Try here http://www.snipersparadise.com/sniperchat

Dont call it a sniper rifle or you will be flamed hard! Call it precision shooting.

 

A CW general (forget his name) was walking around in front of his troops. The enemy was a mile away.

Someone said, "General you better stay behind cover."

The general said..."They couldn't hit an elephant......."

 

Uhhh...I can go to my local gun store and buy a brand new one for $595

 

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. . . .

I'd like to see that.

Not doubting your word, but. . . . . o.k., so I'm doubting it.
I happen to know what M1As cost. . . new. . . used. . . worn out.

I can get an M1A/M14 receiver for less than $350. The rest of the parts are what cost money.

I'd love to know where you can get one for less than $600.00.
I'd send him a money order and a copy of an FFL in a heartbeat!

 

BTW Chico is in CA....50cal is illegal here so are several model of rifles that are the afore mentioned tools...I did some work in the 80's and can tell you that a good rifle is heavily modified , thus expensive. If you start out with a 700 it is extemerly unlikely you will end up with a good "sniper" out of the box.

 

http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firear...iew?model=1805

$715 retail. Cheaper through my "contact"

 

ATC Crazy, Ruger makes the Mini-14.


The M14 was an original Springfield Armory service rifle which replaced the M1 Garand, the M1A being the civilian variant with no selective fire feature. Ruger came out with Mini-14 after that, sometime in the 70's I believe. Yes, Mini-14's are much less costly than M1A's!

I own a Mini-14, an M1A National Match and an M21. The Springfields easily outshoot the Mini, and the M21 is just dead nuts accurate.

 

Ah...I stand corrected. I know a few people who own Mini-14's and Mini-30's, and they refer to them as M14's and M30's...so that's where I was mistaken.

I'll stick to my AK47's...they might not be the most accurate...but dammit, I'll look cool!

 

Ruger. . . Springfield Armory. . . They don't even sound the same.
(Just pullin' your chain, ATC!)


As Kepler4 said,


Absolutely spot on, Russ!

I've thought about the Mini-14, but, the accuracy is just not there (on most specimens).

There is a company, I think it's "Accuracy Speaks", down in Texas, that does accuracy work on the Mini.
I read an article several years ago on the process. But. . . by the time that I would have bought the rifle, then spent the time and money to send it off to be worked on, I could spend the $$$ on something that was 'accurate enough', right out of the box.
For me, (in .223 or 5.56 x 45 mm NATO) that was the Colt AR-HBAR.
Mine will shoot sub-MOA out to 300+ yards, IF I do my part.

As for medium bore (.30 cal) the M1A that I have will definitely cluster the shots together. . . all day long.

As Russ said, "the M21 is just dead nuts accurate."

 

I have this scope for my competition Ar-15 (I shoot in 3-gun matches)and I love it. Not using it right now as I switched to iron sights for the time being. With my good eyesight the competition is a little easier to beat in that division for now.

As far as long range rifles go I am saving up for a .50 barret. My thinking is that I would like that and a .308 but if the dems get to outlaw the .50 like they already have in Cali at least I will have that bought already. The .308 will be around longer and I can get one of those anytime after.

 

What about Sharps rifles in the Civil War? do those count? they were used heavily by sharp shooters and then later used by buffalo hunters. cool story follows:

Billy Dixon, for those who haven’t heard the story, was among other things in his life, a buffalo hunter during the heyday of the hide hunting business. It is said that he could keep ten hide skinners employed just to keep up with him. In addition to hunting, he was also well known as a target shooter. While later working for the Army as a civilian scout, he would be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroics at the battle of Buffalo Wallow, but the event that propelled him to fame happened at the second battle of Adobe Walls. Adobe Walls was the remains of an old Spanish mission, that had been occupied for the purpose of supplying the hide hunters in the Texas panhandle. The day of June 27, 1874 found Billy Dixon, 26 other men, and one woman fighting for their lives against a party of Kiowa and Comanche warriors, the number of which is reported to be between 250 and 500 strong, depending upon the account. As the war party was forming for an attack on the people holed up at Adobe Walls, Billy Dixon took a shot at a mounted Kiowa warrior, knocking him off of his horse at a distance that was later confirmed by a surveyor to be 1538 yards, or a full nine-tenths of a mile! Billy never attributed the feat to anything but good luck, but it saved him and his associates from certain death at the hands of the war party. The Indians were so surprised at the power and accuracy of the white man’s rifles that they retreated.

 

I used to use alot of leupold scopes and think they are great but I got a chance to check out a couple nightforce scopes man they make a Leupold look about like a tasco there is no comparison IMHO. But you better have deep pockets but for long range and low light you won't complain trust me.

 

I'd buy a Remington 700 with a bull barrel in the police version for a long range shooter.I don't know the exact model number but I can get it & post it later.They run around $700 in Memphis. It must be a good gun because about 70% of our 600 yd shooters are using this gun in 308. My Browning BLR in 308 will shoot dime size groups at 100 yds. I've used lots of different guns over the yrs for deer hunting.I tried bigger guns like the 30-06 , 7 mag & 300win mag. I kill just as many deer with my 308 & shoot it better due to the lighter recoil.I was flinching with the 7mag & 300 win mag. I still have the pre 64 win model 70 in 30-06 but it will not shoot groups as small as my 308. Plus I like the looks & balance of the BLR. Its not what you need for long range shooting but the varmint or police version of the Rem 700 will do the job.

 

I would guess that more deer have fallen to the old Winchester 30-30 than any other rifle. Definitely NOT a sniper rifle tho. I can remember the time when a 25-06 with a Weaver K-4 was THE varmint rifle- close cousin to the sniper rifle. (And aren't varmint hunters 1st cousins to snipers?). Ah yes ...warm summer afternoon with a woodchuck at 300 yards square in the crosshairs. Been a long time.

 

Oh, yeah, thats a long time ago. Belly crawling and sneaking around to get a better position on the pasture poodles. I went thru all the famous chuck favorites, 22.250, .243, 25.06, even with my custom 6x250. I finally aged enough to where my bones didnt like laying prone on the ground or I became soft about killing the little rodents one...

So, I took my longe range equipment and shooting skills in to competition rifle shooting. Benchrest matches, 100/200 /300 yard shooting matches, the true art form of precision rifle shooting..

I learned more about what it takes to make a precision, consistent shooting rifle while shooting competition with those guys for just 3 years , than I ever would have imagined doing.

Not to derail the thread, sorry, just a walk down memory lane. ...

For a off the shelf , medium priced factory rifle, I found the Rem 700 to be a good one. Some reciever bedding , barrel floating on the HV version, always put me in the winning pot on the factory class matches.

Rifles are odd by nature though, it is all about the quality of the barrel, the stiffness of the receiver, a good crisp adjustable trigger and the handloads being fed to it. Every rifle will have its pet loads, thats what fun about shooting, finding the "sweet" load...

If the rifle is to used as a long range rifle to shoot rodents or people, one thing has to be kept in mind though by the shooter....

Shooting paper in a BR match like I did to where the center to center of the 5 hole group has to be VERY close to win, the requirements are different for a sniper/varminter...

They have to have the first shot out ,of a cold, cleaner fouled barrel, hit where the crosshairs are laid. Second shots are not desirable on people or rodents....

In shooting matches, we got what was called pre-match "fouler" shots in an alloted time, so thats when we got the barrel warmed up and settled down to serious grouping. Good luck on your rifle purchase. jmo