Please help with a Starter build

FF57

FF57

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Ottawa, ON
Looking for a Remington 700 SPS Tactical in .223 with a fixed 9x scope on a $750 budget. It’s for a starters target rifle. And I am open to suggestions. So I’ll give a little of my thoughts and history.

First a bit of history. I currently have my .22 (Savage Mk II) and that has given me the basics of shooting, but I want to move on and you can’t handload .22LR. I also have a Rem 770 in .30-06 and it’s a frustratingly horrible action, I’m not fond of the magazines either, nor the included scope.

I’m looking for something basic that I can build on and upgrade parts over time. That’s why I want the Rem 700 action at the heart of my rifle… in time the action will probably be the only original part left. I handload, and the whole process of building a round to pulling the trigger is just as if not more important to me than actually hitting the target (hitting the target IS important, but it just shows how much I like the first part). For that reason I’m looking for bolt action and an internal magazine (either blind or floor plate).

I’m interested in .223 because it’s light, and suits my target range of 100 – 300, maybe 500. My intent is to practice with range cards and compensating for bullet drop over those ranges. I’m not really interested in cartridges that were specifically made for target shooting, I want the bullet to have some drop to it and I find cartridges with a tiny bullet and a huge powder charge to be, well, awkward.

Let me know of any thoughts. I don’t think $750 is an unreasonable budget, I have priced it all new at $950. There was a painted one on EE just a week ago that would have suited and I just didn’t jump on fast enough.

I'm posting this aswell on EE. Please post any suggestions.
 
Sounds like you've got a good start idea and understand how it all works .. My only suggestion would be save a few more bucks and buy a good scope! The repeatability , consultancy , and glass clarity all make it worth the extra investment . They hold their value better and are an easier sale if you want to move to a different discipline or upgrade to something even nicer .
 
Rifle is a fine start - it's really the action you are buying as barrel and trigger and stock can all be changed down the road. Please forget the scope choice and save some more money for a quality scope. You will not regret this.. ever.
 
You are off to a great start. Problem is, even with a 55gr bullet, the 223 can be pretty flat at 300yds. Maybe 8 mins of elevation change? You will get that figured out pretty fast.

Same with wind drift. Unless you get some storms coming off the coast, you aren't going to drift a huge amount. If you get to 500yds, things will get more interesting.

As a way to get more wind reading time at shorter distances, I put together a Savage MkII 22LR configured to mimic my F class rifles. With a Sightron SIII6-24X50 scope, it mimics the drop and drift of my 308 quite well.

I shoot out to 350yds and that is not bad as an analog of shooting a 308 out to 1000yds. At least, I am going to see a lot of movement in both elevation and windage. With some scaled wind flags, it works very nicely.

I know it isn't going to help with the learning to handload but it will with the wind reading for LR shooting. You may not be able to handload for the 22LR but you can use a higher quality match ammo which really improves accuracy and consistency at distance.

If on a tight budget, you already have the rimfire so you can apply that money to a better scope. Learn a bunch, get a rifle in time, learn to reload, etc. BUT the skills you are learning with the rimfire will help all the future shooting. AND the scope can easily be transferred.

Also note, there are no fixed 9X scopes. A few 10X but very rare. You will also find it more difficult to find a low mag scope with proper target turrents so dialing elevation could be problematic.

Bushnell Elite 3200 10X, likely discontinued, was a gem for its price range. You might be able to find one used.

Investing in a scope with the features you can grow into saves a ton of money in the long run. Plus a lot of entry level products suffer from poor optics and inconsistent tracking. Chasing ghosts is no fun at all.

Have a look at the Sightron SII Big Sky 6.5-20X50 LRMOA. The little cousin to the SIII 6-24 but shares the same excellent optics and tracking. As a side focus scope, certainly one of the top 1" scopes on the market at any price. It is a scope that will offer lots of options now and into the future.

Regardless, pick a direction, go have some fun and enjoy...

Jerry
 
It sounds like you have given this some thought and have some clear goals laid out. All I would add is that there are currently 3 10x Bushnells on the EE (I have nothing to do with any of them) and while the scope is still cataloged I'm having a hard time finding them. They're a great scope for the money and at under $300 you won't be upset if you have to (or choose to) throw it on the shelf when you upgrade to top notch glass. Not many people are in a position to do the same with a Nightforce, Leupold or Schmidt.
 
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