[lowlife72]

Hi All

Looking for some final confirmation before I actually lay down the cash.

I have decided on a Remington SPS Tacical as the rifle of choice for me (good starting price with lots of possible upgrades later). I plan on using it primarilly for punching paper with some varmint hunting as well. I expect that the range I will be shooting at most of the time will be between 100 and 500 yards. However, there is a local range that gets out to 1000 yards and I am certainly interested in doing some shooting out to that distance. There is a small chance that I may paticipate in some competative shoots at ranges from 400 to 900 yards.

The appeal of the .223 is of course the cost of ammo (I know that there is very little cost difference if you reload but I currently do not). Plus, I like the idea of light recoil. But, I am not sure about the range and accuracy and have not been able to find much info using search or googling.

The .308 seems to be the caliber of choice for longer range shooting. However, it is slightly more expensive to shoot (about 35% more on average over a variety of loads where I live). The recoil will be heavier although still mild (not much different than my .243 I expect).

I only own 2 rifles at the moment which I suppose does play a part in making a final choice. They are a Ruger 10/22 and a Ruger M77 in .243 and I have owned both for about 20 years.

I know the easy answer is just buy the .308. But I find he .223 to be interesting and appealing for really no specific reason. I'd probably just pick one up but I'm concerned about being dissapointed in the range and accuracy. Any feedback, advice, or information about the 2 calibers would be appreciated.

Thank you in advance.