Just got my stick back from the smith!!

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TonyAngel

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Hey guys,

I was so excited that I just had to post something. Some of you may have run across my complaining about my SPS Tactical. Well, I decided that the bolt gun is for me and that I wanted to stick with it, so I made a move to cure all of my woes.

For those that haven't see my rifle yet....it started out as an SPS Tactical. I added the Nightforce 5.5-22X50 scope with Burris Signature Zee rings, Wyatt's bottom metal, 700P pull off stock, Timney trigger and the latest is the Krieger 22" barrel. I dropped my rifle off, with the barrel blank at the gunsmith Saturday morning and he called me last night to tell me that it was ready.

Here it is....
DSC_0041.jpg

It has gained some weight too. That's Krieger's MTU profile barrel. It comes in at 14lbs as you see it.
 
nice set up, ive got the a sps tactical and an in the process of doing some upgrades. first replacing the stock. your scope choice is top notch in my book too. congrats.
 
OK, I paid $550 for the rifle. The Timney trigger was $115. The HS Precision stock was $225. The Wyatt's detachable magazine rig was around $300, I want to say, but that included one five round and one ten round magazine. Maybe it wasn't quite that much. I don't remember. The 27" barrel blank, shipped from Krieger was $300. It was $325 to have the barrel threaded, chambered, head spaced, stock fitted, lugs lapped and bolt trued. So I have $1850 in the rig, less the $40 I got for the barrel, the $30 I got for the stock and the $60 I got for the stock bottom metal, so I have something around $1700 in it.

I suppose considering what I paid for the rifle and what I got selling the parts that I didn't need off, I wound up right at what I would have spent to put the rifle together from scratch. My ultimate goal is to have all of the doodads transferred to a BAT action in the next couple of months.

Man, I really wish you hadn't asked that question. Now that I'm putting the numbers down, I'm realizing what I actually have in the rifle. The scope was another $1500 too.
 
Man, I really wish you hadn't asked that question. Now that I'm putting the numbers down, I'm realizing what I actually have in the rifle. The scope was another $1500 too.
Click to expand...

You must not be married, or you have an exceptionally good wife because mine would not have let me forget it! I would have been reminded DAILY :cuss:
 
Nice setup.

No go and shoot the snot out of it.

If you need any help let me know.
 
nice!

i'd spend the $ on a suppressor instead of the BAT action.
 
Nice setup Tony, in another thread you asked what you could buy for that what you had in your rifle, and frankly you're getting pretty close to the real street price of one of the FN police rifles which shoot really nicely, or even an HS Precision (lightly used).

All things considered though you now have a nice rig at a pretty reasonable price given what you now have.
 
Yeah, the .308 turned into a bit of a money pit and I suppose that I could have gotten into something that some might think is better, but hey, I'm new to bolt guns and will just chalk it up to growing/learning costs. I have no regrets.

I'm not single, but my wife doesn't give me much crap about my toys. She understands that it helps me to keep my sanity. Besides, I've been in two altercations involving gunfire. After the first one (which happened before we were married) she was saved from a bit of "grief", got her car back, and all that they tried to get away with. My wife has never given me crap about my guns, although she did bat her eye when I mentioned Hendsoldt and she looked it up.

taliv, it's funny that you mentioned that. I was sitting at my office last week (or maybe it was the week before) and I was bored so I drew up a trust. Now I just have to figure out what I want. I was going to do an SBR, but have lost a bit of interest in the whole AR thing. For now anyway. A suppressor for the .308 might be pretty cool.

Anyway, thanks for the compliments guys. I'm really liking this rifle. I can't wait until I finish breaking it in so that I can see what it will really do. The SPS was shooting .2s and .3s with the stock barrel. My smith tells me that this barrel should do that easily, but will do better at long strings and should handle better due to the weight.
 
My wife is not so understanding about my toy habit, although she is getting better. She only vaguely understands a former Marine Corps grunt's attachment to his firearms. Then again she wasn't around for any of my "altercations" with uh... firearms (among other implements) since they happened in a large sandbox in another hemisphere.
 
just curious, what do you do with the old barrel when you replace it (assuming there was nothing wrong with it), or is changing barrels before its shot out a no-no?

EDIT: i see on a lower post you sold it. 40 bucks is that about average for a factory barrel?
 
wow, very nice. you are getting well into custom rig territory and I think you're doing great with it. great set up.

looking forward to that range report
 
Nice setup!

A Nightforce on a stock SPS tactical would be kind of silly but it seems like you're balancing things out a bit.
 
Nelson, the Nightforce was the first thing that I put on it. Some of my friends laugh at me because I am the guy that will put a $1500 scope on top of a $300 rifle. I'm pretty picky about my glass though. When I go shooting, I usually make a day of it and it sucks to start suffering eye fatigue due to the scope. I've found the Nightforce scopes to be a good compromise between glass quality and build quality. It's not the best glass, but I also don't have to worry about dropping it and then wondering if I knocked it off of zero.

