Remington 700 AAC-SD w/ 16.5" .308?!

[Co-gnARR]

I saw this locally the other day. Unless I missed something, this model is not on Remington's website. If I'm not mistaken, the 16.5" barrel is a distributor exclusive. Yes, I did verify that it's a .308 win, not 300BLK. Some searching shows the rifle is capable of reaching out to targets at 500+ yds with the proper user input. What I liked about this rifle is it is quite handy and quick to shoulder- just what I want for a brush gun. The added benefit I think this set up offers is the ability to reach out to 200yds accurately and with enough energy to drop a white tail; my current brush gun is a Marlin 1894 44mag, which I am hesitant to push past 100yds. Most of the white tail I've seen are within 80yds, but there were a few at 200yds that I let go due to open sights and the rain bow trajectory of the 44mag. I'd like a gun that can reach across that gap.
So, a few questions. If I really do feel the need to take game beyond 200-300 yds I have a 7mm rem mag for that. Is hunting with a short .308, what is a realistic range for hunting white tail?
As for loads, the I'm guessing 1/10 twist is suited more for heavier subsonic loads while suppressed. Will the twist rate be too fast for lighter 308 projectiles, such as 150gr? These are available locally so I want to be realistic about the factory loads I can grab if/when a shortage of ammunition and reloading components occurs. The light loads would be targets only, as I feel 168-175 is more appropriate for white tail.
In your collected opinions, is the 16.5" barrel a good compromise for weight/handiness if I'm not reaching past 500yds for gongs or 200yds for hunting? Or is this just some marketing scheme for the couch warriors who want a tacti-cool look?
ETA: meant to post in general bolt gun thread. On iPhone- small screen, big hands
Thanks in advance.

[Eurodriver]

Uhhh...yeah...good luck with that. Mine wouldn't shoot better than 3 MOA with FGMM ammo, and I ended up dropping about $2200 into it to get it to shoot well. (All I had left at that point was the receiver, and even that had been blueprinted and customized)

https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread...-questions-etc

The pics are no longer up, but the majority of groups were around 4" at 100 yards. I wrote a nicely worded letter to Remington and the guys who actually build the things gave me a call and said that unless a rifle shoots worse than FIVE MOA at 100 yards they will not consider it a defect. I love Remington 700s, but I'll never buy one again. Especially a "boutique" model like a 16.5" barrel.

I'm not sure what is going on with this rifle. Today I shot BH 168, BH 175 Moly coated, and Nosler 168 factory match ammo.

The *Best* 5 shot group I had at 100 yards was with the BH 168 and that was ~2 MOA. Take a look at some of these groups and tell me what you think is going on. I was firing from a Caldwell Lead Sled and I'm a decent shooter.

Then I attached the suppressor and shot the top right group without adjusting the sights. I came up ~3 MOA and left 1 MOA and shot the bottom left group (2 rounds in the writing). Then I made a final 2 MOA up adjustment and 1 MOA right adjustment and fired the bottom right corner 3 rounds. This was my best target all day. 5 MOA up seems very excessive for adding a suppressor to a stiff 16" barrel.


In hindsight, I wish I fired 10 rounds of each type of ammo at the same target to get a true group size/zero, but I went with a bunch of buddies who were too busy blasting away (with my ARs!) and hassling me with questions.

Thoughts? Is this normal for a brand new barrel? Is there anything I can or should be doing?

Snow and ice? It was 80 degrees out today and sunny! Was sweating wearing a polo and jeans.

I am upset to report that the rifle's accuracy, while improved, is still shit.

Four guys including me (all are 1000yd competition shooters except me) ended up shooting it. We tried the following combos:

Bare muzzle w/ Leupold Mk4
AAC 51T FH Hand Tight w/ Leupold Mk4
AAC 51T FH Hand Tight w/ AAC 762SD Suppressor w/ Leupold Mk4
Bare Muzzle w/ Night Force ~6-22x? (wasn't mine)
AAC 51T FH Torqued to 20ft lbs w/ Leupold Mk4

We also adjusted the action screws from 25in-lbs to 55 in-lbs in 10in-lb increments.

