I actually really like the looks of the 5R
. I've had a number of people ask me at the range what rifle it is. They also seemed to like how it looked.
Here's the low down on the 5R (At least to the best of my knowledge). The actual model designation is the 700 Stainless Steel 5R-Milspec barrel. At least that's what it says on the box.
The barrel: 5R rifled, stainless bead blasted, varmint contour, 24" in length.
There's speculation that these are the run off barrels from the M24 orders. No it's not a Mike Rock, but Remington has been making the barrels for the M24 in house now for a while (Only the original run was Mike Rock). So it may very well be a M24 barrel. Which makes sense considering they're both stainless, both 5R rifled, both 24" in length and they both have a unique 1/11.25 twist rate. Also considering this is a non catalogue product and they don't make a similar barrel for any other product, I would say it's a good bet the barrels are the run offs or rejects.
If this is true then you're looking at a decent Tactical precision barrel. The twist rate also allows you to shoot both 168 grain and 175 grain ammo very accurately.
As for cleaning. It cleans fairly easily. More so than my regular rifled barrels. But it still requires some effort.
The stock: HS precision PSV74
The stock either fits you and you love it or it doesn't and you hate it. It fits me perfectly. The HS stock is one of my favourites. I would test out a 700 VSSF II which I believe has the same stock, to see if it fits you or not. These are fairly easy to find at a gun store.
There is a palm swell which many again either love or hate. If it fits you, your trigger finger will be perfectly positioned behind the trigger for a correct straight backwards squeeze. It gives good control and helps keep the trigger going straight back. The stock isn't adjustable either so if it doesn't fit you, you're SOL. The forearm is flat with a rounded edge and two swivel studs. A recurve is also present which is pretty comfortable for your fingers if you choose to shoot off hand in the typical hunter stance (I haven't done so yet with this rifle and when shooting off hand I favour the weak hand palm forward in more of an "Olympic" style).
There is the typical alluminum bedding block which seems to work decently. I know many hard core shooters will insist that it needs to be bedded properly. That's up to the individual. If it's not broke I don't bother to fix it. Just make sure the action screws are torqued at 65 pounds.
I find the black with green marbling fairly attractive. I also like the lines of the stock, especially the forend and palm swell.
The barrel is free floated with this stock.
The trigger: X-Mark Pro
The trigger was very good for a straight out of the box deal. It's the standard X-Mark Pro. Too heavy but crisp and no travel. It was very useable.
I've since had it lowered to 3 pounds and it suits the rifle very well. It's not a timneys, Jewel, shilen etc but I find it works pretty well (I have a shilen, and a timneys on other rifles).
The action: Stainless 700.
Typical stainless Remington 700. Jewelled bolt etc. Very smooth. Mine slides by barely moving the rifle. The ejection is pretty nice as well. You never get the brass falling back into the chamber due to not enough force when opening the bolt (Has happened with my Winchester M70). That being said you do have less control over the location of the brass since the ejection seems to be spring assisted. It's the same action as on all the other stainless 700 rifles.
Conclusion:
Right now we've had a fair number of the 5R milspecs come available. You can find them for around $1000. Which in many cases is cheaper or around the same price as a 700P or LTR model.
Is there a lot of hype about them? Yup, sure is. They probably shoot as well as a P or LTR model some better, some worse. There are no guarantees.
My personal experience with mine was that it shoots 168 grain Federal Match King ammo sub .5 moa at 100 yards. I've tried Lapua and Norma molly coated 168 grain. They didn't shoot as well as the 168 Federal Gold medal. My two formal groups (Ie specifically shooting for groups) were:
1) 5 rounds .657" edge to edge. So .657-.308= .349. Yes I know it'll be a bit bigger using real bench rest scoring. So I call this .40 moa at 100 yards. That should be safe. The wind was 0-5km/h. Fairly light. This was shot from a bench with a sand filled shooting bag and a bean bag for the rear of the stock.
2) 5 rounds .673 edge to edge. So .673-.308= .365 Same set up as before only the wind was between 5-10km/h with gusts (I tried to shoot inbetween them).
I have a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x 50mm with the Rapid Z 1000 yard reticle on this rifle. This scope was mounted at a gunstore with a two piece Leupold base and Leupold PRW rings. It works for me. The one thing with the 1000 yard reticle is that the crosshair is almost too thick. Any thicker and I wouldn't want to use it. The other Rapid Z models have finer crosshairs. While the 1000 yard one is very usable, I do wonder if groups might be a bit smaller with a slightly finer crosshair.
I basically consider this a sub .5 MOA rifle.
Things to keep in mind. I'm far from an advanced shooter with a rifle. I'm better with a pistol and have had a lot more training with a pistol. Also I used off the shelf factory match grade ammo. Which is one of the strenghts that many of the reviews listed. 2.8 OAL matches perfectly with match ammo. While other rifles need the bullet to be extended to get to the rifling. So anyone even someone like myself with limited experience and no reloading skills can go out and have some fun.
I'm looking forward to doing some reloading and trying out the 175 grain ammo loads.
Also here's my disclaimer, there have been others who were disapointed with their 5R. I'm happy with mine and sub .5 moa is very acceptable for this type of rifle. I'm not expecting it to be a bench gun. That being said I haven't left the range without a big smile on my face after shooting this rifle.
The 5R is a cool rifle to have and a lot of fun to shoot. It's not a full out custom, and it's not a bench gun. You'll have to pony up the extra cash if that's what you want. It is an excellent all around accurate rifle. This rifle could be used for hunting if you don't mind using .308 or even as a Police designated marksman rifle. Yes if you want the most accurate rifle money can buy, you may need to have it rebarreled with a match barrel. That being said it will cost more. We've already done a cost analysis on anothe thread. For $1000 I figured I liked everything else and if the accuracy wasn't good I could still afford to rebarrel it. It was a no lose situation for me since all of the other components were exactly what I was looking for.
