Foreword:

We tend to get the same sorts of questions for the same budgets and same scenarios. This is my attempt to codify the good advice I've seen and my own experiences with my own rifles as a long range, non-competitive shooter. These opinions should be largely uncontroversial to the folks who shoot long range.
Prices and ballistics are current as of Mar 12, 2023.
This version has been sanitized for guns to comply with Rule 7.

Additional Reading

/longrange
/SmallGroups
Trollygag's Stats on Barrel Length
Trollygag's Opinion on Picking a Barrel Length
On-Paper Cartridge Comparison
Trollygag's Youtube Channel with some parts review and shooting
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 1000 Yard AR-15
Trollygag's Noob Guide To The Entry-Level Custom, Part 1
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the Entry Level Custom, Part 2
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 6.5 Creedmoor
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 6.5 Grendel
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 308 Winchester pt.1
Comparison between the Athlon Ares ETR, Vortex PST II, and Sightron SIII
Comparison between the Match Pro ED, S-TAC, PST II, Forge
Phildesbois's Ruger Precision Rifle vs Tikka TAC A1 vs Bergara BMP, comparison

Glamour Shots

Super Grendel
Gator Grendel - RIP
One Punch in F/TR dress and in BR dress
Buddy and updated

What you need to know up front

What your budget is.

The budget for the rifle is a start, but a budget for the rifle, optic, and accessories is more ideal. Accessories include:

• Rifle bag or case
• Bipod and/or bag set
• Rails/mounts
• Additional equipment you may need like chronographs or reloading setups

How far you can shoot

This is probably the biggest hurdle to most Americans. Not everyone lives near some place that has enough space and is set up for long range shooting. Pretty frequently we get help questions from people who live in the Northeast where long ranges just aren't that common. It doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of money on a long range shooting rig if your local ranges only go out to 50 yards.
Even at only 100 yards, it is the length of a football field, and you often can't hide one of those easily. Plus there is the NIMBY factor and the danger that most rifle rounds will travel miles before hitting the ground again if they are fired at the wrong angle.
Because of that, long ranges are relatively rare.
What you do have access to can dictate your rifle and cartridge selection.

How much you care about the logistics

What I mean is, how involved do you want to get in the process?
Things like:

• How important is good box match ammo to you? Many long range cartridges are chosen because of the availability of ammo. There are lots of wildcats and special snowflake cartridges (6.5x47L, for example) that lose out to others because of this availability.
• Do you plan to handload? Some cartridges have more, reliable, better load information out there for them than others. Some cartridges have a wider powder selection than others. For example, 6.5 Grendel, 223 Rem, and 308 Win can all use 8208 XBR, a relatively common, premium powder. 6.5 CM really can't. Because of the pressures developed at relatively low volume charges, XBR isn't considered a 'safe' powder in the CM. Varget and some others can be used across all of the cartridges relatively safely.
• Do you plan to stockpile? 6.5CM, for example, really needs a particular powder (H4350) to match the most load data, but this powder is frequently out of stock. It really makes sense to stockpile components, whether it be powder, brass, primers, or bullets, and that can add many hundreds of dollars up front.
• Do you expect Walmart to carry ammo for your rifle? What about Cabelas?

About long range shooting

You don't necessarily need to be familiar with range estimation or how to make a cold bore unknown distance shot factoring in humidity, Coriolis, spin drift, and all sorts of other things...(I sure as hell can't) but you should at least be able to:

1. Shoot a rifle accurately/precisely in the position you will be shooting long range from
2. Know how to arrive at a ballistic solution given your velocity and bullet choice
3. Know how to dial in for elevation and hold off for wind
4. Understand your 'zero', how to arrive at it, how to adjust to it, and have it recorded.
5. Understand the other functions of your optic like parallax adjustment, focus, units of your reticle, units of your turrets, how to convert between them if you need to, and how much elevation you have to work with.
6. Understand the terminology. Understand what a Mil is, what a MOA is, what mirage is, what windage/elevation are, etc.

What makes a good starter long range platform?