Norrick, $40 is about all I've ever seen a factory barrel go for, unless it's an AR barrel. I picked up an LTR barrel not too long ago for $40 too. Now, if I can just talk a guy I know out of the action he's been sitting on, I'm going to build me a lighter rig, because this one has gotten pretty heavy, although it's still pretty short. If this rifle shoots like I hope it does, I may put the BAT action part of the project on the back burner and start looking at a McMillan stock.

kis, I took it to that gunsmith that we talked about. He called me last night to make sure that I got the gun ok, because he made arrangements to help me to avoid having to take the hour ride to his place. You should see this guys shop. It's in the back of his house and he has a shooting room built into the back of his shop with a concrete bench and everything. He does load development while shooting out of the back window. Anyway, he told me that it should shoot well. Like .3s and better, although he doubts that it will do 0s. He also told me that if I can't find a load to make it shoot to my satisfaction, to bring it to his place and we'll work one up. He cut my chamber to shoot well with Federal Gold Medal Match ammo, which is right up my alley since I shoot 168gr SMKs. This guy really lives for this stuff.

I'll be sure to post a range report after I get it broken in. Then I'll see how long it takes me to shoot this barrel out. Maybe I should order another barrel to have it ready for when I need it. Krieger has something like a six month wait right now.

I've gotta say that I really hate it when I get into something new and my OCD kicks in. I was looking at my rifle this morning thinking that I need a better mount setup. I'm using Burris Sig Zee rings because I needed them to bring my scope in line with the bore. Since I found out that it wasn't my mount holes that were off, but the barrel, it opens up new options for a mounting solution. I'm thinking that I might go Badger and just be done with it, unless someone has better advise.
 
Man that is excellent to have a smith like that who is nearby, but more than that so willing to help. very good, make sure to take advantage of it in full!

I went with seekins precision for both base and rings on mine, you might take a look at them, they're nice. pricey, but nice. liberty optics stocks them. but there are many solid base/ring makers out there.

...i'm getting jealous...
 
TonyAngel said:
The SPS was shooting .2s and .3s with the stock barrel.
Click to expand...


Nice looking rifle but I have to ask.....why would you change out a factory barrel that is shooting in the .2 and .3's?

Badger isn't a bad choice, that's what I went with on my latest build.
 
You're doing better then I am with my project. I got duped on the stock and was told 2 weeks for delivery. So far I'm in the 4th week and was just told it will be 8 weeks. Anyone thinking on doing something like this look around for a stock first before you order one. Instead of waiting 8 weeks I could have had a stock in my hand in just 3 days.

My plan is to keep the original barrel till it is shot out.

Your rifle looks great, and you will love the Krieger. I have an older 700 VS in .25-06 that I had rebarreled 3 years ago with a Krieger. The gun is more accurate but it also cleans up with 2 patches now. Amazing how a good barrel doesn't foul.
 
dubbleA, although accuracy is something that we all strive for, a good barrel is defined by more than just good accuracy. Although the stock barrel shot very well, I did have a couple of problems with it. First and foremost, it was crooked. I had, for a while, believed that my scope mount holes were drilled off center. It turned out to be the barrel. The other thing that I had problems with was the fouling. I had such a problem with it that I practically ruined the barrel trying to smooth the bore out. I need the barrel to be able to shoot three 22 round strings AND maintain its accuracy. The barrel, as it was, was a bear to get the fouling out if I let it go that long. The barrel now only shoots .5s and up. The guy that I sold it to said that was good enough for him.

In any case, my purchase of the SPS Tactical was sort of a dipping of my toe in the pool of bolt guns. I wasn't sure that I was going to enjoy it, so I got a cheap rifle to check it out. It turns out that I'm nuts for the stuff, so I'm turning it into what I'd like to have.

joed, I'm glad that you had good luck with your Krieger. I've built a few ARs with Krieger barrels, but this is my first bolt gun, so I'm just waiting to see. That part about the two patch clean ups is what I'm looking forward to. I'm not a big cleaner, so a barrel not fouling to quickly is important to me.

Man, I'll tell you, the bolt gun thing has been an eye opener. I'm coming over from ARs where they are practically like tinker toys. The fact that I had to take my stuff to a smith peeved me a bit. I'm thinking that when it comes time to rechamber this barrel, I might get the threads cut to accommodate a PacNor Remnut so that I can do barrel changes myself, in the future.
 
Easy to clean barrels are a big advantage. The barrel on my new Cooper doesn't foul much and cleans up quickly too, got to love a finish lapped barrel.

I suppose if sending your rifle to a smith to get a barrel changed is a big deal to you, then you might pony up the $$$ for an Accuracy International. Barrel changes can be conducted by the end user with some basic tools, and they are both accurate and very durable rifles.
 
im just wondering, was that a HS stock being waited on? I am having the same trouble. Tony I like your taste. I want to make my next build in a caliber that won't burn out my barrel so fast. im thinking about the kreiger barrel. I almost went with them this time but I stuck to heart. I wanted that 28 inch barrel for the AI. but im pretty sure ill go with kreiger this next time. and a mild round. let me know how the barrel does for you. I will put mine on a Remington also.
 
FWIW, my SPS SS in .308 w/ a sporter-profile bbl, wearing a Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40 in Leupold bases and firing my FGMM equivalents (168gr SMKs over 42 gr of RL-15, CCI BR2 primers, WW 1x fired brass) will produce 0.5" 100-yd groups of 3. I bought it as a project rifle, but, having tried shooting it, decided I was likely to see little improvement for the dough. It turned out that my XHR in .25-06 will produce 0.6" 3-shot groups with my homemade 90gr SGK BTHP over 53.1gr of IMR 4831, CCI BR2 primers and WW 1x-fired brass.

I like what you've done with the R700; since I hunt with mine, I'll keep 'em stock for a while.

Cheers,

FH
 
I think $1700 for that stick sans scope is pretty good. Just shoot it! Add ammo until you burn out the barrel...
 
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