I am wanting to get into the 600 and 1000 yard shooting. I am wanting to start with either a savage or a remington action. Which action do you think would be the best choice? I am thinking of using a .243 ackley improved cartridge. Is that a good choice as well? If you have any better opinoins of either of my questions, please let me know. I'm not in a big hurry. I'm going to take my time, do more research, and ask more questions and do it right. Thank you guys ahead of time.
To take things in order: I personally use different rifles for 600 and 1,000 yard benchrest. Ballistically, 600 yards is quite different from 1,000 yards.
Beyond ballistics (staying at/above 1,400 fps at the target), if you shoot IBS 1K or Pennsylvania 1K, the form of the match is quite different too. 600 yards is a four-target agg in each gun. For a light gun then, you shoot 20 record rounds, and probably 15 sighters per match. 35-40 rounds total. 10 matches per season, that's a minimum of 400 rounds annually for match shooting. Load development extra.
IBS & Pennsylvania 1K matches are different. For Light Gun, you shoot 5 rounds for your only relay of match, and maybe 10 sighters. If you win your relay, you shoot the shootoff. Realistically, you can't expect to win more than half the relays you shoot in (than would be optimistic). Shootoffs would be another 5 rounds, plus maybe 7 sighters. Less than half the number of shots required for a 600 yard match, per year.
What does this mean? OK, Alvin Johnson, for one, is shooting a .300 Ackley Light gun at 1,000 yards. He wins a lot. He began about shooting about 1995. He is still on his first barrel, which obviously, is a very good one. At 600 yards, that barrel would be long gone.
Now I'm not suggesting that you pick a chambering simply to get long barrel life. The purpose of shooting a match is to win. But I would suggest that the number of really good barrels you get in your lifetime won't be that large. Pick a chambering that, when you do get a good barrel, you'll be content with how many matches you get out of it. Or, accept having to buy a lot of barrels to (1) find a god one, and (2) replace it with another good one when it goes.
The little secret that makes matches different than internet arguing is that what wins matches is barrels and bullets. Not chamberings -- there is no 6PPC at 600 or 1,000 yards, at least not yet. Not caliber -- .30, 7mm, 6.5mm and 6mms all win their share. If you pick a chambering that has done well enough and if your other equipment (dies,etc.) is good, your strategy is to keep buying barrels until you have a winner. Always assuming you have a good, repeatable supply of excellent bullets.
OK, a .243 Ackley would be OK for 1,000 yard competition. Not so good for 600 yards; the barrel will last you only a couple seasons at best. Not 5 years. Cost of a new barrel is about $250-300, cost of fitting it is around $200. It can easily take 10 or more barrels to get a very good one.
Go to some matches. Talk to people. From my perspective, ignore those wedded to some magic chambering -- we're not short-range BR sorts who have proven the PPC is the best (or one of the best) for group shooting, or the .30 BR is one of the best for score shooting. Ignore those who think Savage is best. Or Remington. Both had advantages & disadvantages, and the odds of getting a very good action lower than with a custom.
Good luck to you.
Charles
