How much $$$ to get a good starting rifle

Attention

Attention

CGN Regular
Rating - 100%
88   0   0
Location
Greater Lakeburn NB
Hi I am looking to get into F class and need a rifle.I already have reloading equipment and glass.I don't have a huge budget, so good value for dollar is a must.I was looking to start with a rem 700 action getting it trued and fitted to a match barrel in 6mmbr with Reeding comp. dies and a Robertson composite stock, I don't know how much a Rempel bipod sells for so let say I'll start with a Harris.
Is their a better/cheaper way of doing this?I don't have the action yet or anything.Don't bother mentioning Savage or Stevens, although the serve their intended purpose, they are not for me.The Robertson stock is also a must even if their are cheaper alternatives.

Remi
 
Attention/Remi, Henry Smith does great work. Tell him I say "hi".

You are getting first-rate gear in your barrel and stock - no $$$ savings to be had there, but then again you are cutting absolutely no corners there.

A 700 can certainly be made to shoot well. Given enough work by a good smith, they will shoot as well as anything. But the cost of the extra work needed does cut into the "savings" of using a "cheap"(er) action. Also the resale value of an accurized factory action is not very high, if that matters.

You might want to look at the cost of buying a Barnard action. Not only are they pre-accurized (so that part costs $0), they also come with a great trigger. Action plus trigger for $1100-ish (check the website) is more expensive than an accurized Rem-700 with an aftermarket trigger, but not by much. Bedding will be easier and last longer, and resale value will be much greater too (if that matters).

Be sure to come out and shoot with us! - http://rnbrafullbore.########.com/
 
As much as I am a huge fan of a trued Remington and a custom barrel, (I own several) give some thought to the Savage F-Class and BR line of rifles. They shoot very well, they need nothing except a base, and when the costs are added up the two routes are about cost equal. Their 6BR rifle is really quite good.
 
Thanks for the advice, the Barnard and the model 12 6BR F Class are two option that I had not checked out yet, but after a little reading I think they are both worth looking into.

Thanks Remi
 
I hesitate to bring this up, but I will anyhow. Are you sure you want a 6BR instead of a .308, or a 6.5-.284?

If you choose a 6BR, you will be in "F/Open", and you will be shooting against 6.5-.284s and some big 7mms. Your rifle will be as accurate as them, possibly even moreso, and will be easier to keep it at its top level of accuracy. But in stronger wind conditions, the higher BC bullets from these bigger guns is a small but enduring advantage that adds up over the course of a long match.

If you were to build a .308 instead, you would be in "F/TR" class, and nobody would have a performance advantage over you. There are also more local shooters (NB, NS) who shoot F/TR than F/Open, so you'll have more people to compete against. The recoil of a .308 will be heavier, it will not be quite as joyful to shoot as a 6BR. Barrel life for both .308 and 6BR are good.

Or if you want to be fully competitive in F/Open you could build a 6.5-.284, though that's a pretty big thing to bite off from the beginning (which is not to say that you can't or shouldn't - but you should *know* that this is what you want to do. Having a mentor would be very helpful). Recoil is as heavy as a .308, muzzle blast is more, barrel life is comparatively short (figure on 1000-1200ish). Load development can be fussier than a 6BR or .308.
 
Daniel has some GREAT points as always, but I am going to stick up for the 6BR:

three times the life of a 6.5 Norma, a third the recoil of a 308, not that far behind the 308 for accurate barrel life, significantly less powder, cheaper bullets, absolutely dead easy to make work, and arguably the most inherently accurate cartridge made.

An accurate gun will teach you how to be a better shooter. A gun that does not kick violently will be less likely to cause bad habits and flinches. It would be arrogant and unrealistic to think you will walk into any match at this stage of the game and expect to win it simply because of the the equipment you use. Some people luck out and do very well, but typically, what separates the bride from the bridesmaids is the skill of the shooter, and skill comes from having accuracy and having practice.

(I am going to contradict myself here for a moment because this is worthy of bragging about... The wife of one of our club shooters... I'm going to estimate here age to be in her early sixties.. shot only her second ever match in Mission yesterday. She had the highest score for the day [never dropped a point and had an AMAZING V count] and would have placed in the match. She was not a BCRA member and was not elligible to actually "win" the match, but certainly showed that accuracy is an essential component of success. She shot with a trued Remmy, Krieger 1:8 .260 on that bastardly ICFRA short range target)

If you stick with ONE accurate cartridge and learn to master it, your disadvantages are more theoretical than practical. I have had great success at 900M with a 6BR and the group I shoot with have all won long distances matches against intuitively better long-distance cartridges using the venerable 6BR.

I have shot and competed with all of of those cartridges and while I am campaigning a 6.5-284 currently for long range, it was indeed a much fussier cartridge to make work and I used 1/3 of its barrel life finding the powder and bullet that made it work well. Every gun is different.

The 6BR... 30 grains of Varget and a Berger 105 hunting/match bullet 15 thou in the rifling and you'll have a gun that can shoot groups that will make you giggle. I shoot mine to a mile with that load!
 
The 6BR... 30 grains of Varget and a Berger 105 hunting/match bullet 15 thou in the rifling and you'll have a gun that can shoot groups that will make you giggle. I shoot mine to a mile with that load!

Thanks Ian I was just wondering if I could get my 6BR to a mile, will my setup get me there.

PS did you go to Calgary to the shoot on the weekend???????

