Quote Originally Posted by Former11B View Post
If you're looking to go past 1000 yards with precision, you're going to have to load hotter .243. You will need all the energy you can get at those ranges.

Ever thought about .30-06? Or is that what you meant by not going "bigger".... in terms of caliber
I wouldn't be opposed to a .30-06 provided it will get to the ranges I am hoping for. When I say 'bigger' I am talking more like .338 or something like that. Basically I am looking for something that is reasonable cost to shoot. Things like brass that costs $1 per case or something 'exotic' kind of makes me hesitate. Even if you look at 6.5 CM, how many companies are even making that kind of brass? If I go with 6.5x47 ... same thing... or 6mm Creedmoor... On paper a .243 is on balance a good overall cartridge for my purposes but I could be totally wrong...

The downside is of course barrel life...

But look at this...



1400 yards with a .243. Seems alright to me. The same guy shot the gun out way past that. I am pretty sure there are other cartridges that can get to those ranges...



Quote Originally Posted by Slippers View Post
If you are shooting competition, by all means, go for a 6-6.5mm cartridge. Otherwise you might consider that you can easily reach past 1000 with .308, which wears out barrels about 1/4 as fast and has a ton of ammo availability, along with reloading components. Yeah, .308 is not nearly as good at long distance, but learning to deal with this should make you a much better shooter when you do transition to 6-6.5mm.
Oh you have no idea how much I have been considering a .308. I have personally shot to 1000 yards with one. I have been extremely tempted to build an AR10 but a bolt gun would work as well. So far I've held off on building a .308 based on you guys recommendations. Also I am not sure but I have heard loading heavy bullets (175+) to magazine length is going to be a challenge.

What I am talking about has a total of ZERO tactical use. It is nothing but 100% fun. So on that front I guess I can look at it in a couple of different ways.

I can sit there and bang on a 1000 yard plate all afternoon with the right .308 gun and reload. I can practice reading wind which is in my opinion a HUGE skill to have. On the other hand I can just go straight into a gun that I can grow into. I can still practice reading wind no matter what I choose to shoot, but at the same time I can have a gun that will give me other challenges. Even if I have to go through a couple of barrels it's still cheaper than building or buying an entirely second new gun.

Up the road I might come into a lot of money but for now if I am going to drop 3 or 4 thousand bucks on a rifle, optic, etc etc...I am thinking I might should just choose carefully.

I don't want to come off as being cheap, I just want to choose wisely. Whether or not a .308 will float my boat for just plain old target shooting out 1000 yards or beyond... I just kind of have to suck it up and go with something that I think will make me happy and will challenge me a lot. All of these cartridges have something good about them. I just have to pick something and go with it.