SPS Varmint review (part 1)

ARCOREY

ARCOREY

New member
I have been toying with the idea of a 6mm caliber something for a while now. My AR is great, but I've always wanted a model 700 and the killing power of my 223 at ranges beyond 300yds is dissappointing on these early big eastern groundhogs. I wanted a short action for the possibility of a future custom rifle while having something to shoot in the mean time. I recently got a nice chunk of money for my birthday thanks to my employer and bought a Remington 700 SPS Varmint in 243 Winchester. I borrowed some RCBS dies then bought a set of Redding Deluxe dies last week. I am still in the early load development and fire forming stages. This Saturday I put 10 rounds down the tube for a brief break in and started shooting 5 shot groups for load development and gradually working on moving my groups to the bullseye at the same time. I fired 5 shots then cleaned and cooled before the next. I did lighten the trigger before the first firing, but feel I need to lighten some more before I will be happy with it. The trigger out of the box is very heavy, but had no creep to it. Now it is still short and crisp, just a little too heavy for a varmint/bench gun. A couple more turns of the weight screw should do it. I was using varying amounts of 4064 powder with 75 gr. v-maxes and one loading with the 65 gr. v-max. I shot 5 different groups and all were below 2 inches. I found myself yanking on the trigger still being use to my 2 stage Rock River National Match trigger. My best group came with the 65 gr. v-maxes and I believe it was 39 gr. of 4064 powder. Below is a picture of the rifle with my Burris Signature from my Rock River AR and the smallest group. The rifle looks to have potential as it will likely improve with more trigger work and load development. I also plan to trim and neck size all my brass once all 100 are fire formed, which should help accuracy as well. All in all, I'm very happy for a rifle that cost $529 and totalled $606 with Leupold bases and rings and uncle Sam's part /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif.
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100 yd group, I jerked the one to the right yanking the trigger. I didn't measure the groups and guessed 2" to be a liberal measurement, even though I'm a Republican /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif.
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I think you'll really like the .243. It sure is a fun round to shoot! You should try some Varget with those 75 grainers. That's what I shoot and I've shot some pretty good groups with it.
 
I was going to try the Varget first, but another member chris1017 has some he said he'd loan me and the 4064 was at the local Walmart, so I figured I could try both. I'm sure this thing is going to see quite a bit of load development before I'm done. BL-C(2) and 4350 are also on my to do list of powders. The only thing I'm almost 100% sure of is that it'll be eating V-maxes with whatever powder/primer I push. This one is strictly for paper and groundhogs, I've got better yote and deer rifles for around here. I found a decent load with the 75's, it was at the end of my initial loadings, no pressure signs, so I may creep up some more on the powder and see if it improves or starts showing pressure. I also have more testing to do with the 65's although I think I'd rather shoot 75's if they'll group. I'm starting to believe the twist rules are more like guidelines, I haven't owned a rifle that adhered to them yet.
 
I had better luck with the 70 grain Nosler BT in four different .243/6mm rifles than the VMax bullets under 85 grains, in terms of accuracy. And, I got better accuracy with SR3031 than with SR4064, too. In my Savage, above 3450 fps. seemed the point where increases in velocity were accompanied by a fall off in accuracy with that bullet. In three different .243's, that point seemed to be the break point for accuracy. I was using moly'd bullets with 41 grains of powder. But, friends using non moly'd bullets were running pretty much the same velocity with one grain less.

My light barreled Savage, with a 8 power Leup. will put 3 shots into 5/8" at 100 yards with fireformed cases.
 
Cant ask for more than that! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Handsome looking and great groups to start with. It should reach out and touch some critters with athority. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Corey,
Lookin' good man!

Keep in mind that your vertical grouping may possibly be from the Tupperware stock flexing under the bipod & contacting the barrel when loaded up. Did the same to my trigger, but it's still not the greatest either..
My .243 SPS loves the 87gr VMax (moly'd) running with H4350. I did blast the parkerized barreled action with OD Krylon to help keep any rust development at bay...

Looking forward to Part II...
 
