Looking for build advice...please chime in!

[Torch]

So my new rifle arrived today... picked up a 700 5r in .308 from Frontier firearms shipped on friday and landed today YAY! This was suppose to be for myself to slowly get into LR/precision shooting as we are moving up north and should be able to shoot out to about 500meters from the back yard, that was until my wife recieved it and decided she wants it more than me...its in her name as I had her call to pay for it while I was at work... SO... Now it's "our" rifle, well actually the rifles hers and all the add ons are mine....

Here's where I was looking for input...
This is the build I am thinking of, feel free to make suggestions as to alternatives, but please state why and approximate cost of your suggestion.

(this rifle will be 90% range and 10% bush) I am looking for a nice "jack of all trades build" and something I can grow into and upgrade when needed...
End goal - shooting out to 1000 meters and practice for LR hunting/varmint

-M700ss 5r milspec

-Sightron SIII (8x32)x56 (mildot or MOA)

-Farrel base (do I need 20moa?) i wont be shooting that far for a while...

-Burris xtreme tactical rings (I have a store credit for these)(what height?)

-Harris bypod (not sure of model yet, suggestions or alternatives)

Thats it for now... theres so much to learn so I'm sticking to small chunks to start... watch for future posts!

 

[Jeromeo]

Do you handload at all? The list sounds pretty good. The sightrons have plenty of elevation adjustment and shouldn't require a 20moa base to reach 1000 yards. A .308, depending, requires about 32-40moa of elevation to hit @ 1000 yard (based on 100 yard zero). The 8-32x56 sightron has a total of 70 MOA of elevation adjustment so I would assume you should be ok.

For now, I'd start handloading and finding the right load for that rifle. See how she shoots and go from there. I love those 700 5r's. They sure are a nice rifle.

 

[Splatter]

Seems like a good combination, there's nothing wrong with your choices.
However, if you ever plan on shooting the rifle from a standing position, you might find 8x to be a bit much for holding, I find 6x much more manageable, so I'd think about a 6x-24x scope, or maybe one of the Bushnell 6500 scopes in 4.5x-30x.
As for which reticle, get the reticle graduated in the same units as your turrets if you can, it just makes life easier.
The 20MOA base? Do the math on whatever scope you settle on, if the base will allow you to zero at 100, you might as well go for it, it's about the same cost as a flat base and gives you a bit more versatility.

As for the 'pod, I like the Versa-Pod over the Harris. I'll say up front that I've never broken either and I don't have anything against the Harris, but the Versa-pod just seems stronger to me, and I like the attachment better (especially the "glue-in" spud").

 

[Mystic Precision]

I would recommend the MOA base. Since you are using a fixed set of rings, having the canted base will help get you all the elevation available. Who says you will want to stop at 1000yds?

Burris Sig ZEE rings w/inserts would be another alternative.

The ring height will depend on the base and if flat/canted. Med is a min. High will give you plenty of space.

Do consider reloading for both performance and costs.

Do have the rifle bedded. It will really help with consistency and keep groups as small as possible.

Enjoy your rifle. Nice to have a wife that will shoot with you.

Jerry

 

[Torch]

Thanks guys!, I do plan on reloading although I don't have anything yet but will start to research that endevour once we've moved...

I hope i never have to shoot this thing standing...I have others for that

I will have it bedded - Thanks mystic!
I will check out the versa pod - Thanks splatter!
Jeromeo - thanks for thr advice on the reloads!

For once in my life I'm not in a rush to learn... just takin it one step at a time...

 

[ryandpahl]

Forget the mildots. They were invented for the military and should stay there. I was into the Mil hype and got the MLR reticle in my NXS. But I mostly use the rifle for target shooting. 1/10 Mil is about 1/3 MOA, which is quite coarse.

I now recommend to everyone, get an MOA reticle with MOA turrets. If you plan to do target shooting, get 1/8 MOA turrets.

And you may as well get a 20MOA canted base right now, then you never have to worry about it in the future. 70 MOA should get you out to 1000 but consider this:

My first scope was an Elite 3200 10x40(with a straight base), which has 80 MOA elevation. After zeroing for 100, I found that I did not have enough elevation left to make it out to 1000. The 100 yard zero left me with 28 MOA up and 52 down. That 52 down was a total waste of the adjustment range. So I bought a canted rail to gain some of that back.

Remember, 70 MOA of scope adjustment means you get 35 MOA on each side of the optical center line. But you still have to zero.

 

[Torch]

Thanks guys... I'm thinking I'll go with the moa reticle

 

[Epoxy7]

I'd get the S111 6-24x scope instead. The 5r is a tactical rifle barely disguised under a bead blast finish. I'd actually avoid Mil dots. They cover too much. I'd go with a fine crosshair or cross with target dot.

The only upgrade/build these rifles need are a good scope, rings and bases. Don't bother bedding the 5R instead have the HS stock properly torqued, it has an alluminum bedding block. Bedding is good but your rifle might not require it. Also have the scope rings and bases properly torqued.

You'll need a box of Fusion 165 ammo for sight in and plinking/hunting. Also a box of expensive Federal gold match ammo in 168. After sighting in with the Fusion go one click up for the federal and you should be dead on.

