Building your own sniper rifle

C

CFMopar

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Location
Btown Ont
Hi guys new to the forum. The 2nd firearm I want to buy after my Benelli m4 is something I can build on into my own .308 long range / sniper rifle. I was looking at some of the Remington 700 series and there seems like a few promising ones.

Are there any other suggestions or pointers people have?
 
Depends how accurate you want, you can get the 700 action trued and maybe a custom barrel, you would be surprised what the actual cost is compared to what they are selling for. My build cost me approx $1800 with a top notch barrel, trued action, stock, trigger work etc.......... and will shoot to beat all hell . Message Ian Hames (Adams Lake Riffle barrels)on here, he can get you set in the right direction.

Oh and most folks prefer the term Long Range or Precision rifle, Sniper rifle is for , well you know.............! just my $0.02,
 
For my "Long Range" rifle I figured $2000-2500? I'm not overly versed in the cost and building of my own rifle. I've handled all sorts of firearms but typically its here you go and and the modifications you can make to them is fairly limited.

Cheaper is always better though! :D
 
Well you can build one heck of a rifle for that much, depends on what you use for optics i guess. My total package is a grand total of $2800.
with the following:
Zeiss conquest scope 4.5-14x50 mil-dot
warne base
burris rings
krieger barrel - fluted 5r rifling
700 action, trued
700 trigger - tuned
boyds thumbhole stock bedded/floated
bi-pod
all machining included in this price.

This setup get me under 1/2' groups with hunting bullets(5shots at 100)

See what kinda damage I can do with match bullets when i get them loaded

I did do the stock work myself to save on labor and whatever else i could do.

So, you can build with quality for good prices.

here is the beast:

http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb405/KellyTimoffee/0162.jpg

0162.jpg


http://i1204.photobucket.com/albums/bb405/KellyTimoffee/P8280016-1.jpg

P8280016-1.jpg


Hope this give you some insight!! :)
 
Welcome CF Mopar!!

I think Kelly has it nailed. A Remington 700 action is the basis for most bolt-actioned custom actions, and also makes a superb customizable platform if you are looking to incrementally assemble a firearm for long range precision.

Here is what I woud suggest.... (remember what you paid for my advice)

Obtain a Remington 700 SPS Tactical or Varmint rifle.... master hand-loading and have fun.

If you are reloading now, a custom barrel will represent the single biggest upgrade to potential accuracy, and adding a custom barrel to a Remington action will give you a rifle capable of better accuracy than "sinper" rifles. Remember that snipers are people-hunters. Target shooters are trying to hit targets FAR smaller than any enemy insurgent. (a loonie sized dot at 300M).

Master shot-range shooting before you try long-range shooting, and keep things in perspective; HAVE FUN!!!
 
If you are looking for solid sub moa performance with handloads, MANY factory rifles will do that with a bit of tuning ie proper bedding and handloading.

Quite a number of Rems and Savage and Tikkas will shoot as low as 1/2 MOA out to 300yds and sub MOA out beyond 1000yds on a consistent basis. Is that accurate enough?

I have shot factory Savage HB's in 223 out to a mile on MOA sized boulders and hit.

The reason most of us 'build' a rifle is to either create something we can't buy or to gain a performance advantage over what is on the shelf. Budgets can vary over an enourmous range yet group sizes aren't much different.

So take a look at the many offerings from all the major rifle manfs. I am a huge Savage fan and feel these offer the most options for the best value. They certainly need a bit of TLC but return performance well beyond their price point. Are easily modified and when done, shoot with the rigs costing several times more.

One of the most consistently accurate factory rifles I have shot and seen shoot at LR are the Tikka Varminters. I have seen them shoot groups that mega dollar bench rest rigs would be happy to achieve at 1000m.

There is little reason why you can't have a great shooting rifle AND optics for the budget you have in mind.

Here is something I put together on the cheap but shoots really well at LR.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/savage-tactical-rifle-project-1.php

Because I built the stock myself, it is on par cost wise with some factory rifles.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/long-range-rig.php

Should answer your questions on how to put together a rig without breaking the bank.

Enjoy...

Jerry
 
mysticplayer said:
If you are looking for solid sub moa performance with handloads, MANY factory rifles will do that with a bit of tuning ie proper bedding and handloading.
Click to expand...

