Hold on there. If you could be hitting 1000 yard, youd know how to answer the question.
Not to beat you up, but yeah that part of a previous comment makes a lot of sense and holds a lot of water. I am going to assume your a fair shooter at the moment with some rifle experience and aspire to reach that target range with some practice.
If you get a gun that rings the gong at 1000 yards you will likely find that it doesnt make the best hunting rifle although you can indeed hunt with a "sniper" rifle. If you get a good hunting boltaction you will likely find it making things pretty tough for you out to 1000 yards. To my way of thinking you need to comprimise a little bit here or get two different guns.
No large bore like 50 cal. (put your monet towards ammo)
Good idea. There are other rounds that are a little better for anti personnel and unless you are looking for a gun that can be used for anti material, a 50 cal leaves a lot to be desired in my experience. In Iraq and 'Stan, these guns kicked up a pretty impressive dust signature and you had best be shooting and scooting or very well protected! You will likely find yourself drawing fire and mortor rounds/RPG's only have to land close.
US made, but if it is a good deal for the money go for it
I really wouldnt let that be too much of a mitigating factor. Id be all about who can provide the hardware I need, and worry about that factor much later down my desicion making process. Scoring a hit and putting warheads on foreheads or filling the freezer is more important than what country it was made in.
Ammo easy to buy and you can reload
I really wanted a .338 Laupa, but really, do I wanna pay 4.00 bucks plus a round or use a shovel to fill the cases with powder? Anything thats not easy and convienant and reasonably cheap, and your not going to practice as much as you should, and your shooting abilities are going to suffer to a degree. I like the .308, 30-06, 300 Win Mag and 7mm Rem mag for under 800 yard work. These are all very common and popular hunting chamberings and most are fairly common for tactical rifles in an anti personnel role. Any thing beyond these and your looking at something thats more specialized, read that as "expensive" and will generate more recoil than most shooters can comfortably handle unless you like the abuse or have a 13 lbs plus rifle. I have a couple of rifles in more punishing calibers than that but I cant say that I really enjoy shooting them that much despite the fact that I can reach way out there with them. Ill stick to something a bit milder instead of wilder.
Max range 1000 yards (hunting rifle main use)
If the main use is hunting you really got no business shooting beyond 400-500 yards unless your all that and a bag of chips. For hunting I doubt most here need to reach beyond 300 and most probably drop thier game under 200. You really owe it to the game your hunting to make it a quick humane kill and not just a fatal shot. But then again maybe my ethics are uneccessarily higher than some others. When shooting game I want to recover it, when shooting a human (Iraq/Stan Vet) I just want to neutralize them. Whether that takes a few seconds or a couple of hours to be fatal I dont care as long as they are no longer shooting back or able to direct in comming fire.
Maybe something that you could buy and build it up as you go
A lot of merit to this thought. Not everyone has long arms and deep pockets. But many of us can afford to but a quality actioned rifle and upgrade it as fun dollars become available and ultimately make it the rifle we wanted and needed. I started with a Remington 700 VLS in .308 Winchester and tweaked and modified it from there until it was the gun that filled the bill. Luckily it was a phenominal rifle right out of the box and required only minimum work. Will you be able to score a rifle that good or better out of the box, prehaps, but if not you can fix it. In the long run this is often a bit more costly than just buying what you want to begin with.
Excellent platform for the average Joe and hard to go too far wrong with for about 90% of the people out there who are spending thier money and not some agencys money. I am somewhat partial to the Rem 700, but Savage aint no chump either from a potential stand point. I also like the Weatherbys as well and chances are if I build anymore guns they will most likely be on the Vangard or Mk V actions. These are solid action designs with a reputation. I also believe they are once again made in America too. The biggest thing I like about them is the bolts have relief holes drilled in them so if there is a case seperation or blown primer, gases are vented out the action through them and not all back in your face/eye or through the magazine floor of the action. While they do make replacement parts like glass eyes and artifical limbs, they really dont work as good as the OEM ones God gave you...
You make a case for a couple of dozen different chamberings as many can be quiet effective at hunting or "sniping". I like and prefer the 30 cal, 7mm and 6.5 calibers due to the great bullet selection for hunting and "long range target shooting". I like the fact that most are pretty easy on the shoulder at the bench and fairly reasonable to reload for. This is not to imply that a 257 Weatherby or a 340 weatherby can fill the bill in fine form and fashion. Just keep it in perspective, what works for me or someone else may not work as well for you.