers

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Equipment is the second most important thing. For optics, IMHO the March X is hands down the best there is. I use the 8x-80x. I am also a fan of Nightforce optics, neither are cheap but worth the cost to be good.

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So, can someone other than this barnes guy confirm that the March X is a really good scope?

Don't know about the scope. I put a Vortex Razor ( 1st generation) on my 338 Lapua.
His load data is real close. (92 gr of H-1000).

I haven't shot it yet, but my builder broke in the barrel , then shot a 2.1" group at 900 yds.

I can't wait!
I can only imagine how much fun it will be setting up and shooting Auodads at distance, not to mention hogs!

Pretty sure it was one of the NV threads regarding clip-on sights.

Man now I wish I had tore into him more about the 338 lapua recommendation to a beginning shooter.

Somebody fill me in. What did this Barnes cat do?

I thought this was going to be about prairie dog hunts.

500 or 1000 yards for prairie dogs is not uncommon in some areas. I understand that some people shoot them from up to a mile away.

Serious question here.

I am a member at the NRA Whittington center gun range in Raton, NM, and they have a very nice 1000 yard range out there. I mostly shoot 500 yards and in with my own rifles (30-06, 25-06), but have seriously enjoyed shooting 1000 yards with a friends rifle (50 bmg). Now I'm wanting to get a better long range rifle for myself, without going all the way to the 50.

So back to the original question of this thread before Mister "so much cooler online" did his thing.

The 2 guns I am looking at are a Savage model 112 magnum target with a 26 inch barrel and a muzzle brake in .338 Lapua magnum.

Or a Savage model 12 F tactical with a 30 inch barrel in 6.5 x 284 Norma. (this one is a little more expensive).

Any recommendations?

Right now the 6.5 Creed is one of the most popular long range platforms - great ballistics with the 6.5 projectiles, and the Creed has a pretty solid production of factory ammo that seems to shoot pretty well.

Generally speaking, when you are shooting those distances you are also reloading, so the factory cost of ammo isn't as big of a factor. Components are still a consideration (mostly brass).

looks to me like you want something flat and fast, and you already have two guns that fit that description that will hit fine at 1000 yards, loaded properly. If you want more of the same, the 338 Lapua makes sense.

If you want a dedicated long range gun that is easy to shoot (light recoil) and has a much better barrel life (useful when you put out 50-100 or more rounds down range each outing) then I would recommend a .260, 6.5 creedmoor, or a 6.5x47 Lapua. Nothing wrong with the 6.5-284, but components are easier to come by for the other 3.

if you do not want to reload, the 6.5 creedmoor is the only one with affordable match ammo available.

If you do reload, components are failry easy to come by, and I prefer Lapua Brass, so the best options are the .260 and 6.5x47.

and the ballistic advantage is maximized with the 139 or 140 grain bullet options.

If I built a long range rig right now it would a 6.5 Creed

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The 2 guns I am looking at are a Savage model 112 magnum target with a 26 inch barrel and a muzzle brake in .338 Lapua magnum.

Or a Savage model 12 F tactical with a 30 inch barrel in 6.5 x 284 Norma. (this one is a little more expensive).

Any recommendations?

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I had a post on the first page before all hell broke loose stating this, and I would definitely recommend the savage in .338, I've now fired 3 of them set up for long range that were all stock with no modifications and they all grouped well under 1 MOA and had great groups at a thousand yards. Definitely one of the less expensive options to get into long range stuff, the guys who owned them loved em and were very happy with the results.

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700's are the old standard that has stood the test of time. It was like the small block Chevy, hasn't changed much over decades, until the later years, and they are all still a hybrid of the OEM, and they are still first come match day. 99% of the finest high end bench and rail guns are built on a polished up 700 action. Not a thing ever wrong with it. My first long gun was a 700 and I still own it today, it's hunted all over the world and fired more rounds thru it then you can fill up a sea can with. It's still a tack driver to this day and it's bone stock, Sears and Roebuck Ted Williams 700 BDL. The scope on it cost more than the rifle.

I personally am not a Weatherby fan and can't stand a Mauser action as for shootability and comfort. I'd just soon carry the 1940 6.5 Jap sniper rifle my pops brought home from the war. I know guys that swear by Weatherby's and won't shoot anything else, that's their preference.

I've become a fan of Savage since they brought in good design engineers and streamlined their design to a good reliable chambering that really makes a good build and friendly on the workbench, to the layman shooter, that likes to tinker on his own stuff.

Just enjoy your stuff, teach your kids everything about them, good and bad. Treat your weapons with respect, and always make sure you move the body across the threshold

Gig'EM

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Was this the last we heard from Barnes himself on TA?