[californiashooter]

Once upon a time I was a little boy that had the great pleasure to go plinking with his dad out in the woods. Working at a BSA camp in the summer I found target shooting and when I joined the army they taught me the joy that is suppressive fire. Now I am back in civilian life and have my old plinking .22, a sig .45 I trust with my life, and a mossy 12 ga. that my wife couldn't miss the doorway with if she tried.

Now it's time for me to buy a long gun :thumb:

My question for all of you is what barrel/stock/optics options would you gravitate to and why? Heavy/free floating barrels? Wood/synthetic stocks? Leupold/nikon optics? Why and why not? What options/accessories would you consider a necessity or just a really nice luxury? Any other considerations on my choice of model/caliber?

I have fallen in love with the Remington 700 and its reputation for being able to deliver a large amount of energy to point targets really far away. I plan on getting a 30-06 because of the potential of the cartridge and for me the recoil over the .308 is not an issue. I plan to apply the rifle to hunting and recreational shooting but will probably avoid match grade target shooting out of cost and time limitations.

 

[ManyFeathers]

Nothing wrong with a 700

Are you going to be rough on it? Get an ADL or SPS

Are you going to carry it a long ways? Consider the weight. A 12.5 lb rifle takes a lot out of you hunting

Do you want to use it for show and tell? Get a CDL or BDL

Which ever you choose, you will be alright!

 

[alacatter]

Around here, the rifles will start coming out of pawn in another month or two.(hunting season over and tax money gone. You can get some really good deals before hunting season rolls around again next fall.

 

[gejoat]

What are you planning to do with it? hunting what, defense; how long of shots?
If possible I would have open sights on it, but they have almost quite putting them on, then a good scope, I like Nikon for the money - one of their BDC models.
If you are looking at long range 6x 24x 50? I am guessing at magnification groups, medium range 4x16x50, close then 3x9x50. 50mm reticule for light gathering capabilities.
If long range - bipod and bull barrel, fluted if they offer it, I don't remember.
Good sling.
If some defense and hunting have you thought about an AR 10 style in 308, 20 round mag, and can be used for med range out to 800 or so yds and it can be equipped as above.

 

[kahuna]

700 is well proven. if your looking for a tactical long range setup. i would look at the following. harris bipod. good solid rings and bases. i like burris extreme tactical rings. just make sure they are quality. any of the scopes mentioned above along with the magnification. my leupold is 4-12 good happy medium. get a mil dot reticle and spend a few extra to get the mildot master until you get it down. stocks are more preference on what feels good to you. i like the john plaster ultimate sniper stock. its heavy, but its loaded with nice features and fits me well. 1 stock i will personally never recommend anymore, and this is just me goin off, but ever since HS precision used FBI assassin Lon Huritchi sp? to endorse there stocks is when i felt i should stop giving that company money. if you want to just hunt with this rifle, then you can skip pretty much everything except quality optics and mounts.

 

[Flank-Hook]

Consider a 700 chambered to 280 Rem. It is the necked down version of 30-06. 7mm bullets seem more plentiful and come in more varieties. Factory ammo isn't as common as the 30-06, but most stores around me always seem to have it in stock. If you are a handloader, brass can always be turned down from 30-06 casings.

Models offered by Remington in this cartridge might be limited, but all around 280 is hard to beat. It has less energy out of the muzzle, but is more accurate than a .30 cal bullet, and retains more energy downrange.

Floated, bedded barrel. Can't go wrong with a 700 action. Put a nice piece of glass on it with solid mounts. Everything else is gravy.

 

[munchie3409]

To the OP, you need to provide more information. Provide your budget for rifle and other items such as rings, base, sling, optics and you will get better recommendations.

The Remington 700 action is the standard when it comes to bolt action rifles. Remingtons are very popular because every smith can work on a Remington.

I've owned them and while they shot well, I didn't think they were any better than say my Savages. My Savages cost less and I could do the work myself. With minimum tools, I can swap out my barrels and have multiple calibers. If you want to have your Remington rebarrelled...it will cost you roughly $700 for barrel and labor. I can buy a nut wrench and a receiver wrench along with go/no go gauges and do swap out my barrels in under 20 minutes.