Cheers

Bucky
 
Thank again for all the info/opinions.I just ordered a savage model 12 in 6BR, even if I said "no savage no stevens"...After looking at the suggestions and reading more about the options, I decided to go with the factory 6BR to start with, mainly because of resale value and how much gun I get for my money.I don't know if I'm going to get real serious or not about F-class yet as I never competed, this way I can resell to upgrade or to get out of it without losing to much $$$.I also like light recoil and ease of load development.

Thanks Remi
 
Tack-243 said:
The 6BR... 30 grains of Varget and a Berger 105 hunting/match bullet 15 thou in the rifling and you'll have a gun that can shoot groups that will make you giggle. I shoot mine to a mile with that load!

Thanks Ian I was just wondering if I could get my 6BR to a mile, will my setup get me there.

PS did you go to Calgary to the shoot on the weekend???????

Cheers

Bucky
Click to expand...

Hey Bucky,

The shoot is THIS wekend, and yes, I will be there! you goin'???
 
Obtunded said:
Hey Bucky,

The shoot is THIS wekend, and yes, I will be there! you goin'???
Click to expand...

I may come out Friday for the shoot on Saturday, I work Sundays so that sucks. I'm still trying to get the 107smks to shoot and if it will stop raining I maybe able to get to the range to do some testing. Looks like some throat erosion going on so its making life interesting, I will try and get CS to come also and maybe his wife, good to hear from you.

Cheers

Bucky
 
I am also looking for a good old yootie gun. I am not looking for anything fancy, just a straight shooting 243. I am in sothern Alberta so any one close with one for sale? How much. ??? I also have only one hand so would a bi-pod help improve my accuracy? Thanks for any help
 
I'm not sure how 6BR puts you in the OPEN class when it's a factory caliber for Savage.
I'm hooked on the BR caliber, fantastic choice and hands down way more plusses then minuses compared to other choices.

M.
 
Tack-243 said:
I may come out Friday for the shoot on Saturday, I work Sundays so that sucks. I'm still trying to get the 107smks to shoot and if it will stop raining I maybe able to get to the range to do some testing. Looks like some throat erosion going on so its making life interesting, I will try and get CS to come also and maybe his wife, good to hear from you.

Cheers

Bucky
Click to expand...

The shoot is now just on Sunday. Bucky, please check with Cyan1de for match details.

Bummer if you can't make it but if coming out to the OK valley this summer, give me a shout.

Last year was a hoot. And a 6BR has no issues going to a mile. You just need alot of up.

Obtunded, I know this will be a 'lead ballon' of an idea but how about F class only using the 6BR? As a training ground for bigger stuff, it would work as well as the 223 does in F TR. I fear the rush to big boomers is going to have a negative effect on young, and smaller statured shooters. Let alone those who dont have a budget for 3 barrels a season.

If there was a 6BR only class, I would shoot it in a heartbeat - WHAT A HOOT!

Jerry
 
Remi, great choice; when do you expect to get it? Please consider coming to RNBRA matches/events with your new rifle ASAP!

Just to be clear, I think 6BR is GREAT. If I were God and I was designing fullbore shooting from a clean sheet, I would make 6BR the natural choice of an F-Class rifle, and for that matter I'd also make iron-sighted Target Rifle a 6BR-only event too.

The only "problems" with 6BR arise from how it fits in with the presently set up competition classes. It's not allowed in TR and F/TR (a real shame too) since they are 223/308-only. It is allowed in F/Open, but at national-level competitions it will unfortunately be leaving a bit of an available competitive edge on the table, because F/Open also allows bigger boomers to be used.

I'm not sure how Ontario has specified what is permitted in their F-Factory Class, and whether they have declared rifles such as the Savage target rifles, the Sako TRG-22 etc to be allowed or disallowed. The conundrum is that these really are factory rifles, and yet they are pretty consistently very good rifles that will likely outperform the majority of other "normal" factory rifles out there. So if you allow them, then everyone with a "normal" factory rifle will come to treat F-Factory as "oh, that's the class for expensive factory rifles that I can't afford". And if you disallow them, then people with them are also just as unhappy. Argh.
 
rnbra-shooter said:
Remi, great choice; when do you expect to get it? Please consider coming to RNBRA matches/events with your new rifle ASAP!

Just to be clear, I think 6BR is GREAT. If I were God and I was designing fullbore shooting from a clean sheet, I would make 6BR the natural choice of an F-Class rifle, and for that matter I'd also make iron-sighted Target Rifle a 6BR-only event too.

The only "problems" with 6BR arise from how it fits in with the presently set up competition classes. It's not allowed in TR and F/TR (a real shame too) since they are 223/308-only. It is allowed in F/Open, but at national-level competitions it will unfortunately be leaving a bit of an available competitive edge on the table, because F/Open also allows bigger boomers to be used.

I'm not sure how Ontario has specified what is permitted in their F-Factory Class, and whether they have declared rifles such as the Savage target rifles, the Sako TRG-22 etc to be allowed or disallowed. The conundrum is that these really are factory rifles, and yet they are pretty consistently very good rifles that will likely outperform the majority of other "normal" factory rifles out there. So if you allow them, then everyone with a "normal" factory rifle will come to treat F-Factory as "oh, that's the class for expensive factory rifles that I can't afford". And if you disallow them, then people with them are also just as unhappy. Argh.
Click to expand...

Hi Daniel, I ordered it on monday a my local gun shop and his suplier had one in stock....so im hopping late this week. as soon as i cam work up a load for it i will be joining you guys, cant wait.

Remi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom