Best tactical rifle under $2000...

[MKearn]

So for some reason this topic has come up repeatedly with my friend recently and it got me thinking. What really is the best tactical rifle under $2000? Savage makes some nice rifles. Kimber makes some too. Who can forget about Remington? FNH? WeAtherby?

So, I am sure a person could maybe build something better but I have never done that. OK...discuss.

[tim]

Caliber? Semi or bolt? AR type or not? Distance planned? Optics, lights, lasers..?

Tactical doesn't say much.

For 2k you can get a nice rifle but are you counting optics too? Close quarters or 'sniperish'?

[MKearn]

No restrictions. Some people only want bolt-action while others feel semi-auto is good enough. I am more interested in learning why other like what they do.

Rifle only...no optics included in the $2000.

[Shipyard]

write me up that check for $2K, this contest is over... AND you even get a choice!!!

[tim]

Cup holder is a nice feature.

[goett047]

20 mosins can be had for about 2k

[miked]

Easy:

Long range bolt – Remington 700 acc-sd with a 1 in 10 twist and a 20 inch barrel ($575). Put a Vortex Viper 4-16x with an illuminated MOA reticle ($799). Through the scoped barreled action into a folding McRee persicion stock ($700). With that, anything within a grand you will own.

(and I’m aware I went over by $74)

For everything else - a JP15 with an Eotech, $2k of the best money you'll ever spend.

[LongRange]

Best tactical for the money would be an FNAR .308 , 1300 bucks, throw a scope on and you would be competative at f-class shooting. I know, i took one off the shelf with a leupold rifleman 4x12 and shot a 585 with surplus russian ammo. The FNAR uses the Benelli style action and is the smoothest semi and most accurate off the shelf auto rifle in the world currently. a guaranteed sub moa semi. in a .308.

[rukwikenuf]

hows about a simple, DIGS operation AR-15 in .223 or 5.56NATO?
16" barrel, 6 position stock, i'd like to see a dust cover and shell deflector (unlike those Sportical things) with a free floated barrel NOT full of picitanny real-estate, flat top reciever and an Eotech reddot? you could build that setup for under $1500 pretty easy. then you could take the other $500 and put that into things like LOTS OF AMMO! oh, and you'd want to get a few magazines.

for long range, i'd probably agree, build a Rem 700 the way you want. personally, i'd skip the folding stock, and go for a fixed one from Hogue. they feel REAL nice.

or buy yourself 5 used AK's at Bill's!

i guess it all depends on what your definition of "tactical" is. to me, that means "what would you carry (honestly) into bad-guy turf" it also means "military application", not just somebody painting it black and calling it the latest and greatest in tactical firearms.




oh, and i've had my eye on the new Ruger SR556 in 6.8spc. could pick that up for under $1500 and then get the Eotech. the other thing i've got a boner for is those Trijicon ACOG scopes. mount one of those bad boys and some offset iron sights, and you're ready for any jihadii to come knockin!

http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/ ... G&mid=ACOG / RMR Combo
http://www.dueckdefense.com/index.asp
the biggest issue with the ACOG is the price tag of nearly $2K in itself!


edit: i do realize the SR556 from Ruger is a piston operation, but it's a nice **** gun!

[dsm2nr]

I would probably go with an M1A SOCOM 16 with a scope and bipod. Should be do-able with $2k and would do great cqb through 1k yards.

[quote="rukwikenuf"
oh, and i've had my eye on the new Ruger SR556 in 6.8spc. could pick that up for under $1500 and then get the Eotech. the other thing i've got a boner for is those Trijicon ACOG scopes. mount one of those bad boys and some offset iron sights, and you're ready for any jihadii to come knockin!

http://www.trijicon.com/na_en/products/ ... G&mid=ACOG / RMR Combo
http://www.dueckdefense.com/index.asp
the biggest issue with the ACOG is the price tag of nearly $2K in itself!


edit: i do realize the SR556 from Ruger is a piston operation, but it's a nice **** gun![/quote]

How about an Elcan?

[LongRange]

I would probably go with an M1A SOCOM 16 with a scope and bipod. Should be do-able with $2k and would do great cqb through 1k yards.

