First Time Build Rem 700 .308 Tactical Style (CFB Borden Long Range Report)

[Workingspy]

Well it happened again I managed to convince myself that I needed to spend more money on my baby (my gun that is), hey it's Christmas time right. Well thanks to ATRS I have upgraded to a more hardcore ring and base setup, I also decided to upgrade my X Mark trigger for a Timney one. The bases are Leupold Mark 4 two piece bases and the Rings are Aluminum TPS low's and man are they light. The trigger I will be installing myself and Rick at ARTS gave me some much needed advice for completing the job properly and with all the right tools, I am very much looking forward to that install as I love to do as much hands on as I can without going to gunsmith, as always I will update with new pics once everything is installed.

I was reading that the Timney is set from factory at around 2.5-3 pounds pull, is this true and is there a perfect weight that people use on a Rem 700 that I should eventually have it tuned to? I am hoping to see some serious improvements when I have a chance to get back out shooting, especially with the new trigger and the first round of reloads (Win .308 165 grain for starters).

Cheers,
Evan

 

[mmm...chicken]

Technique

Hey Workingspy, You certainly are putting a lot into your rifle (Looks great by the way), but don't forget about working on your shooting technique. Research the bullet weights you want to shoot, and practice. Dry firie a lot!

Good luck!

 

[Koshy]

Well it happened again I managed to convince myself that I needed to spend more money on my baby (my gun that is), hey it's Christmas time right. Well thanks to ATRS I have upgraded to a more hardcore ring and base setup, I also decided to upgrade my X Mark trigger for a Timney one. The bases are Leupold Mark 4 two piece bases and the Rings are Aluminum TPS low's and man are they light. The trigger I will be installing myself and Rick at ARTS gave me some much needed advice for completing the job properly and with all the right tools, I am very much looking forward to that install as I love to do as much hands on as I can without going to gunsmith, as always I will update with new pics once everything is installed.

I was reading that the Timney is set from factory at around 2.5-3 pounds pull, is this true and is there a perfect weight that people use on a Rem 700 that I should eventually have it tuned to? I am hoping to see some serious improvements when I have a chance to get back out shooting, especially with the new trigger and the first round of reloads (Win .308 165 grain for starters).

Cheers,
Evan

Very tacticool and looks like a shooter to!

Keep up the good work, looks like you are starting to home in

Thanks,
- Koshy

 

[Glock4ever]

I like the stock, out of curiosity the tactical has a 20" pipe right? How much does the stock and rifle weigh?

Glock

 

[Workingspy]

I do not have an actual weight but the gun was 7 pounds new and I have a good feeling loaded it's still under 10 pounds, if anything it definatly is without the bi pod thestock is the light tactical version. That was my goal a 10 pounds max as I would like to use this as a standing hunting rifle if and when I need to, I am able to shoot five rounds and hit a 200 yard gong while standing before my arm gets to tired.

Cheers,
Evan

I like the stock, out of curiosity the tactical has a 20" pipe right? How much does the stock and rifle weigh?

Glock

 

[Hungry]

Kamran at Coretac will soon be able to direct you to some Precision Rifle matches (read: Long range opportunities) hosted by the Ontario Rifle Association up at Base Borden (since you are in the GTA). Let's get that nice rig out in the longer distances and you can appreciate all that effort you have sunk in. Lots of Ontario experience here on this board!

and thanks for the range report!

Barney

 

[Workingspy]

Thanks for the heads up Barney, I remember Kamran mentioning something along those lines when I met up with him. I have been planning and looking into joinng the ORA but I am having troubles contacting them, I sent them an email a few months ago but I have not recieved a response as of yet. It looks like they are updating thing so that might be the issue, any info or help would be appriciated and I will send another email in the mean time.

P.S. I will continue to give full range reports on all new equipment and reloads, thanks to everyone for the good words and support.

Cheers,
Evan

Kamran at Coretac will soon be able to direct you to some Precision Rifle matches (read: Long range opportunities) hosted by the Ontario Rifle Association up at Base Borden (since you are in the GTA). Let's get that nice rig out in the longer distances and you can appreciate all that effort you have sunk in. Lots of Ontario experience here on this board!

and thanks for the range report!

Barney

 

[Workingspy]

I had some free time today to install my new TPS rings, Leupold bases and Timny trigger from ATRS, everything install wise went smoothly with the rings and bases it's with the trigger where I learned some interesting stuff and I still have one small problem.

The trigger was actually all in all quite easy to install. after reading the instructions a few times and gathering the right tools I needed to to the job. I was completely lost at one point thought when this small spring (not the bolt release spring) fell out of know where and I wasn't sure if it was from the old or new trigger, so I went online and it turns out the old X Mark's sear spring will just fall loose as where the new Timny's is retained in place and cant fall out.

Everything action wise seems to be working right but the one problem I am having is the bolt release button seems to stick up at first when I go to remove the bolt, then when I go and put the bolt back in the rifle the bolt lock wont engage. I say at first because if I pull the trigger and recock the rifle without letting the bolt come out and dry fire again, the bolt release drops in proper place and the bolt is locked in the rifle the way it should be. I tried this a few times and it's the same thing every time, no lock on the first fire and then it locks on the second fire. I'm sure I did something wrong, so if anyone has any idea what this problem might be please let me know.

Cheers,
Evan

 

[Workingspy]

Here are some pics with the new gear, rings, bases and trigger.

Cheers,
Evan

 

[Workingspy]

Ok problem solved, I called Casey at Tacord and he walked me step by step threw threw my possible problem, how to fix it and it worked thank you very much for all the help.

