What is a good starter rifle? What steps and in order of most benifit would you take to make a better shooter?

Is a Kimber 84 any good?
New guns have really gotten expensive!!

thanks
chuck

a remington 700 in 7mm-08 is a great starter rifle, or if you dont mind much recoil, a 700 VSF in 308 would be great, thats what me and my dad started with, very accurate, and had a heavy barrel, and then when you get more into HP the 700 is (in my idea) the 10/22 of centerfire rifles, other than an AR platform, many companys make after market parts for 700s, triggers, stocks, scope mounts etc, very reliable action also,

i havnt had any experience with a kimber rifle, but i have never heard any negative comments about them either...
welcome to HP

A used Remington 700 in 260 caliber can usually be found reasonable and you can use the action as a doner action if you want build something different later.

Practice, Practice, Practice......... did I say Practice?

I am fairly new to HP, i have shot about 8 or 9 40 shot matches. i started out with a heavy barreled Tikka in 308. i like the rifle and it shoots great. however i did soon find out 308 will beat up on you a little and its hard to find anything for Tikka. i did buy a 700 in 7BR that was all setup for silhouette. i think the 700 is the way to go, everything you need in a HP rifle can be had in the 700 with ease and you can pick up parts and pieces for them everywhere. if you are going to stick with it and shoot a lot, the 700 is the hands down winner. seems like every rifle on the line is a 700 at the ranges i shoot at.
Practice is number one for improvement, dry fire practice is great. i have found HP to be much more difficult than the SB game. i need to practice. i have shot AAA SB scores, but just broke into the AA's with the HP. the recoil and weight make such a difference. Practice practice...
Scott

When I started shooting smallbore, Kitty advised me to get a 1712 because that was the benchmark and, if something broke at a match someone would have a spare and know how to do the repair. I didn't listen of course, and spent a lot of time distracted by equipment struggles.

As deadeyeky said, a Remington 700 action is the 10/22 of centerfire because of the aftermarket parts that are available. Even when you're looking at custom actions you want one that matches the 700 profile because then you can choose from many different triggers and other off the shelf accessories, so start with anything on a 700 action. We're not arguing relative merit here, just utility.

I like the Remington .260, but the Lapua 6.5x47 has earned a great reputation among far more accomplished shooters, and I keep hearing the 7-08 won't beat you to death in a 40 round match. There is substantial research that says the ballistic coefficient of the 6.5 is superior, and that points back to the .260 or Lapua. If you're buying a production rifle look for a Remington .260, but if you're having some work done consider having the rifle chambered for 6.5x47.

BlauBear wrote:When I started shooting smallbore, Kitty advised me to get a 1712 because that was the benchmark and, if something broke at a match someone would have a spare and know how to do the repair. I didn't listen of course, and spent a lot of time distracted by equipment struggles.

As deadeyeky said, a Remington 700 action is the 10/22 of centerfire because of the aftermarket parts that are available. Even when you're looking at custom actions you want one that matches the 700 profile because then you can choose from many different triggers and other off the shelf accessories, so start with anything on a 700 action. We're not arguing relative merit here, just utility.

I like the Remington .260, but the Lapua 6.5x47 has earned a great reputation among far more accomplished shooters, and I keep hearing the 7-08 won't beat you to death in a 40 round match. There is substantial research that says the ballistic coefficient of the 6.5 is superior, and that points back to the .260 or Lapua. If you're buying a production rifle look for a Remington .260, but if you're having some work done consider having the rifle chambered for 6.5x47.

Ahhhh you have learned well young Skywalker

Bob259 wrote:Ahhhh you have learned well young Skywalker

No! I will never turn to the Dark Side!

BlauBear wrote:

Bob259 wrote:Ahhhh you have learned well young Skywalker

No! I will never turn to the Dark Side!

You are there already Young Skywalker

Bob259 wrote:

BlauBear wrote:

Bob259 wrote:Ahhhh you have learned well young Skywalker

No! I will never turn to the Dark Side!

You are there already Young Skywalker

Shhhh....

OK, BB....fess up. what'ch you got cookin??

Bob Mc Alice wrote:OK, BB....fess up. what'ch you got cookin??

What else a new 504 rechambered of course, going for the .22 mag I hear because of the recoil

ooppsss, forgot about the venerable 6.5 cartriges, steyr makes a great .260, although its not listed on its website anymore, no 6.5 calibers are listed on the remington website either, although the 700 would be a better choice, dont forget savage, the most underated rifle company, GREAT out of the box accuracy, the accutrigger is nice and crisp, and adjustable yourself, and if you ever do want to change calibers later on, you dont need a gunsmith, shilen, pac nor and others make pre-threaded and chambered barrels that you can drop in youself with a headspace gauge, i shoot a pre 70's savage 110, with a shilen select match barrel in 7mm BR and it shoots great, strong and simple action, nothing has ever gone wrong with any of our 3 savage rifles, well except i lost a sear engagment spring of my standard rifle just before state HP, long story short, a key ring off a small swiss army knife and a very talented machinist got a spring for me about 10 mins befor the match started,
savages are very easy to work on also in my opinion...

Bob259 wrote:

Bob Mc Alice wrote:OK, BB....fess up. what'ch you got cookin??

What else a new 504 rechambered of course, going for the .22 mag I hear because of the recoil

Couldn't use .22 'cause it would hole the targets...

deadeyeky wrote:... dont forget savage, the most underated rifle company, GREAT out of the box accuracy, the accutrigger is nice and crisp, and adjustable yourself, and if you ever do want to change calibers later on, you dont need a gunsmith, shilen, pac nor and others make pre-threaded and chambered barrels that you can drop in youself with a headspace gauge, i shoot a pre 70's savage 110, with a shilen select match barrel in 7mm BR and it shoots great, strong and simple action, nothing has ever gone wrong with any of our 3 savage rifles, well except i lost a sear engagment spring of my standard rifle just before state HP, long story short, a key ring off a small swiss army knife and a very talented machinist got a spring for me about 10 mins befor the match started,
savages are very easy to work on also in my opinion...

Funny you should mention Savage, since their precision action is very tempting for a custom build! $528 for action and trigger is very competitive and they seem to have decided to pursue the target market so they may go the extra mile to support competitive shooters. They make it easy to swap off the shelf barrels, so if you like to tinker (Evelio claims I do ) they look like a really good deal.