There are things that are important for a long range rifle:

1. Comfortable ergos. It can make shooting prone or off a bench for long periods much easier. Part of this is rifle weight. It can be helpful to have a heavy rifle to reduce fatigue over time.
2. The ability to shoot off bracing. This usually means a rigid stock, free floated barrel, so that a bipod or front bags can be used. Ideally, it would have a butt that is shaped either to ride bags or hook into the hand or shoulder. When you are fighting the conditions and the environment, stability and accurate shooting are key.
3. Precision. Not everyone feels strongly about this. Some folks think a 1-1.5 MOA rifle is okay. Personally, I think you should go as precise as you can at close range so that you aren't guessing at what you screwed up at long range. Long range shooting is very difficult to get right consistently. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of learning. Not knowing if you shot a flier or mistaking fliers for bad calls can, IMO, hamper the learning process. I would always prefer to have faith in what I'm shooting on.
4. The ability to zero, make adjustments. There are optics out there that rely more on the reticle than the adjustments, and some people learn on those, but IMO, they are inferior to having a good set of turrets. Good turrets aren't cheap, and it isn't often that a cheap scope has the type of adjustments or the adjustment range for long range shooting. That being said, there are some good options out there for what I would not consider to be outrageous money, and that can get you to any distance you would want to shoot.
5. Capable ballistics. Some folks come from the perspective that you should start with bad ballistics (like 223 Rem) and work your way to something with great ballistics. To me, that is counter-intuitive. It seems like learning to drive on a stick shift, no traction control, no ABS Dodge Viper. IMO, you should give yourself as big of an advantage as you can right out of the gate, and once you've learned the skills, then dabble in something that requires more skill to get shooting well.
6. Ability to handle heat. Rifles can be adversely affected by heat and heat can wear out barrels faster. Heavier profiled barrels can help absorb that heat and dissipate it faster. More heat dissipation means more shooting before you have to break for cooling. It also adds weight, which, as I mentioned before, can be very beneficial. All of the rifles you see me recommend will be heavy barreled.

Expanding on 5, these are the cartridges that I would green light for a beginner to learn on:

• 308 Winchester - High availability of good match quality, tactical type ammo that can reach out to 1000 yards. Federal Gold Medal Match can be had in a 175 gr SMK variant for $1/round or less from Palmetto State Armory. For close range, PMC Bronze at about $0.50/round is great for practicing. For handloading, the 185 Juggernaut, 175 TMK, 155 Palma, and 178 ELD-M are all popular options in this cartridge. Varget, IMR 4064, XBR, H4895, CFE223, BL-C2, Win 748 are all popular powders. Recoil is most stout out of these.
• 6.5 Grendel/6ARC - This is really an option limited to Howa 1500s, CZ 527s, Ruger American Predators, and AR-15s. In the past couple years, availability has gone up. It isn't uncommon to see Hornady Black in gunshop shelves and sometimes even more exotic ammo, like Federal GMB, can be found too. Bulk purchase for $1.50/round for long range shooting, Federal American Eagle or Hornady Gunner for accurate mid-long range, or shoot out to 500+ yards with $0.25/round Wolf steel case. Not anymore. Mild recoil, neat looking, neat shooting cartridge. They are pets of mine. Handloading for this cartridge can be tougher due to availability of load data, die options, and some finickyness with the cartridge, but this is improving all the time and may no longer be true. Typically, 6mm/6.5mm bullets cost as much as 30 cal bullets. Barrel life is longer than any other option on this list.
• 6CM/6.5 Creedmoor - These are the big hot thing for long range. Moderate to high availability of very high quality match ammo, outrageous ballistics compared to the other options in this list. With Hornady American Gunner, you can get high precision 1000 yard ballistics for $0.70/round. S&B also plans to release 6.5CM ammo later this year. For 6.5CM Hornady offers several 147gr, 140gr and 120gr ELD-M options at the $1.40-1.75 price point that are excellent. 6CM, that is a $1.50-1.65/rd 108 ELD-M ammo. There is no super cheap ammo option in this cartridge with entry ammo prices in the $0.85-1 range. Barrel life is also shortest of all of these.
• 223 Rem - This is another option for mid-range shooting, but I would discourage it at very long range if you are shooting box ammo. It goes subsonic at 700-850 yards depending on barrel length and bullet selection, and gets pushed around by the wind a lot. The bullets that are common for ARs are also quite pricey, with match ammo costing as much as 308 Win, 6.5G, or 6.5CM and bullets themselves costing more than the 30 cal Hornady offerings. But in a bolt gun, there are a lot more options for bullets that cost less than the 77gr SMK commonly shot in ARs. Cheap ammo availability is high and there is a wide selection. It, like 6.5G, are great for smaller folks as the recoil is almost negligible. Handloaders can fit very long ogive bullets in the 80-90gr range and extract much better performance from it.