First we figured out that the bolt release button mechanism and the bolt release tab were both working properly separately, he then told me that sometimes aftermarket triggers need to have the tab that connects the release tab and button mechanism tweeked. So I took that advise and tweeked it back just about 1/16 of an inch towards the little nipple at the back of the release tab, with that done the problem was gone and the bolt locks in place properly everytime. I have posted this is a pic of a trigger with the piece I had to tweek circled in red, it's not my actual trigger but it's good for reference.

http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php?t=422672

Cheers,
Evan

 

[Workingspy]

Today I when out to Tac Pro in Thornhill and had cheek rests installed on the M14 and my Rem 700, dealing with Steve was great and he showed me some very interesting M14 stuff while he installing them. They seem like well build Canadian product with good service and pricing, it's just something I thought I would pass along to everyone.

 

[Budweiser360]

Where did the other half of your barrel go?

Looks good, seems to shoot well too.

 

[Workingspy]

Here's just another pic I took of the gun with the new cheek piece and fully dressed. I will be taking her out to Base Borden a couple times in the next few months for a ORA Precision course I'm attending, I will get to see we can do over the 200 yards I'm used to.

 

[yoyo]

nice gun. I have a similar setup hopefully I could post some pics soon.

 

[Workingspy]

Here is a pic of a group of five I shot from 200 yards last time I was out at the range, it was a nice warm calm day and I have a few questions about it and what's going on. I used only one box of 180gr S&B, less then adequate ammo possibly for this question I know but it was all I could get my hands on that day. Have shot better five shot groups, this one just seemed wired as a few shots were right on top of each other and others way out there.

After I go over some obvious reason in my head like how stuff like weather, ammo and my experience effect the shot, I start to think about stuff I have read about barrel life. I have about 800 rounds threw this stock Rem 700 SPS Tactical barrel approximately, I have read that at around 1000-1200 round count you might start to see issues in its shooting like non consistent shot and groups.

I am hoping I can find out a bit more into if this could actually have anything to do with my shooting yet, if so then what is the best way to go about selecting my considerations for a new barrel.

 

[cs1973]

looks good Evan. For factory ammo, this grouping is good. The squares are 1" right? that makes it right around a 1.5" group at 200yards. that is not bad for generic, cheap factory ammo. My rem xcr Lrt with 26" barrel does this with like type factory ammo. Hornady 168gr match ammo is fairly inexpensive and gives bit better result. The plus side is that the Hornady match brass is very good. with some prep work and stuff this brass is very consistant volume wise, weight wise and lasts for many reloads.

On another note the throat on my XCR is very long so seating vld type bullets make very long OAL cartridges. the rifle becomes a single shot. LOL.

PS. another vote for Coretac. Kamran is a great fellow to deal with.

 

[canadianlogistics]

Ok so this is one of my first post’s on CGN, thus far I have just read the wealth of Info from people on here an absorbed it. But I just had to post on this I love this rifle, in all honesty it’s exactly what I would like to build myself. Props to you on a very nice build.

 

[ryandpahl]

I'M NO EXPERT, but from what I've read your barrel should be good for 5000 rounds or so. Its the magnum's that will burn out a barrel quick. Plus its usually the custom competition rifles that see low life. Of course you need to remember that they will say "my 0.1MOA barrel opened up to 0.3MOA so I swapped it it out"

Its really a question of when YOU find the precision of YOUR barrel has fallen below YOUR acceptable limits.

My limited experience has shown me that reloading your ammo is the only way to go. Custom tune your rounds for your rifle and you will be able to shrink those groups. Plus its less expensive to shoot. Depending on the components you choose, you can save 50-70%. The equipment may seem expensive at first. But it will pay itself off in about 500 rounds.

I have about 2500 rnds down my remmy 700 5R Milspec, and I am just starting to really learn how to tune the load. I am seeing better precision now than when I first started. I imagine its mostly because I am not so much a newb anymore.

 

[Workingspy]

I finally had a chance to get out for a day at the range today, all in all it was a fun, beautiful, sunny day with low to medium winds. I brought my Rem 700 and my M14 and I had two different 150gr, .308 makes of ammo, Winchester Power Max and Rem UMC. I was shooting at the 100 and 200 yard ranges and the gun grouped great at 100 yards, but I couldn't hold it together at 200 yards and I was making much big groups, but they were groups lol.

Here are some pics of the day and the 100 yard groups, the 200 went worth showing.

Rem UMC at 100 yards, these were my very first shots of the day.

Win Power Max at 100 yards.

My M14 for eye candy .

 

[Workingspy]

I just posted this in the Long Range/Precision Shooting Competitions section for the ORA guys that hosted our CFB Borden shoot today, I just thought I would share it with you guys to.

So I just spent a beautiful day at a ORA event at CFB Borden, the weather was perfect for a day like this it sunny with just enough wind to make it interesting. I really enjoyed how much was covered and I left much more educated in every aspect, I also have to mention the instructors were just amazing. It's hard to chose what I liked the most as everything was very fun, however two things that I did enjoy allot was shooting the different disciplines and getting to see what myself and my gun are capable of shooing at a distance of 500 yards. You don't get to keep the targets so I can't show the results but I was happy with 2 Vbulls out of ten shots at 500 yards, the rest of the days shooting was all better then I ever expected. That was my first time shooting over 200 yards so I can hardly wait to try 800 yards next month, thanks again and here are a few pics I was able to snap when I was had sometime.

.