first "precision" build

dastt

dastt

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hey,

i just purchased a remington 700 vls in .223, and i was just doing some looking online for the specs.


it says the barrel has a 1/12 twist, first question is: what grain bullet should i start shooting, i have 500+ yards in my back yard, so id like to eventually get out there. should i be looking for something heavier or mid range?

also i'm at a loss for what scope i should get. im not looking to break the bank, so im between a falcon menace or a bushnell elite tactical?

any advice would be great!
 
caliber will fire around 36-70grains of bullet. maybe try 50-70 grains and play around from there?
H4895 and varget are known to work well with few shooters.
hope you enjoy our new rifle!

Bushnell Elite tactical is all depends. the cheap tact 10X42 will work fine if you are just plinking targets since it does not zoom in or out.
it is a fixed scope that is not good at all for hunting or trying to spot anything less than 100 yards.
Vortex PST 2.5x10 is a great scope for both bush and plinking i find. the price is set around $600.

but it all depends on how much you like to spend and i could find some more options for ya!
 
i could have sworn i saw some that were variable zoom, but it was late last night so i may be mistaken.

id really like something around 5-18 or roughly therin. i was actually hoping to find a half decent deal on the BST but there isnt much on there right now.
 
A good place to start for an ammo load would be with a 69g SMK over something like 24.8 g of Varget. As for scopes, the older Falcon Menace 4.5-18x56 is a good buy for around $400 or so but a better option would be an older Elite 4200 6-24 for around $700 or less. I would, though, quite seriously consider getting a better, more powerful, scope ( remember, only rich gys buy cheap scopes ) if you wish to really enjoy the 500m shooting and, without going into bank-breaking territory, I would recommend a Sightron 8-32x56 for about $1100 new.
 
If you had asked before you bought someone likely would have suggested something with at least a 1in9 twist.

Bushnell has many scopes with variable zoom, I think kimmer82 was likely just suggesting a fixed 10X model for target shooting to save money. What's your budget for a scope?

Also, I have two Falcon Menace scopes, a 4-14 x44 FFP and a 4.5-18x56 and love them both. I got them both used off the EE for about $300-$350 shipped.
 
I've got the same rifle, it likes stuff in the 50-55gr range, using 8208 XBR.

it's wearing a Bushnell elite tactical 6-24x50... great scope for the money, although if I were going to do it all again I'd spend a little extra and get something from the Sightron SIII line.
 
I tried 69gr bullets in my 1:12 twist and it produced poorer accuracy at 200 yards than 45-55 grain. The 45 grain bullets shot really well. Good for varmint shooting, but not long range target shooting as you could with a faster twist and heavier bullets.
 
bah thats what i was worried about, i was thinking the 1-9 twist, but i got such a good deal i couldnt pass it up. if anything down the road i have the action, and if i felt that i was ready to step to those distances i could always re-barrel to something faster.

as for optics budget, i would say $600 all in would be a good start. i need $3000 for the new year for my bike insurance so thats eating alot of my budget.

i bought a falcon menace 4.5x18x56 off the forums 2 years ago because i got a good deal and i was anticipating a similar build, but it never took off and i sold the scope to fund other things. i'm not really THAT big of a fan of how enormous the 56mm objectives are.

as for the ammo, thanks for the good advice. i just bought a re-loader, so i plan on trying some loads, but its good to have a benchmark and go from there. instead of starting to heavy and getting frustrated with poor results.

between my motorcycle/racing addiction, this will be a while in the making.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about 12 vs 9 right now. You have 500 yards to play with and you can load high quality ammo for less than .25/round. Go have fun with it and work the limits of what you have. When you reach the limit, or burn the barrel trying, get a 1:9.

My suggestion; 52gr Amax over Varget at ~3300fps. It should make your 200yd groups look like 100yd stuff. They might start to fall apart past 300, but your target can be any size you want;). It's all part of the learning curve.

