Tactical Rifle Gunsmithing Options... (anybody got a list)

bear.23

bear.23

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This will probably sound a little odd but I'm about to have somebody build me up a 700LTR...

I'm not looking to shoot 1000 yds... but I want something that I can shoot well with....

The smith has more or less asked me what I want and I got this deer in the headlight look... So what's available...

What is the base line for a tactical rifle... I've just gotten one of those Falcon Menace 4.5-18 x56 scopes so I figure I'll drop that on it...

But what other options are things to look at?
 
Caliber choice for one. What barrel length? SS or CM? Finish? What twist? What chamber? Bedding? Stock? Trigger? Bases and rings?
 
If you are just getting into things. I would get your LTR bedded and have the trigger tuned down to 3lbs (which is the lowest allowed in some competitions). Add a quality 1 piece rail, I have a Warne and like it. Add some rings like TPS , Leupolds, Nightforce, whatever as long as they are of decent quality. I ended up adding a cheekpiece to my stock, but you will have to determine if that is for you or not.

Done up like that my LTR holds MOA out to 600yds so long as I do my part.

When I reload for it I load the bullets as far out as the mag will allow as I don't want to single feed. I've found that Varget and IMR4895 work extremely well with the nod to IMR4895 for velocity, but Varget for accuracy and consistancy over a wider range of temps.

After I shoot this barrel out, which in .308 will be a long time. The action will be trued and a match grade barrel will be added.....probably in .260AI. Just cause I want something that works better at longer ranges and it will be my long range deer rifle. Plus my AIW does competition duties now anyways.
 
There's no such thing as 'tactical' really. There's no concrete definition of what makes a 'tactical' bolt action rifle.

Usually, though, 'tactical' is used in conjunction with the following:
.308 or 223 cal
heavy barrel
matte black finish
picatinny scope rail
mil-dot scope with large target knobs
bipod
adjustable cheek piece
oversize bolt knob
synthetic target stock
detachable high-capacity mag
 
it's gonna be 308 as the LTR is available in 223 or 308... black I'm not gonna change the barrel...

I'm thinking about having a badger added but don't know that I need it...
thinking about maybe the detachable mag added but from there I don't know nothing about what rings, bases are good... Thinking about maybe having the thing camo'd but that just opens another whole can of worms what pattern what colors.... etc....
 
Middle of nowhere and turn left.... I have heard that before. Fort Smith?
You are going to have quite a few chime in. If you don't want to shoot 1000 yds, what distance are you going to shoot. All from the bench? Hunting? Varminting? Only target? How much recoil are you comfortable with? Are you going to handload? Or have someone load for you?
Many people are jazzed up on the .223. Not a bad choice for low recoil and the potential for accuracy.
.308 has been really popular with long distance shooters, granted more recoil for sure. But you do know when you have pulled the trigger.
6.5x47mm is getting popular too. Lower recoil than the .308, and more snap than the .223.

Have fun, shoot safe.
 
From what I have been able to figure, tactical means "trendy". It should be black, green, or black and green (grey accepteable in some cases). Scope should be heavy and bulky. Scope mounts should be heavy, bulky and homely. If they make use of automotive fasteners, that's better.
It should have a big, homely, knurled bolt knob. The whole outfit can be heavy and awkward to handle and that's alright. A bipod is a must. Regards, Bill
 
Curt said:
Middle of nowhere and turn left.... I have heard that before. Fort Smith?
You are going to have quite a few chime in. If you don't want to shoot 1000 yds, what distance are you going to shoot. All from the bench? Hunting? Varminting? Only target? How much recoil are you comfortable with? Are you going to handload? Or have someone load for you?
Many people are jazzed up on the .223. Not a bad choice for low recoil and the potential for accuracy.
.308 has been really popular with long distance shooters, granted more recoil for sure. But you do know when you have pulled the trigger.
6.5x47mm is getting popular too. Lower recoil than the .308, and more snap than the .223.

Have fun, shoot safe.
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I hand load (with a company called the Reloaders' Bench :)) figure will be target and varmint.. Recoil is not an issue..
 
Another thing that you're going to want to look at is how much money you're willing to spend. I started out with a $1000 700P and by the time I got it to where I wanted it it's sitting at around $5500 now. Before you start going crazy take a minute to figure out how much you want to spend and then go from there. You're already starting with a good system and there are some simple things that you can do to improve he accuracy. You can get the factory trigger tuned to sit at about 3lbs., this will cost about $40. If you get the stock bedded that will also help you out, that's another $120. With these 2 mods alone you will see a tremendous difference in you're rifle. There is also a cheap mod that you can get from Brownells that will give you more capacity in your gun. It's a floorplate extender or something like that. It basically just sits lower than your factory floor plate and allows for about 3 more rounds in the gun. It's about $20... that's hundreds cheaper than the mag conversion. Also, for rings I would go for the Leupold Mark 4 rings and a Nightforce 1 piece base. That's what I have on all of my rifles and haven't had a complaint yet.
 
