308 "sniper" rifle build need more opinions, plz

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338Shooter

338Shooter

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DeadEyeDick said:
Sorry I've been away. My phone finally died. I want to be able to kill a warming at 500-600 yards. I think I'm goin to go with a savage due to it being easier for me to mod myself. Which model should I get to start with. I want to start base model then add on everything.
Click to expand...

If you're planning on modifying it, what are you planning on doing?

If you're wanting to dump a bunch of money in it and make it shoot truely lights out, then go with Remington. If you want to leave it in basically out of the box configuration with maybe just a stock change, go with Savage.

If you're thinking rebarrel, blue print, stock, etc, definitely go with a Remington, IMO. There are more parts available to you at better prices on the Remington.
 
338Shooter

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Factory 338 Lapua ammo is around $5 a round. Good brass is about $2.50 per round and match bullets are just a hair under $1 per round. You need to reload for sure, but unless you get a full custom gun chambered in .338LM the process accurizing a factory 338 Remington will be the same.

The TRG42 I posted is a factory built sniper rifle. There are two of those I can think of off the top of my head. The Sako TRG and the Accuracy International. AI offers the AE that is a very viable gun for what you are wanting. The top of the line is the AI AW (AI AWSM for .338LM). The AE is under $4k IIRC and the AW is around $6k. You can get a TRG-22 in .308 for between $2500 and $3000. The TRG-42 in 338 is going to run you between $3000 and $3500. The negative side with the TRGs is the accessories are big $$$. The TRG bipod alone is around $500, but it is arguably the best bipod you can get. It is built like a tank.

I honestly don't know that much about working on the savages, but I do know that pretty much every custom action is a modified Remington style action (Surgeon, GAP, Stiller). It is a good platform to build on.

IMO, you won't go wrong with a .308 Remington. Federal Gold Medal Match is wonderful ammo that you can find on the shelf or easily online for reasonable cost. What I would do is find an older gun on gun broker with the .473" bolt face. One chambered in .243 or .308 is going to be the most common. Then take the gun to Mechanical Accuracy in Jones for a blueprint, rebarrel, bolt handle thread with bigger bolt knob, stock, and bedding. He'll probably recommend Hart barrels which are very good and Bell & Carlson stock which are also very good for the money. If you let Steve build your rifle you'll be happy, very happy.

This is a very good article about choosing a rifle.

http://demigodllc.com/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-equipment/
 
SDarkRage

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dustingaunder said:
Factory 338 Lapua ammo is around $5 a round. Good brass is about $2.50 per round and match bullets are just a hair under $1 per round. You need to reload for sure, but unless you get a full custom gun chambered in .338LM the process accurizing a factory 338 Remington will be the same.

The TRG42 I posted is a factory built sniper rifle. There are two of those I can think of off the top of my head. The Sako TRG and the Accuracy International. AI offers the AE that is a very viable gun for what you are wanting. The top of the line is the AI AW (AI AWSM for .338LM). The AE is under $4k IIRC and the AW is around $6k. You can get a TRG-22 in .308 for between $2500 and $3000. The TRG-42 in 338 is going to run you between $3000 and $3500. The negative side with the TRGs is the accessories are big $$$. The TRG bipod alone is around $500, but it is arguably the best bipod you can get. It is built like a tank.

I honestly don't know that much about working on the savages, but I do know that pretty much every custom action is a modified Remington style action (Surgeon, GAP, Stiller). It is a good platform to build on.

IMO, you won't go wrong with a .308 Remington. Federal Gold Medal Match is wonderful ammo that you can find on the shelf or easily online for reasonable cost. What I would do is find an older gun on gun broker with the .473" bolt face. One chambered in .243 or .308 is going to be the most common. Then take the gun to Mechanical Accuracy in Jones for a blueprint, rebarrel, bolt handle thread with bigger bolt knob, stock, and bedding. He'll probably recommend Hart barrels which are very good and Bell & Carlson stock which are also very good for the money. If you let Steve build your rifle you'll be happy, very happy.

This is a very good article about choosing a rifle.

http://demigodllc.com/articles/practical-long-range-rifle-shooting-equipment/
Click to expand...
Thanks for the read Dustin. Its kind of funny to me, he mentions buying either a Savage 10FP or the Remington 700 PSS for budget minded long distance. I've got both now.
 
StammesOpfer

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DeadEyeDick said:
Heavy barrel, action work, trigger work and stock. I really don't know whole lot about this stuff, I was gonna figure it out as i went.

I would like to know more about that 338. What all has to be done to be able to shoot that?
Click to expand...

Well it is a .338 Edge not a .338 Lapua. It is based off of the Remington Ultra Mag. All you really HAVE TO do is a barrel swap and possibly a different bolt head (about 400-500 total from sharp shooter supply). In all reality by the time you spend money on barrel, scope, trigger, stock, etc. The action becomes a smaller cost relative to everything else. I started with a Stevens (Savage) action because I could do the work myself and it is easy to change what round it shoots. If it wasn't for that and I had it to do over again I would probably get a Surgeon action.

Oh and as for the cost of .338 I can't buy .338 Edge so I have to reload. 300gr SMK (the most common projectile everyone likes) run about .60/ea and for me brass is abouts .85/ea (reusable of course) about .30 of H1000 powder and a few cents for a primer works out to about a dollar a shot reloading.

With that said get a .308 first if your thinking about making this a one time build and you think you might rebarrel to something else later like 300 win mag or something. You can build it on a long action (you can use a short action round like a 308 in a long action) then you have more upgrade options, this is what the army did recently I believe. If you go that route then you would be looking for something based on a 30-06 cartridge since it has the same bolt face diameter as a 308.
 
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Well I will toss my 2 bits in I started with a SPS varmint with a stock swap and put about 200-250 rounds throught it and thought I had to have a 700 5r
so I sold the sps and picked up the 5r and a AICS and I really like the way the gun shoots for the price ($1550 total). Then I caught the bug and I needed to build one but I could not bring myself to sell the 5r so I am building a 260rem with a Surgeon 591, Mike Rock barrel, and another AICS the only thing I am waiting on now is the action.

If I could do it all over again I would have just built up the the SPS but as they say hindsight is 2020. I would have to agree with everyone else if you plan on modding/swapping parts wait till the youth Rem 700 243 rifles to go on sale and pick one of them up to build on. If you want to shoot for a while and mod slowly over time buy a used or new sps whatever in 308 and get some trigger time even if it is only at a 100-200 yards and read everything you can and take advice. If you want a fairly cheap out of the box shooter just find a Savage in the flavor of your choice.


My 260 build waiting on the action.
ai571.photobucket.com_albums_ss157_dustintc00k_dustin011_2.jpg

ai571.photobucket.com_albums_ss157_dustintc00k_dustin015.jpg

My 5r in 308
ai571.photobucket.com_albums_ss157_dustintc00k_dustin004.jpg
 
AKguy1985

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