Yeah... and maybe throw in a little of something called "practice" :D

You can throw all sorts of $$ in the quest for the holy grail of ultimate accuracy, but... the rifle is only one part of the overall equation.

Personally I don't think it's worth spending all sorts of money on something that really... Shoots pretty damn good outta the box.
If it ain't broke don't fix it:)

My stock un f**ked with .308 700P shot like this all day long...
targetat100-1.jpg


My stock Savage10FP in .223 shoots like this... 'Good enough for Gold at the last LE games. :)
Sav223.jpg
 
Oh and that isn't just a target rifle. That is my do everything rifle. So, even though a low cost, it is even more justified to me when i can use it for paper/deer/moose/coyotes............etc...........


and what 667 said, most of these rifles out here are way better performers than the dude behind the scope!

"It's not the arrow it's the indian"
 
Thanks for the tips guys! Lots of info on this forum obviously. I've done lots of shooting up to 400 meters. But was interested in trying to get into little more longer range fun.

Its my understanding that anything over 400-500 meters you should basically go with a bolt action. Is there any self loader platforms that you would think can shoot over 400-500 meters accurately? I guess the round has alot to do with it so it would have to be a .308 self loader.
 
Get yourself set up with a *Good* factory bolt rig with *Good* glass and accessories. Sub-Moa semi's exist, but to get them that way costs. A home upgraded Savage/Remington/some other third thing will yield more bang for your buck than a match setup M1A or AR-10. Bed it yourself to save some cash,(read all the info you can find on the inter web, do 3x more prep work than you think you need and go slowly/methodically). There are quite a few articles on upgrading/stiffening factory plastic stocks and many sources for *good* aftermarket stocks. A trigger job cooked to taste can be cheap or not depending on your inclinations. Good doesn't necessarily mean expensive. We would all run Nightswarovkiziessforce scopes on rifles forged in Middle Earth by the Queen if we could afford it. Mysticplayer has some great advice on avoiding what the advertisements say and getting down to brass tack driving; check out his website.

Judicious hand loading in a factory barrel will net you your most significant (and rewarding) improvements.

.308 is a great round to start with. Quite moderate recoil in a hefty gun, great brass/bullet selection, and tremendous barrel life. Once you feel you can outshoot your rig or the barrel begins to falter you should have 4000 rounds down the spout. Then you have an action ready for more tweaking and a new tube, as well as the skill to use it to its potential.
 
CFMopar said:
Thanks for the tips guys! Lots of info on this forum obviously. I've done lots of shooting up to 400 meters. But was interested in trying to get into little more longer range fun.

Its my understanding that anything over 400-500 meters you should basically go with a bolt action. Is there any self loader platforms that you would think can shoot over 400-500 meters accurately? I guess the round has alot to do with it so it would have to be a .308 self loader.
Click to expand...

The most accurate non restricted semi I have seen shoot is a HK SL8 with 75gr Amax handloads. NO idea what a match prepped AR can do as we don't have a range long enough to matter.

I would say it is in the 1 to 1.5 MOA at 1000yds type accurate which for a battle rig is amazing.

But for a bolt rifle, pretty slack.

Depends on what you want to do and what accuracy means to you.

As for 308 semis, I played with Norc 305's a few years back and with proper tuning and ammo, they can shoot very well with sub MOA at shorter distances a possibility.

The furthest I shot mine was 550yds and I hit clay pigeons with it. Not every time of course but often enough to know it was possible.

We now plink at clay pigeons out to 800yds with bolt rifles....

Jerry
 
I just finished this one for myself. It is surprisingly economical, well under what most people will tell you needs to be spent. It looks to be a 1/2 moa shooter as well.

P10208963.jpg
 
Build a custom rig and buy the best you can afford, you'll be happier in the long run. Define the parameters you have to work in before you start buying anything. Once you know what you want to shoot, at what max distance, and how much money you have, the rest falls into place pretty quick.

I think theres an ad in the EE for someone wanting a take off barrel and stock from a R700. This will leave you with the action. Get it trued up with a custom barrel. Bed it in a better stock and add the mounting hardware and scope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom