Looking to get into long range

[Sir Toast]

OP: Personally, I'd start with a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. You could upgrade the barrel and handguard by yourself if you really want precision.

Use a Harris bipod and some good rings. Nightforce or Seekins. Look at Aadmounts too. Aadmounts are like spurhs but half the price.

then get a Nightforce, Burris or Vortex scope. Spend as much as you can comfortably spend. Feel free to buy used Nightforce or Burris because they have lifetime warranties. Not sure about Burris.

Then, spend your extra money on ammo and attend some long range clinics. You can learn a ton at just a couple clinics. Especially on how to get your scope dialed in for your eye, getting rid of parallax and reading wind.

Before you take a class, break your rifle in and make your dope card.

My 2 cents. Its a blast. Definitely hit the Avenal Long Range Competitions. Scott Woodhouse puts on a good match.

[CessnaDriver]

Being a newb at it I learned...

More important that caliber, costs, scopes, barrels, bags, monopods... etc.

The most important thing..

Do you have a place to shoot 1000 yards?

Because sometimes it's tough to find.

[SlowJoe8]

[Bicky]

Are you shooting left handed? Are you left eye dominant? If so, get a left handed rifle. It will make maintaining the correct position easier. The RPR doesn't come in lefty, so look at the Tikka Tac A1, or since your budget has room, a custom build.

[SlowJoe8]

OP: Personally, I'd start with a Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor. You could upgrade the barrel and handguard by yourself if you really want precision.

Use a Harris bipod and some good rings. Nightforce or Seekins. Look at Aadmounts too. Aadmounts are like spurhs but half the price.

then get a Nightforce, Burris or Vortex scope. Spend as much as you can comfortably spend. Feel free to buy used Nightforce or Burris because they have lifetime warranties. Not sure about Burris.

Then, spend your extra money on ammo and attend some long range clinics. You can learn a ton at just a couple clinics. Especially on how to get your scope dialed in for your eye, getting rid of parallax and reading wind.

Before you take a class, break your rifle in and make your dope card.

My 2 cents. Its a blast. Definitely hit the Avenal Long Range Competitions. Scott Woodhouse puts on a good match.

[MongooseV8]

With that budget you can buy/build a custom rig with a good scope.

[SlowJoe8]

Are you shooting left handed? Are you left eye dominant? If so, get a left handed rifle. It will make maintaining the correct position easier. The RPR doesn't come in lefty, so look at the Tikka Tac A1, or since your budget has room, a custom build.

[SlowJoe8]

[the_tunaman]

Tikka T3x TAC A1, best bang for the buck. I’ve got one in .260 Remington, and it is a tack driver well past 1000 yards. I had two hits (no come ups) at 1340 yards last chance I had to take it long.

Great price point, with plenty left over for really good glass.

[RugerNo1]

You have a custom rifle budget, but do you know what you want in a full build?

If no, pick a factory rifle like some presented above with a killer scope (you can move it once you know what you want) and learn what you want by shooting out that rifles barrel.

[r8dr rider]

I need to find a range to take my R700 out.

[splithoof]

I won't bore you with rifle ideas, but a few random comments on optics, etc:
Find the absolute best glass you can afford, then find a good rifle to hang under it. You will also need a high quality spotting scope, with a reticle that has the same measurement values as that of your rifle scope (Miliradians in rifle scope=Miliradians in spotting scope; ditto if you chose a MOA setup).
The 6.5CM is a caliber that is easy to shoot well, and has some ballistic advantage over the .308 at farther distances.
Before you buy ANYTHING, seek out and observe a few longe range rifle events. Watch what happens. Ask questions. Educate yourself in the knowledge of what is out there, and what works.
Realize that shooting at distance is a skill that takes time, energy, expense, and patience. Learning to be a good spotter is 2X more work than being a good "trigger monkey"; reading wind, mirage, the environment, distance, and development of good observation skills, amoung other aspects, takes time and lots of practice.
Lastly, after you have acquired all the gear, etc., seek out good professional instruction. There are a number of good schools out there; my personal knowledge from taking a number of classes at Gunsite (5-7 days each) really made the difference for me. A substantial investment, but well worth it if you are serious.

[Bicky]

Download a ballistic app to your phone, and play with it. It will help you understand some of the concepts involved. Strelok Pro is user friendly, and has a bullet library.
Don't skimp on ammo. At the beginning, use match factory ammo. Try Prime, Hornady ELDM, Federal gold medal match. As you shoot more, you will find that your rifle does better with a certain ammo.
A chrono will help you with setting up the app but if you don't have one, you can use the app to back into velocity.
Leave room in your budget for miscellaneous - rings, bipod, rear bag, shooting mat.

[hambam105]

CesnaDriver
"Do you have a place to shoot 1000 yards?"

When you can spend anything less than $100 per day to shoot long range you are going to have a very short range shooting day.

[SlowJoe8]

I won't bore you with rifle ideas, but a few random comments on optics, etc:
Find the absolute best glass you can afford, then find a good rifle to hang under it. You will also need a high quality spotting scope, with a reticle that has the same measurement values as that of your rifle scope (Miliradians in rifle scope=Miliradians in spotting scope; ditto if you chose a MOA setup).
The 6.5CM is a caliber that is easy to shoot well, and has some ballistic advantage over the .308 at farther distances.
Before you buy ANYTHING, seek out and observe a few longe range rifle events. Watch what happens. Ask questions. Educate yourself in the knowledge of what is out there, and what works.
Realize that shooting at distance is a skill that takes time, energy, expense, and patience. Learning to be a good spotter is 2X more work than being a good "trigger monkey"; reading wind, mirage, the environment, distance, and development of good observation skills, amoung other aspects, takes time and lots of practice.
Lastly, after you have acquired all the gear, etc., seek out good professional instruction. There are a number of good schools out there; my personal knowledge from taking a number of classes at Gunsite (5-7 days each) really made the difference for me. A substantial investment, but well worth it if you are serious.

Download a ballistic app to your phone, and play with it. It will help you understand some of the concepts involved. Strelok Pro is user friendly, and has a bullet library.
Don't skimp on ammo. At the beginning, use match factory ammo. Try Prime, Hornady ELDM, Federal gold medal match. As you shoot more, you will find that your rifle does better with a certain ammo.
A chrono will help you with setting up the app but if you don't have one, you can use the app to back into velocity.
Leave room in your budget for miscellaneous - rings, bipod, rear bag, shooting mat.