If you get a cheaper Remington SPS model...look into replacing the stock as the factory stocks are crap...the synthetic ones are top heavy on the SPS...the Hogue stocks aren't bad, but not great. If you want an inexpensive stock...take a look at the B&C Medalist stock. If you want a very expensive stock...look at Manners, McMillan, McRee and Accuracy International. I had an AICS 1.5 stock on my Remington 5R. Great stock, but not for everyone. If I had to do it all over again, I'd opt for the McRee since it's cheaper than the AICS and it has more modular features. The McRee would cost much less than buying a McMillan and adding a mag system to the McMillan.

As far as optics, I say spend most of your budget on good optics. Sure you can get away with using a $100 optic, but it won't help your cause. I see too many folks get too caught up on magnification. For the longest time the Marine Corps was using a fixed 10x scope and they could reach to 1,000 yards. Just remember that when you get high magnification that you will get more mirage as well. I don't know the distance you are shooting, so I will reserve comments on optics til you determine what will be your max shooting distance.

Here is a picture of the 5R that I sold...it has an AICS 1.5 stock.

A picture of my Savage with Medalist stock along with CDI mag system.

Overall, the Savage is a much better bang for the buck, but if you must have the Remington...go for it.

 

[californiashooter]

Ok here's some more info.
My budget is roughly a thousand dollars for the whole package. I approach it as anything you buy with the intent to replace is wasted money. If I can't afford the whole system now I will wait until I can. I am looking for other peoples wish lists partly to see if there is anything I am leaving out of my equation.
As far as the rifle's main use I would have to say hunting and recreational shooting. I would like to be able to hit my target out past 300 yards but do not forsee the need for a 1000 yard shot (execpt for the fun of it) and am not trying to build a tactical sniper rifle or long/extreme distance target rifle.
For the modifications I am in California so a detachable magazine is one of the "evil features" my nannies tell me I have to be careful with. Munchie did mention Hogue stocks and I can get a custom one pretty much free (like take my buddy out for a steak free), so a good stock for free sounds pretty nice. As far as the Remington model codes our work (most of my internet access) blocks most websites with any gun information or affiliation so my understading is BDL has the bottom hatch for removing unfired rounds, SPS is a synthetic stock ADL and neither has the plate, and I'm still not sure what the CDL means or if there are other models with any real difference.
For optics I've had a few people recommend a 3-9x40 but I am a fan of fixed power so I'll look into the 10x. I have heard a lot of "buy a Leupold or buy something with iron sights" so was hoping that there were some good alternatives out there.

 

[FarmerJohn]

Once upon a time I was a little boy that had the great pleasure to go plinking with his dad out in the woods. Working at a BSA camp in the summer I found target shooting and when I joined the army they taught me the joy that is suppressive fire. Now I am back in civilian life and have my old plinking .22, a sig .45 I trust with my life, and a mossy 12 ga. that my wife couldn't miss the doorway with if she tried.

Now it's time for me to buy a long gun :thumb:

My question for all of you is what barrel/stock/optics options would you gravitate to and why? Heavy/free floating barrels? Wood/synthetic stocks? Leupold/nikon optics? Why and why not? What options/accessories would you consider a necessity or just a really nice luxury? Any other considerations on my choice of model/caliber?

I have fallen in love with the Remington 700 and its reputation for being able to deliver a large amount of energy to point targets really far away. I plan on getting a 30-06 because of the potential of the cartridge and for me the recoil over the .308 is not an issue. I plan to apply the rifle to hunting and recreational shooting but will probably avoid match grade target shooting out of cost and time limitations.

while I have a rem 700 with all the bells and wistles for comp shooting at 20lbs its lil too much for easy field use

I also have a rem 700 bdl wich is what I would recomend for all purpose as it has iron sights and looks sexy

and if your optics bust you have irons to use as well I like using irons so most of my guns have them

the bdl is one of the nicer in the 700 series in my oppinion

CZ also makes awsome rifles you might want to look into them as well

 

[munchie3409]

There are a ton of shooters from CA that use a mag system on a bolt action that live in CA. Heck, you get a bunch of guys owning M1As in CA because the mags were manufactured prior to the ban.