Thats a nice looking gun. My shooting buddy has 2 of them. one in 17 rem fireball and one in 308 win. One thing thats well worth the effort is bedding that stock. The fireball is a tack driving machine out of the box. 5 shots covered with a dime at 100 yds with remington factory ammo. You can call BS, and I would have also had I not been there when he shot the group. The 308 on the other hand was less than impressive, horrible groups. So I talked him into letting me bed the gun for him before he spent a bunch of money on a choate stock and now the gun is sub MOA. With the 243 win I dont know if there is as much shock and flex transfered to the stock as with the 308, theoertically there shouldnt be even though they are the same case. All I know is if you are handy with a dremel or have a buddy that is, bedding that gun would sure be a nice piece of mind to have. Id put money that you could shrink the groups by a bunch. Also if you are still in developement stage try the new barnes 62gr varmint grenades. There is a video of them on barnes' website if you havent heard of them yet. Call barnes direct for powder choices they are very helpful.
 
Looks pretty good, and I'd say there is some room for improvement (group wise)...whether it's the trigger, or stock, or powder...I don't know...but I'd bet that there aren't too many whistlepig's who would want to try their luck!!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
Thanks for all the comments and advice guys. Knock'emdown, the finish does look like a rust magnet. Once I know it's a keeper and come up with my final setup, a professional type coating in Natgear is in order. coyotedeathangel, I've never bedded a rifle, but thought about trying on my Marlin HMR first then if all goes well the SPS. I plan to replace the stock eventually with a McMillan or B&C medallist when the money comes around. One of my hunting buddies has some Barnes 62 gr. VG's he wants me to try. brdeano, I agree. I looked at buying a stripped action and going from there, but this is more fun and only cost me $140 more for a whole rifle ready to hunt so to speak. It's not shooting bug holes yet, but I still have lots of things left that I can improve on.
 
I really like that gun and have held it on a couple occasions. The only thing I don't like is the stock. It would be fine for shooting off a bipod or bench, but the front is too wide for my likings.
 
Corey,
My results with my 700 .243 mirror CDR's with the 70 grain NBT's. 4064 worked best for me, though. Are your groups being shot off the bipod rather than a benchrest? My 243's groups are considerably smaller off a good benchrest than off a Harris bipod and a hard bench.......don't know why, just the facts! My rifle is just an old ADL that a friend left me, and I Marine Texed it into a Bansner stock and recrowned the barrel. It's nothing spectacular, but it's a sub MOA rifle. When the groups open up it will probably change into a 6mm AI and a Hart or Krieger tube.
Good luck with yours!
F1
 
F1, I was shooting from a bipod and a rear bag off of a hard bench. Then rifle will mostly be used prone on bipods from soft ground or once in a while from the shooting sticks. I may have to give the NBT's a whirl, I was looking for dramatic explosions in a 70's weight bullet, I had heard the NBT's weren't as explosive as the V-maxes. I caught myself several times yanking the trigger instead of a good squeeze, I definately need more trigger time with this one. I can see with the lightweight stock where the accuracy would be better off a bag instead of the bipods. I hope to get it bloody as soon as my back heals a little more and I can walk without looking like an ape /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif.
 
I had hoped to use the Vmax bullets, too. They were a bit more "explosive" in the .22 centerfires than comparable weight BT's, and I expected to see the same in my .243's. But, in my guns, they just wouldn't shoot as well as 70 grain Nosler BT. While I have shot quite a few groundhogs with them, I have never seen a ricochet from a miss, and we hunt in some pretty flat country, where I would expect to see them if they were prone to do so.

I even changed my .25-06 load from 75 grain Sierra HP's to the 85 grain Nosler BT because of seeing ricochets with the HP. I haven't seen one from my .25-06 or friend's .25-06 shooting the 85 grain BT, either.
 
Thanks CDR, that's good to know, because no matter how careful you are, you can't get them back. Ricochets are a big concern for me, especially pushing that much mass that fast.
 
Corey,
Don't sweat it, all phone type guys eventually hunker around looking like an ape /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
F1
 
MY remington 700 243 really shoots 60gr Sierra HPs well, and Hornady 75gr HPs. I never got the Vmaxs to shoot as well as the HPs out of mine. I used WLR primers, Rem cases, and Varget if I remember correctly. My Remington hasn't seen daylight in a few years now.
 


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