Getting into bolt guns....

[Tony2xs]

So I'm going to step outside of my comfort zone and get into precision shooting.
I've decided on a Remington 700 Sps Tactical. 4-16 optic. Brand undecided.

Here's my question: I'm absolutely new to precision shooting and am wondering if I would be better off with .308 Win or 300 blackout. The rifle be used on mostly paper up to 800 yrds or so.

I'm just looking to be educated a bit.

[shooter1975]

Stick with the .308 and forget the 300 blackout at 800 yrds. Ballistics of a .308 is much better for long range compared to the 300 BO.

[ElvenSoul]

Run a quick search we have 4 to 5 open threads right now.

[ElvenSoul]

Oh no one uses .308 in competition that is not .308 only

Try 6.5x47

[infringed711]

Unless you're building a dedicated shorter range suppressed build I can see no reason to go with 300 blackout (800 isn't happening with the 300). Stick to .308 for starting out. There are better calibers but you'll learn more with .308.

After you've shot out your barrel you're probably going to want to switch to a 6 or 6.5mm cartridge

[ElvenSoul]

Most competitors want a short action...your going to shoot a lot and I mean a lot of rounds. The extra lenth to push a long action is just a deal breaker for a lot of people.

[JMP]

I'm absolutely new to precision shooting and am wondering if I would be better off with .308 Win or 300 blackout. The rifle be used on mostly paper up to 800 yrds or so.

I'm just looking to be educated a bit.

Don't even bother with .300 BLK. That fad pretty much over even in ARs except for a few die hard fanboys. .308 Win is the way to go for starting out at 800 yards.

[ElvenSoul]

This is a good place to start reading

http://www.6mmbr.com/index.html

[ElvenSoul]

There is .30BR if you really want to stick with a .308 bullet

[bsumoba]

I would say if you reload, go straight to the calibers most people end up converting to and that is 6.5 creedmoor, 260rem, 6.5x47L, 243, and 6mm creedmoor. I'm assuming you're talking about non-benchrest or non F-class rifles and more precision tactical rifles.

I don't think 300 blackout can even reach out to 800 yards...haven't run the ballistics but chances are it is subsonic at that range.

The calibers I mentioned are much better ballistically than the 308.

Savage makes factory rifles in 6.5 creedmoor.

You could also buy a cheap 700 and get it rebarreled to the cartridge of your choice.

If you don't reload, then 308 or 6.5 creedmoor are probably your best choices as there is good factory match ammo out there. But...do yourself a favor and start looking at reloading as that is almost a necessity for precision shooting.

[ElvenSoul]

Tikka
Savage
and Rem
offer .260Rem factory rifles

[Tony2xs]

Good advice. I'll look into 6.5 and forget about the 300blkout. My LGS has one for super cheap right now, but... if the ballistics aren't there, then what's the point? Besides, I'm not much of a "fad gun" buyer.

Thanks for the link, Elvensoul. I've got some reading to do!

[6mmintl]

Forget the 300BO, 7.62x39mm is the new 200-500 meter silhouette rifle cartridge.

[dskit]

A great intro exercise in ballistics would be to go about comparing the 300BLK to the 308 at 800 yards.

Play around with JBM Ballistics and see what spits out. You'll learn about how bullet selection, velocity and ballistic coefficient impact down-range performance.

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj_simp-5.1.cgi

[jmf_tracy]

if you do not handload then I would stick to .308