Building my first PRS rifle

[kiwi49]

Nothing wrong with 308.
I have an old (ancient) Omark single shot action in a chassis style stock, with a 27 1/2", 13 twist stainless barrel that last saw a wellknown (in New Zealand), gunsmith in 1994.
It was initially for F/TR, but the club I joined lost access to a range nearby, so I've joined another club that shoots more often and is closer.
Wind was my major learning curve and a cheap Nikko Stirling scope is still a puzzle to be solved.
My hunting rifle is a Parker Hale Safari deLuxe M98 (reworked from Europe), in 308, 10 twist, 22" barrel.
Weighs about 8lbs and kicks like a mule on amphetamines - in other words, it does hurt off the bench after a couple of hours.
Always thought I was recoil sensitive, but these old things have cured me of that flinching issue - 303 Brit out of a full wood! full size No 4 Mk 1* and being a lightweight, skinny 13 year old.
If it's just 'dipping your toe' in PRS, I'd use it as is and just learn to shoot better, with coaching from the quality, winning shooters.
Me - I love the old military cartridges, which have been tried and tested in combat - and been proven to be VERY effective at the ranges PRS is shot.
If cost is no issue - spend big.
If it's a cost sensitive challenge, start cheap, see if it's REALLY what you want to do, then start trading/selling stuff for something that is more suitable.
If it was me - I'd go 260 Rem, as it not much work to neck down/neck turn your current 308 brass.
Powders and primers are pretty much the same, all you need is a barrel (preferably off someone who has swallowed the marketing hype and wants to rebarrel a 260R), and bullets.
Sorry if I've rambled on - it's a family trademark .

 

[HRM Johnny]

Fat chance I'd sell my $1000 rig with optic... 308 Winchester...

Custom fitted MRC stock.
25" Jury Bull Stainless Steel Barrel.
PTG Bolt long handle for fast shots.
Match Grade Jewel Trigger.
6-24 Sightron Glass with large dials...
It ain't worth selling so I'll burn lots of barrels out in the years to come...

I do the same thing when I shoot comp,,, I'm up against 3 shooters,,, I,,, me,,, and my self... The rest of the folks enjoy sharing the know how's of good times,,, that's what PRS shooting is all about...

Sister and Brother hood at its finest...


https://photos.app.goo.gl/KWd2UGSMNHFyeRFX6


Cheers from the North

That is a very impressive bipod. Who makes it? Is it commercially available?

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

While a TL3 is a great option for someone wanting to jump in with nothing but a big budget, I already have the action and it was more of a "i want to build this action, and I also want to try PRS" also my choice for 308 is because I already have dies, a bunch of empties, and a big box of 175 SMK's as well as other pills to see what it likes. might as well use em...

has you action been trued and blue printed if not the TL3 or the origin is not really not big budget and if you go 6.5 creed there is good factory ammo out there, go to some matches and see how many 308s are on the line not many on the F class matches there are some still

 

[Don A Parsons]

Yuppers,,, I'd use what I have on hand long before dumping another lump sum on more,,, I already have 3 cartridges on the go,,, funny thing was that when I returned to the shooting sports I only wanted 1... Ha...

Henery Remple makes those this bypod,,, I use it for F Class shooting and hunting since it keeps the rifle planned like a land cannon... Ha... I don't use it for PRS stuff,,, I use the Stiff pole leg Harrison Bypod,,, they rock since they prevent the rifle from twisting and over flexing with the heavier rifles...
Most rifles over the 12 and 14 lb range seem to like solid support to get clean shots off,,, don't forget to add the Harrison BR quick attach screw so a person can quickly drop the bypod and work off the bags,,, then reconnect the bypod for the last 3 shots if your doing the 3 & 3 split shooting group...

Keep it simple easy and fast,,,

That is a very impressive bipod. Who makes it? Is it commercially available?

Cheers from the North

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I've been wanting to build a long range target gun for a while and I really want to go try a PRS match. All my rifles are either short to medium range calibers or they have light barrels so they don't quite fit the bill. I plan to go with a 308 because I have a ton of brass/bullets and I see no reason not to, I know 6mm and 6.5mm buck the wind better but I am more looking to compete with myself and I can always swap barrels again later if I feel the cartridge is holding me back. I will put my action in a lathe and check runout to see if I need to get it blueprinted but primary extraction is good and lug contact is good so I would rather keep it as is for the lugs and only adjust the front of the action if its all square.

My build is based on my trusty old Remington 700 BDL synthetic in 308.
I've pulled the two piece basses in favor if a 20 moa EGW rail.
The Nikon 4-12x40 is also gone for an Eotech VUDU 5-25x50. I went with the MD3 reticle because X47Guy was selling a used one on here for a great price.
For rings I found a deal on some Steiner T-series medium height.
My stock choice was pretty basic with a KRG Bravo in Sako green. I've never owned a chassis, only stocks but I have shot several AI guns and while I liked them they cost a lot. AI mags will have to do for now.
Trigger will stay factory for a while, it's been well broke in and adjusted with very low creep and over-travel with about a 2.5 lb break.

