factory 6mm rifles?

[subway]

I'm still very new to target shooting; I use my Remington 700 CDL in .30-06 to shoot these days, but I'd like to buy something a little more appropriate to target shooting. ,I don't need to kill the targets, only hit them.....)

But I'm really not ready for a custom made 'bench rest' rifle; I'm looking more at something like a "heavy varmint" or 'tactical' factory rifle. My first thought was to go with a .243win cartridge as that would be a nice middle ground between my .30-06 and the various .22x calibers. But I learned that there is almost zero support for .243 in the target shooting world; few suitable rifles in that caliber and no match grade ammo.

I was thinking about giving in and going along with the crowd and getting a .223, but then I remembered that you serious shooters all seem to use a 6mm round. Is that something that absolutely requires custom rifles and hand loading, or can a new guy ease into things with a factory rifle and high quality factory ammo?

Thanks.

 

[M700]

subway - what kind of target shooting do you want to get into? Some are easier to do with a factory rifle. Here's a choice of a few broad catagories:

1) NRA across-the-course competition. 200, 300 and 600 yards all in the same match. Standing, sitting and prone. Slow fire and rapid fire. The .223 AR-15 is the overwhelming favorite for this stuff. No scope, just sights. There is an experimental optical class using scopes, but it's just starting out at this point. Very easy to break into this sport with any decent AR-15 and factory loaded match ammo. Matches generally are either 50 or 80 round courses. Lots of fun!

You can also use a bolt-action rifle in the "match rifle" catagory. My choice is a .308 Win Model 70 that I'm now using for both cross-course matches and long-range prone matches. This could also be done with a factory "varmint" type rifle fitted with match sights.

2) Prone competition. Generally from 300 - 1000 yards, all fired at one distance. Typical match is three strings of 20 shots. Palma is also fairly popular, 15 shots at 800, 15 at 900 and 15 at 1000 yards. Palma requires a .308, or some brave folks are doing it with .223's. If youi're not shooting Palma, you can use a scoped target rifle in what's called the "any rifle/any sight" class. This is a good one for say a factory built Rem 700 VLS in 6mm Remington, .243 Winchester or even .308 Win. Factory rifles and barrels are not optimal, but will work. I've shot conventional prone matches with a factory built Rem 700 and done just fine.

3) F-class prone. Growing fast and becoming very popular in some areas. Take a factory built varminter, put it on a bipod, lay down behind it and bang merrily away at the targets! Held out to 1000 yards, but many matches at shorter ranges. The .308 is an excellent starter round. When you wear the barrel out in 4000 rounds or so, you can change up to a .260 Rem, a 6.5-284 or any number of flatter-shooting cartridges that do better in the wind.

4) Tactical competition. This one is a wild card, the matches are scattered about. Some places hold them regularly, others are few and far between. It's pretty popular. Some are a lot like F-class comps, mostly prone shots. Others are strenuous and very physically demanding with a lot of hiking, climbing and maybe even some running involved. Again, a factory built .308 with a varmint barrel can do fine. Heck, I did real well with a little old Rem 700 VS in several of these matches.

**Somewhere in here it dawns on me that I keep recommending a factory built bolt gun in .308 with either sights or a scope, depending...**

Okay - now we're out of "my" kind of matches. Benchrest... Hmm.. I've seen it done a couple of times. These guys shoot one shot into the target, then put the rest over the target into the berm beyond and try to convince me that they actually put five shots into one hole. There are some different divisions of equipment in benchrest, but I'm not the expert.

Around here "Hunter Benchrest" is the most popular. Matches are shot with the rifle rested on sandbags on a solid table. Scopes for Hunter Benchrest are limited to 6x. Accuracy is phenomenal. Most of the guys here are shooting some derivative of the .308, with custom made bullets. Benchrest comps are held from 100 yards to 1000 yards, depending on the range available, and the exact discipline being held.

Help me out here benchresters - I don't want to start lying to subway or exposing any more of my ignorance of Benchrest competition! :crazy:

I'm glad you're considering competition. I'm a much better shot because of it - and it shows during hunting season!

BTW - nice choice of hunting rifles with that .30-06 in the 700 CDL! :thumb: I treated myself to one in .25-06 last year and it took a decent mulie buck about a half an hour into the season in October. Nice rifles.

Regards, Guy

 

[M700]

BTW - a guy could get himself a nice Rem 700 VLS in 6mm Remington and shoot it until the barrel wore out, then re-barrel for the cool little 6mmBR...

Factory loads for the 6mm Rem are not bad, they're good enough for some long-range varmint shooting, so it's not like they're going to miss the target.

Factory 6mmBR loads though are built for match shooting and have a great reputation for accuracy!

Most match shooters end up handloading for economy if nothing else. Also it's nice to tailor a load specifically for your rifle and the course of fire.

Regards, Guy

 

[USAPatriot]

On the contrary, the lowly .243 has a lot of support. The truth in that statement can be found by merely looking at what brass Lapua makes: .223 Rem, .220 Russian, .243 Win, 6BR Norma, etc. See? There's more .243's being made by factories than 6BR's, that's a certainty. It may not do as well in short range competitions in BR, and it may not be winning at 1000 even, but those are all custom guns anyhow, so apples and oranges.

A heavy barreled Rem700VS .223 will shoot bugholes, especially if you're using handloads. It's easily rebarreled up into .243 or one of the 6mm's such as 6BR or 6PPC and will do even better. My own Rem700VS .223 has a record small group of .172". Except for the Jewell trigger it's a factory gun. It regularly shoots in the .2xx range. One day I'll rebarrel it and make it into a "real" gun.

Point is, don't sell the .243 short. In the right gun, with the right handloads, with the right shooter, it's more than suitable for your level. The best brass is available for it, the best dies, the best slugs...it works, believe me. My own .243 started life as a light barreled hunting gun and still shot 1/4"-1/2" groups. It's currently having the finishing touches done on it, new bbl, chambered for 6BR and will shortly be on it's way to McMillan for it's new stock. Why the 6BR? Because it's one I hadn't tried yet. The .243 will always be with us. The same can't be said for the 6BR. Lapua will make brass for it only as long as it's popular. It's a fad, one that will hopefully stick around for a long time, but there's no assurance of that. I may have been better off going with a new .243 bbl instead of a 6BR. I'm not so rich like these other guys that can rebarrel at will. It's a one-shot for me. At your level, perhaps the .243 IS the better choice, for a lot of reasons. Try a Savage FP. -Rod-