Everyone recommends all sorts of add ons or changes for these rifles. If your average size the stock should fit right. These rifles shoot right out of the box. No reloading needed. It's the cheapest and easiest way to accurate shooting you can find. Don't flush money away. Shoot it first before making changes. If it shoots half moa like they pretty much all do then leave it alone.

 

[Torch]

Thanks for the advice Epoxy7, I like what you said and will follow that advice...to get me started

Here's a question:

SIII or Zeiss Conquest or Vortex Viper (ffp) ? I'm fighting hard over the first two... please convince me... apparently The Vortex has alot of extra features that the first 2 don't...

 

[Brodie69]

Thanks for the advice Epoxy7, I like what you said and will follow that advice...to get me started

Here's a question:

SIII or Zeiss Conquest or Vortex Viper (ffp) ? I'm fighting hard over the first two... please convince me... apparently The Vortex has alot of extra features that the first 2 don't...

Check out the new Vortex Viper PST, lots of nice features with a price tag under 1K

 

[Longshot]

First thing you need to do is figure out what kind of target shooting you are going to do.
If you will be shooting any kind of tactical matches with moving targets,mildots or hash marks are a big bonus.
And you don't have to be military to make use of them.if you are shooting F Class or other static type matches a target dot works good.

 

[Epoxy7]

Thanks for the advice Epoxy7, I like what you said and will follow that advice...to get me started

Here's a question:

SIII or Zeiss Conquest or Vortex Viper (ffp) ? I'm fighting hard over the first two... please convince me... apparently The Vortex has alot of extra features that the first 2 don't...

Well, an interesting question. Here's why. I have the Conquest on one of my 5R rifles. The second one will be getting a SIII 6-24 on it. . When I bought the Conquest it really was the best bang for the buck. I bought a bunch of them at once 3-4 years ago when the dollar was at par and before the Leupold/Zeiss price hikes.

The Conquest scope:
Advantages:
1) Fixed eye relief. No change just like a Night force.
2) Etched reticle.
3) I really like the Rapid Z reticles although some find them too busy
4) Excellent glass
5) Excellent repeatability
6) No lash problems with side parallax.
Disadvantages:
1) Not a lot of MOA adjustments. You need the Rapid Z reticle with these scopes to compensate if you want to shoot out there.
2) 1" tube which also goes to the lack of MOA
3) The current cost

Some pictures so you can see what the Conquest looks like on the 5R.

Rapid Z 1000. Some say too busy. I really like it though. The middle cross is the 500 yard mark. The upper line with the 1 next to it is 100 yards. The numbers correspond to the yards/meters. Seems to be fairly accurate with 168 Federal Gold.

Sightron SIII
Advantages from the reviews:
1) Excellent glass
2) Excellent repeatability
3) No lash problems with side parallax
4) Lots of MOA asjustments
5) 30mm tube also contributes to MOA adjustments
6) Price
Disadvantages:
1) Eye relief changes a bit as you change magnification, although nowhere near as much as a Leupold and only very little in the 6-24 scopes
2) Reticle choices kind of blow. For me the choice with this scope would be the fine plex. You don't have reticles like the NP-R1 for the NF scopes, ML16 for Falcon or the Rapid Z of the Conquest. I like these due to the drop down marks.

I have a 5R sitting in a Tan/Black HS stock (take off from a VSF model) that will eventually get a SIII on it.

Vortex. I hear good things about them, but the others are a known entity. Personally I think the price of the Sightron makes it the best deal for a known high performing scope.

There are others as well that will work. Keep in mind there are always trade offs. Nighforce for instance does everything well except their price. Lots of Pros/cons to consider. Also I consider things such as, this is a good scope but there are some tradeoffs now what's the price difference? In many cases I come to the conclusion that it's better to just pay the extra couple hundred in the long run and get exactly what I want or as close to it as I can justify.

 

[Epoxy7]

First thing you need to do is figure out what kind of target shooting you are going to do.
If you will be shooting any kind of tactical matches with moving targets,mildots or hash marks are a big bonus.
And you don't have to be military to make use of them.if you are shooting F Class or other static type matches a target dot works good.

I don't shoot competition, but I do like the hash marks. My reticle choices are the NP-R1 (NF) ML16 (Falcon pretty much a copy of the NF reticle), Zeiss Rapid Z etc. The issue I have with the Sightron mildot, is the size of the mildots. They look like they will obscure the sight picture. They seem too big to use as accurate holdovers as well.

I wish Sightron had an offering with hash marks. I've been waiting a few years now for that. I'm not in a hurry, so hopefully they will eventually offer one. If not I'll probably just go with a fine plex, maybe with the target dot.

 

[Torch]

Have you looked at sightrons MOA reticle?...That's the one I was thinking of...

As for the shooting disipline... that's tougher, I know I'll shoot lots of paper... don't know about tactial matches(sounds fun), but am sure I'm not going into f-class... I will try to do some predator with it and maybe some deer eventually but I will modify this rifle if needed or build another if I make a firm commitent to any specific area...

The Vortex I was thinking of is the PST... has all the features...just no reports on it yet

 

[Epoxy7]

Have you looked at sightrons MOA reticle?...That's the one I was thinking of...

That new reticle works for me. About time!!!