If you want a handy rifle for hunting and you don't need it to hammer targets out to 1k...I suggest having the barrel chopped or get a 20" barrel. It will save you weight and make for a more compact rifle.

If you reload or plan on reloading, I'd suggest getting a more efficient caliber...say the 260Remington, 6.5 Creedmoor or 243 using 115gr DTAC bullets. All three calibers will smoke the .308 at longer ranges.

 

[Taxed in Maine]

Once upon a time I was a little boy that had the great pleasure to go plinking with his dad out in the woods. Working at a BSA camp in the summer I found target shooting and when I joined the army they taught me the joy that is suppressive fire. Now I am back in civilian life and have my old plinking .22, a sig .45 I trust with my life, and a mossy 12 ga. that my wife couldn't miss the doorway with if she tried.

Now it's time for me to buy a long gun :thumb:

My question for all of you is what barrel/stock/optics options would you gravitate to and why? Heavy/free floating barrels? Wood/synthetic stocks? Leupold/nikon optics? Why and why not? What options/accessories would you consider a necessity or just a really nice luxury? Any other considerations on my choice of model/caliber?

I have fallen in love with the Remington 700 and its reputation for being able to deliver a large amount of energy to point targets really far away. I plan on getting a 30-06 because of the potential of the cartridge and for me the recoil over the .308 is not an issue. I plan to apply the rifle to hunting and recreational shooting but will probably avoid match grade target shooting out of cost and time limitations.

I'll try to answer some questions, and throw in some of my opinions also.

For a general purpose hunting, target shooting and possible shtf bolt rifle. I would go with a synthetic stocked, sporting contour barrel thats free-floated and a variable scope. In 308.

-Synthetic stocks are virtually impervious to weather conditions and require bo care. Sometimes they are a little flimsy, bedding the action helps and you can float the barrel at the same time.
-A standard factory contour barrel will be fine for your stated uses. A target barrel will get very heavy after a day of hunting. If you get into more long-range shooting or competition you can get a barrel later.
-A variable power scope is the way to go if you want to hunt with it. If you go with a fixed 10x the field of view is very narrow at close range. To the point where you may not even be able to find the target in the scope. Something in the 3-9 to 4.5-14 wil be much better for you. I am a Burris fan, the Ballistics Plex reticle allows you to engage targets out to 500-600 yds with very little effort.
-Unless you are planning on handloading, the 308 will do anything a 30-06 will do. Remember the 30-06 has been around for over 100 years. There are thousands of old warn out military 06s. Factory loads are intentionally 'under-loaded' in the event someone tries to shoot one of those oldies. It was also designed to operate at a lower chamber pressure. The 308 has only been around since the mid-50s, and operates at a higher chamber pressure. Years of shooting both over my chrony only shows 30-06 about 25-50 fps fps gain over a 308. You can also find 1000s of rounds of surplus in 308.

"being able to deliver a large amount of energy to point targets really far away" has nothing to do with brand/model. I am not a fan of off-the-shelf Remington 700s. It IS the most used action for custom rifles. For many reasons.

Savage has become the most accurate and reliable factory bolt rifle in America. At a lower cost. That is where I would begin my search.
The Savage also has the ability to 'swap' barrels at very little cost compared to adding another rifle.

 

[shooterm]

I cant bring myself to buy a brand new bolt action and right away throw "stock" iron sights on for $200. Then turn around throw a scope on it. It gets to expensive for my blood.

 

[Burrow]

700

Based on your criteria I would suggest the following...

-Pick up a used 700 barreled action or older bdl/adl with a beat up stock. $350-$400 for an '06 should not be hard to find if you shop a bit.

-If you want to move the project along and not have to save up as much $$$, pick up a B&C medalist or Ti if you want to come out light. Otherwise watch to specials page at McMillan and call them now and again; amazing deals go through there every once in a while. My favorite pattern is the Remington Classic, though there are several that are close 2nd's.