Ammo price comparison - prices are out of date, expect 25% higher prices.
Now, before you get upset that I didn't pick your pet cartridge for the list, realize, there are many cartridges out there that are common or that people love that just aren't good for beginners. 30-06, for example, is a great cartridge with a long history, but is severely lacking in long range match type ammo and therefore does not make the list. For handloaders, it can be great like a 300 Win Mini Mag compared to 308 Win. Same goes for many other cartridges on paper like 7mm-08 or 243 Win. They all have faults on the cost or logistics side that makes them less than ideal options.
For a little further shooting, look into the 6.5PRC, 7PRC, and 300PRC.

Optics

There are too many optic choices to go through so I am going to focus on a few at a few price points and use them for the templated build. You may feel that there are better optic choices out there at a price point, but I haven't been able to handle or shoot on all of them and therefore, I do not include them.
I am going to list fixed, SFP, and FFP models. I do not feel I have gained anything from paying more for FFP scopes vs the SFP versions or the fixed scopes. With the type of shooting I am doing, I typically shoot at measurement magnification.

• $300 ($210 on sale) - SWFA SS 12x42 MRAD/Mil-Quad. Excellent optic. Rugged, accurate adjustments, no-nonsense, great reticle, good glass. There are lower and higher magnifications available. I suggest you stick to the 12x. It is at the sweet spot for magnification and glass quality. There is a MOA-Quad option as well. If you want that instead, then get it. Back in my day there was only a Mil-Quad and Dot, so I haven't played with the MOA model. There is an HD model that costs a lot more. Stick to the one I gave you. There are vari-powered models. Stick to the one I gave you. Its competitors are the Athalon Argos, Sightron S-TAC, Primary Arms 4-14x, and others.
• $450-500 - Bushnell Match Pro - Solid design entry level optic. Good, robust turrets, readable markings, tactile feel, solid internals, great reticle. Illumination costs $50 more.
• $600 - Vortex PST II 3-15x - Good option for illumination and a hunting/crossover form factor.
• $700 - Bushnell Match Pro ED 5-30x - This is the new current meta for scope under $1500. Better glass and features than the PST II at similar money. It's primary competitor is going to be something like the Ares ETR, with the ETR having a little better CA performance but the Bushnell having better resolution (IMO).
• $2200 - Vortex Razor HD III 6-36x - This optic came out as the 'ZCO Killer' with near alpha tier glass and every feature you could want from a high end tactical optic. It isn't quite that, but at half the price if you know where to buy, it is so close that a higher end $3000+ optic can be really hard to justify.
• $4000 - ZCO 420/527/840 - This is about the entry to the alpha glass. As close to perfect as you can get in optics, and a price to match.

Mounts - I don't believe in over-spending on mounts.

• Base for your rifle - If you get the SWFA option, you won't need a canted rail, but if you get some of the other options, you may want a 20 MOA cant. You might as well get it canted because it costs the same. I buy Warne, EGW, and Weaver and have never had a problem with any of them. $35-50
• Rings - I am a big ol' fanboy of the Burris Signature Zee rings for really cheap rings. They don't mar your scope, lock up well, won't bend your scope tube, and either come with or have the option for inserts that let you put a cant on your scope from the rings to add or in replacement for the canted base. - $50-60. For most of the scopes in the list above and most contours, you want the High rings. For the 40-45mm, on lighter profile barrels, you want the Medium rings. If you pick a scope with a 34mm+ tube, you may need to spend closer to $150 to get a set of rings that will work for you. Seekins Precision, Vortex PM, and Hawkins rings are all popular options.

