Advice for a green precision shooter

Orvis

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Leduc
It looks like I caught the precision shooting bug.
So, I have decided that I want to purchase a rifle to accomodate this new adiction.
I've been reading a bit about Remington LE, HS Precision, AI, and a few others, just to get an idea of whats available on the market and I have concluded that the Remington 700P action seems to be the rifle of choice for precision shooting.
I have about a $3000.00 budget to play with which will cover the cost of a 700P, but I ask you what would be the best bang for the buck that will keep me within $3000.00, or have I answered my own question?
Thanks in advance.
 
You can buy a new Remington on sale somewhere... throw the stock and barrel away and you have an action for maybe $600 -650 ? Spend about $800 to have a match grade barrel installed and the action and trigger worked over and (I am guessing) about $700 for a nice stock... optics and mounts left to buy...
 
buy a new 700P in 308 a good 20MOA base some TPS rings and a Leupold Mark 4 3.5/10 under $3000 do your own bedding and get the trigger done

go shooting

Jamie
 
Mine's cost about $3700 with accessories (about $400 worth yet to arrive). I have a: bedded, floated and tuned Remington 700P with a Leupold MK4 LR/T 4.5x-14x50mm with a Tactical Milling Reticle, and a Versapod bipod. I definately went further than I originally planned with the optics, and really love the setup, but you definately don't need to spend as much on optics to have a decent rig.

-Rohann
 
the 700P is around $1000 the scope around $1460 rings $120ish base the same


so it would be around $3000 when your done...Bedding can be done at home as can the trigger if you have any sort of skill


also look here on CGN there are very good deal to be had!

Jamie
 
$1460 for a 3.5-10? I got my 4.5-14 WITH TMR for that much ;).

EDIT: I just saw a 10x Super Sniper in the EE for $499. From what I've heard they're a decent scope, and this is a pretty good price.

-Rohann
 
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Orvis, Before you get to carried away with your cash the first step I would take is hit the range with a couple of people that do long range shooting and find what niche you want to play in. You can waste alot of time and money without the propper education. There are many diciplines of shooting each with thier own quirks and tricks. Alot like myself that have answered so far enjoy the Tactical long range rifle, is recoil a factor?. Figure out what you want to shoot, How far you want to shoot, are you new to shooting, will you be hunting with this rifle. The more info you have on what and how you want to play, the better advice you will get when it comes to making a selection on gear. If you do go the Rem 700P or LTR route you could end up with a rifle for around $3000 with trigger job, bedding, scope rings and 20 MOA base.

Before you make a choice...make an educated one.
 
Like LRC said, what form of precision shooting are you interested in? There are tons of posts on this forum that cover almost any possibility.

to get an accurate rifle, say a 1/2 MOA, you don't need to spend alot of money. Most Savages will do that with very little work. You could have a rifle complete with excellent optics from $900 to 1200.

Spend the remaining budget on reloading gear and components to practise with.

See my post below for my experiments with a Stevens in 223. Shooting 3/8MOA average at both 100 and 200yds (will start shooting further soon). That is precision that many big dollar tacky rifles strive for.

Click on my link to see my F class rifle. It shoots extremely well and keeps up with many of the mega dollar custom rifles for about 1/2 the price.

Decide on what you want to do, THEN decide on the rifle that will get you there.

I lean heavily towards the Savage/Stevens as they are not saddled with many of the weakness inherent in the more common solid front locking bolt bolt action. They are easy to work on and shoot extremely well for about 1/2 to 2/3's the cost of most any other brand worth talking about.

If your precision is more competition styled, the new single shot action with 6oz accutrigger is equal to just about any custom action out there and will retail for 1/3 the cost.

Stocks and accessories are numerous now and can be easily installed at home. something not possible with other actions.

6mmBR, Benchrestcentral, sniperhide and here will keep you in more info then you can sift through in a few weeks. It's all been done before. Just learn about the pros and cons before spending the big dollars.

Jerry
 
Good points guys. I'm personally a fan of Tactical Rifle shooting, which is why I mentioned what I have. It definately depends on the kind of "precision" shooting you want to do (that's such a broad term).

-Rohann
 
Long Range Canuck said:
Orvis, Before you get to carried away with your cash the first step I would take is hit the range with a couple of people that do long range shooting and find what niche you want to play in. You can waste alot of time and money without the propper education. There are many diciplines of shooting each with thier own quirks and tricks. Alot like myself that have answered so far enjoy the Tactical long range rifle, is recoil a factor?. Figure out what you want to shoot, How far you want to shoot, are you new to shooting, will you be hunting with this rifle. The more info you have on what and how you want to play, the better advice you will get when it comes to making a selection on gear. If you do go the Rem 700P or LTR route you could end up with a rifle for around $3000 with trigger job, bedding, scope rings and 20 MOA base.

