Plan my budget gun

[Longshotlefty]

Hello, Here's my story. I have a NIB 700 SPS in 300 win mag. For now, I have $1000. to put into the gun. My question is, would you spend it all on optics and hope the gun was a decent shooter or have the action/trigger checked out? My goal is coyotes at 6-800 yds max. I chose the 300 because it may go as a backup elk gun on occasion and because I'm a lefty the choices are fewer.
I'm new to this long distance game. Help me spend my money wisely.
Thanks in advance.

 

[rick523]

The first thing I would do is shoot it and see what it does I am assumeing you have some glass to use for now. If not then your gonna have to get some, then go from there.

 

[pburton]

If you are going to shoot yotes to 800 yrds you are going to need good glass. So I would spend the money on optics. Then see how the rifle shoots.

 

[Longshotlefty]

I have several mid-range leupolds (3-9). I will do the break in and put up some groups and go from there. What do you guys like for ring/base set-ups? Will I need a angled base for that range? I'm new, bare with me.

 

[ChrisAtl]

Evolution Gun Works Inc makes great bases for the Rem700 action.
I would get one of those in a 20MOA cant.
Get the best glass you can afford. That is money well spent. You can upgrade or swap out other things later as you improve and notice deficiencies in your platform.
Have fun and get to the range! gun)

 

[azsugarbear]

My own personal experience with Rem SPS models is that some will shoot sub MOA, but most will not. My first priority would be to see what groups the rifle will hold. Even good glass won't help much if 600 yd. yotes is your goal, but the rifle will only shoot 1.5" @ 100 yds.

Next: You can't hit it if you can't see it. Assuming the rifle is a shooter, you will need glass. $1000 will get the job done, but you don't mention whether or not you have a decent range finder. If you need both a scope and a quality rangefinder, then things get tricky. You would do best to focus on used glass.

For a rangefinder that will consistently range out to 600 - 800 yds. on small targets like yotes, the choices are few. Look for a used Leica 1200 model. For scopes: a used Bushnell Elite or Leupold VX-3. You may have trouble staying within budget if both are needed.

 

[Longshotlefty]

I have a Nikon monarch gold 1200 rangerfinder. It will have to do for now. Has anybody had any experience with nikon's monarch scopes? I can buy a new 6-24x50 bdc for $500. IF they're a good scope.... ???

 

[azsugarbear]

Stepping out on a limb here. I believe this question has been asked many times on this site. Stepping out on a limb here, I believe the general consensus for best glass under $1000 is any one of the following: Leupold VX-3 series, Vortex Viper series, Sightron SIII. Behind them, but still an excellent buy for what you get: Bushnell Elite and SuperSniper. With the first three, quality of glass is quite good and turret function seems to be repeatable. With the last two: glass is not quite as good, but turrets seem to function well. Now I understand that quality of glass is subjective and some like one better than the others, but it is hard to go wrong with any of the first three mentioned.

 

[jkrueger]

Stepping out on a limb here. I believe this question has been asked many times on this site. Stepping out on a limb here, I believe the general consensus for best glass under $1000 is any one of the following: Leupold VX-3 series, Vortex Viper series, Sightron SIII. Behind them, but still an excellent buy for what you get: Bushnell Elite and SuperSniper. With the first three, quality of glass is quite good and turret function seems to be repeatable. With the last two: glass is not quite as good, but turrets seem to function well. Now I understand that quality of glass is subjective and some like one better than the others, but it is hard to go wrong with any of the first three mentioned.

If your comparing vortex to the SIII you better be looking at the Viper PST

 

[azsugarbear]

Yes, I meant the PST and possibly the HS as well.

 

[Longshotlefty]

OK, I went with the Nikon Monarch 6-24x50 bdc in Evolution rings and 20 moa base. After a long slow 40 rd breakin I zeroed at 200 and shot two 3 shot groups at 100 yds. 1st was .890" and second was .805". I let the thin factory barrel cool about two minutes between shots and 10 minutes between group. This is with Hornady factory loads , 165 gr SST's. (the only thing my local shop had enough of). I really do not care much for the new trigger in these 700's. My old Browning a-bolt trigger is much cleaner to me. Will probably go with a Jewel? Thought or opinions?

 

[azsugarbear]

Sounds like you are on the right track. Trigger upgrade, and a stock upgrade w/bed job would be a couple of inexpensive (relative term) things to pursue in your effort to further shrink your groups. If you are holding to a tight budget, have patience as these items pop up for sale used from time to time on various sites.

Research your triggers well, as some may not be compatible with the newer X-Pro trigger guns. An example would be the Kepplinger single set trigger. This is a sweet trigger that could swap right out with the older Rem trigger. In speaking with a gunsmith recently, I learned that is no longer the case with the X-Pro. Timneys do well, but most prefer the Jewel.

After these upgrades, it is on to reloading. From there, the downhill spiral gets so steep and you can't get back out. You're addicted.

One more thought with the thinner contoured barrels on the SPS: Take a look at buying a SIMS Barrel Deresonator.

Cabela's: Sims LimbSaver® Barrel De-Resonator

I use them on all my rifles. These little gadgets helped close up my groups about .10 to .25 MOA on some of my rifles. On others, they had little to no effect at all. But for $10 + s/h, it's a cheap experiment. Keep us informed on how you are progressing.

 

[Longshotlefty]

Thanks azsugarbear, I will get the barrel de-resonator coming. As of now, I don't reload. Mostly due to time, but I will get to that soon. The stock on the SPS is sort of...flimsy? Not sure if its worth having it bedded or just look at another stock option. So far, with only "bolt on" stuff, the rifle seems to shoot as well as I'd hoped.

 

[rick523]

Rather than wasting time and $$ on bedding the SPS stock I would check the classifieds on this site, someone is always wanting to sell a sendero take off, and you can pick one up for cheap.There have been two for sale in the last few days. I bought one for $125 put on a sps 223 made a big difference of course the Jewel trigger I put on didn't hurt either. Do a little at a time as funds are available. JMO