Plan for that combo to be +$100

But my budget is only a few hundred dollars and I can't shoot at 1000 yards anyways...

If you are only going to be shooting a few hundred yards, [get a Savage Axis II](www.google.com) combo and shoot it to death. You won't have most of the points I make above, but it will shoot and out to 500-600 yards, you won't need a ton of fancy features. Strelok (Not with the state department ban, need to figure out what works here, but you can use shooterscalc in the meantime) can tell you where to hold off based on information you get from the ammo box and ammo selection is wide and relatively cheap. Go shoot.

I saw the title and that sounded like what I wanted!

Template build 1:

• [Ruger American Predator](www.google.com) for $450. Another great choice. Comes in 308 Win, 6.5CM, 223 Rem, and 6.5G. Get the model that has AICS or AR magazine compatibility, not the rotary magazine model. Throw a Bushnell Match Pro on it.
• [Howa Mini Action/1500](www.google.com) - Comes in 308 Win, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 CM, and many other cartridges for around $490, more with fancy paint jobs. Throw an SWFA SS on it.

My budget is a little higher... I was looking at the Ruger Precision Rifle and...

• [Bergara HMR](www.google.com) - $950. They come in 6.5CM and 308 Win, and some others I think. They are very accurate out of the box, almost to the level of the entry level customs that you can read about in the guide above. They come threaded, with good adjustable stocks, DBM systems, and aren't super heavy.
• [Tikka T3x CTR](www.google.com) - $900-950. They come in 6.5CM, 308 Win, blued, and stainless. The actions are really good, the triggers are pretty good too and come with a really high end set trigger option. The barrels are pretty decent. This is a traditional-form-factor competitor to the Bergara HMR and some other rifles and is a great hybrid hiking and target rifle. They come with muzzle threading and DBM, but use proprietary magazines.
• [Howa Bravo](www.google.com) - $1100 in 6.5 Creedmoor. Pick the optic you want, but takes AI mags, good barrels, threaded, and a decent stock with lots of add-ons available.

But my budget is $2000+!

This category, you should be looking at guns that qualify for PRS Production class. This used to be a $2000 limit, then was changed to $2500, and most recently, to $3000.

• [MPA BA PMR](www.google.com)
• [Seekins Havak Bravo](www.google.com)
• [Badrock South Fork](www.google.com) - $2000-2200
• GAP makes one that you really want but can't buy
• [Bergara Premier Competition](www.google.com) - $2750
• [ARC Rifle](www.google.com) - $2500

Rifles in this price point I do not recommend:

• Christensen MPR
• Savage Precision
• DD Delta 5
• Ruger Hawkeye LR

You could also:

1. Dive into the entry-level customs guide at the top
2. Pick a rifle from the previous section and spend more on glass
3. Ask this again in /longrange, check my post history for information about my own builds.

Okay got it... now what?

Go shoot, ya doofus. Don't put long range on a pedestal. Getting good shooting is something that needs to be done with practice, so stop worrying so much about gear and go shoot.

Foreword:

We tend to get the same sorts of questions for the same budgets and same scenarios. This is my attempt to codify the good advice I've seen and my own experiences with my own rifles as a long range, non-competitive shooter. These opinions should be largely uncontroversial to the folks who shoot long range.
Prices and ballistics are current as of Mar 12, 2023.

Additional Reading

/longrange
/SmallGroups
Trollygag's Stats on Barrel Length
Trollygag's Opinion on Picking a Barrel Length
On-Paper Cartridge Comparison
Trollygag's Youtube Channel with some parts review and shooting
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 1000 Yard AR-15
Trollygag's Noob Guide To The Entry-Level Custom, Part 1
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the Entry Level Custom, Part 2
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 6.5 Creedmoor
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 6.5 Grendel
Trollygag's Noob Guide to the 308 Winchester pt.1
Comparison between the Athlon Ares ETR, Vortex PST II, and Sightron SIII
Comparison between the Match Pro ED, S-TAC, PST II, Forge
Phildesbois's Ruger Precision Rifle vs Tikka TAC A1 vs Bergara BMP, comparison

Glamour Shots

Super Grendel
Gator Grendel - RIP
One Punch in F/TR dress and in BR dress
Buddy and updated

What you need to know up front

What your budget is.

