.308 for a beginner up to 1000yds

[DaveB]

I'm with Laurie on the 1200 TX. We had them as sniper rifles in the 1970s (under the designation C3 and later C3A1) in Canada and they were also in service in the NZ Army through until the mid-1990s. I shot very well with one the CF Small Arms Competition in 1988 (my sniper partner and I came in 7th in Canada) - so nobody can say I am prejudiced against them. They were fine in their day, but they needed TLC to keep them shooting well. Had to be properly bedded and the bedding checked regularly. You may get one cheap, but be prepared to pay for re-barrelling, re-bedding etc. There are better options out there now.

[hepdulwich]

in a similar situation here... interested in the Rem 700 but read about the mis-firing issues. i hope the new ones post 2007 models wont be affected?

[kennyc]

That's a shame, I love mine and when I got the ammo right it'll shoot to below 0.5MOA . . .

Howa.jpg

And that was with the original bendy Hogue stock. Mine's now in a Boyds thumbhole and I think it's a cracker.

Triffid

I have two Howas, the sporter is in a Bell and Calson stock and shoots sub MOA (as indeed it did with the Hogue bendy stock) the range rifle is in a Boyds laminate stock, and to be honest other than zeroing has never been shot at less than 300, at 1000yds it will hold the black, and that is enough for me, I dont have the patience for 1000 precision razz I much prefer to wind people up by sahooting my K31 with its battle sights at 1000, that way I feel I have achieved something when I hit a bull, rather than "bought it"
in my opinion the Howas are vastly underated as "shooting rifles" no they don't come as finely finished as some of the competition, no they dont have the vast range of extras that some makes have (although that is changing) but what they do have is a reasonable price point and an ability to outshoot a lot of the owners using them (me included)

[Furiouspilgrim]

My first .308 I bought was a PH T4. Paid £350 for it, including a semi decent-ish scope and target sights. Plenty accurate enough 300-600 yards. 800-1000 gets a bit trickier, but still good enough to embarrass people next to me with 10x more money into their guns.

My second .308 is a Remy 700 20”. Fair few mods on it, and just in the final stages of load development, but I’ve got it down to sub 0.5 MOA. Haven’t stretched it’s legs out to 1k yards yet but the maths on the loads I’m using suggest it’ll do well.

Don’t get too hung up on shooting a particular distance. Whatever gun you buy, you’ll always want to change something on it. Buy a gun, shoot it lots, enjoy it.

[edcm]

Pulls up chair and opens popcorn.

My thoughts exactly

so here's my go for £1000

I have a Bergara HMR in 308. It has a 20 inch barrel 1 in 10 twist ( but are available in 24 inch) so will be able to stabilize heavier Long range target ammo

It has a non-bendy stock which has an adjustable cheek piece and adjustable length of pull.

It is very closely based on the R700 but with a superior build quality, and a Sako style extractor

There are thousands of accessories available. (If you want a 20MOA rail etc. just order a Rem SA version.)

The trigger is more than acceptable ( mine came out of the box at 2lb)

The only issue I have found is that it it does not like feeding longer ammo from the magazine so I single load this.


Eddie

[BamBam]

If I didn't already have my Remy 700, I'd go with a Bergara of some flavour or other.

[HMR]

I have a Howa 1500 24” Varmint Barrel with a MTC 8-32x60 scope and GRS Berserk stock. I regularly shoot 900-1000 yards. I’ve had no problem with ‘V’ bulls @ 1200 yards a Bisley.