Factory 800 yard gun

[unchained]

Im going on an elk hunt in two years and would like to purchase a new rig. I have done some medium range shooting with .243 on coyotes and targets 4-600 yards and would like to find a capable elk gun to 800 yards. I would like to buy a gun slap a scope on it and get shooting factory ammo. I am looking at 300 win mag due to good factory ammo over 200 grains. If necessary I could put on an aftermarket stock, and a new trigger but ideally id like something adjustable. The 3 options i have been looking at are savage, tikka and a rem700. With these options i feel that if i need to do some work on the gun it will not break my budget. I would like to keep the gun/rings/scope setup under $1200 but that is not a hard line. Then if need be can make some aftermarket changes.

So what would you recommend to start?
Gun:
Scope:
Factory ammo:

I know this is well below what your expertise is, but I thought you may be able to help me along. Any opinions and suggestions are appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I'm a huge Tikka fan myself. They are accurate and lightweight and come with awesome triggers. The one thing that sucks though is the mag length. Most calibers are just fine in the Tikka magazines but at 3.34" maximum cartridge overall length, it is hard to use some of the longer bullets. 180 and 200 grain AccuBonds work fine along with 185 grain Berger classic hunters, but some of the longer bullets like the Berger 215 you really need a longer C.O.A.L.

I think the Tikka is still a great option but just want you to know it's limitations.

 

[unchained]

Thanks Justin, this is the kind of info I was looking for. Do you know if the savages or rems would be able to shoot the longer bullet, alos do you see this as a limiting factor at this range?

 

[Browtine]

I'd vote Tikka or Savage with a Vortex PST or HS LR in 4-16. Might be a little over budget, but you could look for the scope used.

I have the PST on my Tikka Scout in .308 and it is very accurate out to 800 with 175 smk's

 

[justin davis]

Remington sendero. 300 win mag

 

[Justin Crossley]

I'm actually building a custom 300wm with a Tikka action right now and intend to single feed the longer bullets. So yes, I would say it could be somewhat of a limiting factor. The bullets that do fit well are still plenty capable at 800 though.

I have both Vortex and Leupold scopes on Tikkas and I much prefer the Leupolds myself. I feel that the glass is way better. A VX-3 4.5-14x50 would be a perfect scope for your intended purpose.

If you could afford it, I would agree with Justin and say get the Sendero.

A Remington Sendero 300 WM with a VX-6 3-18x50 would make an awesome long range elk setup. You'll be looking at over $2k though.

 

[Sam Millard]

All 3 of those rifles might be capable of it, but if you want a factory rifle for hunting at 800 yards, the Sendero is the best choice. However, I think you will find you can't just "slap" a scope on it, buy some factory ammo, and start killing elk at 800 yards. There is a lot more to it than that. LR hunting gets very expensive, really fast! Just sayin'...brace yourself

 

[unchained]

Haha I understand Sam, my guess is that I will purchase one of these guns and find a limit. Then more money will need to be spent somewhere. What I am really looking to do is get into something that can get me started and practicing and work up from there. If time and money allow possibly start reloading and upgrade if necessary. If not atleast I have lots of practice and am able to determine an effective range of say 600 yards and be confident in that in the field. I will look into the Sendero as well as the others but it seems like that is the consensus best off the shelf gun. I really like the savages as well and the accutrigger and was leaning there initally. Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming.

 

[justin davis]

I bought my sendero lightly used for a good price.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Don't forget about the new Remington long range rifle. Sam and Justin make some great points. I will also add, just because the gun can do it doesn't mean you can. So once you get your new bang stick go out and shoot well passed your intended limit and then shoot lots in between.

 

[Sam Millard]

Haha I understand Sam, my guess is that I will purchase one of these guns and find a limit. Then more money will need to be spent somewhere. What I am really looking to do is get into something that can get me started and practicing and work up from there. If time and money allow possibly start reloading and upgrade if necessary. If not atleast I have lots of practice and am able to determine an effective range of say 600 yards and be confident in that in the field. I will look into the Sendero as well as the others but it seems like that is the consensus best off the shelf gun. I really like the savages as well and the accutrigger and was leaning there initally. Thanks for all the input guys, keep it coming.

