Gun Choice / Optics choice

HP2Moto

Moving into the "bigger league" and need some advice form the community.
Looking at a a couple of options for long range shooting (and maybe the odd pot shot at a far away fox)
SAKO TRG 22 / Blaser r93 tactical / Savage FTR

Two of these are .308, the blaser is a 6.5x55

What do you think??

My second question is on optics.
Leupold VX or MArk 4/ Nightforce NSX 5.5-22x56/ Schmidt and Bender PMII........
Broad area I know but..........

Cass

HP2Moto wrote: »

Moving into the "bigger league" and need some advice form the community.
Looking at a a couple of options for long range shooting (and maybe the odd pot shot at a far away fox)
SAKO TRG 22 / Blaser r93 tactical / Savage FTR

Having owned the Sako TRG and currently using the Savage FTR (both in .308) i could recommend both. The Savage FTR is purely target orientated. The rifle is over 12lb with nothing on and is very barrel heavy, not designed for field shooting really. The Sabage is able to shoot better than i can at the moment but on a recent trip to the range i shot a 4" - 11 shot group. One word for the rifle is consistency. As long as you hold it right it will place the bullet in the same spot (give or take) time after time.

The Sako TRG 22 is every bit as good, but has the added quality of being a practical field rifle. The barrel is 26" compared to the 30" Savage. It has more options for adjustment (cheek piece, butt piece, etc) but can shot as accurately as the Savage with the right trigger puller. The rifle itself is a little more compact than the Savage and has a better shooting position than the Savage so as mentioned previously you can go out shoot a 600yd - 1000yd competition then take the rifle out field shooting and fire away.

Two of these are .308, the blaser is a 6.5x55

What do you think??

The 6.5x55 travels faster and flatter than the .308 so scope asjustments (MOA) would be less than the .308 cals. The .308 travels further easier and because of the variety of ammunition for it most rounds will handle wind drift better than a 6.5x55. For example at a recent "friendly" shoot i was firing against the old fella using the Sako TRG against the Sauer 6.5x55. There was a strong cross wind that was gusting badly. Both of us were able to compensate for the continuous wind but when the wind either gusted or dropped off my .308 had 6"-8" (roughly) of drift. The Sauer (6.5x55) had 10" - 14" of drift (roughly). This could be rectified slighly with a different bullet but at the moment Lapua are the only quality and consistantly good performing round available. The .308 has much more variety.

My second question is on optics.
Leupold VX or MArk 4/ Nightforce NSX 5.5-22x56/ Schmidt and Bender PMII........
Broad area I know but..........

I'm slightly biased on this but Nightforce all the way. The scopes are second to none. Glass in them is the best (IMO) the are availabe in multiple magnifications, designs, and reticles. They also come in 2 formats, the NXS (more expensive) and the BR (BenchRest) The 5.5-22X56 is a good all round scope, as in it will be good enough for target work and perfect for filed shooting. For a scope that leans more towards target work the 8-32x56 is always a good option. The 12-42x56 is pure target work only. The 8-32 is good enough for field work but the only draw back for Nightforce is not great light in dusk times. If the rifle is 99% target work then this may not be of great importance but still handy to know. They also have 14+ reticles to choose from (i think). One for every purpose.

I have a 12-42 on the Sauer 6.5 (and on the Sako when i had it), an 8-32x56 BR on the Savage FTR along with a 20MOA rail.


Anyway, i'm sure other lads will be along with other opinions but i hope this answers some questions and gives you a starting point.

BELOWaverageIQ

Top class advise fron endrisax,
I have both the Leopold MK4 and The NXS 8-32 x 56 and yes I do prefer the Nightforce also.
Another option with regards the gun itself would be a custom made rifle ?,
not much more expensive than an off the shelf gun.
308 is the way to go, remmington 700 action heavy custom barrel ( shelin perhaps ) in an Accuracy International stock, jewel trigger
food for thought


This might be of interest, nothing to do with me by he way...
It has the A.I. Stock but the barrell is factory I'd imagine and too short for longrange plus it's the benchrest NF scope not the NXS
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055811776

ianoo

just as another scope option ,has anyone here had any experience of premier heritage scopes
http://www.cstactical.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=90:beautiful-day-the-range&catid=47:product-reviews&Itemid=301
they look the business,,

ian