Hammerhead said:
Another thing that you're going to want to look at is how much money you're willing to spend. I started out with a $1000 700P and by the time I got it to where I wanted it it's sitting at around $5500 now. Before you start going crazy take a minute to figure out how much you want to spend and then go from there. You're already starting with a good system and there are some simple things that you can do to improve he accuracy. You can get the factory trigger tuned to sit at about 3lbs., this will cost about $40. If you get the stock bedded that will also help you out, that's another $120. With these 2 mods alone you will see a tremendous difference in you're rifle. There is also a cheap mod that you can get from Brownells that will give you more capacity in your gun. It's a floorplate extender or something like that. It basically just sits lower than your factory floor plate and allows for about 3 more rounds in the gun. It's about $20... that's hundreds cheaper than the mag conversion. Also, for rings I would go for the Leupold Mark 4 rings and a Nightforce 1 piece base. That's what I have on all of my rifles and haven't had a complaint yet.
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Exactly my problem.. I really don't want to spend more then $2500 (excluding the scope) so...
 
just bed it,do the trigger and shoot it! oh and load up some 175gr SMK's over IMR 4895 and hit a 20" steel gong at 1000meters!that what mine does!
 
well if your wernt looking to spend over $2500 to get a precision "tactical" rig you should have bought a savage as a base :p

in all honesty from what i have seen heard and the like.
a "tactical" rifle isnt so much what you put on/in it as it is how you use it or intend to use it. granted soem things that are nice to have like oversized bolt knobs, big easy to use turrets quality scope, bipod, adjustable cheek rest. but they dont make a rifle "tactical".

as for mod options to help portray a "tactical" image try the following
22-26" heavy bbl, in .223, .308, .300WM, Muzzle brake with no bottom ports, either a professional custom stock or mod a synthetic one to your likings, bed the action, tune the trigger, slap a bipod on it, put a quality 1 piece base canted or not is up to you, some tough rings, and put a finish on it *use your personal preference and judgment here*
 
SignGuy said:
well if your wernt looking to spend over $2500 to get a precision "tactical" rig you should have bought a savage as a base :p

in all honesty from what i have seen heard and the like.
a "tactical" rifle isnt so much what you put on/in it as it is how you use it or intend to use it. granted soem things that are nice to have like oversized bolt knobs, big easy to use turrets quality scope, bipod, adjustable cheek rest. but they dont make a rifle "tactical".

as for mod options to help portray a "tactical" image try the following
22-26" heavy bbl, in .223, .308, .300WM, Muzzle brake with no bottom ports, either a professional custom stock or mod a synthetic one to your likings, bed the action, tune the trigger, slap a bipod on it, put a quality 1 piece base canted or not is up to you, some tough rings, and put a finish on it *use your personal preference and judgment here*
Click to expand...



I have a 10FPLE2A I just don't wanna mess with it and I hear these things about the Remington's so how am I supposed to know unless I try one..
 
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Bed it, adjust the trigger, shoot it, and go from there. Once you've worked with it for a while, you can start thinking about what makes it work better for you. Really, the majority of "tactical" is about how it looks, rather then how it performs. There are exceptions, but not many. Bill Leeper has the description down pat, as usual, LOL. - dan
 
How about a custom action, custom barrel and custom stock ready to shoot for that kind of money, plus taxes no sights or base and 1000 yds won't be a problem at all!
 
700 BDL short LH Action
Rock Creek M40 Contour Heavy Barrel
Tubb precision ground recoil lug
McMillan A4 as per previous spec
VBull mag convesion c/w 1 spare 10 rnd mag
DD Ross bolt knob installed
Plus 20 Picatinny rail
 
Take it to the range, throw a bunch of lead down stream and see if it actually NEEDS anything before you go blowing a wad of cash on it. Can you shoot the the full potential of a .1MOA gun anyway? Short of changing the barrrel, which makes or breaks the potential accuracy of the gun... accurizing, bedding and trigger tuning.
 
Leeper said:
From what I have been able to figure, tactical means "trendy". It should be black, green, or black and green (grey accepteable in some cases). Scope should be heavy and bulky. Scope mounts should be heavy, bulky and homely. If they make use of automotive fasteners, that's better.
It should have a big, homely, knurled bolt knob. The whole outfit can be heavy and awkward to handle and that's alright. A bipod is a must. Regards, Bill
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I prefer my version better.
A Tactical rifle should be:
It should have a scope that has target turrets, and at least a Mildot or one of the better ranging reticles. Once you get off the known distance range and don't have a LRF, or a ranging reticle you're hooped at extended distances. Mildot also allows you to engage movers with calculated precision once you know their speed and how to use the formula. All this should be mounted in heavy duty rings and bases so in the event of a slip and fall going down a wet mountain side your zero doesn't take a crap.

It should have a comfortable stock that is extremely rigid(unfortunately that also means Heavy). It should have a bolt that you can manipulate quickly in both the warm sun on a known distance range, or in the soggy wet and cold back country when you are wearing gloves. The rifle itself should have an accurized action that has been bedded to the stock. The action also has to be able to function after a wind gust blew some dirt into it or being dropped into the mud when you fell on it going down that mountain side earlier.

And yes, it should have a bipod:)
 
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