long range rifle caliber

[Rockford96]

I know this is a stereo forum but I know theres a lot of gun guys so in a few months ill be looking at getting a rifle for just long range plinking by long range I wanna be able to touch out 500 yards

My question is whats your guys opinion on a caliber I was thinking .308 relatively heavy round and a decent velocity but I've never shot long range so I'm trying to learn more about the ballistics

This is the 7mm mag

Here's the .308

[n8ball2013]

223

308 are the most.common military calibers both reach 500 yards easily

243 is another that will as well.im actually building an ar for about the same purpose now

[Rockford96]

Ya .308 is very common my dad actually picked a ar10 up last night right now its between .308 and 7mm magnum

And ill be getting a bolt action to do it with probably one of savages higher end or a Remington . I'd do a ar but I don't think I'd have the patience with a semi-auto

[Keith77]

what kind of patience do you need for a semi ?.. You get a good working AR that thing will run with no issues. Bolts are cool too.

Edit: My next AR is going to be 308 or 300 blackout. Most likely the 308 tho.

[Rockford96]

The patience to not rapid fire lol

I like the .308 too its easy to get ammo and a great known round but Im thinking 7mm I know the barrel life is less and its more expensive to shoot but id be reloading the 7mm just stands out to me for some reason

[Rockford96]

At a distance the 7mm is better drop wise

[ROLEXrifleman]

500 yards isn't long range

from a ballistic standpoint, the charts your looking at don't lie so peoples opinions shouldn't factor in. It's like math, black and white, everyone can STFU

Any cartridge from .223 and up will get you hits at that range. the questions you have to answer are how much skill do you have to get them and how much time and money do you have to invest to get that skill.

.223 will be the obvious cost and availability winner. Will it get to 500, yes , will it require more skill that some of the other calibers, yes.

.308 is the next choice, better ballistics and availability is there. All the others have pros and cons, the biggest cons are price and availability. you can get .223 and .308 anywhere. Some may argue that .XXX can be blah blah blah. Did you just read what I said? .308 and .223 can be found everywhere cheaper than .XXX

So unless you live next to a specialty shop that can get you anything at cost when you need it .308 and .223 are the way to go

Any of the savage or Remington models will get you where you want to. Shooting out to 500 isn't anything

the question will be do you go cheap ass on the rings base and scope. cause that will make or break you as well.

[Rockford96]

Thanks for the write up Rolex I know 500 isnt very far but that's still a decent reach imo no I won't be cheaping out on the scope or mounts I have all the time in the world to better my skillset and I want to so that's not a problem money ill just have to save ill probably end up with .308 just because availability and its cheaper thanks guys

[Airborne]

Rolex is on it. 500 can seem fucking far to someone who has never tried to shoot that far. Where I live now there isn't much opportunity to shoot out past 300m so 308 is king of the forest. Where I am from you can shoot to the horizon if you want to.lol Now, .308 is big because it's the most popular, I am not saying it's the most capable, but being around FT Bragg, folks get the NATO rounds for a REAL good deal...

...I try to shoot everything I own as far as I can, can get stupid but it's fun

And Rolex nailed it, how well your scope is secured to your rifle is just as important as the caliber, shooting ability, amount of mossy oak you have on etc...

[Rockford96]

Lol I own zero camo shit to many fake rednecks and ya 500 is far to me I've never shot much past 100 yards but I want to learn to.. I think im going with .308 one less caliber id have to buy since we already have a few .308