[chiappa1911]

So im thinking about getting a 700 and have narrowed it donlwn to 3 callibers..243, .308, and 30-06. What one do you guys think i should get. I wont be using this for hunting just for a target rifle.

[langenc]

For anything less than big bears the 308 is fine. 308 for all the MI deer you will ever shoot.

Get that stock to fit, with the three jackets the shooter will wear for hunting season and shoot 3 or 4 boxes of shells/year and you will kill all you shoot at in MI.

[allaroundhunter]

For target shooting, .308 every time.

[Flatbush Harry]

If you're committed to target shooting, I'd recommend the .308 Win Mod. 700 SPS Varmint. I believe it's currently on sale and has a rebate bringing its cost down to $499 and with the 26" bbl, it's excellent for target shooting, but short and long range. I'd plan on a stock replacement, and Stocky's Stocks sells a number of Bell and Carlson tactical stocks with full aluminum bedding block that work out very well. I have one I'm very pleased with that I put on a B&C Medalist A5 stock on. I glass bedded the stock and it delivers 0.5-0.75 MOA with all my match hand loads.

While I like the .30-06 (and have a few), I would prefer the .308 to it for target work. The .243 is also an excellent round but ammo will be slightly more expensive (at least I have found it so) and barrel life will be shorter than the .308, which should last for 5,000-8,000 rounds.

FH

[56hawk]

I would avoid the 30-06 for a target rifle. If you reload I would choose the 243, otherwise 308.

[Arkansas Paul]

At first I thought, .30-06 all the way but then saw you wanted it for a target rifle only. That being considered, .308 would be my choice.

[TonyAngel]

I'd go with a .308 as well. Barrel will last longer. .308 is also very easy to load for. You don't have to search much to find an accurate load.

[jmr40]

308 is the traditional choice,but lots of long range target shooters are giving the 243 serious looks. Much less recoil, flat trajectory and plenty of power to punch thorough a paper target.

[ExAgoradzo]

308 for the reasons above, available ammo, and multi purpose use forever. 243 is #2 choice b/c it will fit different applications than the 30-06/308 does (I have owned 3 30-06's and love the round as the best gen purpose hunting cartridge with the 308 only barely following 2nd.

[303tom]

"Thirty-aught-six"...............

[Fremmer]

Go for the 243. Less push on the shoulder at the range.

[red-demon652]

Ok ill bite!!!!

My opinion is based on only the thoughts of your use given you live in mi.
A .243 is a good choice for deer and smaller size game,cyote,groundhog,ect.

.308 is good for all the above plus bear size. But not elephant size game.

30.06 is a few hundred feet persecond faster than .308 and can throw heavier bullets up to 200 grainers. Now this cartridge is good for long range elk or moose hunting.


The .243 and .308 is the same cartridge with different bullet diamiters. .308 will pack a heavier punch, but 30.06 is by far the most powerfull of the three.

Personaly i have a 6mm remington as my all around caliber..270 for deer and up.
Soooo my advice to you sir is if only one gun had to fit the bill for the whole 9 yards is go .308.

[TonyAngel]

The OP said that he won't be using this rifle for hunting. He's going to be target shooting, which implies that he's going to be shooting a lot. For target shooting, neither the .243 nor the .30-06 are going to do anything the .308 won't, except burns barrels faster and cost more to shoot.

[allaroundhunter]

For target shooting, neither the .243 nor the .30-06 are going to do anything the .308 won't, except burns barrels faster and cost more to shoot.

My thoughts exactly. And recoil is definitely manageable. There is no reason to take the .243 over the .308 due solely to recoil, get a slip-on recoil pad if you are recoil sensitive.

[red-demon652]

Yes i read ya the op said not for hunting purposes,just target.

But at the same time there talking about buying a rem. 700 <~~~~~ a hunting gun. Not a bench or f class gun.

So at some point i can only asume that they will probably hunt with it sometime or another.

Or if there plans is to make modifications, then i guess were debating long or short action.

[TonyAngel]

But at the same time there talking about buying a rem. 700 <~~~~~ a hunting gun. Not a bench or f class gun.

Since when is a Remington 700 a "hunting gun?"

Then I suppose this is my "hunting gun"....
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/ajangelettejr/DSCF0900.jpg
Although I hunt paper and steel with it.

Don't be presumptuous. Remington 700s are pretty popular in benchrest and F Class. In fact, the guy that put this rifle together for me is a big into benchrest and F Class. It started life as a Remington 700, SPS Tactical. Or maybe that was my other 700.

[WNTFW]

.308 or .223 will allow you to shoot in F Class TR if you have the matches in your area.

[DM~]

I get the impression you don't have a lot of CF shooting experience, so i'd say get the .243, as it has a LOT less recoil and generally they are quite accurate.

DM

[DM~]

Since when is a Remington 700 a "hunting gun?"


Are you saying that Rem. 700's can't be "hunying" guns??

DM

[hardluk1]

308. Ammos lower in cost, more choice for bullets and weights over the 243. Can shoot 7.62-51mm ammo. Shorter and lighter rifle compared to the 06. Barrel will out last a 243 .

[Fremmer]

The barrel will outlast the .243 because you'll stop shootin at around round 15 or so with the '06 due to recoil, lol.

[DM~]

The .243 bbl will easily last several thousands of rounds, most newer shooters won't ever put that many rounds through the rifle, and if they do, they will want to make some changes by then anyway.

