Help me spend $2,000 on a 700

[pratchett]

I want to get a Remington 700 in 308 for bench rest and competition shooting up to 1k yards. I have a $2,000 hard budget not including optics; I knew I'd cheap out on glass if I bought that last, so I went ahead and picked up a Nightforce 5-25x56 ATACR. However, my $2,000 budget does need to cover any necessary gun smithing.

Keep in mind I'm not going to upgrade anything later. Whatever I can do within my budget now is it. If I'm going to spend more later, then I'll just go custom now, so assume no future upgrades please.

The only must have is a B&C Tactical Medalist 5 (fully adjustable) for no better reason than looks. Thanks for your help.

[Need More Ammo]

What made you decide on a 308 as a medium-long range cartridge?

Just trying to get more info.

[ThighSlapper]

$2k will buy a lot of crystal meth....

My LGS has a 7mm sendero 26" fluted barrel for 1600 with a scope. Looks like a good base rifle for long range shooting. Comes with all kinds of fancy do-dads.
Fluted barrel, jeweled bolt, hs precision stock.

I think the BC medalist front end is too bulky and wide looking IMO. Would much rather have a HS precision. Also if you want to shoot 1k I would seriously reconsider .308 or anything short action

[JMP]

-Have the action trued and bedded into a heavy BR stock and fit to a new one piece oversized bolt.
-Replace the barrel to the longest and heaviest 1:8" 6mm barrel that you can handle. A straight 1.25" to 31" blank would be fine.
-Have it chambered in 6Dasher, which you can form fire from 6BR Lapua brand brass.
-Replace the Trigger with a Jewell.

Then, listen to any comments made my LynnJr, which would supersede any of my suggestions for BR.

[Mr.Caketown]

Ill sell you my 5R for 1k

[LynnJr]

You said benchrest and LongRange Competition.
20 moa one piece base. Jewell 2 ounce trigger.
Bartlien 30 inch max heavy varmint taper barrel.
Shehane ST1000 or Shehane MBR stock.
The chambering would be 6 Dasher using VaporTrail 103 bullets RE15 powder and a CCI 450 Magnum primer or 300 WSM with 13.25 twist shooting H4350 and a 187 BIB 10 caliber ogive bullets in Norma brass.
For precision rifle shooting you will need different equipment than is used for benchrest.
You won't find a 308 at a benchrest match.

[6mmintl]

I have four Remington actions in competition (long range/HP/NM ) and they are good entry level platforms.

If your really serious you need to be looking at a custom action or at least a Savage single shot or new Axis action, both very rigid closed port actions more rigid then a Remington.

If you really want to spend $$$$ they go with a full custom purpose built action, Farley, Nesika, Stolle, Hart, etc. and a myriad of others.

[Hoop]

The only must have is a B&C Tactical Medalist 5 (fully adjustable) for no better reason than looks. Thanks for your help.

You don't want to pick a stock based on looks.

My suggestion would be an FN SPR from Tac Cord. It's a model 70 action, chrome lined hammer forged barrel and bedded in a mcmillan stock. You could get either the base model with the non-adjustable mcmillan for 1300 or the one with the cheek adjustable for 1500. It will shoot better than you are capable of for quite awhile.

If you want to go with remington I'd think about a caliber other than 308. Find a donor rifle, re-barrel it in 260 or 243, and then have it bedded in a mcmillan or manners stock. Something like that would get you farther than say, a PSS or 5R in that bell-carlson stock.


edit: how serious are we at 'bench rest'? Because if you're really serious then you will be pigeonholed into just a few 6mm calibers like the dash referenced above and as long of a barrel as you can possibly fit on to it.

[Khromo]

The suggestions including new barrels and more appropriate chamberings will probably result in a more accurate gun, but that may be pushing your budget just a tad. If you want to keep it simple and stay with .308, you could consider this. I assembled this gun and it shoots an honest 0.5 MOA. A good shooter would get that down.