The budget for the rifle is a start, but a budget for the rifle, optic, and accessories is more ideal. Accessories include:

• Rifle bag or case
• Bipod and/or bag set
• Rails/mounts
• Additional equipment you may need like chronographs or reloading setups

How far you can shoot

This is probably the biggest hurdle to most Americans. Not everyone lives near some place that has enough space and is set up for long range shooting. Pretty frequently we get help questions from people who live in the Northeast where long ranges just aren't that common. It doesn't make sense to spend a bunch of money on a long range shooting rig if your local ranges only go out to 50 yards.
Even at only 100 yards, it is the length of a football field, and you often can't hide one of those easily. Plus there is the NIMBY factor and the danger that most rifle rounds will travel miles before hitting the ground again if they are fired at the wrong angle.
Because of that, long ranges are relatively rare.
What you do have access to can dictate your rifle and cartridge selection.

How much you care about the logistics

What I mean is, how involved do you want to get in the process?
Things like:

• How important is good box match ammo to you? Many long range cartridges are chosen because of the availability of ammo. There are lots of wildcats and special snowflake cartridges (6.5x47L, for example) that lose out to others because of this availability.
• Do you plan to handload? Some cartridges have more, reliable, better load information out there for them than others. Some cartridges have a wider powder selection than others. For example, 6.5 Grendel, 223 Rem, and 308 Win can all use 8208 XBR, a relatively common, premium powder. 6.5 CM really can't. Because of the pressures developed at relatively low volume charges, XBR isn't considered a 'safe' powder in the CM. Varget and some others can be used across all of the cartridges relatively safely.
• Do you plan to stockpile? 6.5CM, for example, really needs a particular powder (H4350) to match the most load data, but this powder is frequently out of stock. It really makes sense to stockpile components, whether it be powder, brass, primers, or bullets, and that can add many hundreds of dollars up front.
• Do you expect Walmart to carry ammo for your rifle? What about Cabelas?

About long range shooting

You don't necessarily need to be familiar with range estimation or how to make a cold bore unknown distance shot factoring in humidity, Coriolis, spin drift, and all sorts of other things...(I sure as hell can't) but you should at least be able to:

1. Shoot a rifle accurately/precisely in the position you will be shooting long range from
2. Know how to arrive at a ballistic solution given your velocity and bullet choice
3. Know how to dial in for elevation and hold off for wind
4. Understand your 'zero', how to arrive at it, how to adjust to it, and have it recorded.
5. Understand the other functions of your optic like parallax adjustment, focus, units of your reticle, units of your turrets, how to convert between them if you need to, and how much elevation you have to work with.
6. Understand the terminology. Understand what a Mil is, what a MOA is, what mirage is, what windage/elevation are, etc.

What makes a good starter long range platform?

There are things that are important for a long range rifle:

1. Comfortable ergos. It can make shooting prone or off a bench for long periods much easier. Part of this is rifle weight. It can be helpful to have a heavy rifle to reduce fatigue over time.
2. The ability to shoot off bracing. This usually means a rigid stock, free floated barrel, so that a bipod or front bags can be used. Ideally, it would have a butt that is shaped either to ride bags or hook into the hand or shoulder. When you are fighting the conditions and the environment, stability and accurate shooting are key.
3. Precision. Not everyone feels strongly about this. Some folks think a 1-1.5 MOA rifle is okay. Personally, I think you should go as precise as you can at close range so that you aren't guessing at what you screwed up at long range. Long range shooting is very difficult to get right consistently. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of learning. Not knowing if you shot a flier or mistaking fliers for bad calls can, IMO, hamper the learning process. I would always prefer to have faith in what I'm shooting on.
4. The ability to zero, make adjustments. There are optics out there that rely more on the reticle than the adjustments, and some people learn on those, but IMO, they are inferior to having a good set of turrets. Good turrets aren't cheap, and it isn't often that a cheap scope has the type of adjustments or the adjustment range for long range shooting. That being said, there are some good options out there for what I would not consider to be outrageous money, and that can get you to any distance you would want to shoot.
5. Capable ballistics. Some folks come from the perspective that you should start with bad ballistics (like 223 Rem) and work your way to something with great ballistics. To me, that is counter-intuitive. It seems like learning to drive on a stick shift, no traction control, no ABS Dodge Viper. IMO, you should give yourself as big of an advantage as you can right out of the gate, and once you've learned the skills, then dabble in something that requires more skill to get shooting well.
6. Ability to handle heat. Rifles can be adversely affected by heat and heat can wear out barrels faster. Heavier profiled barrels can help absorb that heat and dissipate it faster. More heat dissipation means more shooting before you have to break for cooling. It also adds weight, which, as I mentioned before, can be very beneficial. All of the rifles you see me recommend will be heavy barreled.

