New with a Savage 110 30-06.

Hi, I'm new to long range shooting, but since they just opened up a 600M range by my house, I picked up a Savage 110 with the flat receiver in 30-06 and the synthetic stock. It has a simmons 3-9 scope on it, which is shockingly clear for a $40 optic, but I have no way to do holdover or turret adjustments. I am looking at a vortex 6-24 viper PST and a EGW 20MOA base. I'm still not sure what rings, but the Burris XTR look pretty decent.

Sometime in the future, I am looking at having a barrel threaded for a PWS PRC, but it looks like the factory barrel would have to be cut back pretty far to be thick enough. I was looking at a McGowen barrel, but I am not sure what contour, crown or length I should get. Most of the shooting I do will be from a bipod, but I will probably shoot a bit standing too.

Also, is there any reason I should replace the stock, or just use something like the Kydex cheek riser?

Is your rifle fitted with a sporter barrel or a heavy barrel? I will say your choice for base, rings, and scope are good. I would also look into getting a varmint stock with cheek piece and good trigger. The Caldwell Rock front rest is a good buy.

If you don't have a heavy barrel get one. If you hand load a .260 Rem or 6.5X55 Swedish is fine for shooting 600 and the long action will allow you more room for longer bullets. If you are stuck with buying factory ammo a .308W is a better route. A .308W can be hand loaded to very good accuracy at 600 also.

My rifle originally had the thin stock barrel on it. I just ordered a 26" stainless Criterion varmint taper barrel from Jim at Northern Shooting Supply in 30-06. I probably won't have the chance to have it installed until Christmas time though. The factory barrel was just about 1" at 100 yards, so hopefully this new barrel will be better. I'm afraid this is going to be a little heavy to shoot off hand though.

What twist rate does the new barrel have?

1/10

A nice heavy gun is easier to shoot off-hand. More mass makes it more stable and harder to jitterbug around. You'll need to work your endurance and strength to match but I hold up a 17lbs rifle pretty often and love how stable it is.

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Originally Posted by r3dn3ck

A nice heavy gun is easier to shoot off-hand. More mass makes it more stable and harder to jitterbug around. You'll need to work your endurance and strength to match but I hold up a 17lbs rifle pretty often and love how stable it is.

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I agree, heavier is better. I shot matches offhand for years with a 14 lb rifle and won many of them. Takes practice though.

El Lobo