Remington Varmint SF - SF stands for stainless fluted. 26" fluted barrel, stainless construction, jeweled bolt. Strip off the stock and trigger, and trade them for a ham sandwich, if you can find a taker. Don't count on it.

B&C Tactical Medalist 5 (fully adjustable) - This is a good stock. It is heavy, so understand that up front.

Whichever aftermarket trigger suits you. I used a Timney with a flat shoe and adjusted it down to a little over 2 pounds. Many knowledgeable shooters say that is too high. They are probably right, but I am new at this and I wanted to learn with the heavier trigger pull.

Put a good 20 MOA scope base on it. Bed the scope base, as they all seem to need it, at least a little bit. Eight bucks worth of J B Weld and an hour on YouTube and you will be fine. If not, a gunsmith will handle it for not much money.

You should have plenty of cash left over to drop it off at a gunsmith to get the barrel set back (the gun will have a loooooong throat out of the box) and get the locking lugs lapped.

Mine is buried in the back of the safe or I would post up a picture for you. This is a very respectable package, not top shelf, but it shoots like a mother and it looks sexy as hell. It should come in a little under $2.000.00 including sales tax, shipping, DROS, and gunsmithing fees. It is heavy, but the adjustable stock and decent trigger make this a user friendly rifle for beginner or intermediate shooters.

If Remington chambered these guns in .260 Remington, that would be a tremendous choice, but .308 is a useful cartridge and easy to reload for.

Have fun!

[barrage]

OP, are you fixed on 308 for some reason? Because if you're going to be shooting to 1000 regularly, you might want to consider a 700 in 300 winmag instead.

[LynnJr]

http://dragoman.4t.com/images/006_3a.jpg

This is about the upper limit for a Remington action.
The action is fully trued up the firing pin hole is bushed to 0.062 the bolt is double sleeved with a BAT straight handle and a Davidson or Jon Loh sleeve. Jewell 2 ounce trigger 1.450 barrel 36 inches long barrel block bedded with a 9 inch block into a Shehane heavy Benchrest stock.
As to being pigeon holed into a few 6mm offerings I don't care who you are that was funny. 6 Grendel 6 BR 6 BRX 6 BRBS 6 Dasher 6x47 Lapua 6X284 6.5x47 6.5x284 280 Ackley 284 Shehane 300 Weatherby 300 WSM 308 Norma Mag 300 Ackley to name a few.
All can be used for hunting silhouette precision shooting or anything else out to a 1000 yards were the rules allow there use. If its shot in Benchrest competition it is done so not based on emotion or hunch it is done so based on accuracy which trumps everything else.
I will go out on a limb and make a prediction. As soon as Shiraz gets his million pieces of ready to go 6 Dasher brass it will take over all the other forms of 1000 yard shooting were the rules allow its use. Right now some of the other long distance competitions are dominated by other chamberings because the shooters there don't want to fireform brass. In Benchrest all brass gets fireformed before it goes into competition so making wildcats is no big deal.

[NYT]

forget the 308. get a 300 wm or 284.

or research the new 6.5x284, i have heard it is gaining traction in competition circles. its a necked down 284 to 260.

make sure your money goes to a good trigger (jewell) and a heavy barrel. standard sps barrels when they warm up will walk your rounds over time.

[Shakey]

I want to get a Remington 700 in 308 for bench rest and competition shooting up to 1k yards.

I think this might be wording issue: "benchrest and comp shooting" means some pretty specific stuff to people like JMP and LynnJr, and that might not be the same thing you are asking about. Aside from some things like Palma and F-T/R (where 308 is either required or one of a few choices) basically nobody uses 308 in benchrest or competitive shooting. So, if maybe you described a bit more what you want to do then the group could offer better advice.

[milotrain]

308 is great if you want to play the Palma and FTR game. Otherwise go with something else.

[JMP]

For BR you want accuracy, you don't want a big magnum just because it'll get you far enough.

OP said "benchrest" if that's what he meant he should listen to Lynn. If he just meant ringing steel at his local club while sitting on a bench, any of the suggestions are fine.