Can't decide on a rifle

[keithcandler]

I would suggest that you put a Criterion barrel on your existing rifle, pre fit Called a Remage. Go to the Berger bullet web site and look at the twist requirements for various bullets, choose the twist rate accordingly.

Order a boyd's laminated stock

Timney trigger, Trigger Tec, Jewel, upgrade on the trigger

maybe less than a new rifle based on your personal choices

Expect 3/8" groups, AT LEAST!!!

Good luck!

 

[Another Casual]

I'd also vote with a new barrel, remage if you like a project. It can be a lot of fun researching calibers, contours l, twist rates etc and getting something setup just for you. I'd rather do that than roll the dice on a factory setup and hoping that it will shoot. Also, not sure how much you have looked into the degrading accuracy on your 308. Barrel life on that round is excellent. I'd hit the bore with a copper solvent, check all the screws, scope etc. Before writing it off as shot out.

 

[keithcandler]

There are a lot of difference between 308 Reamers. I would want a chamber with LESS freebore than factory which can be so long you could not touch the lands with the bullet when the barrel is brand new.

I have 308 barrels with zero and .070 freebore that shoot very tiny groups with both.

 

[skipglo]

I agree with Lance on this one. I would personally just rebarrel your old rifle, have the action trued, new stock, and new trigger. You'll have about the same price in doing that than you would a new 5R. Don't get me wrong, the Remington 5R is an excellent factory rifle. The new 700s in general are showing to be better and higher quality here recently than they were in the past. Even at that, a 700 action with a Bartlein, Krieger, Hart, etc. barrel fitted and chambered by a good smith is hard to beat. There's always a gamble when buying any factory rifle.

Sorry but....maybe I'm just getting to old to understand this rationale... and I can't help but chuckle everytime I read these...and I'm probably laughing at my own stupidity...but here goes....WHY DON'T YOU JUST RE-BARREL YOUR OLD GUN....then add a new stock to the new barrel, and a new trigger to the new stock and new barrel....fellas what the HECK is left...oh ya true the old bolt.....now you have your old gun re- barreled. Buy new or go complete new custom...and you actually HAVE your old gun to keep and not your old gun in several LOOSE PARTS

 

[hawk45]

+1 for rebarrel and true your action.
If you go the Remage route, you can buy other caliber barrels down the line if you want to experiment. 15 to 20 mins and you have your same rifle in a completely different caliber.

 

[Jud96]

The purpose of rebarreling your current or old rifle is simple, it saves money and gets you a top notch rifle. If you order a new custom from any smith it's going to be $2,000+ and a new Remington 5R is $1000 and comes with a crappy trigger. So you have to drop another $150-200 on a trigger. So you're $1200 into a factory rifle that's either going to be a good one or a bad one. Or you pay $800 for the new barrel and the smith to true your action and install the barrel, buy a $200-300 stock, and a $150-200 trigger. Heck he could even skip the $200-300 charge to true the action and just have a new barrel installed. I have a couple Remingtons that weren't 100% trued up and just rebarreled with Bartlein barrels and they shoot 3/8" groups consistently.

At the max he's in it $1300 but will have a semi custom rifle with the same quality stock that comes on the Remington 5R and a good 2-3lb trigger from Timney or TriggerTech. I guarantee it will be less picky, easier to clean, and shoot better and be more consistent than the factory barrel too. There's no point in having an old rifle sit around taking up space when you can build off of it and make it better. The old gun is useless to me if it doesn't shoot good or isn't some kind of heirloom or masterpiece.

 

[Greyfox]

I have owned 3 308's and a 300WM Milspec. All were/are better then .5 MOA with hand loads....right out of the box. Bore-scoped barrels resemble a custom much more so then the typical factory barrel. Excellent fit and finish as well.

 

[Jud96]

I have owned 3 308's and a 300WM Milspec. All were/are better then .5 MOA with hand loads....right out of the box. Bore-scoped barrels resemble a custom much more so then the typical factory barrel. Excellent fit and finish as well.
View attachment 151100

I've been hearing that Remington has improved their manufacturing and quality control processes lately. I read a couple articles on the new American Hunter rifle and they talked in there about Remington improving their actions and barrel making.

 

[glazer1972]

I would rebarrel with a quality stainless steel 22" varmint weight barrel 1:10 twist and slip that into a quality stock.

 

[Lefty G-gear]

Hi everyone, I'm in the market for a new rifle and I can never seem to make up my mind. I'm replacing my trusty old. 308. It's a 700 bdl with a synthetic stock and 22 inch sporter barrel. Topped with a leupold 3-9x40 it has been my go-to for years and has many thousands of rounds down the pipe. 100yd groups used to be around an inch with factory loads and well under 3/4 with handloads. I've had the gun since I was a kid and no matter how many range toys I get it's always been my go-to rig.

Over the last few years I've seen groups open up quite a bit (a lot of mil surplus ammo at steel), It's time to replace the extractor and barrel while upgrading the stock. I graduated college and got a real job so my budgets have increased a little. I'm having a hard time justifying building my action when I know that it costs about the same as buying a turnkey new rifle that will shoot similar groups, the two guns I'm between are both remington 700's in 308 with 20" fluted, threaded, heavy barrels and hs precision stocks.

police ltr (1/12 or 1/10 regular rifled carbon barrel and 40x trigger)

5r gen2 (5r 1/11.25 stainless barrel and a xmark pro)

The ltr is about $150 cheaper(both nib) and I know the 40x trigger is better so I'm not sure if the 5r is really worth it. I can't find anything bad on the police ltr so I'm not sure if the price difference should go to more ammo or the barrel?