I know I'm going to need a heavy barrel and I plan to shoot suppressed pretty much all the time so I usually opt for shorter barrels. This is where I want some opinions, Remage is easy but whose?
also does anyone honestly think that a 20" barrel would hold me back vs a 24"? My choice loads would be 175 smk's or something similar.

I'll add pics as I get it all put together.

Your going to need that thing as heavy as you can stand it to mitigate that 308 recoil so I'd opt for that 24in barrel. Its extremely difficult to spot your own hits when your on a weird barricade and not rock solid. As said by others, I'd strongly recommend you look into a 6.5mm or a 6mm instead of a 308. Not that you cant be competitive, you just have alot less room for error and your ability to spot your hits with be hindered drastically over 6.5s and 6mms. I shoot a 14lb 6.5 creed with a brake. It's still difficult to see my impacts in prs. After my first match I ordered a 6mm cm barrel to use once the 6.5 is toast. Other than that your build specs look good. Remember most important is to go have fun.

 

[Memberberries]

has you action been trued and blue printed if not the TL3 or the origin is not really not big budget and if you go 6.5 creed there is good factory ammo out there, go to some matches and see how many 308s are on the line not many on the F class matches there are some still

While it's not been trued or blueprinted it's been a true sub moa gun for most of its life and it used to creep in on half with reloads. I'm going to chuck it up in a lathe (only cost is time) before I commit to not trueing it but my bolt lugs have 90%+ contact and when bolting the action in various stocks over the years its always had the barrel centered pretty well so I think my threads are at least close to true. If I start removing material from my bolt lugs and the reciever lugface then my primary extraction is gonna need adjusted and you're right that if I open that can of worms I could buy a bighorn once you add up all the features that the custom actions have. But I'm not adding all those features, I'm going to thread the bolt handle myself, square the lugs and bolt face if necessary myself, and if it's actually needed I will open the threads up .010 myself and make them true to the reciever axis. All this is no cost and building stuff is fun.

 

[Memberberries]

Well I've now got rings, glass, and stock. Even though I don't have a barrel picked out I got it this much together.

My first thoughts on the Bravo are that it's got all the features and mounting options I think I will ever need. I need to shoot with it but I worked all day today, same thing tomorrow, and it was raining yesterday so no range time until Sunday. I will say that compared to the AI chassis I have held its got a lot of molding seams and stuff like that, they should clean up quick and easy so I'm not worried about it but that final deburr is part of the price tag. I think I'm going to wrap this cheek piece in some pigskin...

Looking through the Eotech I think I'm in love. Nuff said till I can shoot it.

 

[Memberberries]

Here are a few pics of the mold seam lines I mentioned and how well they cleaned up. It wasn't bad at all just a few minutes with a debur tool and it really cleaned up. I didn't get all of em but the ones on the cheek rest and grip were first on the list.

It feels so much better without them... Probably should have done it before I finished taking it out of the package.

Now that I'm getting the rifle itself to make some progress, I need to find a bipod, tripod, and some positional bags.

For a bipod I have a harris 12-25" that I've used hunting for more than a decade and it's great for sitting or kneeling but other than that I've just got some junky Amazon ones. Been looking at the atlas psr line for shorter stuff and for the multiple angles.

The rekon ct-1 carbon tripod looks like a smoking deal for a versatile tripod that should last until I'm a way better shooter than I am now but I'm not completely sold on them due to a lack of seeing anyone use one in person so I think I'm going to wait until after my first match to buy a tripod.

I've got basic bench rest bags and they work for that job but I know I'm going to want something like a game changer but for bags, $100 feels like I'm also gonna wait to see one in person. Also I've got about 12 cubic feet of a medium weight plastic fill pellets (long story but free is free) and I haven't seen the game changer come unfilled.

For the barrel you guys talked me into a longer one. Waiting to hear back from a member here about his wilson 25" light varmint profile but if that's a no-go then I'll probably get a ss 24" varmint profile from xcaliber or preffered barrel blanks with 1:10 5r rifling and flutes but I think I'm going pass on the remage for this one as 308 barrel life is quite long.

 

[Memberberries]

Instead of rebarreling my current action I got a smoking deal on a Remington 700 5r Gen 2 in 308 with a 24 inch barrel. I know it's another factory gun but it shoots better than I do and it has all the bells and whistles that I need right now for about the same price as a rebarrel. Bigger bolt handle, fluted, threaded, stainless, cerakote. Trigger is decent and it shoots under an moa but I've only been able to shoot it on paper windy days and haven't worked up loads yet so I don't know what it will really do.

I got some 168 smk's loaded up from a friend and the 10 shot group on my gong was about 1.5 inches at 200 yards