Price range from say 2000 to about 3500 for the rifle itself, less if possible. The optics I can get from someone I know back home for a decent price. But I would like to be able to reach out and touch an elk at 500 yards or so without a problem. Thanks
decently accurate to 1000 yards or so
Alright look...you are killing me here. A rifle is either accurate or not...range had nothing to do with it. A 1/2 MOA rifle will shoot a 1/2 MOA at 10 feet or 1000 yards. The shooter is the rest of the picture. So...one more time. How accurate are you talking?
A good off the shelf, bolt action rifle should be capable of MOA or very nearly MOA accuracy. The question then becomes how much are you willing to spend to get how far below 1 MOA.
Then you throw this 1000 yard number out there and also talk about being able to "rach out and touch and elk at 500 yards".
What you really need to decide is...do you want a long range hunting rifle, or, do you want a long range comp/bullseye/Palma etc...rifle. They are not the same...and while a Ruger
No.1 .300 Win Mag makes a fine long range hunting rifle, it is not what you want for sitting on a tripod or bench and banging away at 600-1000 yard paper.
EDIT: Oh and lets be damn certain that you are capable of making that 500 yard elk shot before we start bandying it about as a criteria for a rifle. Let's say you and your rifle are 1 MOA capable...which most casual shooters are not. That 1" at 100 16" at 500. Oh...and lets not forget that we're talking about a non-rested, in the field, breathing heavy etc...shot, which makes it more like 32-40 inches. That is plenty to miss...let alone wound or mame an animal even as large as an elk. Be ethical and know your limits. There are damn few people capable of the 500 yd shot in the field you are talking about. Not to mention the fact that to carry enough energy to ethically kill at that range, you are talking about .300 WSM,.338 ultra
mag or better...have fun shooting them frequently from the bench.
for a scope.