Expanding on 5, these are the cartridges that I would green light for a beginner to learn on:

• 308 Winchester - High availability of good match quality, tactical type ammo that can reach out to 1000 yards. Federal Gold Medal Match can be had in a 175 gr SMK variant for $1/round or less from Palmetto State Armory. For close range, PMC Bronze at about $0.50/round is great for practicing. For handloading, the 185 Juggernaut, 175 TMK, 155 Palma, and 178 ELD-M are all popular options in this cartridge. Varget, IMR 4064, XBR, H4895, CFE223, BL-C2, Win 748 are all popular powders. Recoil is most stout out of these.
• 6.5 Grendel/6ARC - This is really an option limited to Howa 1500s, CZ 527s, Ruger American Predators, and AR-15s. In the past couple years, availability has gone up. It isn't uncommon to see Hornady Black in gunshop shelves and sometimes even more exotic ammo, like Federal GMB, can be found too. Bulk purchase for $1.50/round for long range shooting, Federal American Eagle or Hornady Gunner for accurate mid-long range, or shoot out to 500+ yards with $0.25/round Wolf steel case. Not anymore. Mild recoil, neat looking, neat shooting cartridge. They are pets of mine. Handloading for this cartridge can be tougher due to availability of load data, die options, and some finickyness with the cartridge, but this is improving all the time and may no longer be true. Typically, 6mm/6.5mm bullets cost as much as 30 cal bullets. Barrel life is longer than any other option on this list.
• 6CM/6.5 Creedmoor - These are the big hot thing for long range. Moderate to high availability of very high quality match ammo, outrageous ballistics compared to the other options in this list. With Hornady American Gunner, you can get high precision 1000 yard ballistics for $0.70/round. S&B also plans to release 6.5CM ammo later this year. For 6.5CM Hornady offers several 147gr, 140gr and 120gr ELD-M options at the $1.40-1.75 price point that are excellent. 6CM, that is a $1.50-1.65/rd 108 ELD-M ammo. There is no super cheap ammo option in this cartridge with entry ammo prices in the $0.85-1 range. Barrel life is also shortest of all of these.
• 223 Rem - This is another option for mid-range shooting, but I would discourage it at very long range if you are shooting box ammo. It goes subsonic at 700-850 yards depending on barrel length and bullet selection, and gets pushed around by the wind a lot. The bullets that are common for ARs are also quite pricey, with match ammo costing as much as 308 Win, 6.5G, or 6.5CM and bullets themselves costing more than the 30 cal Hornady offerings. But in a bolt gun, there are a lot more options for bullets that cost less than the 77gr SMK commonly shot in ARs. Cheap ammo availability is high and there is a wide selection. It, like 6.5G, are great for smaller folks as the recoil is almost negligible. Handloaders can fit very long ogive bullets in the 80-90gr range and extract much better performance from it.

Ammo price comparison - prices are out of date, expect 25% higher prices.
Now, before you get upset that I didn't pick your pet cartridge for the list, realize, there are many cartridges out there that are common or that people love that just aren't good for beginners. 30-06, for example, is a great cartridge with a long history, but is severely lacking in long range match type ammo and therefore does not make the list. For handloaders, it can be great like a 300 Win Mini Mag compared to 308 Win. Same goes for many other cartridges on paper like 7mm-08 or 243 Win. They all have faults on the cost or logistics side that makes them less than ideal options.
For a little further shooting, look into the 6.5PRC, 7PRC, and 300PRC.