This 3 round group was the best group all day. It was shot from a rest with match 168gr Handloads, by a 1000 yard Bench Rest High Power competition winner. This was using the Leup Mk4 and FH hand tight.

I guess the "good news" is that adding the FH made no appreciable effect on the precision of the rifle.

My gunsmith was at the range too, and he is going to throw a Bartlein barrel in it after truing the action. If it didn't shoot so poorly before I gave it to him, I'd think it was planned!

Perhaps the most upsetting part of the entire day were the stupid questions though.

"How many rounds ya got through it? Barrel might be shot out!"
-"That was round #95, exactly."
"Oh..."

"Maybe it needs to be front loaded on a bipod to shoot right."
-Does yours?
"No..."

Good news? Looks nice in the HS Precision stock I guess. I think I'm going to have the final product cerakoted FDE which should look nice with the green stock.

[rjacobs]

Im with Eurodriver, luck of the draw if it shoots well. I had a 20" AAC-SD that was all over the place. Occasionally it would print a good group, but generally it was unpredictable. This was while it was properly torqued into an aluminum chassis and NOT the gumby stock they come with. Played with loads constantly(probably had 250-300 rounds in load development between 4-5 different bullets and powders). Never did find anything "great". "best" was a 44g Varget with 175g SMK load that would shoot 1", but would throw flyers randomly.

Funny enough the 220g SMK/Trailboss subsonic load shot great out of the gun, but was a huge waste for a 308.

Ive got one of the 300blk AAC-SD's and its a 1/2 MOA tack driver.

There are a few other short 308's on the market that I would look at before the Rem 700 AAC-SD.

[Co-gnARR]

Thanks, guys. With things like Rugers Gunsite Scout I was thinking there is some merit to shorter .308's, but I was a bit skeptical with the whole 'tactical' labling on the thing. That, and the Remington name seems to tarnished lately.

[rjacobs]

I would say yes to "some merit to shorter .308's" however just not to the Rem 700 AAC-SD.

There are lots of 16" AR 308's that are fantastic guns with great precision so dont count out the shorter 308 bolt guns either.

[Koshinn]

The rubber hogue stock rem used on the aac is dumb. It contacts the barrel with regular forward force from a bipod.

[Co-gnARR]

The rubber hogue stock rem used on the aac is dumb. It contacts the barrel with regular forward force from a bipod.

I assumed this was the first thing to be replaced, perhaps along with the trigger. I looked at this model as a donor action/barrel, with the stock being range use only. It's apparent Remington made too many compromises to make this particular set up feasible. Like all things, buy once, cry once. Looking at GAP's website....gonna cry some big tears, I think lol.

[austinN4]

Thanks, guys. With things like Rugers Gunsite Scout I was thinking there is some merit to shorter .308's, but I was a bit skeptical with the whole 'tactical' labling on the thing.

There is also the Mossberg MVP Patrol.

[Co-gnARR]

I just saw a .308 Savage with iron sights and 20" threaded barrel. The Hog Hunter, I think it was called. This might be the brush gun I'm looking for...gotta research it a bit more. As for a dedicated long range rifle, I'm thinking of getting a second 7mm Rem mag just to keep the reloading logistics simple. Any yea or nea votes for the more expensive short or long action Rem 700's, ie, the LTR or XCR models? Do they generally do better with acccuracy than the lower end models?

[opngrnd]

I just saw a .308 Savage with iron sights and 20" threaded barrel. The Hog Hunter, I think it was called. This might be the brush gun I'm looking for...gotta research it a bit more. As for a dedicated long range rifle, I'm thinking of getting a second 7mm Rem mag just to keep the reloading logistics simple. Any yea or nea votes for the more expensive short or long action Rem 700's, ie, the LTR or XCR models? Do they generally do better with acccuracy than the lower end models?

I'm by no means an expert, but I hear consistently good things and only good things about the "5r" series of Rem 700 rifles. The 223 I've had time on is consistently 1MOA or better with marginal effort and the "meh" factory trigger it came with, so long as I am shooting SMK hand loads. I've not tried it with anything else , so consider it a very narrow minded sample of one.