[Matt304]

I'm soon going to hopefully start the transformation of this Mauser 98 (large ring receiver model), from a cruddy shooting .270 into hopefully a much more accurate bench/prone target rifle. I'm assuming that the action is suited for the job with addition of a nice barrel.

I'm not a fan of recoil, I'll tell you that much. In fact I loved the days of 3-P rimfire competition.

Anyways, with that in mind, I will obviously need to build this gun fairly heavy to rid most of the recoil.

I have 3 cartridges in mind for the new barrel. Keep it a .270, drop power a tad to .308, or possibly up the anti to .300wnm (will be hand loading for all).

Anyways, if I am after pure accuracy from this gun, and at long ranges as well (>600 yards) - should I mainly aim for the weaker-recoiling round being the .308?

Is the gun going to need to be much more heavy with the .300 to retain the same accuracy factor? I'm a small guy, and haven't shot the .300 before. Just curious to hear from some fellow target shooters which I may want to choose here for the build.

Basically, I'm not too sure whether velocity is an important factor in the accuracy equation.

Thanks!

[Jim Watson]

I do a little F/TR-class Long Range with a .308 at 600 and 1000 yards. I have thus far ballasted it up to 15 lbs and will add another pound tomorrow.
That is about all the recoil I want for a day's shooting. I see guys shooting .300 magnums but would not want to join them. Most going over to 6.5x284 anyhow. Or 6mm something or another. A friend has a target rifle in plain old unsuccessful 6mm Remington that shoots darned well.

Not many match bullets in .270.

[highlander 5]

I am not a long range shooter but to add my .02 here why not a 6.5x55 swede BC are good fair selection of bullets and mild recoil this I know from firing one Ruge M77 mkII i believe
the Swedes swear by it forhunting target etc.
The only thing I can't get used to, the bullets are loooong the cartridges look mutated
I think sierra makes a match king in 6.5 /.264 dia

[Quintin Likely]

I've seen a lot of good scores shot at 1000 with the 6 and 6.5mm and .308. Whenever I get around to it, just gotta find a stock and get some machinework done, my prone rifle will be a .260 Remington.

[Matt304]

I've heard a lot about that 6.5x284 lately.

Looks like it might just be a winner actually. This isn't ever a hunting rifle, so I'm a little less concerned about massive power levels, and more concerned about a rifle which can be shot all day without bruising my shoulder.

Unless I just make it a 20lb rifle that is... Even then though, I imagine the .300 would still have a fair amount of recoil for me. Can anyone comment on this?

By the way, I do plan to have a muzzle brake machined with the new barrel.

[ETXhiker]

Hmmm. I don't think you will see a big recoil drop going from a .270 to a .308. The generally heavier bullets should make up for the lower velocities. In my subjective experience, .308, .270 and.30-06 all feel pretty similar. Go for a heavier rifle and enjoy.

[Jim Watson]

Read the rules of whatever match you plan to shoot before you build a 20 lb rifle with a compensator. I know F-class does not allow compensators. You can go to 10 kg = 22 lbs in F-open as for a 6mm or 6.5 but are limited to 8.25 kg = 18 lbs in F/TR for a .308 and that with bipod mounted.
I dunno about compensators in conventional (sling) LR rifles but would not bet on it. 20 lbs is heavy for most folks to shoot with a sling.
A combo benchrest - prone rifle is going to be a good trick with some compromises.

ME?
I have a .223 and a .308 set up for Long Range F/TR and am thinking about a .223 barrel and (Savage) bolt head for the .308 when my .30 bullets run out.

[Matt304]

Well, although I posted this in competition shooting which I'm thinking maybe now that I shouldn't have, I mainly had the idea geared towards simple target shooting in general.

I initially thought I would use it for competition, but realistically, I don't think this rifle will be used for anything besides personal targeting. (I have a cousin with a Rockriver competition .223 I'd really like to compete with though :) ).

So yeah, really - it can be as heavy as need be. The idea here initially was at the recoil effecting actual accuracy with the same given rifle. Now I'm starting to think that I should just heavily weight the stock and get rid of recoil.

I would like a .308, but the .300 just sounds so interesting in a heavy rifle...

Hmm, well I guess it's really up to me to figure out what I'm looking to get out of this gun since I guess that's the main thing I'm confused about right now. I do appreciate the help guys!

[CobraF100]

I'm not a Competition Shooter (going to give it a try) nor do I have as many years as most
But
I can talk about the recoil of my .300 Win Mag and my Wifes Rem. 30-06.