Optics

There are too many optic choices to go through so I am going to focus on a few at a few price points and use them for the templated build. You may feel that there are better optic choices out there at a price point, but I haven't been able to handle or shoot on all of them and therefore, I do not include them.
I am going to list fixed, SFP, and FFP models. I do not feel I have gained anything from paying more for FFP scopes vs the SFP versions or the fixed scopes. With the type of shooting I am doing, I typically shoot at measurement magnification.

• $300 ($210 on sale) - SWFA SS 12x42 MRAD/Mil-Quad. Excellent optic. Rugged, accurate adjustments, no-nonsense, great reticle, good glass. There are lower and higher magnifications available. I suggest you stick to the 12x. It is at the sweet spot for magnification and glass quality. There is a MOA-Quad option as well. If you want that instead, then get it. Back in my day there was only a Mil-Quad and Dot, so I haven't played with the MOA model. There is an HD model that costs a lot more. Stick to the one I gave you. There are vari-powered models. Stick to the one I gave you. Its competitors are the Athalon Argos, Sightron S-TAC, Primary Arms 4-14x, and others.
• $450-500 - Bushnell Match Pro - Solid design entry level optic. Good, robust turrets, readable markings, tactile feel, solid internals, great reticle. Illumination costs $50 more.
• $600 - Vortex PST II 3-15x - Good option for illumination and a hunting/crossover form factor.
• $700 - Bushnell Match Pro ED 5-30x - This is the new current meta for scope under $1500. Better glass and features than the PST II at similar money. It's primary competitor is going to be something like the Ares ETR, with the ETR having a little better CA performance but the Bushnell having better resolution (IMO).
• $2200 - Vortex Razor HD III 6-36x - This optic came out as the 'ZCO Killer' with near alpha tier glass and every feature you could want from a high end tactical optic. It isn't quite that, but at half the price if you know where to buy, it is so close that a higher end $3000+ optic can be really hard to justify.
• $4000 - ZCO 420/527/840 - This is about the entry to the alpha glass. As close to perfect as you can get in optics, and a price to match.

Mounts - I don't believe in over-spending on mounts.

• Base for your rifle - If you get the SWFA option, you won't need a canted rail, but if you get some of the other options, you may want a 20 MOA cant. You might as well get it canted because it costs the same. I buy Warne, EGW, and Weaver and have never had a problem with any of them. $35-50
• Rings - I am a big ol' fanboy of the Burris Signature Zee rings for really cheap rings. They don't mar your scope, lock up well, won't bend your scope tube, and either come with or have the option for inserts that let you put a cant on your scope from the rings to add or in replacement for the canted base. - $50-60. For most of the scopes in the list above and most contours, you want the High rings. For the 40-45mm, on lighter profile barrels, you want the Medium rings. If you pick a scope with a 34mm+ tube, you may need to spend closer to $150 to get a set of rings that will work for you. Seekins Precision, Vortex PM, and Hawkins rings are all popular options.

Plan for that combo to be +$100

But my budget is only a few hundred dollars and I can't shoot at 1000 yards anyways...

If you are only going to be shooting a few hundred yards, get a Savage Axis II combo and shoot it to death. You won't have most of the points I make above, but it will shoot and out to 500-600 yards, you won't need a ton of fancy features. Strelok (Not with the state department ban, need to figure out what works here, but you can use shooterscalc in the meantime) can tell you where to hold off based on information you get from the ammo box and ammo selection is wide and relatively cheap. Go shoot.

I saw the title and that sounded like what I wanted!

Template build 1:

• Ruger American Predator for $450. Another great choice. Comes in 308 Win, 6.5CM, 223 Rem, and 6.5G. Get the model that has AICS or AR magazine compatibility, not the rotary magazine model. Throw a Bushnell Match Pro on it.
• Howa Mini Action/1500 - Comes in 308 Win, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 CM, and many other cartridges for around $490, more with fancy paint jobs. Throw an SWFA SS on it.

My budget is a little higher... I was looking at the Ruger Precision Rifle and...