If you're buying ammo, find the best quality 55gr (other will chime in, I haven't bought ammo for a while) and save the brass.

My first scope was a 3.5-15x40 Bushnell 4200 series. I was a great $400 scope, but it didn't have target turrets, I won't make that mistake again. I have 3 Bushnell scopes that work great for me. I've never looked through a Falcon though.

Just a side note; bedding is the least expesive upgrade you can do to your new gun, with very high gains.

Good luck and start saving, cause it's addictive. :)
 
9x19p said:
I wouldn't worry too much about 12 vs 9 right now. You have 500 yards to play with and you can load high quality ammo for less than .25/round. Go have fun with it and work the limits of what you have. When you reach the limit, or burn the barrel trying, get a 1:9.

My suggestion; 52gr Amax over Varget at ~3300fps. It should make your 200yd groups look like 100yd stuff. They might start to fall apart past 300, but your target can be any size you want;). It's all part of the learning curve.

If you're buying ammo, find the best quality 55gr (other will chime in, I haven't bought ammo for a while) and save the brass.

My first scope was a 3.5-15x40 Bushnell 4200 series. I was a great $400 scope, but it didn't have target turrets, I won't make that mistake again. I have 3 Bushnell scopes that work great for me. I've never looked through a Falcon though.

Just a side note; bedding is the least expesive upgrade you can do to your new gun, with very high gains.

Good luck and start saving, cause it's addictive. :)
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X2 whatever Twist there are stuff ment for it. either or it is fun to shoot. dont need to bother thinking what twist is better.
 
9x19p said:
I wouldn't worry too much about 12 vs 9 right now. You have 500 yards to play with and you can load high quality ammo for less than .25/round. Go have fun with it and work the limits of what you have. When you reach the limit, or burn the barrel trying, get a 1:9.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice, get quality optics on that rifle and go have fun. And in a year or two you can stick a custom barrel on it. You may be happy with it as it is and never feel the need to change your twist rate.
 
thanks for the good advice guys!

as far as saving the brass, how much improvement would i see over different brands as far as quality? would it be worth buying 100 rounds of the most expensive stuff to keep the brass over say, the middle of the pack?
 
dastt said:
thanks for the good advice guys!

as far as saving the brass, how much improvement would i see over different brands as far as quality? would it be worth buying 100 rounds of the most expensive stuff to keep the brass over say, the middle of the pack?
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Nope.

:) just my opinion. I like my Winchester brass just fine in my .223, and Nosler in my .308. I bought the Win new, cause it was inexpensive and easy to find. I bought the Nosler as ammo, cause it was inexpensive and easy to find. :)

I have some Lapua brass and I've never seen a difference on paper. Yes, it's good brass but for me the value isn't there. Again, this is just my opinion. Some people are good enouph that the brass may be the deciding factor in their score, I'm not that good ;).

There's no need to break the bank to start precision shooting, you'll have lots of time for that. ;)
 
i would go with a Nikon M223 4-12 scope from Prophet River. I have the 2-8 version and love it. shooting the 55gr @ 3240pfs its fast and easy to use right to 600 yards. turn the top turret and shoot away!
 
Just have fun with what you have. As to brass, the difference will be in brass life, not accuracy so much with your gun. Lapua is never a bad investment, but Winchester , Hornady and even Federal will all work just fine. You will be able to make bullets fly very fast with your varmint twist... pick up some sporting clays and try picking those off at distance. Tons of fun.
 
paperslayer said:
Just have fun with what you have. As to brass, the difference will be in brass life, not accuracy so much with your gun. Lapua is never a bad investment, but Winchester , Hornady and even Federal will all work just fine. You will be able to make bullets fly very fast with your varmint twist... pick up some sporting clays and try picking those off at distance. Tons of fun.
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i was already doing that about 3 weeks ago. my brothers got a rem700 in .204, pretty much the same gun without the fluted barrel, and i was getting tired from walking out to 300 yards to replace all the clays i was hitting ahah
 
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