Entry precision rifle

[Wiggity]

Hey guys so I picked up a rifle because I got a great deal. So it looks like I'll be working with this one for a while.

It's a rem 700 ADL varmint 308 with a choate stock and Whitt custom brake. It also came with a shitty ass Simmons whitetail scope and a Blackhawk bipod. As well as all of the original stuff for $400 plus some .223 ammo.


I believe I need to replace the scope and trigger first an the stock is decent.

Opinions?

[Suwannee Tim]

Both are modified factory components from a "Wal-Mart Special"

Barrel is a 22" stainless that has been free floated, threaded, crowned, had the rear sight dovetail filled, the chamber shortened a bit to seat the bullets closer to the rifling, and Dura Coated black.

The stock was a factory birch stock that I modified myself. The adjustable LOP butt pad and cheek rest were fabricated from some scrap aluminum bar stock and various nuts and bolts I had lying around. The heat shield isn't actually attached to the stock either. The 20 MOA rail extends past the front of the receiver a bit and the heat shield is bolted to the bottom of the rail. It made the stock look cool, doesn't get in the way for disassembly and doesn't pinch the barrel that way.

You did a good job on that rifle. I'm impressed.

Interesting discussion. I agree the 700 is highly overrated. I have had several that wouldn't shoot worth a damn including a heavy barrel 243 that shoots 6 to 8 inches at 100. The guy that fit the barrel must have been drunk and the bedding sucks. They can be made to shoot well. I see fewer and fewer 700s in precision applications as the years go by.

Hey guys so I picked up a rifle because I got a great deal. So it looks like I'll be working with this one for a while.

It's a rem 700 ADL varmint 308 with a choate stock and Whitt custom brake. It also came with a shitty ass Simmons whitetail scope and a Blackhawk bipod. As well as all of the original stuff for $400 plus some .223 ammo.


I believe I need to replace the scope and trigger first an the stock is decent.

Opinions?

You are right about the scope.

[orkan]

I see fewer and fewer 700s in precision applications as the years go by.

Hardly surprising, considering unlike years past they aren't the only game in town.

[wingspar]

I’m not particularly familiar with all the specific models but just looking at the names I would assume TAC stands for Tactical so I’d check that one out. Also usually Varmint models are heavy barreled and accuracy oriented so I would check out the Varmint and Super Varmint also.

Probably ignore anything with lite or stainless in the name (you probably don't want anything with a shiny or thin barrel).

The TAC made sense, but I couldn’t tell if any of the other models would apply to what I want. Stainless just has no appeal to me, so I wouldn’t look at them anyway. No MFRP on their page at all, so I guess I’ll have to do some searching for prices.

[wingspar]

This is the sad part. Tikka make rifles at price points that would absoluley dominate the market. They shoot as good as most custom rifles do at a fraction of the cost. However, they only import certain models, and the ones that would be in huge demand by precision and long range shooters, they don't. Berretta is absolultey ****ing retarded when it comes to managing Tikka/Sako/Benneli/Stoeger.

The Varmit, Heavy Varmit and Scout are all AMAZING rifles. IN fact on tikka's website they even list them as being sold with threaded barrels in .243, .260. .308... all the good calibers.

700's and savages are just not worth the money to me and both are not reliable and built well enough (stock) to trust for any serious shooting.

Well, that might sway me away from Tikka, and the $1500 price is more than I can afford.

I’m not real fond of the Remington 700's, but the Savage Model 10 remains #1 on my list, but I just feel I need to look a little more. Not sure I want to buy used unless I knew the owner and the history of the gun.

[wingspar]

Hey guys so I picked up a rifle because I got a great deal. So it looks like I'll be working with this one for a while.

It's a rem 700 ADL varmint 308 with a choate stock and Whitt custom brake. It also came with a shitty ass Simmons whitetail scope and a Blackhawk bipod. As well as all of the original stuff for $400 plus some .223 ammo.


I believe I need to replace the scope and trigger first an the stock is decent.

Opinions?

For that price, I’d have jumped on it too. Can’t speak for the scope and trigger as the last time I shot a 700 was back in the early 1980's, but now you can have some fun researching scopes. Once you shoot it, you can easily figure out if you want the scope or trigger first. Have fun.

[southernZ]

For what its worth (not much) as someone who has owned a m70 Heavy Varmint, Tikka T3 Varmint, and Remington 700P all in 308, I prefer the 700. I am a true beginner in precision shooting, and the 2 main factors that made me keep the 700 is aftermarket support and the fact that is much easier to locate a reputable gunsmith that can perform custom work to the 700. However, if I were to compare all 3 rifles together, the M70 HV had the best overall fit and finish, was very accurate, and had a great trigger. My Tikka was a amazing shooter, but I just could not get along with the factory hard plastic stock. The 700P fit the bill strictly because of available rifle makers in my area. When I burn through this barrel, hopefully its going to La Precision rifles for a makeover.

[Suwannee Tim]

One of the big, big benefits of the M700 is the cylindrical receiver which is very easy to chuck up in a 3 jaw, 4 jaw lathe chuck or even a collet in a big enough lathe. All (?), almost all (?) of the other common actions are not cylindrical and therefore more of a challenge to chuck up in a lathe. I'm not exactly sure how it would be done, chucking a M 70 or whatever but I assume gunsmiths use some special fixture for each type of action which could be a considerable investment. I think the Savage is cylindrical also, is that right? I see quite a few of those on the range, of the non-custom guns it seems the Remington and the Savage are most common.

I've got this POS Model 700 in 243 collecting dust. Maybe I'll have it rebarrelled and do up the stock something like DTakas did.

[JiminAZ]

I went down this path with an FN PBR 20" in 308, heavy fluted barrel. After some load development I had a gun that shoots about 3/8 MOA. Maybe I got lucky but that is about as good as it gets for a $600 rifle. Didn't replace anything, just adjusted the trigger. Oh yeah, added a bipod and good scope.

[TurretGunner]

I went down this path with an FN PBR 20" in 308, heavy fluted barrel. After some load development I had a gun that shoots about 3/8 MOA. Maybe I got lucky but that is about as good as it gets for a $600 rifle. Didn't replace anything, just adjusted the trigger. Oh yeah, added a bipod and good scope.

The PBR's are a great value, especialy when you could get them for around $550-600.

The SPR's come with the chrome lined barrel , "blueprinted" actions and the MOA guarentee depending on which model.

After looking them over and comparing how the shoot to my SPRA1, they were every bit as good rifles. I would buy one in a heartbeat, drop it into a chassis (Not a fan of Mcmillan/Manners, which is why I sold the SPR) and you have a very capable rifle, with a fantastic action should you shoot the barrel out and want to try a new wonder caliber.