What precision rifle would you pick for 308 win?

We are lucky to be surrounded by so many fine options. Unlike in the former Warsaw Pact countries like East Germany for example, auto drivers could only choose from a Trabant or a Lada or something along those lines.

I remind my clients that choosing a rig is like shopping for a pickup truck with a generous budget....there are so many choices and then when you do settle on a brand there are many dealerships like folks living in the large cities. And once you find a deal, out come all the various trim levels!! Wooohooo! :eek:



So many variables come into play. One variable you prefer may be cancelled out by another such as accessory availability or something like magazine style (proprietary versus AICS) etc etc etc :cool:

Get behind as many rigs as you can. Several of my guests do swap rifles at the 600m mound during my Saturday practice /walkbacks up in Garrison Petawawa. Test drive and play with as many platforms as you can. Chat with as many owners as your time and social media / network allows.

At the end of all the comparison, remember that this process and a final selection is merely about the JOURNEY and not the DESTINATION!! Some of us older pharts are still hopping around different brands. :evil:

We are very blessed. :wave:

Cheers, Barney
 
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Lots of guys swaying from the 308 in this thread and we need to be carefull that this advice applies to how the rifle is to be used.

If any of you have followed F Class, the top FTR shooter (using a 308) came in second place for total score behind Gord Ogg in F-Open at the Easterns a few weeks ago. Now Gord Ogg is one of the finest shooters in the country with a fine rifle, (lots of them) so a second place finish behind him is something to be proud of.

So, while the technical specs do suggest that other calibers can ballistically outperform the 308, how can you explain the consistency with which the 308 score side by side with F-Open shooters and often outshoots the F-Open class shooters in individual stages? If Gord had not attended that match, the top score would have gone to a 308 shooter.

PRS shooting is another story and here I see advantage to light recoiling 6mms because you need to spot your shots and that is much harder to do with the recoil of a 308.

So to the Op on what rifle to build for precision, I caution you that "sniper rifles" are not necessarily the accurate rifle one might expect... To this point I would never enter an F-Class competition with any of the rifles mentioned. They are just not accurate enough. Sure there is a coolness to them that I will not dispute, but when push comes to shove it's how accurate the rifle is.

If you really want an "accurate rifle" then you need to think like an F Class shooter, go with a Defiance Deviant Tactical action, with a Krieger barrel and put it into the Rem 700 Clone Chassis of your choice. The final price wont be far off any of the rifles you mentioned, but if the barrel fitter knows what he's doing you just might get a 1/4 minute rifle out of it.

For best value I would go with a Tikka with integral picatinny rail in probably a Cadex Chassis, rigged for AI mags.
 
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I have been down this road myself many times. I have spent countless thousands of dollars on custom and semi customer rifles, I have had most of the more popular chassis and several brands of more traditional stocks too. I hope my experience can save you a LOT of time and money, first I would suggest shouldering and if possible shooting as many different rifles as you can, decide what stock/chassis you prefer, me I like a McMillan A3, but just recently picked up a PSE Composites Tac 4 for a Tikka CTR-I have only shot it once but my initial impressions are I may have found my new favourite stock! Next decide what action or factory barrelled action you prefer, Remington is the standard but by far are not the best-nothing wrong with them and I have one myself, but there are better more polished and refined options out there. I like Tikka ( I know! I know! Another dam Tikka fan boy!) but these actions are smooth, straight, accurate and come with a very decent trigger and their barrels are almost custom quality, and the Tikka CTR gets you awesome better metal and mags for a very reasonable price.

So long way of saying, get a Tikka CTR in your preferred 308, and then drop it into the stock of your choice, either a McMillan, PSE Composites, Manners...etc. I have one Tikka 308 Tactical now converted to use CTR bottom metal and mags and in a PSE stock, and another Tikka CTR with a Benchmark 6mm barrel chambered in 6XC in a McMillan stock. Both are fantastic shooters and didn't break the bank to get to where they are now.
 
Defiance Deviant Action, 700, .308 bolt face, Short action.
Jewel trigger, Single stage, 14 oz.
MPA Competition Chassis( I'd go with FDE....)
JC Custom Barrels 6.5mm Stainless, 6.5X47L, 26" finished length
Insite Arms Heathen Brake
Atlas or Harris Bipod

Lapua Brass(X400)
BR4 Primers
Forster Dies (Shoulder bump w neck bushing)
H4351SC/H4350/RL15/VV N550 Powder options.
Lapua 6.5mmScenar 136grain OTM @2700-2850fps
 
Defiance deviant or bighorn Tl3. I went with a bighorn tl3 was quicker to get. Both of these were my top two picks anyhow. Smooth action that bighorn tl3. Worn in now. Put my smooth tikka to shame feel wise
Factory rifle id go tikka in a chassis
 
I like the new xtr Burris rings, I ran a few different rings and they lock great don't make marks on the scope and can change 0-40moa. It's nice.
 
It sure does, my last gun I had to use all 40 moa of spacers in the rings and still have 3.2 Mil on the scope to zero it at 100, I like my scope to be as close to the lowest Mil possible. Right now there are zero spacers in the rings, zero it out change the rings to what ever I need. Let's say it's 1.6 Mil up that's not bad I wouldn't put any rings in but if it's 3mil or higher I'd probably toss what ever rings I need to get it close enough to zero..
 
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