TL/DR: is the 700 with 5r barrel with an x-mark pro worth $150 more than one with a regular rifled barrel and a 40x trigger?

QUITE A SELECTION
https://www.cheaperthandirt.com/rem...bolt-action/.308-winchester-and-7.62x51-nato/

 

[Memberberries]

I'd also vote with a new barrel, remage if you like a project. It can be a lot of fun researching calibers, contours l, twist rates etc and getting something setup just for you. I'd rather do that than roll the dice on a factory setup and hoping that it will shoot. Also, not sure how much you have looked into the degrading accuracy on your 308. Barrel life on that round is excellent. I'd hit the bore with a copper solvent, check all the screws, scope etc. Before writing it off as shot out.

I definitely agree that bore life is excellent on a 308, I've ran several thousand rounds through this one (guess is something between 5k and 7k) and it had been slowly getting worse. Where I messed up was I thought that cleaning it really really good would help........... I had never used copper solvent only bore cleaner and after using copper solvent it's never been the same. Tried building up the copper again and I can't seem to bring it back in plus I want an upgrade. I've swapped furniture around, robbed this and that back and forth and i think it's time to finally get a setup as good as my wife's lol.

 

[Memberberries]

Sorry but....maybe I'm just getting to old to understand this rationale... and I can't help but chuckle everytime I read these...and I'm probably laughing at my own stupidity...but here goes....WHY DON'T YOU JUST RE-BARREL YOUR OLD GUN....then add a new stock to the new barrel, and a new trigger to the new stock and new barrel....fellas what the HECK is left...oh ya true the old bolt.....now you have your old gun re- barreled. Buy new or go complete new custom...and you actually HAVE your old gun to keep and not your old gun in several LOOSE PARTS

That's what keeps hanging me up. I've got a gun I paid $300 for used when I was 14 that I shot my money's worth through. Theres nothing special about it and it has been filling 2 roles. I want a target gun (heavy for shooting groups) and a hunting gun (lightweight for cold bore shots). I plan to get a target gun because there are good, affordable, off the shelf options available and I only take a handful of shots hunting every year then build my current gun into a lightweight and accurate hunting rifle as I can scrounge parts up.

 

[rbTanzan]

Yes, check the twist rate on any 308 that you consider buying or ordering.

Newly designed bullets tend to be longer, especially all copper bullets, and they require faster twists. For example, when considering a 308 in Tikka or Kimber Hunter, I chose the Kimber because the factory twist was 10", while the Tikka was a slower 11". Check out all the bullets that you want to use and then order a barrel with the appropriate twist.

My Kimber shoots 168gn TTSX nicely with the 10" barrel, and is still good with light 130gn bullets in TTSX and Hammers. That 168 grain is as heavy a bullet as I need in a .308" bore. If I want more weight I would want a more powerful caliber, like a 338WinMag.

Because the 308 has such a limited powder capacity, I really don't worry about bullets that are over 180 grains. If I were considering a magnum configuration, or even an -06, then I might check out some 190 and 200 grain bullets and would make sure that the twist was adequate. The 199gn Hammer Hunter needs a 9.25" twist, so for such bullets I would order a 9" twist barrel. The 214gn Hammer can also work in a 9" barrel and has a .322 G7-BC.

 

[xsn10s]

I plan to build my current action eventually but that's gonna take a while and I'm really looking for something to take it's place in the mean time. I've been wanting a heavier barreled rifle for use at the range with and this could be my excuse. My build idea for this action is to true it and put a featherweight Douglas barrel on it and a b&c ultralight stock with the same vx3i on top, chambered for either 7mm Mauser or keep it 308.

That being said, I know that with a heavy 308 I can shoot my local ranges (500 yd steel, 600yd paper) because I've done it with my current rifle and I ust spent a lot od time waiting or chasing stringing with a hot sporter barrel. I would build mine as a target gun but it's always been my primary hunting rifle and I want to keep it that way for some unknown reason.

I've shot my father in laws factory 700's quite a bit (varmint barrels, hs stocks, mk4 glass, 22-250, 308, 300 win mag) and really when it comes down to it they are 1/2 moa or better for all of them and I like shooting them. I'm not looking to break any records just have something I can use to better my shooting and maybe make it to a class or steel shoot here and there. this is why I want to pick up a factory gun that will fill my short term needs and give me more options in the long term.

that asid, it looks like the 5R is getting a lot of love, I've still never shot one and I guess I'm just skeptical that they are really that much better than all the other 1/2 moa factory guns.

It sounds like the 5R would be a good choice for your target rifle, and you could use it in the mean time as a hunter. Just look at some for the saddle style carrying systems for heavier rifles. Then you could slap on a Criterion barrel for hunting. I'd go with a 24" barrel in the contour that you'd like on a hunter. Depending on your ammo the trajectories would closely match up.