looking to shoot 200 yards and farther

Look at savage, .223 will do just fine at that range. But any of the main calibers 30-06, 308, 270, 243 will all work at those ranges and beyond.
 
Is it just for target shooting? Personally i think the 300 Win Mag is overkill for the distance you quoted. 30-06 and 308 will work just as well out to 800 yards and you'll probably need to practice quite a bit before your'e shooting that far anyways so you'll want the lower ammo cost. And the lower recoil.

I have a Steven's 200 in 308 I love it, plan to put a better stock and heavy barrel on it eventually but even in the stock configuration it's sub MOA at a hundred yards. I'm a big proponent of Savage, I'd personally take one over a Rem 700 any day.
 
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I think you would be happy with a .308/7.62 NATO, which is a good round for 200-500 yards, depending on conditions (and skill, of course).
 
Looking to shoot what, exactly, beyond 200 yards?

Paper? .223 will work just fine for that, out to 400+.

Deer? Better go with something bigger, but small enough that recoil levels allow you to practice often without your shoulder turning pretty colors....
 
It really depends on what you want to do with it. There are plenty of excellent rounds for punching paper and plenty for hunting at those ranges. There are some that will do both equally well.
 
I'll still vote for 308 or 30-06. If you do go with the Steven's or savage in general i'd say go 308 simply because there are a few more aftermarket parts for it, that aren't available for the long action. But just the same there is plenty either way.
 
I know people who use .300 Win Mag for white tails, a little bit of overkill in my book but, to each his own I guess. It would be pretty punishing after a while shooting at paper. I would probably say .308, .270, 30-06. The 06 is probably the most versatile of the three as far as variety of factory loads.
 
For just about everything from target shooting to elk
Click to expand...

Ya know, if you handloaded, you could tailor your .300 WINMAG loads to just about any purpose:

Plinking cans: 100 SJ 19gr SR 4759 will give you 1626 f/sec....


Prairie Dogs: 110gr V-Max, 56gr IMR 4064 (3200 f/sec) will let you shoot all afternoon with explosive results (no-ricochets)....

Deer: 165gr BTSP 67gr H414 gives the equivalent of a hotrodded 30-06 .... (2900 f/sec) .... you could push it faster, but why?

Paper: 79gr Re22 will keep a 168 gr HP Match bullet supersonic beyond 1,000 yards ......

Elk: 77gr of Re 22 and a 180 Speer Grand Slam oughta do it.....
 
looking to shoot 200 yards and farther


good idea!! If planning to hunt at that distance get out and shoot minimum 150 rounds/year so you can hit whatever it is that you will be shooting at. No wounding allowed.
 
My first inclination is a .30-06 because you can reach out nd touch something at more than 500 yds depending on your skills. The .30-06 has a wide variety of bullets and you can find ammo almost anywhere.

I shot a pig at 600 yds, 1 shot dropped it on the spot. That was using a M1A (a little over your price range) The M1A is a 7.62 mm x 51 mm (.308) using a 150 gr bullet. So a .308 would work as well.

As langenc wrote, you better get out there and practice. That 600 yd shot I made comes with many years of experience. If you don't have a lot of experience, find a good shooter that is a big bore competition shooter that will teach you the basics. I started learning with a drill instructor sitting on my back.
 
I find Gallery of Guns local retail search is a good way to get a list of guns in a certain price range that meet specific requirements.

http://www.davidsonsinc.com/consume...c=100&instock=all&offset_rec=0&b1.x=45&b1.y=9

That should list all available .308's from $300-$500 in price from almost all major manufacturers. Some of them even come with a scope already, look for SCP in the description. Now you know roughly what is available new and roughly what the price should be. Then you can research each or ask questions here, and make a decision as to what you want.

When in this exact same situation yesterday I used the above search and it helped me get a lightly used and very well cared for Vanguard .308 for $350 from my favorite local store today.
 
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Pawn shops commonly have no more than 50% of the asking price invested in their used guns. Probably the best deal for getting a hunting rifle.

Targets & Elk? The .308 will do as well as most any other.
 
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