My vote is for the lower recoil of a .243, so the shooter can concentrate on technique ect...

DM

[TurtlePhish]

Are you saying that Rem. 700's can't be "hunying" guns??


A 700 can be a hunting gun, but that doesn't mean it's only a hunting gun. It's a great design that works well for lots of very different things.

[wraith56]

I'll recommend the 243. Primarily for less recoil, but also for cost. The cost for average quality 243 ammo is usually equal to 308 with a small price break on the premium stuff. You won't find dirt cheap plinking ammo for 243, but that ammo is meant for fun with semi-autos. If you keep shooting for accuracy, you might as well reload and .243/6mm bullets are cheaper than 308/7.62mm.

On the other hand, target-match style loaded ammo in 243 win is very uncommon. If you will never reload and shoot alot then 243 win is not right. You really need a 223. If you won't listen to reason listen to 56hawk.
I would avoid the 30-06 for a target rifle. If you reload I would choose the 243, otherwise 308.

[TonyAngel]

Are you saying that Rem. 700's can't be "hunying" guns??

No, that's not what I'm saying; but if you had read the post that I was responding to, you may have seen that the poster stated that a Remington 700 IS a "hunting gun."

As for the .243, it is a fine round. It shoots flat, is more wind resistant (if I recall, almost half the wind drift of a .308 at 600 yards) and, as mentioned, has less recoil; but nothing comes without a price.

Assuming similar use, a .243 will have about half the barrel life of a .308. I know that your intention is to target shoot, but I don't know what this means to you. To me, it means that I only have to change barrels once a year, as opposed to twice a year.

You should also keep in mind that your major decision is whether to go with a short action or a long action. If you stick with a short action and go with a .308 to start, you can always have the rifle rebarreled later to a .243 and vice versa.

I don't know what the future holds for you, but if you're like me, you'll get bitten by the long range bug pretty badly. What you might consider doing is starting off with a .308. Build your skill level (it took a LOT of shooting for me) and when things calm down and taper off, then have the rifle rebarreled to .243.

Yes, .243 does have less recoil than a .308, but the .308 doesn't pound you either. I'm all of 5'2" tall and weigh between 150 and 160 and I have no problems putting 200 rounds through my rifle in a single session.

[gamestalker]

The .243 is good for a new guy getting into paper punching because it is such a low recoil cartridge. It allows for more time spent working on shooting technic. The biggest problem with higher recoil rifles and a new guy behind them in my opinion, is the flinch factor. I shoot a lot of .270, 30-06, and 7 mag. and have someone else chamber each round for me. This way I never know don't if I'm getting live ammo, or an empty chamber each time I pull the trigger. It really identifies your flinch, which really helps to eliminate it too. When that firing pin drops, that rifle should be dead still. I taught that to a guy at the range a while back and his shooting improved significantly with just that little trick of the trade.

GS

[jogar80]

I would say .308, and since it's for target shooting, go straight to the 700P. This is the police rifle and it's priced very well and my goodness is it accurate! Bought one after reading reviews. At first glance, not the prettiest rifle, but one range session will make you forget all that! BY FAR the most accurate rifle I have EVER owned! I love it!!!

[jogar80]

Also want to add that the 700P in .308 with its 26" bull barrel is heavy enough to really dampen the recoil to where it isn't an issue, even for a new shooter. I HEAVILY recommend this rifle.

[TonyAngel]

Just to give you an idea, this is my .308. Believe me, recoil is not a problem...
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s265/ajangelettejr/DSCF0900.jpg

If you're going to go all out and get into something like a 700P, I'd suggest looking around for a used one with a low round count and try to make a good deal on it. At the new retail price of around $1k, I just don't think it's worth it.

Remington's barrels are pretty rough. I'd recommend careful breaking in of the barrel or you might run into a copper fouling problem. My last Remington barrel could only do 60 rounds before I had to de-copper the barrel. I also believe that they come with the X-Mark triggers, which leave a lot to be desired. Remington chambers are also pretty sloppy. They're big and have really long leads. On the upside, the stock is pretty nice. I have one of those on my rifle.

The rifle in the pic, to include only what a new rifle would come with, cost around $1100 to put together and it has a 26" Krieger heavy varmint 1:10 twist barrel and Shilen trigger. I won't say that the biggest advantage was improved accuracy, because most 700Ps are tack drivers with the right shooter; but going with the semi custom rig got me a barrel that never copper fouls. So far, I've gone 300 rounds without cleaning with no adverse affects to accuracy. The Krieger also doesn't wander when it gets hot.

[jogar80]

I got my 700P for about $900 out the door brand new! You just gotta be patient and wait for a sale somewhere.

[Ken70]

Berger Bullets makes some of most accurate bullets around. They noticed that even the best shooters, guys that put 10K downrange in a year, got beat up with recoil shooting .308.

The groups remained nice and tight for the first 100 rounds or so. But when they got close to 200 rounds for the day, groups opened up.

Berger came up with the VLD, very low drag, .243 round. 105-117 grain that would would give them .308 ballistics without the recoil.

The best guys in silhouette shooting are mostly using 6mm bullets, enough power to knock the rams down without getting beat up by the recoil.

I have a Rem 700 Varmint Special in .243, that's a really nice gun to shoot. It's 20 years old so it has the quality the Remington used to be known for... Glossy walnut stock and deep bluing, good adjustable trigger from the factory. Only $400 back then..