Not in a million years would a 16" SOCOM hit steady paper @ a grand. The 16" barrel alone drops the fps to 2550 and the bullet drop is over 480" at 1000yrds, It is rare to find one that can hold a 4" group at 300yrds. Geesh people there is nothing wrong with admitting when you just dont know the answer. Fact is shooting a grand is far from easy, now sure every "real man" can do it,lol but in all honesty very few rifles on the market today would be competative @ a grand. Calibers alone are a huge issue, you have to be sure to fire a good BC round, make sure your loads are proper for the weather that day, and just about every single market rifle today has a barrel that is too short. Take a standard rem 700 .308 with a 22barrel, ballistics for a 168gr round would fall around 2700fps at best, however if you were to shoot the exact same round from a 26" barrel, you would get 2850fps, when you see that big flame coming from your barrel in the evening shooting, thats wasted energy, its power still burning after the round has left the barrel, harness that energy and ballistics change dramatically.

I shoot Weatherbys and my newest rifle is a 27-300 wby magnum, currently i am firing a 120gr solid at 4250fps with a 31" barrel from a lawton 7000 action. @ a grand my bullet drop is around 91 inches while a .308 is 404 inches. , my little 120gr round is hitting with more energy at a grand than the .308 does at the muzzle. So the next time someone wants to give advice on a long range weapon, consider the source before acting and wasting your money. a Lawton 7000 action costs about 1000.00 and a McGowan barrel and break runs about 450, get a simple stock and optics and chamber in a 300 wby mag or even your own wildcat with 300 bucks to your local gunsmith and you have a REAL long range contender.

I shoot and hunt long range, its what I do and I have spent 15 years perfecting that one area of shooting. I shoot the 30-378 Wby, farther and faster than ever before, Lawton 8500/ 32.5" Mac , 168gr solids @ 4425fps / 6252 lb ft of energy, and have taken game at over 2000 meters.

[farmerj]

Sorry LongRange,

But yes, the M1A/M14 is more than capable of doing 1000 Meters. Especially loaded with M118LR or equivalent rounds.

They may not pull a 10" circle, but it's more than capable of hitting an iron Maiden.

For those that don't know what an iron maiden is.

It's a 19X40" steel target used for unknown distance target shooting. We used them at Camp Robinson Ark for our Squad Designated Marksman course. The same range that the Sniper school uses. Distances range from 300 meters out to 1200 meters.

[Countryfried Frank]

Call me crazy but wasn't the question about a tactical rifle, not a long range rifle?

What really is the best tactical rifle...?

Excellent troll food BTW.

IMHO it is a $500 AK with $1500 worth of cheap steel kommie training ammo. Having said that I still have no intention of getting an AK, or kommie ammo.

[LongRange]

Sorry LongRange,

But yes, the M1A/M14 is more than capable of doing 1000 Meters. Especially loaded with M118LR or equivalent rounds.

They may not pull a 10" circle, but it's more than capable of hitting an iron Maiden.

For those that don't know what an iron maiden is.

It's a 19X40" steel target used for unknown distance target shooting. We used them at Camp Robinson Ark for our Squad Designated Marksman course. The same range that the Sniper school uses. Distances range from 300 meters out to 1200 meters.

I was referring to the SOCOM 16, its a close range hard hitting rifle, not for long range, maybe a SOCOM 20? Yes the thread OP was asking for tactical, I was addressing the statements made about shooting a grand, sorry for going off topic.

[farmerj]

I'd put money on the SOCOM 16 being able to hit to 1000 yards as well.

There have been a couple of shooters that have shown that an 18" and even a 16" barrel are still capable of hitting to 1000 yards and not having a significant change in scope adjust.
http://www.sniperschool.com/sniper-rifle-barrel-length

Not saying there isn't. Just not a significant. Enough so, the rifle I am building next will be a .280 Rem with an 18" barrel on it. Built off a Stevens 200 receiver, it should be rather interesting to see how inexpensive it really is to build it.


ETA:
http://www.tacticaloperations.com/SWATbarrel/