Looking to get started in long gun shooting. Need some info on getting started please. Mike_T 
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Obvious first questions:
1-What do you want to do with it (or want it to do for you?) This could be anything from zombie defense to teaching a young child, to cheap ammo (22.lr), to hunting. I donât have a place to shoot outdoors , wonât likely hunt, and hate expensive ammo, so for me it is 10/22 type stuff.
2-How much are you willing to spend? Back to #1, cheap 10/22 and cheap 22lr.
If you arenât tied to rifle consider a carbine. I did and never looked back.
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Long range, or rifles in general? Some guys are really starting to reach out with .22âs. I myself can hit an 8 Oz bottle all day with a 150 dollar Marlin, with a cheapy Simmons 3x9 scope. Now that Iâm coaching 4H rifles, Iâm getting more into rimfire rifle shooting.
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I should have been more specific. Two part answer, 1- Long range like hundreds of yards out to 700 yards so I can teach long range shooting. 2 - Thunder ranch has a long range shooting class, this is where the certification would come from. I should have added I have shot 30-30 Winchester out to 200 yds.
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Sounds like fun! I would assume that at 700 yards youâll have to learn about things like the Coriolos effect, earth curvature, wind speed, humidity, density, bullet shape, related trajectories, etc. Let us know what you find out!
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Be VERY VERY careful when you get around that long range bug. It will suck the life right out of your bank account. 20 years ago if you would have told me that putting a $2500 scope on a $900 rifle would be where Iâm at, I would have called you Bat $h!t Crazy. Yet here I am. I can get any fool who can follow instructions on steel at 1000 yards most any day of the week in less than an hour. To get that fool to be able to pick up a rifle and hit the same on a CBS (Cold Bore Shot) is a horse of another breed. If 700 yards is your limit (for now) I would start off with a good 308. The barrel will last you long enough to learn the game and the ammo is relatively inexpensive to buy and or make. On the topic of ammo, unless you are independently wealthy and can afford FGMM (Federal Gold Medal Match) or Black Hills Match you WILL reload and that is a whole 'nother rabbit hole.
Once you start walking yard lines and get competent you will get into UKD (Un Kown Distance) and then you start learning math all over again. Then you will get into ELRS which is Extreme Long Range Shooting where you buy and build guns that let you play at a mile or more. Oh, more math.
There is a saying in my circles âSnipers (Precision LR Shooter) are not the most dangerous people on the battlefield because they have the biggest guns. Itâs because they learned how to weaponize MATH.â
Donât say I didnât warn you. That said I am here to help with your soon to be new addiction 
Cheers,
Craig6
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Pretty good quote from @Craig6. For a good solid beginning, I would recommend
âLong Range Shooting Handbook
A beginners guide to precision
Rifle shootingâ
By Ryan Cleckner
Itâs a very easy read, as far as he doesnât bury you under @Dawn dreaded TLA. (3 letter acronyms)
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Well @Craig6 I am looking to put a $1500 to $2000 scope on a $6000 rifle. Barrett 338 lapua with a 308 backup barrel. Maybe even a 6.5 creedmore. I already have a reloading outfit. Thunder ranch wants me to use a horus reticle scope which gives much more precision without always cranking the knobs. Mike
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@Mike_T well if you have a Barret with swappable barrels you are good on the gun side. I forgot the guys at Thunder are into the H reticles. I never really liked them. I prefer IPHY but I speak MOA and Mil-Dot also. What scope platform are you putting the H reticle in? There arenât that many options but itâs been a while since I had to look. In general I prefer to dial elevation and hold wind but am not adverse to either or both depending on the circumstances. Dunno that I would like to learn on a 338LM but hey everybody has to start someplace 
Cheers,
Craig6
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Agreed. Great book to get going. Also like a .308 to start. 6.5 CM obviously another option, but a bit more expensive.
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Leopold scope is a little bit less than others I looked at. I need to get a grip on the ins and outs of being able to read the scope !! 
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@Craig6 - I fully understand what you are saying about the cost, it is mind blowing how fast you can burn 
through money. I think faster then I did with my wife. 
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I did not know that Loopy was doing H reticles 
That said unless they have REALLY stepped up their machining of turrets you may want to look elsewhere. I did a sniper course for LEO down in York County, NC where we verified the âclick valuesâ of all the scopes and Loopy was consistently off on EVERY optic in the class. NF was good, Hendshult (sp) and USO were spot on. I can A$$uME that you know you need a FFP scope to make the Horus work right.
LOL, the two best and most expensive mistakes I ever made were marrying my wife of 30 years and getting into long range precision.
Cheers,
Craig6
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That would be a yes. Thank you for all your insight.
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To all that have commented - thanks for your insight and please keep the insights coming.
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I put about a $600 optic on my AR-10. Itâs good to 1000 yards plus.
@Craig6 is telling you the truth it can get real expensive fast. But for fun a good AR-10 with a decent to good optic is plenty.
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Thank you all for the feed back. Yes I realized some time back it would get expensive. My wife and I had long conversations before she passed and I promised I would move forward. I am not rich but shooting is a passion and I like shooting at things far away.
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@Scotty - I will do that. Have to wait for the virus to clear up, however I will keep everybody in the loop.
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When you get to trying to figure out how to do optics shoot me a PM with your e-mail. I have some power points you may find enlightening from when I was a scope rep. It may ease your learning curve.
Cheers,
Craig6
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