The .300 that I have is my first Magnum Rifle.I have a Muzzle Brake with a limbsaver pad.I can shoot it 30 times in one sitting and not feel like I shot it that much and have no pain (I have a Bad Shoulder injury) I mean Yes I know I've been shooting but nothing to make me want to stop shooting.

Now my Wifes Rem. 30-06 with limbsaver pad puts a hurting on my Shoulder and I do have pain from it after only shooting 3-4 times.I know this mite not make sense but it's that way for me.
She has shot mine and will tell you the same thing,I'd guess because her Rifle is lighter then mine plus the Muzzle Brake make that much of a differnce in how they feel.

My Brother (Tim) should be joining here sometime real soon and maybe he will chime in on this because he has (all Rem's) .270,30-06,.308 and a 7mm Mag. with no Brakes on them and has shot my .300 Mag along with my Wifes so he mite be able to give you a better idea as he has the sizes you are looking at.

[bobsmith]

A Mauser makes a nice hunting rifle but for extreme accuracy, I've always thought there are better actions. Mausers are not the stiffest actions around and they do have a somewhat long locktime. The tubular receiver of a Remington 700 is a lot stiffer for supporting a heavyfull floating barrel and it lends itself better for glass bedding and action trueing procedures. The locktime on a 700 is a lot faster too. So I would consider something like a 700 before running out and spending a bunch of money on the Mauser. The .308 is a great target round but as others have said, you might consider the 6.5x.284.

[rifleman93]

Tim here, CobraF100's brother. While on vacation visitng Chris and his family, I had the pleasure of shooting his 300WM. That gun is a pussy-cat on the shoulder. I have a 13lbs+/- 270 Rem 700 Sendaro that has more felt recoil then that 300WM. The guy who built that gun did an excellent job on the brake. It has about the same felt recoil as a sporter 22-250.

I've been toying with the idea of Magna Porting my 7RM Encore, however my ears won't appreciate that after shooting bambi. Sure my shoulder will greatly appreciate it at the range, but it'd like to hear after the shot in addition to later in life. I will also say that the 7RM with a 26" barrell, is a "Fire Breathing Dragon",....should make for a interesting firework show at dusky dark!! Speaking of, I've gotta get to the bench and load up some bambi killers. I've got some 7mm XLC 160 gr to hovering over 69gr of RETUMBO powder, that should push that little bad boy to about 2900+fps!!: evil: That should lay-down all the bambis that I can shoot at, in addition to, hopefully a nice elk next year in Colorado!! I'm insteaded in seeing how the bullet will expand on a whitetail. I may have to slow the bullet down a little to get the expandsion that I'm looking for. Season hear in Alabama opens Nov. 18.

My next endeaver I believe will be a 7STW. That thing will get a brake for sure!! My buddy has a 6.5 STW and when he shoots, you need both ear-plugs and ear muffs.

For the guy about what caliber for recoil. I'm not a comp shooter either, however I've got friends who are. They all have 6.5x284s, which from my understanding, thats the caliber that wins most 1000yds matches. And if you get a brake on a gun, you can shoot those big bores if you so desire. I know of a 300 Rem ultra Mag is for sale, but it doesn't have a brake, and its HORRIBLE, personal experience there!!!! I hear that a Barrett 50 has about the same felt recoil as a 30-06!!! =;-)

Has anyone looked at the new Barrett round,......the 416 Barrett. Also another round that has me interested is the .408 CheyTac. Its worth a read.

[.38 Special]

The basic Mauser action is kind of a crummy place from which to start an accuracy search. I love the Mauser, but it's not especially stiff, it's got a relatively heavy and slow firing pin fall, it doesn't have a great bedding surface, and so on and so forth. They can be "fixed", but it's a hell of a job. You'd save a lot of money by just buying a Remington 700 action.

Now this is not to deter you from your project; it's just an explanation of my opinion that any of the cartridges you mentioned -- even the oft-maligned .300 Winchester -- are inherently capable of greater accuracy than your current platform will allow. The gun will be the limiting factor, so put "cartridge accuracy" out of your mind.

[rifleman93]

I totally agree with .38Special on that the cartridges mentioned are all great! Another big factor that you need to consider at long-range shooting. High quality optics is a most at long-range. Apparently when shooting at great distances, 500yds+, you get an illusion that appears in the scope, heat thermals exspecially. My friends have told me that a scope can be as much or even more then your gun. Night Force makes some awesome stuff, however you better be ready to come off the wallet a bit too!! Anyway, hope it helps!