I was exactly where you are when I took the plunge! It takes a huge commitment to be able to purposely and cleanly kill animals at long range. I had to sell a bunch of stuff and do without some more, to get started. I bought an off the shelf Sendero 300RUM, put a brake on it, and topped it off with a Nightforce 5.5-22. That scope caused a pile of financial anxiety I can tell you now, though, that it is worth every penny! I had been handloading for ~ 20 years before I took up this game, so that was easy for me. I would recommend you start looking into that right now as well!

 

[unchained]

Absolutely Ryan. That is why I am taking the route I am taking. I guess I could save up and buy a $3000 rig in a year that will shoot better than i can, but i think at this time, a rig at half that price that is a good shooter will be more valueable. What I am really looking for is the trigger time with the potential to stretch out to long range. This is all great advice by the way thanks alot and keep it coming. Justin what did you pay for a used Sendero if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Elkfitness]

Hopefully not high jacking thread. I've been following this thread as I posted a similar question on the firearms page. Due to points and gift cards I'm buying the rifle from Cabelas and it looks like the long range remington is a good choice. Have you guys had any experience with the Weatherby vanguard accuguard rifles? Cabelas is listing a new one that looks pretty good to my untrained eye. I'm sticking with the 300 win mag since I have lots of ammo and I'm set up for reloading.

 

[Cahunter805]

Another vote for a factory sendero. They come with an hs precision stock and every one I've had or seen has been very accurate out of the box.
Another plus is if you then choose to build a rifle you already have a good action and stock to start on.
Don't overlook the 7mm caliber either.

 

[unchained]

Let me rephrase my question a bit, as most of your suggestions are a bit out of my price range. Right now i cannot justify a $2500 rig. I hunt in Wisconsin, and mostly an archery hunter at that. I would like to keep it under $1200 for gun and scope and will shoot factory ammo. 800 yards was just a number I threw out there but in reality 5-600 yards is probably more realistic. However when it comes to archery hunting I shoot out to 120 yards to become proficient to 60 yards on animals. I guess that is where I'm mostly coming from with shooting 800 yards. So if you were to buy a gun and scope for under 1200-1500 to shoot to some decent distance what combo would you buy? Thanks again guys lots of good info in this thread but i rethought my purpose, and it seems that I priced out of this game for now. With practice I may upgrade in the future.

 

[justin davis]

Like Ryan mentioned. Remington's new longrange rifle is $700 or 800 new I belive. I don't have any experience with them but have heard good things. Put a vortex scope on it and your under your price range.

 

[Justin Crossley]

For a $1200.00 budget I would get a stainless Tikka T3 and a VX-3 4.5-14x40 with side focus.

For factory ammo, I would start with HSM.

 

[PA 5-0]

I have 4 Rem 700s- 3 BDLs and a TI. All under your budget and all will shoot tight out to 600+. 2 w/ Lupy's. 1 Burris, 1 Nikon. All triggers swapped out w/ Timney's. I also luv Senderos but they are real heavy.

 

[Travis Bertrand]

Also with the sendero, you get a good base to build off of when you decide to throw more money at it.

 

[JustOneMoreShot]

A Sendero with a NF is where it is at for a long range factory gun but it will be out of your price range. I have not had any trigger time behind one of Remington's new Long Range rifles but maybe that would be a great option for a really nice rig and stay in your budget. You need a scope that is dead nuts reliable and tracks accurately if you are going to dial for long range shooting and they just are not cheap. Perhaps you can find a good used Vortex and still come in at a price that you can stomach.
HSM factory ammo is not cheap but is quality and will help you with high BC bullets for shooting long range. Practice will get really expensive however burning factory ammo so you may want to find a friend who can reload for you?