If you have room, I'd love to join you guys. We're scheduled to shoot Seneca Rocks on the weekend of June 21, and am awaiting Vern from Central Virginia Tactical to give the kids a class date, but are otherwise flexible. I have various steel plates we can set up at misc distances and bang if it's safe to do that at his place.
That's less than 1 moa and pretty respectable shooting with almost any rifle, let alone a factory rifle and factory loads.
The .308 is a very good place to start for exactly the reason you cite. It is also good to begin on because it's maintenance needs are modest, and barrel life is good. By the time you erode the barrel enough to tell a performance difference, you'll have enough experience behind you to make an educated decision about your next one.
Considering the costs, these scopes are also a very good place to start. Like anything else, more dollars typically buys more performance. You'll see better optics in the more expensive glass, and more precise and repeatable click values, but there is a certain level of performance that is adequate for most shooting. The SuperSniper is very popular as an entry level scope, and a lot of the guys I shoot with at Quantico use them with good results. I don't hear anything bad about the 3200, but can't think of anyone running one that I know.
I don't think you're overlooking any really viable alternates. The VS from Remington has many of the features you'd want for long range precision, as does the Sendero, but, accuracy can be all over the board with Remington's sporting models. Remington's LTR is a great little rifle and typically quite accurate, but, the 20" barrel renders it ballistically challenged for the longest shots, and while it WILL make it to and beyond 1k, it places extra demands on the shooter, especially with regard to doping the wind. A 26" barrel is really the right tool for the job here. With the three you mention, any one of them is very likely to deliver sub-minute accuracy with good ammo. They all stand a very good chance of putting FGMM 168s into 1/2" or so at 100 yards, and the more ballistically efficient 175s into less than 3/4. For which oen is "best", it will come down to feel, fit and styling. Some like the PSS, others don't care for the palm swell and broad, round cross-section of the forend. The 5R will feel most like a hunting rifle.
The PSS and 5R (and LTR) all use an HS Precision stock. Not sure about the Savages. The HS is decent stock; quite rigid, independent of bedding problems and much more stable than wood or laminate, but is not as rigid as some custom stocks. The HS stocks are relatively light. This is good news in some ways, but they do not absorb recoil as efficiently as a laminate or a custom like McMillan or Manners, but these custom stocks are very heavy and *very* expensive.
Hard to beat free. . . .
Not a .300 WinMag, but I did have a Mauser converted to a .35 Whelen with a steel plate that I blasted for years, and my 6.5-300 Weatherby had a diamond plate aluminum buttplate for a year or so that left treadmarks.
Feels !GOOD!, like napalm in the morning . . .
Hard to beat free. . . .
Otherwise, not really the best entry level rifle, ammo of any type is costly and match grade stuff is outta sight. Recoil is cumulative, tending to take the fun out of a long day on your belly and slowing marksmanship advancement by encouraging bad habits. Can you find a .308 someplace, or trade up for one?
Not a .300 WinMag, but I did have a Mauser converted to a .35 Whelen with a steel plate that I blasted for years, and my 6.5-300 Weatherby had a diamond plate aluminum buttplate for a year or so that left treadmarks.
Recoil is going to depend a lot of weight and stock design and fit and is quite subjective. A lighter shooter can often roll with the punch and not feel as much recoil as a big guy, especially if he knows how to shoot and relax behind the gun. If you're at liberty to modify the rifle, a recoil pad can be fitted. How about a slip-on pad?
If it's a popular model rifle, you can always find a replacement stock for it, like the HS M-700 stocks that sell used for $175 to $200 every day.
Feels !GOOD!, like napalm in the morning . . .
Anyone here into that. If so what do you use for caliber and scope? I would like to get into this so any info would be great.
