Day at the Gun Store

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layback04

New member
So I went to my local gun shop today, they were slow, so I looked at almost every gun they had. I have been looking for a 308 that I could upgrade little by little to make it a 1000 yard gun. I was looking for something with a 1 in 10" twist in a Remington and I was looking at the SPS line. The ACC SD was on the top of my list but they were sold out. That's when I started looking at everything else. I liked the Savage 10 FCPK and I don't have anything against it but since I will eventually be upgrading this gun I want a Remington platform. I quickly discovered that not one gun was even close to my liking so then I started thinking about doing one of these two things. Has anybody attempted any of these two ideas?

I can buy a barrel for my Encore and attempt to make this 1000 yard dream come true. I haven't been able to find anybody online that has shown this actually happening, but would be fun trying.

OR

I can buy the standard Remington 700 SPS in 308 and do little by little to turn this in to my 1000 yard gun. I just want to base a bolt action build off of the 700 since there is so much info and upgrades for it.
 
Why not the sps tactical they come with a 1 in 10 twist if i remember right. I dont see a break open single shot making a thousand yard gun but it may be possible.
 
The Tactical comes in 1 in 12 but the Tactical ACC SD comes in 1 in 10 which is what the store had on sale but they were sold out and not planning on getting any in for a while. The only downfall is I don't know if I will need that extra 4 inches of barrel will aid in that extra speed needed to carry a bullet to 1000 yards.
 
Remington 700 Milspec 5R is an amazing gun out of the box. Comes with a 1:11 twist 24" Stainless barreled action with 5R rifling and HS precision stock from the factory. Should be plenty accurate out to 1000 with the right load.
 
First off, why are you so dead set on a 1:10 twist? If in fact you want this rifle for a 1000yd shooter, the optimum twist rate is 1:11.25 twist as you will see most all custom built LR/Tacticle setups. Your going to want to shoot a 155-175gr bullet in this rifle and your going to want to push it atleast 2600fps if not higher so that the bullet will not go transonic before it hits 1000yds. The longer the barrel, the better. What's your deal with the ACC? Any reason for that rifle in particular other than it having a factory threaded barrel for a break?

What is your shooting history? What is your skill level? Do you reload? Do you know anything about shooting a rifle past 100yds? I ask all this because it will determine how much "precision" you need to buy up front versus your skill. I'm guessing a "out of the box" SPS is probably going to outshoot your abilities right now. Spend some time on SnipersHide reading all you can, but don't get on there and make a post like this one because the folks over there will eat your lunch. Everything you could possibly want to know about this subject is already listed there if you just search for it.

As for the rifle, get a Rem700 SPS-V (Varmint) or a Rem 700P ((Police) or as already stated and the best choice of all, thr Rem 700 5R milspec. and spend the rest of your money on a decent scope and some good ammo and go out and shoot!! Make upgrades as you need too, not because it looks cool. An out of the box 5R can put rounds on target at 1000yds with Federal GMM 175gr ammo with a decent optic, but that doesn't mean you can. The gun is a constant, but the shooter is the variable. As for a rifle, check Buds Guns Online, it will be your cheapest place most likely or better yet, look in the classifieds section on the Hide and get a good used rifle and save some money.
Best of luck to ya!
 
To answer your questions Trevor, in my experience with 22 caliber rifles the faster twist rate will stabilize a heavier bullet and I figured with this application I may be seeing a 200 grain bullet, so when I looked at the twist rates most 308s have a 1 in 12 where the 30-06 and 300 win mag has a 1 in 10. I wasn't dead set on the ACC SD but when looking on Remingtons website the only bull barrel with a 1 in 10 was the ACC SD so that's why I was interested in it. Aside from hunting I mainly shoot at 100 yards since most ranges around here only go out to 100 yards and I reload for my 223, 22-250, 243, and am now starting to reload 7-08. I am very particular with my handloads because I want the gun to shoot the same every time.

There are two ranges that I know of that go past 200 yards around here and the closest one is about a hour a way and the other is about 2.5 hours. Do I really need a gun that will shoot 1000 yards out of the box? No, but I do want to be able to upgrade it as needed as my skill level increases. We all have to start somewhere and I want to build a rifle that I can say Yes this is my rifle which fits me and what I want to do.
 
You might take the time to go to 6mmbr and do some reading before you start as well. Not many he-man, superman types there, just people who spend their lives shooting long distance. blue
 
You might take the time to go to 6mmbr and do some reading before you start as well. Not many he-man, superman types there, just people who spend their lives shooting long distance. blue
 
+1 for the 6mmbr folks (6mmbenchrest.com) I think. Might be accruateshooter.com . Either way, those folks are in it for the groups at range. They talk about all calibers used in in long range comp, not just the 6mm's
 
I would worry about what a gun shop had in stock if you know what you want. Just have them order it for you. They may want you to pay up front but if you're dealing with a good shop that shouldn't be an issue. If you're shop won't place ordered find one that will.
smile.gif
 
I am about to do the same but with a Stevens 200 action for my first build. Then, as I progress, I may move on. The Mouser has a good action to build off as well. So I have been told.....
 
Layback,
Now that you've given some more information on your background and experience it's easier to give you information that's more tailored to you individually. First off, spend every minute that you can reading. Read, read, read!! The 6mmbr site is another great on also as mentioned. You may find some of the content on that sight to be too in depth for you at the moment, but just keep reading.

If you plan to shoot a .308 you will not be shooting any 200gr bullets at least not to 1000yds. You can look at all the rifles you want, but for a started rifle to build on you will not do any better than the Rem700 5R milspec or the Rem700 PSS. The 5R will come with a 24" barrel where the PSS will have a 26" barrel. Both will have decent stocks on them out of the box with an aluminum bedding block. The PSS can be had (if you look) for around $799 and the 5R for about $900. However, I still think you'd b much better off buying a good used rifle off the Hide for a fair price that may already have a upgrade or two done to it for the same money.

Get some Win brass, RL-15 or Varget, BR-2 primers and some 168 or 175 gr Sierra Match Kings or Berger VLD's. In a factory Rem700 action you can safely start at about 41gr of RL-15 and work your way up. This is a low load, but be safe. I'm not going to go all into detail about loads here with you since you don't even have a rifle yet, but if you'd like to calle please feel free to PM me and I'll give you my number.

Get on SnipersHide and read up in the Bolt action rifles section and the reloading section. If you have a question, use the search engine because I promise you it's already been asked numerous times.
 
LongRangeHunting.com also has some good information. Thats where I got the idea to do my first build off a Stevens 200......check em all out and do your homework......
 
I would personally skip the 168gr. bullets past 800 yards. My cousin has a .308 that will shoot them well out to 7-800 yards, but they completely fall apart past that. Bryan Litz's Applied Ballistics book mentions that due to an odd drag characteristic, a 168gr. bullet can become unstable, and this is what we found. I do not know if the 168 Berger does the same thing, but the Matchking seems to with a 2800 fps muzzle velocity. Snipershide has a video of them shooting 1000 yards with an 18 inch barrelled .308, so it can be done. Take a look at the 155 gr. bullets.
 
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