I've always wanted a 100% dedicated target rifle that would only be used for targets 200 yards and above. I have rifles that will hit targets at over 200 yards pretty easily but aren't made exclusively for doing that. I don't hunt or anything so this would be used strictly for long range targets and competition.

The catch is that I want to do it for $900 or less (minus optics).


There are many ways I could go about this, bolt action to semi-auto, large caliber to small caliber, etc, etc. When I think of long range target rifle I automatically think bolt action and large caliber like 300WM, however with the shape of the economy and cost of ammo a large caliber rifle doesn't seem to be the wisest choice right now.

I was thinking of a Remington 700 chambered in 5.56, it would look pretty similar to this:



I've always been a fan of the Remington 700, very accurate, affordable, reliable, and fun to shoot. This is one option. ($450ish for the rifle alone)


Next option would be a Savage 12FV target rifle. It'd look something like this:



A very nice rifle from a great company, pretty identical to the Remington with some slight differences as well as a better trigger. Rifle would be in the high $500 range. Though I think I'd prefer the Remington over the 12FV.


Third and final option is very different from the first two. It'd be a 24" AR-15 sniper/varmint model. I like the idea of an AR-15 for a dedicated target rifle because of how versatile it is, how much aftermarket support you have, and you can basically customize EVERYTHING. I'd have to get a CA compliant lower receiver with the lame *** bullet button, but since its a target rifle 10 rounds would be plenty for the type of shooting I'd be doing so thats not really a big deal. One way around that law would be to use the lower receiver from my other AR-15 and just build up a super nice upper receiver and just swap receivers when I want to shoot, this would save me from lame post ban laws and would save me a bunch of money, time and hassle. It's only two pins to swap the receivers so its not like it would be a big deal at all. I'd keep the lower receiver with my tactical upper, but when I'd go long range target shooting I could just swap it.

I'd want a 24" fluted barrel, varmint style fore grip, adjustable buttstock with cheek piece (see picture). After everything I can get this upper receiver just the way I want it for less then $600 if I go the DPMS route. If I wanted to do the complete rifle I could probably get this guy out the door for less then $1000, but for now I think I would just stick with using my pre-ban lower receiver to save some dough.

Here's a picture of the stock I was thinking about (I'd like a magpul but I can't afford $250 on a stock right now)




As for the AR-15, it'd look a lot like this for the most part:



Just picture a SS fluted barrel and adjustable stock with different optics. I think it'd be pretty much on par with the bolt rifles in terms of accuracy even though it's semi-auto. The rifle would be far more versatile and I'd be able to do whatever I wanted to it since it's pre-ban. The bolt rifles would def be more reliable than the AR though...


I'm pretty much torn between the remington 700 and the Varmint AR-15.


Also, even though ammo costs an arm and a leg right now I'm still tempted to get a .308 target rifle. I figure that I'm not going to be doing any rapid fire with this guy like I would with my other rifles so I wouldn't go through THAT much ammo... I'd love to have a .308 bolt action rifle, something about .308 just drives me crazy in a good way... 5.56 is so... so... "uneventful" I guess is the best word I can find.


Anyway, what do you guys think? What would you choose if you were in my shoes? Perhaps some of you have some other suggestions that you could add to this thread? Remember that it has to be around $900 or less... if I could spend more I'd get an AR-30 without any hesitation!



only $1450 in .308.