-I like the Leupold fixed 6x42...light, bright, and strong

-Talley lows for rings and you're good to go.
Good luck on the project!

 

[californiashooter]

I love the 20" barrel option. I should have mentioned it as my range reasoning before (late night logic failure) but the terrain in my region effectivly prevents 1000 yard shots, 500-600 yards would pretty much cover hill top to hill top.

3-9x40 variable is pretty steadily recommended across multiple forums so I will probably go that route. I figure if it's in the budget I might as well go leupold but will be checking burris and nikon to try to save some money.

Most of you have recommended going .308 or smaller so I am going to try to get out this weekend and try out some rifles in 308/270/260. I'll be checking out avalibility and price for the different rounds to take that into account as well. I'll post back here as soon as I get the chance.

Munchie
As far as I understand the detachable mag would only be an issue if on a weapon with a pistol grip so I should be fine there, but since I moved to California in 2003 and became a resident in 2008 I would have trouble defending anything over 10 rounds. Any transfer/manufacture/purchase/sale of "high cap" mags is a no-no according to what I got from DoJ. Of course if I were to find some laying around I would collect them as a public service since leaving such things for people/children to stumble across would be very irresponsible.
Also when you say "All three calibers will smoke the .308 at longer ranges." are you meaning accuracy/velocity/energy delivery/value/flat trajectory?

 

[andersed]

Stick with 30-06 in my opinion, it is by far the most versatile cartridge. As for scopes, I can't heap enough praise on my Leopold scope. I have used Nikons before, and while they may be a tad smidgen of a better bench scope, for hunting, nothing in my opinion beats a Leopold as a hunting scope. They seem to have a bigger eye relief window than anyone else, and that is very important when you have seconds to get a shot off in a less than ideal shooting position.

If your budget is $1000, then you will not be able to afford a new 700, scope, sling, mounting harware for the scope, ect.

My advice is to get a savage in 30-06, and spend around $400 on a Leopold scope.

The difference between a savage and a 700 is not that big, but there is nothing worse than spending a lot of money on a rifle, then have to buy a cheap scope for it.

 

[californiashooter]

but there is nothing worse than spending a lot of money on a rifle, then have to buy a cheap scope for it.

I definitely agree with you on that. I am hoping to work through the list of options to figure out exactly how much it will cost for everything combined. I can wait to save up a couple hundred dollars if it means I won't regret even a part of the purchase.

 

[jag06]

I have a 700 and would not trade it for anything. The setup I have is a 700sps in .308, free flooting barrel. Nikon prostaff scope( the eye relief and clarity was better to me than the $1,000 Leopolds I was looking at) and I just added a cheek rest/side saddle that holds shells. You should be able to get your gun, scope, mounting brackets, and sling for $1000. Just depends on what scope you want. Shop around at gun shows. I found my Nikon prostaff which is normally $120-150, for $75 at a gun show brand new with warranty. My 700 is a tac driver, but I also reload my own bullets so that might have something to do with it.

 

[53convert]

I have a 700 and love it
also have a rem 721 in 30.06 and its a tack driver

 

[aramchek]

One issue is if you want to get rid of the 700 floor plate and set it up to accept clips instead.

 

[hglucky13]

a few years back i got a 700 sps in 7 rem mag, (329.00). bought a leupold vx-111 3.5-10 with a boone and crockett reticle.(649.00),rings (50.00), got a laminated stock off stocky's (50.00), did a trigger tune myself (free), and a pillar bedding kit (37.00). for a total $1065. give or take at todays current rates. and i have a gun that i can hunt anything i run into in my neck of the woods, it shoots a little under 1 moa when i do my part. i can get ammo in any sporting goods shop around here if i need to. the scope has marks out to 500 yds. and the round is good to about 7-800yds on game depending on what you consider "good".
late
alan
if i had to do it over again i would either do the same or maybe try a savage as i have heard good things about them out of the box.but my remmy has never let me down, and i am not exactly easy on guns.: