[notdku]

I would like to buy a new long distance accurate rifle to have fun at the range with but at the same time have it for a tactical situation just incase.

Completely up in the air about caliber and would like it under $1000.

Suggestions?

[bkt]

AR-10 and M1 Garand come to mind. The trick is the $1000 ceiling.

[Bidah]

Well you did not specify if you wanted a semi-auto or a bolt rifle.

For a semi-auto, the AR10 or the Garand will not be had new for even close to $1000, much less under it. I have been looking at a 6.5Grendel or the 6.8SPC. I like the Grendel better, but the ammo is not quite as common, and the rifle is a bit more.

[notdku]

Still up in the air on bolt or semi as well. Just curious what you all have for plinker guns for long range shooting.

What about the Remington 700?

[BLS33]

I'm thinking a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in .308 would fit the need. You can pick it up for just over $600. With the money you save you can upgrade the stock (but you can wait on that) or use it to fund the other things you need for long range shooting, long range scope (and attachment accessories) and a nice 25x spotting scope.

[ScottG]

Why not a Savage?

Choice of calibers: 25-06 Rem., 270 Win., 30-06 Spfld., 7mm Rem. Mag., 300 Win. Mag

BTW I still don't get any e-mail notifications, is there some glitch in the system?

[notdku]

Scott, according to the AdminCP you have your account setup to not receive e-mails and subscribe to threads. You can change all that in your UserCP.

[Dgunsmith]

My pick in a bolt gun for accuracy and reliability :

Howa 308 winchester Varmint rifle. Leaves room for a decent scope and rings & bases under $ 1000 and will out shoot the field to 600 yards anyway.....
farther with practice.

Again, variety of ammo available from hunting to military to varmints ( 2 and 4 legged variety )

[pioneer461]

I'd recommend a semi-auto for defense use, and the $1000. limit may be a factor. I have a great plinker/defense carbine, in a tricked-out Ruger Mini 14. Is it a tack driver? No, but I can hit a man size target center mass at 100 yds. with open sights which satisfies most self defense situations. I probably have about $500-600 invested it it. Ruger has just released a newer version of the Mini, acheiving much greater accuracy than the older models. Not sure about the price on those, but it may be worth looking into to fill both needs. Lots of great ARs out there too, that are both tactical and accurate, but I don't own one of those....yet.

I do own three tack drivers, two of which are well under $1000. A Remington 700 .270 win, bolt gun and a Marlin 917V .17 HMR bolt gun, which is an amazingly accurate rifle, but neither of which would make good tactical / home defense rifles. Another tack driver I own is a Ruger 10/22. It is one of those 10/22s that I have invested over $1000 bux, but I swear I can hit mosquitos at 50 yds. But .22 lr is not a good defense load. My bolt guns and 10/22 each have Leupold scopes in various powers and configurations.

[FALPhil]

Go with the AR15, for a couple of reasons:

1. They are readily available on a wide scale.
2. There are a ton of parts sources and after market parts.
3. Standard versions come in a very common cartridge and that cartridge is available as milsurp.
4. You can buy different top ends in different cartridges, such as 9mmPara, 45ACP, 7.62x39, and 6.8SPC, not to mention many proprietary cartridges.
5. They are very easy to work on with minimal tools.
6. They are well documented.
7. They generally are very accurate out of the box.
8. If the balloon ever goes up, its silhouette will not alarm US military and/or police forces like any other weapon will. The converse of this is that if the government ever engages in democide and its forces are your enemy, they are a source of ammo and parts.