New switch barrel R700 from Insite

[rugbydave]

I've been shooting PRS and PRS-type matches for a couple years now and always shot in Tactical/Limited (.308 175gr @2750fps) but decided last year to make the move to Open class, other than for team matches (RTC). After crunching some numbers, I decided to go with 6mm Creedmoor. I talked about t with my buddies at Insite Arms when we were shooting the Meaford match and they said they'd set me up with a switch barrel as I wanted a .223 for volume training, a .308 for team matches (my current match rig is at 3500rds in less than a year) and a 6 Creedmoor for individual matches. I sent them in a Rem 700 .308 barrelled action that I had, a 26" 1-7.5" twist M24/M40 Hawk Hill 6mm blank, a 26" factory takeoff .223 barrel and a .223 bolt and had them use one of their 26" 1-10" MTU Hardy .30 cal barrels. Here's what came back to me(excuse the ####ty pics):

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The full spec on the rifle:

-Trued Rem 700 action with pinned recoil lug and .223 and .308 bolts
-Badger 20 moa rail
-Trigger Tech Special trigger with flat blade
-Bushnell HDMRII in MDT high rings
-26" 1-7.5" Hawk Hill M24/M40 6mm Creedmoor barrel
-26" 1-10" Hardy MTU .308 barrel
-26" 1-9" (I think) Remington Varmint .223 barrel
-MDT ESS chassis
-Insite Heathen brake

As it stands, I'm only done load development on the 6mm barrel and it hammers. Every group for my chosen load (110 SMK 0.0020 from the lands , 43.6gr H4350, Hornady brass, CCI BR2s) has been in the 0.3 moa range and the velocity has settled at 3120 at just shy of 200 rounds. Here are a couple pics of sample groups (3 rounds from a tall target test and 5 from final velocity check) but all my test groups were similar.

3 rounds, 0.29moa:

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5 rounds, 0.33moa

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All I can add is that shooting a 6mm off barricades and improvised positions is night and day to my experience with .308. Literally zero recoil! I took her out to 940 yards yesterday and my dope was 5.7mils. About 2.5 mils less than my .308. Flight time is noticeably shorter. Anyways, I'm impressed. I'm also super impressed, not that I didn't expect to be, with the level of craftsmanship the guys at Insite put into my rifle. Everything about it is just tight and flawless. If you were on the fence about getting a build done with them, do it, you won't regret it!

 

[Cummins]

That is gorgeous, love it i want want one those guys seem to do great work.

 

[Chizzy]

Rugbydave:

That looks great; what exactly is involved in switching between your different barrels? How long would it take you to go from shooting 6mm Creedmoor to .308? Is it something that you could do at the range? Would you also have predetermined turret clicks to get to the different zeros for the different calibres?

Finally one last question, I see you have a Bushnell HDMRII scope, what make of scope flip up covers do you have and what size are required for this particular scope (I have one enroute to me in the mail)? Thank you for your time, enjoy your new rifle!

Regards,

Chizzy

 

[rugbydave]

Rugbydave:

That looks great; what exactly is involved in switching between your different barrels? How long would it take you to go from shooting 6mm Creedmoor to .308? Is it something that you could do at the range? Would you also have predetermined turret clicks to get to the different zeros for the different calibres?

Finally one last question, I see you have a Bushnell HDMRII scope, what make of scope flip up covers do you have and what size are required for this particular scope (I have one enroute to me in the mail)? Thank you for your time, enjoy your new rifle!

Regards,

Chizzy

I have a barrel vise that I can bring to the range and screw to a bench. I need to remove the handguard on the chassis and my scope and rings (since the Surgeon action wrench I have can't get in the receiver because of where the windage turret is). Then twist off the barrel that's currently installed and torque on a different one to 75 ft/lbs, reinstall scope and rings and handguard and I'm off to the races. Takes probably 10 minutes? I'm going to note what the offsets are to the zero of the optic and I'm curious to see how repeatable they are.

The flip caps are the Vortex Defender ones, the eyepiece one is the "eyepiece size" they offer (E10, I believe) and they objective one is the one for 50mm objectives (O50, I believe). It's a great scope, I have 2. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

 

[TacticalTeacher]

Awesome looking build. Heard nothing but great stuff about their work. We are blessed with many talented builders here in Canada

Cheers, Barney

 

[257Wby]

How is the recoil lug stabilized during the barrel switch. Is it pinned to the action?

