For those who are interested or just plain curious about Long Range Precision shooting, I will stoke the fire with some insight.

Long Range shooting is the fastest growing shooting sport in the country, from serious competition at the local, state, and national levels to shoots aimed at the novice crowds.

One of the easiest and most fun shoots for the beginner is the steel target shoot where steel targets are randomly placed from, say . . . 300 yards to 1200 yards. There are many methods of keeping scores and the courses vary greatly and are only limited by imagination.

Rifles. So many to choose from, but narrowing that down is easier than you might think. First we look at calibers that are easy to shoot and have great quality bullet options. We and many others are huge fans of the 6mm bullets and the 6.5mm bullets. These bullets give you many choices of calibers that are extremely popular among long range enthusiasts.

The actual rifle . . . everyone has their personal favorites and what we want to point out is a few things to consider before deciding you have to have the same brand Dad or Grandpa had.

Play rifles are much different than hunting rifles. Barrels won’t last as long. Barrels must be of a heavier contour to be able to handle repetitive multiple shot sequences. If you engage in this hobby you will be changing barrels, so we like rifles that have taken that into consideration.

Factory, or commonly referred to as " Box" guns, that we like because of inherent accuracy are Ruger and Savage.

Savage actions can be purchased separately, and paired with your choice of barrels and stocks for a semi-custom feel at a reasonable price. Full customs are plentiful and beautiful as well as considerably expensive.

If you get a chance to look at or handle a Ruger Precision Rifle, a Savage 10 GRS, or Savage Stealth Evolution, do so. These rifles are designed around the long range game. These aren't the only ones but certainly are very good ones.

Here is a Savage action with a Benchmark barrel in .243 Win and Bell and Carlson stock.

I'll talk about scopes and more in the next few days......Russ @ B2B Precision