Before you make a choice...make an educated one.

Longe Range Canuck, you are absolutely right. Being educated on the subject is paramount to making the right decision.
I'm not new to the shooting sports. I have been interested in Tactical long range shooting for quite some time, but expenses and inadequate ranges have prevented me from doing so. But since moving to Alberta, long range shooting is very accessible.
Recoil isn't a factor, but the big hitters such as .338 Lapua or .50 cal isn't what I'm looking for.
.308 is definitely the route I would prefer to go. A great performer at intermediate long ranges, readily available, cheap, and an easy round to reload.
No, this will be a dedicated range rifle....well, maybe used for the odd coyote and that ever distant gopher, but 90% of the time at the range. I have a rifle that I use for hunting.
I
 
Do you have a good gunsmith in the area?

I would suggest to you that a good gunsmith will work with you to create a great gun within your budget, or will know of one for sale. The other issue is whether you will be rolling your own or buying factory ammo.

A new Remington XR 100 with a bedded, blueprinted action and a custom Gaillard barrel, match tuned trigger and chamber job will run you about 2.3 grand. Add a scope and you will have a helluva gun.

Savage has their Long Range Precision Varminters off the shelf for about a grand that are incredible. They have a new F-CLass taget rifle in 6.5-284. I Haven't seen one yet, but they are probably the closest you will get to a custom from an off-the-shelf gun.

The Remington and Tikka tactial guns are good buys as well, but virtually all the guys taking home the hardware at an f-class shoot are all using custom(ized) gear
 
I would go with a savage action/gun. If your not happy the way it shoots with stock barrel, you can easly swich out barrels without involving costly smithing. If you could get just the action for $300-$400, another 400 for a chamberd douglass barrel, $80 for the base(KF), 100-200 for rings(leupold prw for $60 are doing great for me) and another $200-$500 for a decent stock(fiberglass composite or laminate). There are a pile of other things you could buy but this would get you started verry quickly and nicely. I whent the savage le rout, with factory mccmillan stock. But If I were to do it again I would start with just the action, and build to suit.

Im a bit cheap, still running a burriss FF2 3x9x40 with balistic plex recticle.... but Im using this for hunting mostly, and not interested in a dedicated target/range rifle so the scope is working great so far(though AO would be nice). After bedding It has been shooting under 1/2" with some handloads I threw in it. Actualy I shot 9 rounds of ammo that had 3 of each at 44 45 46 grains of varget behind a 168 amax at 2.800" and plain federal brass and wincherster primers. At 100meters fired all at the same target it would have made easy a 1" group(fired at 3 different targets). At 200 and 300 it would of been allot bigger than moa because of the velocity difference but I was surprised.

I think I will work with the
 
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Thanks for the input folks, it is greatly appreciated.
I've made my decision and I'm going with one of Rick's rifles at Alberta Tactical.
Most likely a 700P with the Vbull mag or the HS Precision mag (TBD.)
I should hear back from him soon on my options.
 
Orvis said:
Thanks for the input folks, it is greatly appreciated.
I've made my decision and I'm going with one of Rick's rifles at Alberta Tactical.
Most likely a 700P with the Vbull mag or the HS Precision mag (TBD.)
I should hear back from him soon on my options.
You won't regret that decision :).

-Rohann
 
Orvis said:
Thanks for the input folks, it is greatly appreciated.
I've made my decision and I'm going with one of Rick's rifles at Alberta Tactical.
Most likely a 700P with the Vbull mag or the HS Precision mag (TBD.)
I should hear back from him soon on my options.

Good choice Orvis your on the right track in my opinion and will end up with a great rig within your budget that will out do anything you get from a store. Do me a favour and tell him I sent ya. Maybe he will speed up my Detonics order. If you end up in the Mcmurray area give me a PM and maybe we can hit the range and strech them out a bit.
 
Long Range Canuck said:
Good choice Orvis your on the right track in my opinion and will end up with a great rig within your budget that will out do anything you get from a store. Do me a favour and tell him I sent ya. Maybe he will speed up my Detonics order. If you end up in the Mcmurray area give me a PM and maybe we can hit the range and strech them out a bit.

Sure will.
My sister and her family live in Fort Mac, so, I'm up there a few times a year.
I love the hunting up there, especially the grouse hunting out towards the Firebag River. Damn, i've never seen so many grouse in my life.
Next time I'm heading up, I'll pack a rifle or 2 and give you a shout. I'd certainly love to try out the range. Every time I have driven on the way back to Edmonton I always wondered what it was like.
 
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