• Bergara HMR - $950. They come in 6.5CM and 308 Win, and some others I think. They are very accurate out of the box, almost to the level of the entry level customs that you can read about in the guide above. They come threaded, with good adjustable stocks, DBM systems, and aren't super heavy.
• Tikka T3x CTR - $900-950. They come in 6.5CM, 308 Win, blued, and stainless. The actions are really good, the triggers are pretty good too and come with a really high end set trigger option. The barrels are pretty decent. This is a traditional-form-factor competitor to the Bergara HMR and some other rifles and is a great hybrid hiking and target rifle. They come with muzzle threading and DBM, but use proprietary magazines.
• Howa Bravo - $1100 in 6.5 Creedmoor. Pick the optic you want, but takes AI mags, good barrels, threaded, and a decent stock with lots of add-ons available.

But my budget is $2000+!

This category, you should be looking at guns that qualify for PRS Production class. This used to be a $2000 limit, then was changed to $2500, and most recently, to $3000.

• MPA BA PMR
• Seekins Havak Bravo
• Badrock South Fork - $2000-2200
• GAP makes one that you really want but can't buy
• Bergara Premier Competition - $2750
• ARC Rifle - $2500

Rifles in this price point I do not recommend:

• Christensen MPR
• Savage Precision
• DD Delta 5
• Ruger Hawkeye LR

You could also:

1. Dive into the entry-level customs guide at the top
2. Pick a rifle from the previous section and spend more on glass
3. Ask this again in /longrange, check my post history for information about my own builds.

Okay got it... now what?

Go shoot, ya doofus. Don't put long range on a pedestal. Getting good shooting is something that needs to be done with practice, so stop worrying so much about gear and go shoot.

Used car damaged by transport truck (nc/fl)
Purchased car from Florida and dealer sent it on transport truck to nc. While unloading it, I believe the transport driver damaged an oil line causing all oil to spill into my driveway. The car is a rare classic car and very expensive to have work done on.
There was no damage to body of car so I signed form that he had. About 5 mins after he left, there was a huge puddle in driveway.
I immediately called dealer who said it wasn’t like that when it left. He sent me pics of the guy loading it and the underside where the leak was showing no damage. The only reasonable thing was that the driver damaged unloading. In the steeet where he unloaded, there was also a large oil puddle too.
Dealer said we need to file with transport companies insurance. He notified them of the Dmage but they deny it.
Cost to repair will likely be around $3000 + tow. The damaged part is $1000 but because the car is a classic, no labor estimates are available on mechanics computer and he has to wait for the one guy in shop who knows these cars to give estimate on Monday.
Advice?

Condition: Excellent
Description: I’m the sole owner of this unit (purchased 2014 direct from Sequentix) and it’s only seen non-smoking home studio use. I’d classify this in near-mint condition but a tiny amount of “rack rash” on sides of unit precludes me from grading this as mint. I have the original power supply, manual, shipping box, etc. I have a custom quilted black cotton dust cover from DigitalDeckCovers that I’ll include as well.
Photo: https://imgur.com/a/kZfaqXc
Price: Asking $2550, shipped insured in the US. Payment via PayPal G&S. If you're available for local pickup I can adjust price accordingly.
No trades.
I haven't traded or sold on Reddit before but I can point to a past history of good transactions on other gear forums.

Items

• Elektron Machinedrum SPS-1UW+ MKII
• Elektron Monomachine SFX-60+ MKII

Condition
Both in excellent condition. There is a small amount of “rack rash” on sides of unit from mounting in desktop stand. These have seen non-smoking home studio use only. I have the original power supplies, manuals, TM-1 (for Machinedrum), and boxes. Some additional notes:

• The Monomachine still has the original plastic film covering on the screen
  
• The Machinedrum is currently wearing a custom “Red” face plate purchased from “DICK MALIBU DESIGN WORKS” back in 2014. I have the original face plate of course, and will include that.
  

Photos
Image available here: https://imgur.com/a/o2R9p2n
Price
Asking $2850 for each unit, shipped insured in the US. Payment via PayPal G&S. If you're available for local pickup I can adjust price accordingly.
No trades.
I haven't traded or sold on Reddit before but I can point to a past history of good transactions on other gear forums.

Community Baptist Church 3306 Polkville Rd Shelby NC Dine in - carry out - 4pm - 7pm
📞: 704--473-4461