i need advice from the ones that know

dragunov · September 28, 2009, 04:31 PM

i live in NC and the longest shot is normally under 100yrds unless your hunting fields. the only range around me with a "long" shot is a 350yd shot. i have always wanted a gun and scope combo that would deliver accuracy in shot placement from 50-400yrds. many scopes i have purchaced wouldn't pass the box test on windage and elevation adjustments and using reticle grids with shot holdover lines i have never thought they could be that close to depend on. i have a dragunov rifle and i shoot the 7n1 sniper ammo but it is FMJ and steel core so hunting with that is not going to happen. so here is where i am in my quest for my dream of what good would look like. i want a rifle scope combo that i can either zero it at 250 or 300yrds or what ever the cartridge calls for and be a lazer beam out to 350yrds or have a scope i can zero and dial up elevation for different ranges with confidence or a scope with ballistic lines that really work. the meat of the matter is i don't like the thought of guessing how much to hold over to hit target and i want to hunt with my gun and know that if i want to target shoot, for fun, not competition, i want to see good results on paper as well as in the heart and lungs of a deer. i like the 300 win mag and i also like the thoughts of the short magnums. i really want to know what works without having to learn through trial and error and the expense of trying out scopes and rifles and calibers until i could write a book on my experience finding what i want. so i have come here to learn from the ones who know. many of you have probably spent a lot of time punching wholes in paper and have seen all the trends and fancy new ideas so i would like your help. i like the savage accustock and accutrigger and the police line of rifles with muzzle brakes and heavy barrels. i do tend to like the military style rifles. well i hope someone can help based on what i have written so lat but not least i don't want to buy a barret rifle with the range computer and i don't want to have to get a home equity loan either so money is an object but i want to make one purchase that saves me time and money and effort to reach the end of my quest. no 22-250 either i don't want to shoot out a barrel. thanks in advance for your time and effort in helping me with this delima.

Big Caliber · September 28, 2009, 07:57 PM

FWIW...I started out looking for my 1st center fire rifle the same way you are. A friend offered to let me peruse his loading manuals, Hornady. They have bullet drop charts that are most thorough. I narrowed my caliber search down to 10 and then 5 and finally settled on the 7mm Rem Mag. It was supposed to shoot laser straight with more punch then a 30-06. I saved up all summer and ended up with a Browning A-Bolt Hunter with a Leupold 3-9x sitting on top. My 1st mistake was to do all this w/o any human input. I'm 6'4" and 280#. I could NEVER keep the scope on target due to recoil. I later learned that the 7RM is a "finicky" round to load for. My loading efforts confirmed this fact. My groups were 3-4" AT 100yds. no matter the load or component combination. Adjusting the trigger was no help. Floating the bbl. and bedding the action yielded no change. In desparation I got a fire lapping kit. That did cut my groups to 2" at 100yds. Don't know if it was the caliber or the gun but it never shot straight. I traded it for a shotgun. On the positive side... I learned to shoot a "big" gun without flinching. I now play with a Savage 110fp in 308 that I swapped out the trigger and stock. A Nikon 3.5-10x50 scope sits atop it. Lottsa fun! Easy to load for, not finicky at all, decent recoil, and more accurate than I am.

Last spring I got a Stevens 200 in 25-06 that was going to be a "project" rifle. But after the trigger swap, it shot well enough for me with the sporter bbl and "tupperware" stock. So I let it be. I'm very comfortable with both calibers out to 300-400 yards. (I'm working my way out to 600.) Moral of the story? Figure out exactly what it is you expect a rifle and caliber to do. Ask lotsa questions. Take your time researching ballistics charts. Buy as much scope as you can afford. Live long and shoot well!

September 28, 2009, 04:31 PM	#1
dragunov Junior Member Join Date: September 28, 2009 Posts: 4	i need advice from the ones that know i live in NC and the longest shot is normally under 100yrds unless your hunting fields. the only range around me with a "long" shot is a 350yd shot. i have always wanted a gun and scope combo that would deliver accuracy in shot placement from 50-400yrds. many scopes i have purchaced wouldn't pass the box test on windage and elevation adjustments and using reticle grids with shot holdover lines i have never thought they could be that close to depend on. i have a dragunov rifle and i shoot the 7n1 sniper ammo but it is FMJ and steel core so hunting with that is not going to happen. so here is where i am in my quest for my dream of what good would look like. i want a rifle scope combo that i can either zero it at 250 or 300yrds or what ever the cartridge calls for and be a lazer beam out to 350yrds or have a scope i can zero and dial up elevation for different ranges with confidence or a scope with ballistic lines that really work. the meat of the matter is i don't like the thought of guessing how much to hold over to hit target and i want to hunt with my gun and know that if i want to target shoot, for fun, not competition, i want to see good results on paper as well as in the heart and lungs of a deer. i like the 300 win mag and i also like the thoughts of the short magnums. i really want to know what works without having to learn through trial and error and the expense of trying out scopes and rifles and calibers until i could write a book on my experience finding what i want. so i have come here to learn from the ones who know. many of you have probably spent a lot of time punching wholes in paper and have seen all the trends and fancy new ideas so i would like your help. i like the savage accustock and accutrigger and the police line of rifles with muzzle brakes and heavy barrels. i do tend to like the military style rifles. well i hope someone can help based on what i have written so lat but not least i don't want to buy a barret rifle with the range computer and i don't want to have to get a home equity loan either so money is an object but i want to make one purchase that saves me time and money and effort to reach the end of my quest. no 22-250 either i don't want to shoot out a barrel. thanks in advance for your time and effort in helping me with this delima.

September 28, 2009, 07:57 PM	#2
Big Caliber Senior Member Join Date: October 10, 2006 Location: S. CA Posts: 421	FWIW...I started out looking for my 1st center fire rifle the same way you are. A friend offered to let me peruse his loading manuals, Hornady. They have bullet drop charts that are most thorough. I narrowed my caliber search down to 10 and then 5 and finally settled on the 7mm Rem Mag. It was supposed to shoot laser straight with more punch then a 30-06. I saved up all summer and ended up with a Browning A-Bolt Hunter with a Leupold 3-9x sitting on top. My 1st mistake was to do all this w/o any human input. I'm 6'4" and 280#. I could NEVER keep the scope on target due to recoil. I later learned that the 7RM is a "finicky" round to load for. My loading efforts confirmed this fact. My groups were 3-4" AT 100yds. no matter the load or component combination. Adjusting the trigger was no help. Floating the bbl. and bedding the action yielded no change. In desparation I got a fire lapping kit. That did cut my groups to 2" at 100yds. Don't know if it was the caliber or the gun but it never shot straight. I traded it for a shotgun. On the positive side... I learned to shoot a "big" gun without flinching. I now play with a Savage 110fp in 308 that I swapped out the trigger and stock. A Nikon 3.5-10x50 scope sits atop it. Lottsa fun! Easy to load for, not finicky at all, decent recoil, and more accurate than I am. Last spring I got a Stevens 200 in 25-06 that was going to be a "project" rifle. But after the trigger swap, it shot well enough for me with the sporter bbl and "tupperware" stock. So I let it be. I'm very comfortable with both calibers out to 300-400 yards. (I'm working my way out to 600.) Moral of the story? Figure out exactly what it is you expect a rifle and caliber to do. Ask lotsa questions. Take your time researching ballistics charts. Buy as much scope as you can afford. Live long and shoot well! Last edited by Big Caliber; September 28, 2009 at 08:02 PM. Reason: Because I can and it needed it.