What do I do w/ my 700?

[britz]

Hey guys, Here is my situation.
I'm not a compatition shooter by any means but I enjoy shooting. I have a south paw rem 700 chambered in a 30-06 with a slightly shot out barrel. I would like to have a 24, 25 or 26 cal built to puch paper, varmints at longer ranges with out burning up the bore and I would like it to be suited to white tail hunting as well. THinking of a 243 but not sure.

I don't want to spend much otherwise I will be pushing the investment off another couple years, so If I have a gunsmith rework my 700, what should I have him do to it? I have heard Blueprinting is the way to go but it is expensive (6-7 hundred just for that). I was hoping to get by with under 600 including a barrel.

Am I better off just purchasing a savage rifle used and having him work w/ it? Is a Savage action better "centered" than a Rem out of the box? What about the ease of switching barrels - is a Rem that much of a B!#$%?
Thanks for helping out in advance, Mark

 

[James Jones]

Well , you have the hard part done , finding a left handed action. Since you already have the action I would suggest rebarreling it. Not sure who quoted you the price of $500 but for a barrel install and blueprint thats STEEP unless they were gonna replace the bolt.

Generaly speeking the blueprinting will run from $150 - $200 and the barrel install will run $150 or so , thats say $400 and a good barrel will cost right at $300. For that price you should get a tack driver back. You could just havea the smith install the new barrel and notworry about the action but you'll never know the true potential. Start saving now for the ext money its gonna cost , you'll have plenty of time as its taking 12 to 18 weeks to get a barrel and their no since is sending off your action to hang out with the gunsmith for 3 months.

As for the caliber , the Long action gives you alot of versitility. Do you reload? My latest gun is chambered in 260 Rem , its a bit bigger than typical varmint guns as the lightest bullets I've found ar 95gr V-maxes but the 140 class bulltes shoot very flat out to and past 1000yds , its not as hard on barrels as some of the hotter 6mm and 22 varmint rounds so it'll last longer between rebarreling needs.
Not knocking the 243 as the 243 Ackley is one of my personal favorites , shooting a 55gr ballistic tip at 4200fps or a 75gr V-max at 3700fps is very impressive on the splat factor and the heavier 87gr bullets will give you more reach.

What kind of varmints are you looking to shoot and at what ranges

 

[Wild_Bill]

Buy the 6mm Krieger barrel

Hi get the 6mm 8twist Krieger barrel in the for sale section and get it chambered for a 6mm rem or 6mm rem improved. you could go with a 243 but in the long action the 6mm rem with heavy Wildcat projectiles would be good. you could also go with a 6mm270 or 6mm280 or 6mm06 in standard or improved.

These will shoot flat and hit hard with heavy projectiles. depending on the stock you have to keep costs down you could get a boyds varmint stock inleted recoil pad fitted ready to bed and finish for well under $100us.

Cheers Bill
Australia

 

[britz]

Hey guys, thanks. I just spoke to a local smith and the cost is less than I had anticipated. I should be able to have him true up the action, bed the action, and put a Shillan or Krieger on it for 600 or less. '

As for the cal, I have never gotton out Prairy dog hunting yet, but want to. I would mostly be punching paper at 200 to 800 yards for fun. I want it to be considerably less recoil than my current 300wsm, easior on the barrel, and legal for deer. I am a somwhat experienced reloader, but I don't want to have to go through painstaking processes creating the brass (I am willing to fireform to the AI, but not much more).

The 260 rem improved is not easy to find dies for. Would this be too much for ceyote and PD? Will the 6mm rem/ 6mm rem improved be much harder on barrels and enough power for white tail at range?

 

[James Jones]

The hotter 6mm's like the 243 Ackley and up will kill deer at reasonably far ranges say 600yds fairly well with quality bullets. Remember that anytime you put more powder in a smaller bore your goning to have less barrel life , for example , 243 has less than a 6mmBR , the 6mmRem Ackley improveds will have less than a 243 and a 6mm-284 or 6mm-06 will have even less. As for the 260 Ackley , I chose the regular 260 over the ackley improved version as I diden't feel that the velocity increase was worth the hassel of fireforming.
The 6.5-284 would be an great round also , all the reloading componets are realy available , its an accurate round well proven on the 1000yd circut and it'll work very well in the long action.

 

[Chopaka81]

Your action is a full length action, I would look seriously at a 6mm-06 or a 6mm Rem AI.

Pacnor will install a barrel and I have been hearing mice reports about them.

To be honest however, you could save yourself some money by just going out and picking up a Tikka T3 Lite, then you would have the flexibility of two rifles.

Happy hunting...

 

[Supermag]

You may also look at a 25-06, if you want an easier to find SAAMI cartridge.

 

[britz]

Chopaka81 I already have a T3 lite in a 300wsm- bought it when my 30-06 barrel went south. The t-3 seems to have a lot of promise!

Super mag, The 25-06 is an awsome cartidge, but I would like to stick to 6mm or 6.5mm due to the high bc and availability of bullets.
However, I'm a little conserned that the 6.5 will be too much for varmints.

Also, I have a factory BDL sporter stock, will I be able to channel that to fit a #6 or #7 conture? or do I have to purchas a H-S Precision for another $300?

THanks much guys!