If you’ve been shooting an AR for years, even something custom you put together, making the jump into precision bolt guns can be jarring.
Heading down this road can be as simple as picking up a factory rifle and heading to your first match, but I think you’ll find if you want to pursue this seriously, with training and rapid skill advancement in mind, there are some gear and concepts specific to this type of shooting you’ll want to consider.
Why Shoot a Bolt Action?
In a world of high quality semi-automatic options, what’s the argument for bolt action in the first place?
1. Better Precision: if you want to hit a target with high confidence, especially if you’re taking the life of an animal, knowing with certainty that you can put a bullet where you want it at greater distances can significantly increase your probability of success downrange. The simple construction of a bolt action rifle means you get a single recoil impulse to manage, and the tolerance stack of upper fit to lower, receiver fit to buttstock, etc doesn’t come into play. Minimize your input variability, and the gun does the rest.
2. Political hedge: I oppose any kind of semi-automatic ban or restriction, but 2A violations are a fact of life in our current political atmosphere. In some states where magazine capacity or muzzle devices are restricted, those rules do not apply to non-semi-automatic weapons. Acquiring and training to use these weapon types now is a smart choice especially if you live in a state hostile to your rights.
3: Tradition: Practicality is overrated. Sometimes you just want to shoot like your grandpa did. Embrace the old school vibe.
Before You Begin
Cost remains the biggest barrier to entry when it comes to long range shooting.
Yes, you can reach out a respectable distance with a factory Remington .308, and you can do it for a reasonable price. But there are a number of tools and other expenses you don’t have to consider if you’re just a carbine shooter, and those expenses start to become good investments as your target gets further away.
Consider, for example, the training offered by Caylen Wojcik over at Modern Day Sniper. Caylen was a Marine Corps Scout Sniper and runs one of the highest quality training outfits in the country.
For his Intro to Precision Rifle course, a shooter is required to have:
- a rifle capable of <1MOA
- an optic with adjustable turrets
- tools for scope mounting, leveling, etc
- a bipod with the abilty to cant
- a scope level
- at least 2 magazines (if you’re running DBMs)
- a shooting support bag
- a ballistic computer
Let’s break some of these down to see what that looks like.
For this post, we won’t discuss rifle/optic selection, but this will obviously be your biggest up front cost and overall cost variable.
To get the optic properly mounted, you’ll need wrenches to torque the screws and you’ll need to level the tube. This can be done with simple bubble levels, or with something like Fix It Sticks’ Scope Jack. Their wrench kits are more expensive than something like the Wheeler FAT Wrench, but can more easily be carried into the field if you need to make an emergency adjustment because your parallax is binding or your screws have come loose.
For bipods, Harris makes the most affordable cantable option you’ll want to put on a precision rifle. These run about $120 when they’re not on sale.
As for magazines, keep in mind that your average mag for these types of rifles are significantly more expensive than your average AR mag. These 12 round MDT short action mags are $80 a piece. There are more affordable polymer options.
I sell Armageddon Gear bags, which are, in my opinion, the gold standard for shooting rests. You can find their prices here. This is one area where you might save a bit trying a DIY solution.
For a ballistic computer, you might use an app such as Frank Galli’s Gravity Ballistics or Hornady’s calculator. If you want to package your ballistic calculations with a weather meter, then you’re looking at something like a Kestrel device.
So you can see immediately how the gear cost starts to pile up faster than grabbing an AR with a sling and a chest rig full of extra magazines. And then there’s the cost of the training itself. In the case of the aforementioned Modern Day Sniper course, you’re looking at a $1300 4 day course plus range fees. But you’ll come away from it with a very solid foundation compared to someone who just frequents the range without a plan.
Next Steps
If you chase some practical follow up training, you might consider CR2 Shooting Solutions Light Fighter Course, which requires that you have already taken a basic precision course such as the one described above.
In addition to the gear you needed for a basic course, CR2SS requires you have:
- a shooting tripod
- a spotting scope or binoculars
- a rucksack
- a GPS solution
- hiking boots (surely you already have these?)
- a Cobra/Viper hood
- additional camo netting
- a chest rig
There are a bunch of affordable Chinese manufacture tripods on the market from Leofoto and Innorel. But if something goes wrong with them, good luck getting any customer support. Two Vets and Vortex are both offering products that are not American made, but at least you can get some support or depend on the Vortex warranty if you need a repair or replacement. Really Right Stuff is of course the premium, American made option, but you’ll pay a lot more.
Bino or spotter cost, like your rifle optic, scales with your maximum intended target range. Better glass means you can better interpret what’s happening down range with wind, with bullet trace, with splash on the target, etc. A good way to get decent glass for an entry price is to look for used Steiner military binos on eBay. These can be had for about $150 in decent condition, but they are quite bulky. Kowa’s Chinese manufactured line of optics are known to have high value for their cost – a set of BD II XD binoculars for example run just under $500 and have a good reputation.
A rucksack, GPS, boots, and chest rig aren’t gear particular to long range shooting, so I won’t waste space here discussing them, but the ghillie hood represents a significant investment of money, time, and skill development.
It’s tough to argue for a need for this gear/skill for a competition or hobby shooter, or even an avid hunter. But if your shooting mindset is incorporated into a more general “prepared citizen” mindset, then this particular bit of tradecraft might be useful for you. You can buy premade, ungarnished hoods at tacticalconcealment.com or if you prefer, you can buy the netting and other supplies to build one from scratch on garments you already own.
I have a Viper hood on the way and I’ll do another write-up as I learn to garnish it and get some photos of it in real world environments.
A Rich Man's Sport?
There’s no doubt that with precision shooting, the sky is the limit when it comes to purchasing supplemental gear.
But if you’re trying to open up new capabilities in terms of range and accuracy while keeping costs down, start with what you need to take a class – that training alone will put you miles above most other shooters.