 

[J996]

Nice! I hope your .308 Hardy is as fast as mine. I’m at 9 mils to 1000 with 155.5’s and lost 1.5” wind drift @ 500 over my old 175 smk load, very happy.

 

[rugbydave]

How is the recoil lug stabilized during the barrel switch. Is it pinned to the action?

Yeah, the recoil lug is pinned to the action.

 

[rugbydave]

Nice! I hope your .308 Hardy is as fast as mine. I’m at 9 mils to 1000 with 155.5’s and lost 1.5” wind drift @ 500 over my old 175 smk load, very happy.

Well I'm limited to 2750 fps anyways since I shoot in Tac/Limited but my load with 175 RDFs is 8.7 mils to 1000 which is plenty good for me. If my barrel hammers like you're new one (and I'm sure it will) I'll be a happy camper!

 

[Chizzy]

I have a barrel vise that I can bring to the range and screw to a bench. I need to remove the handguard on the chassis and my scope and rings (since the Surgeon action wrench I have can't get in the receiver because of where the windage turret is). Then twist off the barrel that's currently installed and torque on a different one to 75 ft/lbs, reinstall scope and rings and handguard and I'm off to the races. Takes probably 10 minutes? I'm going to note what the offsets are to the zero of the optic and I'm curious to see how repeatable they are.

The flip caps are the Vortex Defender ones, the eyepiece one is the "eyepiece size" they offer (E10, I believe) and they objective one is the one for 50mm objectives (O50, I believe). It's a great scope, I have 2. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

Thank you for your response, I will see if I can source the Vortex Defender flip up covers for my incoming scope. I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my questions. Enjoy your rifle(s).

Regards,

Chizzy

 

[rugbydave]

I was thinking about this thread today, for whatever reason (most likely since I was shooting this rifle) and figured I'd post an update after a few years. This is still one of my favourite rifles. It hasn't been one of my "match" rifles in years now as I want to say I got my Defiance later the same season that I had this built (and my Nucleus soon after) but it's still just a joy to shoot. I stopped shooting the 6 Creed barrel in matches at about 1500 rounds as that's when everyone said it would die. Funny enough I kept shooting it in practice and one day/local matches and it's at about 2600 rds and has just opened up from about 1/2 moa to 0.8 moa or so, go figure. I burned out the .223 barrel that year after about 7000 or so rounds on it. The .308 barrel never saw a ton of use as I used it for 3 team matches and that was about it. That's the barrel that's on it for the most part now (I put the 6mm barrel on every once in a while, work my way through 100 rds and then re-check accuracy as a kind of science experiment, haha) so it's still relatively low mileage, about 1700 rounds, 1/2 of which probably in the last 6 months. This is how it shoots:

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It's seen a few changes as well although the "guts" are the same:
-swapped out the Badger Ordnance scope rail for the MDT high rail so it would line up with the railed 15" forend
-the scope is now in a MDT high one-piece mount and has a Burris Fastfire 2 piggybacked on it
-it has a full length RRS-dovetail (arca) rail on the forend
-it now has a folding stock

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I mostly use it these days to do a 3rd practice drill that I really like at 830 yards on a 2/3 IPSC plate or to practice ukd shooting like in Competition Dynamics matches by hiking around my shooting spot, locating a couple of my targets, starting the timer, ranging them and engaging them from whatever position I can see them from. It's great practice and if you haven't tried, you'd be amazed at just how effective you can be in field conditions with a good LRF, an accurate rifle, a lightweight Gamechanger (mine is filled with Git-Lite), a versatile bipod like a Ckye-pod and a tripod. Usual drill is to range 2 different targets and engage each twice in under 2:30 starting with pack on and rifle slung. Something I've noticed from this is just how invaluable having a full length RRS rail is to allow you to use your bipod on big boulders or logs by sliding it back and forth (never mind quickly clipping into your tripod). I wouldn't run any rifle without one anymore, including hunting rigs. It's also interesting to me to look back on the sport of PRS-type shooting just a few years ago before there was as clear an orthodoxy of what gear to use as there is now.