Ok, bought a Rem 700 SPS in a 26 inch barrel. Going to shoot out to 1K yards. Im going to reload my own ammo. What do I need to do for an out of the box rifle? Is the factory trigger good enough? Cut the barrel down? I think the stock will be replaced for sure. Any suggestions? I think I have some good glass to put on it. What else. Thanks Keith
Keith, I've written on this before, an I'll pass it along again. First get to know your gun, if you've already got some glass, get it mounted, get to the range(buy a good sling i.e. 1907 pattern) zero your scope at 50yds, and adjust to where your rounds are hitting 2" high centered. Move to 100yds, shoot again to confirm where she's placing on paper(should be 1" high), adjust to another 2" high at that mark for a total of 3". Once you've done this get off the bench so that you and your rifle can get to know each other, shoot standing, sitting, kneeling, and prone-unsupported while using the sling, keep practicing these positions till you can shoot a 2" or tighter group at 100yds, then work out farther from there.
I would'nt cut down the barrel, longer barrels perform better, and reloading your own ammo, you can adjust your powder charges to where you can get the full use of the length. The way I was taught to adjust charges for barrel length is to put a 2 pieces of white cardboard about 6" in front of you muzzle and about 4" apart, SLOWLY step up your charges (watching for pressure problems of course), untill you start to see powder burn on the board, then back up to the last charge. then you will be getting a good powder burn for the entire length of the barrell. Then check for accuracy, because if it's not accurate it worthless no matter how efficient.
Have done this more with shorter barrels than long ones, and usually the accuracy tends to go along with the efficiency.
I have a Lazzeroni Warbird w/a 30" barrel, but I'm not done playing with it yet, so anything I say about it past 200 yds would be hearsay.
Have done this more with shorter barrels than long ones, and usually the accuracy tends to go along with the efficiency.
I have a Lazzeroni Warbird w/a 30" barrel, but I'm not done playing with it yet, so anything I say about it past 200 yds would be hearsay.
This has been disproven again and again - all you gain with a longer barrel is velocity, that doesn't necessarily translate to accuracy (and in several studies, the opposite is actually true).
93 Fox - while I'll agree with what LDP says (mostly because he's older and wiser and rarely says anything that isn't true), if you plan on shooting out to that distance, your factory rifle will probably not cut it.
You can develop a load for your rifle, but if the chamber is loose or asymmetrical, or if the bore isn't up to snuff, or if the crown isn't right, you'll see that with the best ammo you have, it might be a consistent sub MOA rifle (keep in mind how much a Minute of Angle is at 1000yds), but I seriously doubt it (at least not with 10 shots).
You need to get to know your rifle and learn to shoot it for sure (if you've already done this, then cool), but at distances of 300yds or more, things get a little more complicated and I assume you intend to do this from the bench or prone position. The trigger isn't great on a Remington, but its not the worst of your problems - the barrel is (in my opinion). What caliber is your rifle chambered for?
You need good glass (good enough glass can be had on a budget, but you do get what you pay for) and a good base/rings on it.
I'd upgrade the barrel on it if I were planning on reaching out that far.
An action blueprint and a good free-floating stock are probable next if you're still wanting to upgrade something.
Then I'd worry about the trigger after everything else was done.
why do the bench rest guys shoot 34" and 36" barrels?
I know quite a few 6mm bench rest shooters who like heavier shorter barrels, so I don't know how broad your experience is with bench rest shooters (I know some that like longer barrels too - doesn't seem like they're winning any contests or are overly accurate over the shorter ones - just seems like its harder for them to haul their rigs around).
There are also several folks on the hide (and a few on this board) that regularly hit targets at up to 1000 yds with an 18-20" barrel and have no problems.
Josh-L posted a video where he was dinging plates with his 10.5" SBR (in .223) at 400 yds with no issues at all (high-quality barrel).
Maybe I wasn't clear in my point that accuracy depends on a lot of things other than barrel length and the extra length (once all these other things are taken care of) doesn't offer that much more accuracy (even less in some tests).
With a factory barrel, the most important things to check out are the bore/chamber/crown - if these aren't right, then length won't matter. Steve Baldwin in Jones, OK has the tools to do this easily and for not that much cash - it would be worth doing if you wanted to keep the factory barrel (I'm talking to 93 Fox here).
If the crown/chamber/bore are perfect on two different barrels, one in the 30" range and the other in the 18-20" range (and we're talking .308), very few differences in accuracy will be noted from one barrel to the other.
Here's some insight:
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=949727
http://www.fieldandstream.com/answe...-short-barrel-if-so-are-there-any-disadvantag
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=7299
http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making/rifle_barrel_accurate.htm
http://www.6mmbr.com/barrelFAQ.html#24633
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_1_50/ai_110470564/
There are also several folks on the hide (and a few on this board) that regularly hit targets at up to 1000 yds with an 18-20" barrel and have no problems.
Josh-L posted a video where he was dinging plates with his 10.5" SBR (in .223) at 400 yds with no issues at all (high-quality barrel).
Maybe I wasn't clear in my point that accuracy depends on a lot of things other than barrel length and the extra length (once all these other things are taken care of) doesn't offer that much more accuracy (even less in some tests).
With a factory barrel, the most important things to check out are the bore/chamber/crown - if these aren't right, then length won't matter. Steve Baldwin in Jones, OK has the tools to do this easily and for not that much cash - it would be worth doing if you wanted to keep the factory barrel (I'm talking to 93 Fox here).
If the crown/chamber/bore are perfect on two different barrels, one in the 30" range and the other in the 18-20" range (and we're talking .308), very few differences in accuracy will be noted from one barrel to the other.
Here's some insight:
http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=949727
http://www.fieldandstream.com/answe...-short-barrel-if-so-are-there-any-disadvantag
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=7299
http://www.riflebarrels.com/articles/barrel_making/rifle_barrel_accurate.htm
http://www.6mmbr.com/barrelFAQ.html#24633
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_1_50/ai_110470564/
You will need to get rid of the stock that comes with the 700 and get a good stock that floats the barrel. Also you will need to glass bed the action. Plan on spending as much on a good glass for the gun as you did on the gun itself. I would recommend a Harris Bipod. You will probably spend more on upgrades for the rifle than you did on the rifle in order to get it ready to be a 1000 yard gun. The trigger on the new 700 is adjustable to about 2.5 from 5 pounds a really great trigger. Also what caliber are you using in it. 308 or 30-06 in a heavy grain would be the best choices for those ranges. A heavy grain bullet usually does better at those distances. Though I have also seen .223 and other calibers make 1000 yard shots.
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