Daughter expressed interest in advancing beyond basic target shooting with her grandpa's .22 to distance shooting, competitively if it exists for youth. I grew up sending buckshot into the bushes after rabbits so, other than my Grandfather's 700, this is new territory for me.

I'm looking for some direction, particularly to ensure I don't fall into a Marketing Manager's trap and spend an extra $500.00 on something that has little benefit. Remington has the "ladies" 700 which is shorter but the lower price point implies a shooter may outgrow the gun's capabilities if they want to advance within the sport. And then there is the $2K 700 Target Tactical at the other end, which I don't mind spending the money on if it encompasses every conceivable upgrade that an amateur shooter may buy as they advance. I hate spending a little bit of money on a Tier One product only to spend twice as much, overall; just to get to the next level.

And also, utility within context of finding events or places to shoot. It would make no sense to pay top dollar for a rifle that little has chance of being used competitively. I can spend $400.00 so she can shoot at the local range as a hobby but if long distance shooting has easily accessible training and competitive events, I don't mind uping the spend.

Any thoughts and input are much appreciated.

Much of what you can do will depend on what you consider both Long Range Shooting and Competitive Shooting. Plenty of youths doing both. One place to check out is the NRA site as there is a lot of information regarding all the classes, including F and F/TR. .308 and .223 are popular as well as some of the bench rest calibers.

Don't discount .22 either. There are plenty of super accurate .22 target rifles out there and the ammunition is less costly and allows for developing skills without the recoil or need to reload to be competitive.

She can shoot the old Prone / Sitting and Off hand relay at 100, 200 and up to 500 yards. Some ranges even out to 1,000.

There are basically two Bench Rest Shooting disciplines, the short range of 100, 200 and 300 yards, dominated by the 6PPC but with plenty of other capable calibers and the long range where 600, 800 and 1,000 yards are the distances shot.

For local club shoots, might be fine to compete with a hunting rifle. For the registered shoots, shooters are using custom build rigs capable of putting their shots directly through existing holes, which is why "For Score" is shot with individual targets each getting one shot, so they can judge what is really happening. On the 1,000 yard course, there are rifle capable of putting 3 shots into under 2 inches if the shooter can do it and can read the wind and the mirage issues.

There is a lot out there that young shooters can get into. Wish her luck. I still have my $40.00 National Match Garand and my $15.00 M1 Carbine that I got as a 15 year old through the youth shooting program.

Bob