Long Range Precision/Sniper Rifle

[BoilerUP]

OP can get the 20" SPS Tactical, a Bell & Carlson M40 Medalist stock, a Basix trigger and a case of 175gr Federal Gold Metal Match and make 1000yd hits on man-sized steel all day long if he's got a halfway decent optic and has skills driving the rifle.

But as others have said, the Savage 10FCP-MCM is a great turnkey value with arguably a better OE trigger than M700s come with.

 

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

Here is another posters rifle for sale. It is a great start for a precision rifle and it is built off of a 700 action like you had talked about. Throw some great glass on it and you would be set. Only downfall from what you were wanting is it is a 300 insted of a 308.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=659133

 

[SabbathWolf]

I also ended up with a Savage over a Remington but that's not to say the Remington isn't a great rifle. It is.

Exactly.
I have nothing at all against Remington either.
They are very good rifles.
But I was operating within a limited budget myself, and just wanted the most bang for the buck I could get from a "straight out of the box" gun.
Savage wins hands down in "that" catagory.

 

[Bubba613]

The stock design on the Rem is lousy and makes for enormous felt recoil.
I bought a Browning A-bolt with BOSS and will never regret it.

 

[proven]

stock design on the rem is lousy makes for enormous felt recoil

???

what does that mean? i think all of the professional and recreational users of 700s out there would beg to differ with you.

 

[dubbleA]

I actually own and shoot most of the rifles mentioned here and then some. I have run them side by side and all of them perform.

Dont play favorites, there are going to be examples of shooters and duds coming off an assembly line with any make period. I can only state what I have personally experinced with the rifles above, the Sako, Remington and the FN all came out of the box shooting. That Savage took some work and lots of load developement to get to shoot. That doesnt mean the Savage is the looser does it? ahhh no,it just took more time. Does it mean the Sako is the end all holy grail? No Is the Remington best? No FNH is better than the rest? Each one has it's pro's and con's, none of tghem are heads and shoulders better than the next one in all honesty.
I try to have an open mind and find it funny that folks will say ______ beats _________ hands down. __________ is the best bang. I can work on _________ without a smith . __________ is the most accurate out of the box. In reality



Suggest that the OP get his hands on as many different models/makes as he can and make a decission on what best suits his needs. Someting in 308 or 223 are going to be best for starters. Handloading of course will get the best results.



While a decent rifle, the Browning A bolt would be at the bottom of my list as far as LR rifles are concerned save the Eclipse series.

 

[arthury]

You may also want to gather some more info over at SnipersHide because of the expertise with LR shooting over there and they are pretty current with the latest products.

http://www.snipershide.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

 

[Cesiumsponge]

There are folks that feel the handier and better-balanced aspects of the 20" barrel outweigh the velocity lost on the 26" barrels. I picked a 20" over a 26" . Running a suppressor lengthens the rifle out again anyhow and having something hanging on a 26" barrel would only throw off the balance even more.

Tikka makes the "Tactical" which many people are happy with. Upgrading it with a better chassis like the Whiskey-3 from Kinetic Research Group is a good way to get a poor man's Sako TRG.

I wouldn't consider a Sako TRG unless you had an equal amount of money to put on glass. Sakos and Accuracy Internationals are a different league of rifle and you definitely pay for it. Getting the rifle and good glass starts at $5000 and you can break the five-figure mark without much trouble.

The folks on The Hide will set you up good but beware because a lot of focus is on expensive gear and it might discourage some folks who don't have $3000+ to drop on a scope. There are some good "on the cheap" threads though, so peck around.

 

[GJgo]

For the money I'm very happy with my SWFA SS 16X. However if I were to do it over again I'd get the 10X. Having owned many scopes at all price points, the next step up for me would be a scope in the 4 figure range.

 

[coloradokevin]

I'm shooting a Tikka T3 Scout Compact Tactical Rifle in .308 Win. I love it, and it's a superbly accurate gun. Going price was $820ish when I bought mine. It shoots at, around, or below 1/2 MOA regularly, and I've logged every shot I've put through the gun to make sure that claim is legitimate.

My buddy shoots a Remington 700 SPS Tactical AAC. He loves the gun, and it's darn accurate for the price he paid. He's probably shooting between 1/2 - 3/4 MOA.

 

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

Coloradokevin, your buddy is right on. Thats the performance I get out of mine. While it wont win any competitions, it does what I need and what it was designed for.

Cesiumsponge, that is the exact reason I picked the SPS Tactical AAC-SD, the short barrel profile and can be compensated or suppressed. I have heard ALOT of good thing about Tikka.

If the OP is wanting a long range precision(to me means a match quality) then any of the previously mentioned rifle with some upgrading will do. If he want a range/target rifle to reach out 1000yds and get the lump of adrenaline then all of the previous mentioned rifles will do it out of the box.

 

[valnar]

Where is a good place to buy the Tikka T3 Scout? I think that is the one I want.

 

[sniper762]

havelock

just wondering if you know my old ncarng shooting team members, gerald newhouse or mike liberty, from havelock

 

[Cesiumsponge]

Alex or Jason at Euro Optic carry Tikka and will take care of you. They're a popular vendor on Sniper's Hide for some of the European rifles and optics. They price matched a Sako TRG I found on sale and saved me $1000. Drop them an email if you can find a cheaper price on the internet.

 

[SabbathWolf]

There are folks that feel the handier and better-balanced aspects of the 20" barrel outweigh the velocity lost on the 26" barrels. I picked a 20" over a 26" . Running a suppressor lengthens the rifle out again anyhow and having something hanging on a 26" barrel would only throw off the balance even more.

Tikka makes the "Tactical" which many people are happy with. Upgrading it with a better chassis like the Whiskey-3 from Kinetic Research Group is a good way to get a poor man's Sako TRG.

I wouldn't consider a Sako TRG unless you had an equal amount of money to put on glass. Sakos and Accuracy Internationals are a different league of rifle and you definitely pay for it. Getting the rifle and good glass starts at $5000 and you can break the five-figure mark without much trouble.

The folks on The Hide will set you up good but beware because a lot of focus is on expensive gear and it might discourage some folks who don't have $3000+ to drop on a scope. There are some good "on the cheap" threads though, so peck around.

That's yet another thing I like about the 10FCP.
It comes in right at 24" and sort of splits the difference.