cheap long range caliber

[pulleye16]

Hello-

Wonder what is a cheap caliber bullet for long range shooting. I would like a caliber for prairie dogs but may also take down a whitetail or antelope. I would also like to shoot alot of rounds off so thats why I would like cheaper ammo.

Any thoughts?

[mnguy152]

308

[picksbigwagon]

308, 243, 25-06 and start reloading yourself......

[Gordie]

.308 plenty of FMJ's outhere for shooting and they arent to expensive if you shop around the net

[InTheSchool]

The 308 is cheap and accurate. It is a bit of over kill for prarie dogs. My nephew brought a 223 in an AR configuration last year. With good glass it is a cheap fun gun to shoot. What it lacked in range it made up for in the ability to correct and shoot again without having to re-aquire the dog in the scope. While I spotted for him he killed a couple of dogs at 375 yards. It took a couple of highers and lowers but he got 'em. With the cheap ammo just be sure to clean the weapon often. (The rest of us shoot 204's and 22-250's not too expensive if you reload yourself).

[pulleye16]

I was thinking the .223 but I'll look into the .308. Guessing the .223 is cheaper though. I WILL NOT be reloading as I don't need another "hobbie" right now:).

I don't plane on hunting big game with the .223 but I would like it for a back-up I guess. Yes-I know the debate of the .223 and big game but IT'S NOT PRIMARY WEAPON for me.

Thanks for the help!

[lawdog]

.223 was what I was going to say until you added whitetail. Its top notch for the rest of what you talked about, vastly inferior for deer!

[PurpleFloyd]

You are asking a lot for one single caliber to do well. I would say go for the 223 and if you need a bigger gun for larger game in the future either borrow one or use it as an excuse to expand your gun library.

[carpshooterdeluxe]

the nato calibers will be your cheapest bet (5.56/.223 or 7.62/.308) but don't overlook the .243 either. there are some sources for bulk ammo out there and its decently accurate stuff too.

[TrophyCatcher]

Whats with the hate for the 223 and deer? As long as you take responsible shots it is more than enough. I took two deer with it this year, one bang flop, one ran about 20 yards. Both were at about 120 yards, and both were double lung shots. The year before I took 3 deer with similar results at similar ranges.

Anyone who preachers the need for 30cal or larger for the lowly whitetail deer is someone who is not confident in their own shooting skills.

If 5.56x45 is enough to take out an enemy soldier I think it is more than enough for the whitetail deer.

[MinDak Hunter]

5.56 isn't always intended to kill the enemy. Wounding the enemy pulls three of the bad guys out of the fight when they try to get the wounded guy to safety/medical help.

[LightningBG]

Whats with the hate for the 223 and deer? As long as you take responsible shots it is more than enough. I took two deer with it this year, one bang flop, one ran about 20 yards. Both were at about 120 yards, and both were double lung shots. The year before I took 3 deer with similar results at similar ranges.

Anyone who preachers the need for 30cal or larger for the lowly whitetail deer is someone who is not confident in their own shooting skills.

If 5.56x45 is enough to take out an enemy soldier I think it is more than enough for the whitetail deer.

A .17 will take out a deer with a perfect shot, but that doesn't mean its ideal. The 5.56 is meant to wound, not kill. It's also used because its light weight and a soldier can carry more rounds.

I'd look at a .243

[WalleyeGod]

I would be interested in knowing your definition of long range. A lot of times cheap and long range don't go together real well. So my first question would be - how far do you want to shoot your intended target?

I am making some presumptions here that you are content with ranges out to approx (lets say) 500 yards for deer and 800 yards for pd's. With that.

Reload. 6br with a 1-8tw barrel. Put a muzzle brake on it (not that you need one for recoil on the shoulder but because in the pd town you can see more hits) and then take it off for deer hunting and put on a thread protector. Ideally suited for your requested application. 108gr bullets and down to the 65 gr very accurately most likely. Have not tried the 55gr personally in that twist.

Reload. 2nd choice would be a .308 . Currently holds the "camp record" for pd's in our group at 815 yards. Lots of bullets for choices there too. A 168 gr. works well as an example. Could do the same thing on the muzzle brake thing here as well.

3rd choice- What Purple said. Use the multi species as an excuse for additionaly hardware.

You can do these factory or I would probably start over and do semi-custom. Do you have a gun/action with a .308 bolt face? You are on your way. Have a gunsmith mate her up with the barrel caliber and chamber it with your choice and away you go.

You would really like the 6br. The little cartridge that can....

WG

[pulleye16]

I would be interested in knowing your definition of long range. A lot of times cheap and long range don't go together real well. So my first question would be - how far do you want to shoot your intended target?

I am making some presumptions here that you are content with ranges out to approx (lets say) 500 yards for deer and 800 yards for pd's. With that.

Reload. 6br with a 1-8tw barrel. Put a muzzle brake on it (not that you need one for recoil on the shoulder but because in the pd town you can see more hits) and then take it off for deer hunting and put on a thread protector. Ideally suited for your requested application. 108gr bullets and down to the 65 gr very accurately most likely. Have not tried the 55gr personally in that twist.

Reload. 2nd choice would be a .308 . Currently holds the "camp record" for pd's in our group at 815 yards. Lots of bullets for choices there too. A 168 gr. works well as an example. Could do the same thing on the muzzle brake thing here as well.

3rd choice- What Purple said. Use the multi species as an excuse for additionaly hardware.

You can do these factory or I would probably start over and do semi-custom. Do you have a gun/action with a .308 bolt face? You are on your way. Have a gunsmith mate her up with the barrel caliber and chamber it with your choice and away you go.

You would really like the 6br. The little cartridge that can....

WG

Thanks for the great advice. Wow..800yards. That would be what I'd work up to, but would like to start (okay I've never shot past 200yrds)around 300-500yrds.

I have an remington 700 chambered in 30-06. The .308 sounds great. How far can a quality .223 round go? This PD hunting will happen once a year so I don't want to go all out...yet! Again, reason for the less expensive round is because I will not and won't ever reload my own shells. Simply not an option no matter how smart or how much better or farther I can shoot.

[LightningBG]

I was looking at .243 rounds, and they aren't very cheap, so my earlier post might not be the greatest. .223 is cheap though, but borderline for deer. I'm not sure the 6mm.

[WalleyeGod]

Pulleye:

You then have the deer round covered with your '06. You are left really with one choice using the criteria you are talking about and also cheap. That would be the .223. Find a Savage or (whatever) and put a medium price glass on it with the top end at least 18x for pd's. It will be a fine 2-300 yard setup using factory ammo. Try different factory ammo to see which round/brand works the best in your gun. If you are fortunate enough to find some factory round that will shoot 1/2-3/4" groups at 100 yds consider yourself set. You might get lucky and find something that will shoot a solid 1/2". The .223 is a fine Pd gun and will give you the most reasonable shooting in a dog town for a centerfire rifle. Oh, try Black Hills in 50gr vmax or hollow point, also Fiocchi in a 40 gr vmax, UltraMax in some 50 or 52 gr. bullet HP or vmax. Here is where you don't want to skimp. Ammo. You will get frustrated with 1 1/2" groups using the cheap stuff. I would not use a varmint bullet for deer hunting.

You can shoot to 500 yards but that may be a stretch without reloading and having some tighter groups to start out with. They get to be a pretty small target at that range. If you get to OT cnty ever get ahold of me.

Shoot straight,

WG

[pulleye16]

Thanks a great advice. I'll close this up with the choice I'm leaning to. I think it's going to be the Savage Stevens in .223. I've heard nothing but great things about these guns and they are affordale for something I may OR MAY NOT get into. This is something new to me so I don't want to break the bank. I also can use this caliber on big game (please don't get started, it is legal) so I can have a back-up firearm if PD hunting is for me. I'm going to try to make it out to SD after June cause I heard they open the praire after that?? oh-well thanks again.

[walleye44]

Make sure you get a 1-9 twist rate barrel if you might want to hunt deer then. Do not get the 1-12 rate. The 1-9 will stablize the heavy bullets. I believe you can shoot 75 grain bullets then. Which would work for deer. You can also shoot 55 grain for the praire dogs.